I'm sure I'm not the only mother of a young boy who has yet to teach her son about proper decorum and hygiene. And by this I specifically mean that one rule on how to clean one's nose. The thing is, I think it's been more than 3 years since I've been reminding this boy (who is mostly cute until he starts picking on his nose) on how to properly "clear" those caves. But to no avail. Primitive is as primitive gets. The natural instinct to "fetch" with one's bare fingers still carries the day.
"Kulangot"- that's our Filipino term for that dirt in the nose. And the boy has learned this term by heart since the day the mother started censuring the icky practice. Oh he has learned other terms, too -- Tutut - which is his version for "utot" (fart). He has also recently learned "muta" - the term for that gummy stuff coming out of the eye especially in the morning
Sorry if this entry grosses you out right now. But then again, this is one reality of parenting. Might as well thank me for saying it out loud :D.
Now censuring this illegal act is far more complicated than you think. In the first place, how can I child take your prodding seriously if society puts the act under the gray space of funny slash disgusting? Ergo, you get a boy who learns to come up with funny antics to get away with the crime.
Tonight, the mother finally resigned--laughing, that is. We were couched together while watching TV, then I noticed that familiar finger lingering on his face. I started with my stop-making-kulangot speech.
And then, without any sign of feeling his mother's ire, the boy just sighed, "I'm not making kuhlahngot... (Was about to take up another case on perjury when he added)... "I'm just making MUTA-ngot."
If you're the mother of the boy who said this and you don't end up laughing at his witty way of coining the term, I salute you! You are the ideal that I will never be.
But then again, I think losing to laughter won't make me such a bad mum.
"Kulangot"- that's our Filipino term for that dirt in the nose. And the boy has learned this term by heart since the day the mother started censuring the icky practice. Oh he has learned other terms, too -- Tutut - which is his version for "utot" (fart). He has also recently learned "muta" - the term for that gummy stuff coming out of the eye especially in the morningSorry if this entry grosses you out right now. But then again, this is one reality of parenting. Might as well thank me for saying it out loud :D.
Now censuring this illegal act is far more complicated than you think. In the first place, how can I child take your prodding seriously if society puts the act under the gray space of funny slash disgusting? Ergo, you get a boy who learns to come up with funny antics to get away with the crime.
Tonight, the mother finally resigned--laughing, that is. We were couched together while watching TV, then I noticed that familiar finger lingering on his face. I started with my stop-making-kulangot speech.
And then, without any sign of feeling his mother's ire, the boy just sighed, "I'm not making kuhlahngot... (Was about to take up another case on perjury when he added)... "I'm just making MUTA-ngot."
If you're the mother of the boy who said this and you don't end up laughing at his witty way of coining the term, I salute you! You are the ideal that I will never be.
But then again, I think losing to laughter won't make me such a bad mum.
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