of weddings and baby-sitting cousins

"HE'S just a baby," I muttered to my husband, Ned,  as we zoomed in on my

cousin Pocholo who was  standing in front of the church altar waiting

for his bride, Suzette.

Well, that "baby" is in his early twenties and certainly old enough

to get married. But you know how Ates (older cousins) can get about

their younger cousins, specially the ones they looked after as babies.

 "Remember how bloated Pocholo's tummy was when we kept giving him his

bottle?" my cousin Ann and I giggled to each other during the

ceremony.

 Flashback:

Pocholo's parents -- Uncle Rhollie and Auntie Baby had gone out to a party that

night and we were tasked to look after their chubby baby boy. Now,

Pocholo was a very sweet baby -- super quiet, certainly not one to

cry his lungs out -- but something must have upset him that night and

triggered a crying bout. Cool as a cucumber, Ann and I gave him his

bottle of milk. He drank and finished it all up. Great! For the next

twenty minutes or so he was content and closed his eyes. Tiptoeing out of the room, Ann

and I screeched to a halt when Pocholo let out a wail.

  "What do we do?" we looked at each other anxiously.

 "How about another bottle?" I suggested. "Water naman." We did exactly that and

our baby cousin stopped crying. That was the scenario for the next

number of hours: cry, bottle, sleep, cry, bottle, sleep, cry........until our aunt and uncle came home to find their little bundle of joy

sleeping soundly. Ann and I heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly

prepared to go to bed. 

We'd just reached the door when we heard our Auntie Baby shout, 

"Bat ang laki

ng tyan ni Pocholo!"

       

You can be sure we never gave him another bottle of water that night, or any other night of his baby years.

I wonder though if he'll let us take care of his baby this time

around.....

       

Weddings are a great way to reminisce and I think I'll be doing a lot

of that as my younger cousins (I'm old! I'm old! I'm really old!)

start trekking down the aisle one by one.

* * * * * * 

Pocholo is now in his 30s and has two beautiful not-so-baby-anymore boys. And though we haven't stayed long enough to baby-sit, he lets us have unlimited access to them. May takot pa rin sa mga Ate.

And, oh, it's not my cousins who are getting married this time around but our pamangkins (Lara & Jon; Benin & Cha). No wonder my white hair won't stay hidden anymore.

of photos and wedding receptions...

Since Britain's Prince William and his long-time sweetheart, Kate Middleton did not invite me to their wedding, I'll reminisce instead on why I love attending wedding and baptismal receptions..


You know those pesky photographers in restaurants who sneak in during receptions?  They walk in,  start snapping away at the guests and then line up the photos outside and charge you an obscene amount to get a copy.  Well, most people don't like being put in a position of having to pay for something they didn't order.




I'm guilty of the opposite for a very vain reason. You see, I'm not at all photogenic. Most of my photos show me at my unflattering best (which doesn't mean I'm a beauty in real life but photos do seem to make me look my very worst) and the ones that present me in a different light, I treasure.


The thing is, whenever I feel a camera trained on me, I freeze. Oh I try to smile my very best or appear nonchalant but the effect? Like a cat being run over by a truck.


Recently, I've been extra delighted at the number of "nice" photos I've had. Three occasions produced rather nice results. The first one, during a wedding reception at the Jade Valley was cute. And even though my son nearly died laughing at the picture of my face inside a wine glass with fruits all over, I still bought it for P50. (Remember this was years ago and that was expensive at that time).


Next stop, the wedding of a cousin at the Aberdeen Court. I kept my eyes trained on the food while looking out for the photographer. "Wala yata," I mumbled to my husband as I attacked another chicken wing. Luckily for me, by the time the photographer happened by I had already emptied my plate. Then came the moment of truth -- another cute photo in a wine glass, without the fruits, this time. "Wag mo na kunin," my husband said, "pareho din yan nung isa." I nodded in agreement but paid the man anyway. Hey, I'm not one to let a good photo out of my sight.


