Our childhood memories and experiences can either make us or break us. What we are today is a reflection of our childhood. Conciously or subconciously, the joy or the pain that we carry from our chilhood manifests in us including how we handle difficult times of our lives, how we create relationships and deal with people and how we see ourselves as a person.
I have a normal childhood. A generally happy one. I had experienced a little of everything- happy, sad, dramas of life, bullies, betrayals,and strict upbringing. All these experiences shaped the person in me.
My childhood is one of the most nostalgic stage of my life. Sometimes when I feel the weight of adulting on my shoulders, I would look back in time and say,
"Maayo pa ang bata duwa, kaon, tulog ray problema."
Translation:
It is nice to be a child because all you worry about is play, eat and sleep.
Indeed, childhood may be the most fun, lightweight and unforgettable moment of life and I only get to realize it now that I am already an adult.
The sudden flashbacks of these vivid memories of my childhood usually are triggered by tangible things around me. It could be little stone, a broom, certain food, a certain plant or just anything that connects me to my childhood.
Here are some of the things that bring me back to my childhood and relive the memories:
Bring out the broomsticks
No, I am not trying to show you my favorite household chore and how good I am at sweeping floors and backyard or frontyard 😆. The broom is my mom's favorite weapon when she wanted to cut that growing little horns in us. 🐐
I came from a strict upbringing. When my parent's would say "No, you cannot do that" or You are not allowed" then that's the end of conversation. We were not allowed to talk back to our parents. We were assigned of household chores. We were not allowed to play outside when its getting dark. We cannot swim in the sea when nobody could watch us. We need to respect them and follow their rules. I remember my mom once said, "You are living under my roof so you need to follow my rules".
In the family, my mom is the disciplinarian. And when we became a little rebelious and do the things that were not allowed or against their rules that's when the broomsticks would be waiting for us when we get home 😆. She would first talk to us what we did wrong and then strike us with the broomsticks. It was not the whole broom that she used to strike us. She would just pick at least three broom sticks and strike us with the head of the broom sticks. It stings more than the whole broom.😫
I could still remember the pain but it doesn't hurt me anymore. I was even thankful she did that to discipline me and my siblings. Yes, it was painful during that time but as I grow old, I realize that was necessary to direct us to the right direction. I realized disciplining your child is one way of showing how much you care for and love them.
The Magic Stone
Do you believe in magic? Because I do, 😆😆! I believed in the magic of a stone because I truly experienced it. It saved us from that dreadful broomstick whipping. Lol!
The "magic stone" is our lucky charm so mom wouldn't get angry of us even if we were late in going home . If we come home beyond the curfew, surely mom would be waiting for us with her broomsticks 😆. (She's not a witch. She just had her broomsticks ready always for her naughty and hard headed children. Hahah. Sorry mom! 😅)
So how does the stone works? They say that before we go home when it's beyond the curfew and we expected mom would get angry, we should carry a small stone with us and put it inside our pockets and mom would not be angry with us. So we did just that, trusting that this little trick would do the magic. We went home nervous, our hearts pumping fast in fear. We entered the door slowly, and there's my mom waiting. We were ready of the consequences. But then! Voila! She was calm and not angry with us! She asked why we're late but in a calm voice. Or there were times she just won't say anything and just let us. Did the magic work? I think it did! Haha.
From then on, everytime we were caught in that kind of situation we would do the same trick and it always worked for us. Lol!
Note: The magic stone won't work when you intend to not go home early. It only works in certain situation when you have no intention of not following the rule. 😆
The Nut, so Good
When I was a child, together with my siblings and playmates, we used to pick fruits of grasses or trees that we knew are edible. One of our favorite was the fruit of the Talisay tree. Talisay is a type of nut. Like Pili nuts, talisay tastes so good. For me, it's the yummiest nut I ever tasted. It bears many small fruits that would just drop on the ground. We loved to collect them to eat.
