KUV NIAM.
I was writing my little cousin from Wisconsin and in the midst of it all, I remembered something mom had said to us girls yesterday. We were starting up “Bridesmaid” from redbox and as the movie opens up, the scene shows the lead, Annie, doing all these funny sex positions with her ex-boyfriend…So my mom goes, “Oh-ho, ua cas es nej yuav mus qiv tau ib daim movie li no los saib. Txhob saib cov zoo li no. Nws tsis zoo yog nej tseem yog hluas nkauj xwb.” My sisters and I just busted out laughing. Here we all were in our mid to late 20’s and she still thinks it “bad” for us to be seeing such things? Come to think of it, she fooled us into believing that if we watched any kissing, sex, or nude scenes on TV, our eyes would turn red. As kids we all believed it too. I remember the siblings and I would sit there watching something on TV and then when the mushy parts came on, we’d turn our heads, cover our eyes, or quickly flipped to another channel. lol. Imagine what that was like while watching movies in class? Anyhow, our answer to mom was, “Niam, peb twb laus laus lawm ne. Peb tsuas saib thiab kawm es lwm hnub thiajli paub mus ua haib haib rau txiv neej xwb os.” She laughs and says, “Ohyo. No way! Tsis good kiag nawb…..Kab (our baby sister who’s 18) tseem me me ne. Tsis txhob tso rau nws saib.” lol. I gotta love mom though.
Now that I think about it more, my mom sure fooled me with stories when I was young. She told me child labor consisted of the stomach being cut open with a big knife. Whenever my younger siblings were born, I’d always ask to see the wound that had been sewn up but mom never once showed me. Shouldn’t that have triggered something in my head? Then she’d also tell me that if us girls even slept next to a guy, we’d get pregnant. When the brothers and guy cousins/nephews slept next to me on “parents are away for funeral/party/wedding” nights, I’d think to myself…”I don’t want to get pregnant.” Mom would just be like, “Don’t worry, only boys from outside the family can do magic.” lmao. Or how when the kids cried a lot and mom would say there’s a niam tais poj ntxoog who listens carefully and if she hears you, she’ll come by to see why you are crying. Or that one about finding a lost bird, rabbit, cat, or doggy and don’t bring it home because it’s only poj ntxoov cov menyuam. I remembered when we moved this one summer and there were these kittens that got abandoned at the corner of our deadend block and mom told us not to feed them or even touch them. There’s way too many stories. I wonder if someday I’ll end up telling little such stories like these to my kids too? Wait a minute, I already do that with my nieces and nephews. Oyo! My favorite one is when those munchkins are crying and I go.. “Yivvvvvv, Maiv Naim los lawm nawb. Ntsia kiag tamsimno.” Works like a charm.
Oh how I miss my childhood. Now that everyone in the fam is grown, I bet it hits mom to know we’re all standing on our own (at least for 90% of the time). Mom doesn’t have to worry…I can never really detach myself from her. She’s still my extra breath of fresh air when I’m suffocating.