ah, my boys...

playing innocent. it's all an act!

no one told me that life with boys would be like this. my whole life, i've lived in a female-dominated environment. i grew up in a house full of sisters and "cousters" (cousins who were like sisters), with a mom and a lola. mitor, melon, chamina and i were, i think, enough feminine power for any household. add kimay and melissa to the mix, and it was like a cheerleading team had invaded your house. poor pj, ej and dadda. it seems like in all things i've belonged to, there has been strong feminine energy-- drill team, songleading... my dance group up here was made up almost entirely of women and gay men. throughout college and grad school, i feel like i've also been surrounded by very strong female figures-- mentors, friends, "little sisses", colleagues. and for the past two years, i've been working with a women's organization where everyday, all i encounter are women.

so i feel like i'm very used to the way that girls and women work. yeah, we're evil, but in our own particular way. and i'm used to dealing with it. in no way was i prepared for a life with BOYS. in my life, i have never been so physically tormented as i am with these two crazies. so far, i have been kicked in the jaw, bitten more times than i can count, punched, "heimlich"ed, head butted, pile driven, body slammed, and most recently, stabbed in the eyeBALL with a toblerone box. it's only been about a year and a half, and it appears that the injuries are becoming progressively worse. isagani head butted me so hard once that all i saw was white light, and i lost my bearings for a good 5 seconds. i thought for SURE he broke my nose, but i just bruised real good. perci apparently can't wait for gani to grow up to be his wrestling buddy, so in the meantime, he's using me for practice.

see, we girls never rough housed. the most we did was scream at each other and do manipulative things like talk shit about other girls and hide a my little pony. now, don't get me wrong... girl tactics can be far more damaging than any physical play. but like i said, i'm used to it. what i'm not used to is THIS!!! but the good news is that i'm learning to defend myself. my reflexes are a lot more keen than they've ever been and i can now block a play stab and deliver a shot to the kidneys at the same time.

what's wonderful is that the family has grown exponentially with, what else? GIRLS! jackie, jillian, joie, marley, chamina and katrina are the new crop, with johnny boy and isagani being the "ej" and "pj" of this next generation. so while i have my boys, i still have a strong base of girls to go home to. thank god, the legacy of slumber parties, making radio shows, dance routines, slambooks and eating junk will continue on. and with marley in the group, they just might be able to add body slamming and pile driving to the tradition.

just look at them! they're out to get me!