The problem with Talisay nut is that it's shell is hard and thick but the nut inside is so small. Just around 2 cm long and 1 mm in diameter. We used stones to crack open the shell. But that process was not so good for us because it also crashed the meat inside and we didn't like that. We liked to have the nut whole and uncrushed when we eat it. It felt more satisfying.
So we bring the Talisay fruits at home. We asked an older brother or Tito to use the bolo to open them. We gathered around him and waited as he opened each talisay fruit. We collected the whole uncrushed nut inside. It tasted so good.
But the problem of using the bolo was that, it was dangerous. One small mistake would cut open not only the fruit but also the skin and flesh. And one time, it did happen. We witnessed that! Blood flowed like river from the finger of our kuya. It was a frightening moment. I could feel my hands started to get cold. In addition, he would scare us that the "pari" would come out. Who was the pari? Well, not a priest as you might think. [Pari means Priest] The "pari" that he meant was the white thing we could see when the flesh is deeply lacerated. I think it's the bone but not really sure. That was horrifying to see.
These are some of my fondest memories. I think I shoud stop here coz if I don't, I'd be writing a whole book of my childhood. 😅😅😅
These experiences really had an impact of who I am today. I thankful to my parents, my friends and God for placung me in that environment where I really enjoyed my childhood.
This is my participation to @hiveph weekly writing contest.
Have a great day dear friends of hive.
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Nakasulay jud ko kaon talisay, lami man
Btaw lami jud na ai. Bahalag putol kamot 🤣🤣🤣
Effective yung stone? Haha.. Samin si papa napapalo.. pro once lng ako napalo nun..mabait eh haha
Yes sis effective ung stone. Kahit college na ako ginagawa ko pa rin un
Ouch, not just broom though, pati patpat na hinanda para talaga matitigas ang ulo na kid. Then may hanger, slipper and belt pa haha. I also experience all of that, a lot of times pa nga haha wala ee masaya kaso gawin ang bawal HAHAHA.
And that Talisay nut, meron nyan sa school namin kaya kapag free time, kasama ko mga classmate ko mangunguha kami nong naglaglagan na ganyan dun sa likod ng school jajaj ang saya lang balikan huehue
Hahaha, oo nga kung ano available pamalo strike agad cla. 😆
Sarap ng talisay sis. Hirap lng buksan.
Iyak nalang mandin pagkatapos ahahaha. Kaya nga ee talagang dapat maingat ka din if gusto mo makain ng buo haha challenging pero kapag nagawa ang achievement na haha
Childhood memories are indeed for keeps. Naalala ko rin yang magic stone haha. Nagpupulot din ako ng bato bago umuwi noon lalo na pag ginabi para hindi mapagalitan haha.
Haha, epektib ung bato di ba?
Hahaha ung magic stone lulunukin mo na lang tapos sisigaw ng Darna
Hahah...pwede! Ding ang bato.
What a fun childhood, I thought mom with broomstick was just a Nigerian thing and the magic stone tale also happens here too haha😂
Thanks for sharing this lovely piece, made me nolstagic
Hahah thanks @glorydee. I think these are common experiences with batang 90's (90's kids). So I'm also guessing you are 90's kid?
Looking back it was indeed fun and remisniscing those memories will always paint a smile on my face. Thank you for reading.
Yes I am, 94 😂😂
Was really fun then, their discipline moulded us to be better adults.
Hahaha! Yes, thankful for those experiences. Have a wonderful day.
And you too😉
The good old days ren 😊
Kaybhapit na ta mag golden age 🤣
Makahinumdom man lamng ta ani sauna uyyy. Pero kanang lucky stone kay wala na nako buhata kay murag dili madalag lucky stone akong mama sauna. Mamunal gyud..🤣
Hahha. Basin wa lng jud nimo gtry ang bato ni darna. Aw bato ra diay heheh. Epektib jud na promise. 🤣 Btaw mamunaly jud mga parents sauna peeo enjoy raman ghapon.
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Kinakain pala yan? Akala namin lason yan eh, kaya di namin pinapansin hahahaha.
Oo nakakain yan. Masarap yan. Pahirapan lng sa pagbukas ng shell.
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