Finally, a baptism at Max's in Makati.Again, a photographer trained his camera on the guests. Again, I tried to look my nonchalant best while struggling to smile. Lunch over, Ned and I prepared to leave with nary a camera-bug coming to show us our photos. Trying not to look too dejected, I went to the ladies room to freshen up. When I came out, I strained my neck looking out for the last time for the photographer. No such luck. When we got to the car, I couldn't help myself and told Ned, "Di tayo inalok ng photos natin 'no?"


Smiling, he handed over a brown envelope. Bingo! Another wine-glass smiling me. 

Si William at Kate ba may ganyan?

Abay na si Juan and Only

I'M AT  that stage in my life when it's no longer my friends or my cousins who are in the marry mood, instead it's  my pamangkins who  are getting ready to take the plunge. 

So when my sister-in-law told me that Ned and I were to be the Ninong and Ninang of our eldest nephew and our charming soon-to-be niece, I took it calmly, matter-or-fact lang. I no longer reacted in my typical forty-something," I'm too young to be a Ninang  sa kasal!" mode. It was her next words though that had me in near hysteria,  "Si Naki abay din ha......"  

And the memories came rushing back. While I may have only been a flower girl two or three times ('yung isa pinilit ko pa), my Juan and only son was quite popular in the coin bearer-ring bearer-bible bearer arena. Whether in barong or silk Prince Charming regalia, we would troop to Pampanga, Bataan, Tagaytay, Bulacan and various parts of Manila to escort our little alalay to the bride and groom. 

Those weddings became very memorable, not just because of our favorite couples getting hitched but, because we always had some sort of drama going on. You see, bartering with a little boy is not an easy task. You have to consider several factors: Factor No. 1 -- his walking down the aisle in front of many people. Factor No. 2 - his wearing a scratchy barong or silky Sto. Nino-like costume for no less than five hours. Factor No. 3 - his staying still and not walking around while the wedding is going on. Factor No. 4 - his not screaming, "''Nay, matagal pa ba?"   Factor No. 5 - his agreeing to have his hair combed and styled and Factor No. 6 - his walking alone and not clinging to my leg,  and not being dragged down the aisle.  So what does a Nanay do to get her son to do all those things? Bribery is the key. :)

During the years of his coin bearer-ring bearer-bible bearer career, we accumulated several dinosaurs in all forms and shapes, Power Rangers (blue, green and black; again, in all forms and shapes) and a countless number of books  in all shapes and sizes. No, our son's being a member of the entourage did not come cheap, at all.

Well, except for the one time when his Tita/Ninang Bloom and Tito Marvin were adamant that he and his Kuya Phollox would not only be ring and coin bearers but serenade them with the song, "I Will" at their wedding.   Since he was already in the fourth grade by then, I told the soon-to-be-weds that it was their turn to do the cajoling.  Naki's battle cry was, "I won't!" and he was determined not to do it.  The two tried every emotional trick they could think of to convince him but he remained firm. That was until, Naki declared defiantly, “You’ll have to pay me to do it!”  The two caved in saying, “Magkano?”  The answer?  “Piso?”  That was probably Marvin and Bloom’s cheapest wedding expense and, a warning to me that my son  would never a good businessman make.  :)

My trip down memory lane was cut short, however,  when Juan and Only came home from school.

Super excited, I greeted him with a big smack on his cheek and by announcing that he would be a groomsman in his Kuya’s wedding.

“What are the requirements?” he asked.

“Wear a barong and comb your hair?” I answered.

“Well, that rules me out,” he smirked and then raised his eyebrows when he saw my crest-fallen expression.

“Sige na, anak!” over-sentimental mother me said, “Ang laki-laki mo na talaga. Remember when you were just a ring-bearer. Ngayon, groomsman ka na."

Still trying my best to convince him, I hugged him tight and added, " Naalala  mo when your tatay, manang or I would wait sa dulo ng aisle with a Power Ranger of dinosaur just to get you to walk?”

“Sige, ‘Nay. PS3 naman para maglakad ako ngayon..”

Ngwek ngwek, ngwek……..

Posted on Facebook, March 2011

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