The beginning...kind of.

What happened to simple life? I always thought being a girl was cool simply because I was born one. No fault there. I was selected by the master creator to enter this crazy world as a girl. I grew up with two older brothers and I'm the youngest and a girl, double whammy. Often viewed as the spoiled one of the bunch. But am I? I certainly don't think so. And I'm sure if you're the youngest and a girl you feel the same way I do. I can however acknowledge that being the youngest and growing up watching my siblings did have its perks. I was basically shown firsthand how not to act and how to act. Example: If my older brother did something "bad" I made a mental note to self, don't do it. If I saw them get rewarded for something, my mind was like ok, this a keeper for later.

All in all, I certainly appreciate my gift of being a woman. It has definitely had some very interesting moments and given me a different perspective of life. And did I mention I'm Latina. Which if you're a Latina it means a whole other thing. I was faced with different obstacles. As in any culture, I'm sure girls are treated differently and have different expectations. You know you're taught to spread your wings, just not too high. I'll get into that later.

There are certain limits we have, that boys in this culture don't have. Like helping out around the house from a young age, doing mom/wife things that are expected in the traditional Latin culture. Doing dishes, sweeping, dusting, and cleaning the bathroom. I remember that I hated doing that! With a passion! And you know what, at that young age you don't even see it as something that's weird. You assume that your friends have to do the same thing at home. That everyone is just living this way. But that couldn't be further from the truth.

I respect and appreciate my upbringing, but I do wish that some things could have been different. My parents were young parents as many Hispanic people are young parents. They started their family at the young ages of 17 and 18. They were married and didn't waste any time getting a family started.

A simpler time indeed. I know they raised my brothers and I as best they could. And one thing I learned over the years is that they didn't know what they didn't know. Meaning, they were raised a certain way and because they were raised like that, they brought that into how they raised my siblings and I. Not all bad of course, but different.

As a parent now of my own two kids I can see how challenging it is to try and raise these little human beings that you created in the best way possible. Which is definitely not an easy task. It's really hard and yes, I do have my trying days where I go to sleep crying. But they are worth it. And I know parenting never ends. My children are presently nine and ten, but they will be my babies till my last breath. I don't care if they're in theirs 70s, they'll still be my babies!