February 3, 2012
Need a LAXative? 😀
Tag: Holidays
‘Twas 3 Days After Christmas
‘Twas 3 days after Christmas
when all through the land,
not a kid was in sight.
No fussing, no arguing,
there was not a single fight.
Where could they all be?
I looked out my window
the streets are deserted.
I looked here, there,
I looked everywhere
and I grew disconcerted.
There they are!
Didn’t have to look far.
They all have their eyes,
glued to their Kindles-
their hands on their iPads.
They no longer wonder.
They no longer ponder.
Little ones, of all ages and sizes
too early to be wired,
6,8,10 12 year olds,
young minds now in a quagmire.
So I looked in the past,
when kids did kid things-
they played cow boys and Indians
and the sunsets seemed to last.
They played hide and go seek
some even thought they had wings.
Some jumped rope and hopscotched 
and they made up their own nursery rhymes.
They had imagination,
because it was encouraged.
They had less information
thus, they weren’t so discouraged.
This is a plea for the parents
of this current generation
now being nurtured,
on their iPhones, iPads,
Kindles, Androids, and iPods:
Our kids need US!
Our kids don’t need anymore APPS.
There isn’t an APP to replace
a hug, a kiss and a smile.
There isn’t an APP to replace,
time well spent with your child.
-EVA SANTIAGO Copyright 2011
The Birthday Cat
There once was a town called Mathicadoodle
it had many farms, many pigs, many poodles.
There once was a birthday cat, her name was Ladie.
She would send out gifts, even if your name was Pop or Katy.
Now on your birthday, she’d go to your door
She would say, ” Get out of bed it’s 10 after 4!.”
2 minutes later you went to get dressed,
you had a new outfit, you looked your best!
At 10:30 a.m. in Mathicadoodle,
time for your birthday lunch on a safari poodle.
On the poodle’s back there is lots of food,
you’re living your life in the happiest mood.
So after that you climb a wall of Skittles.
Why, it was 12 o’clock time for a band of fiddles!
So fiddlers played fiddles
and picklers played pickles,
the music was so GREAT!
it felt like it tickles.
The birthday cat was ready for her 2 o’clock bath.
Katy said, ” I’m glad I’m not in school I don’t have to learn math.”
So as they dried off, they started a cheer,” I’m free to be me!
” I’m glad I’m not a deer!”
They went into the jungle of Mathicadoodle.
There were flowers that smelled like pears, peas and noodles.
On their way they saw big bopping bowers
that cut off flowers just for you.
They saw big clopping cloppers
sip sopping soppers.
The flowers are red, pink or blue
The birthday cat said, ” Let’s see what time it is.”
So they went to a farm
where there was a time telling arm.
The arm said, “It’s a hair past a freckle.”
That means it’s 5 o’clock,
time for the birthday bash in a kettle.
They needed something to take them in,
so they go to the super dooper mini cooper.
It drove them all the way to the kettle bin.
In the kettle the party began
with head Zonking Zonkers fron planet Can-Can.
The party is great,
the food and the cake,
the birthday cat gave me a brand new cape.
It was 10 pm, the presents came in
there were so many
she put them all in a bin
At 12 a.m. Katy’s birthday was over,
the birthday cat drove her home on a big, soft clover.
So that’s what they do in Mathicadoodle,
the birthday cat gives you gifts and a poodle.
If you’re birthday is tomorrow, in May or today,
I will always say, ” Happy Birthday!”
RAQUEL BRINCAT copyright 2011
This poem was written by my daughter and she wanted me to post it in honor of her birthday this week!
When Your Sister Turns Her Back on You
I am the youngest of eight children. My oldest sister is six years older than I. Our mother became ill after having me. So naturally my eldest sister stepped in and took care of me as best as she could when I was but an infant. My mother passed away on what happened to be my sister’s birthday, my father’s passing came not too long after.
Looking back on my childhood, I see my sister in and out of my life at different intervals.I remember being separated from her for I don’t know how long. The day she came back,I was elated . I hung on to her when I finally saw her and I asked her.”Will you stay for a hundred days?” Back then at that age, that increment of time seemed like an eternity in my young mind.I looked up to her like a form of God at that moment . My sister… my hero.
Then there was the day that she had to leave me to come live in the United States. I was devastated. To this day I remember that we ate watermelon sprinkled with salt for breakfast. Then she was gone. I wasn’t taken to the airport to see her off. All I knew was she was gone for good.We wouldn’t be bathing our dolls anymore or letting them sit in the sun to dry off while we washed their clothes.
A few years later,my turn came to come live in the United States. I was being torn away from my other sister and brother. My last night with them,we all huddled closely in the same bed Each of us trying to comfort one another. I recall going to sleep while my other sister rocked me …I couldn’t stop crying and neither could she.
Boy was I ever surprised when I stepped off the plane on May 7, 1976 at Miami International Airport to be greeted by my eldest,”long lost sister”. It was the salve that my aching soul needed to feel welcome into a new country, family and life!
My first Christmas in the United States came and went with much fanfare. A lot of relatives came to visit. The music was rocking the house. Latin sounds permeated the atmosphere. Plenty of food and spirits to celebrate the season. In all the festivities,no one noticed that the two orphaned sisters were quietly tucked away in grandma’s bedroom. The older held the younger as they both rocked back and forth. Crying, trying to find comfort in each other’s arms.
Then there was the last Christmas that I saw my sister as a child. She came with my aunt and grandma just for the week-end. The hours flew by so quickly. When it was all said and done,she was on the Greyhound bus on a cold,damp, dreary morning.
I went straight to my bed and I hugged my pillow so hard,wishing it was her instead. To this day, I still feel that ache;it reminds me of that nagging tooth ache that tells you to go see a dentist pronto or else you’ll be in for far worse.
So now where are we? More distant than ever. Life has dealt both of us blows. She is a success in her world. What she thinks of me? I have no idea! I used to resent her for still trying to mother me when I needed a sister. But time has whittled down those feelings too and left in place understanding. If she was with me right now what would I tell her? Thank you! I’m glad that you are my sister. I regret having hurt you but I was being merely human. To err is human to love is divine…I accept you with all your shortcomings and strengths will you do the same for me? I love you Mireya!
Eva Santiago Copyright 2011
FIREWORKS!
The 4th of July fireworks represent the countless heroes; the countless stars that shined before any of us came to be. They fought for freedom. They loved for freedom’s sake. They shed their blood for the future, for posterity. Fireworks on the 4 of July always make me weep; I know I wouldn’t be here if not for those stars in the sky; the heroes of freedom; the heroes of yesterday and today. Everyone who serves is a heroe; thank you to all men and women in uniform, past, present and future!
Happy Birthday!!
It is our nation’s birthday week and and I want to tell you I get sentimental ever 4th of July. I am an immigrant; I came to the U.S.A when I was 6 years old in 1976. I remember getting out of church that sweltering July day; being that we lived in a beach town the humidity was off the charts. As we were driving home for some much needed afternoon swimming in my uncle’s pool all of a sudden people starting honking their car horns. I noticed all the cars on the road had their lights on even though it was 12 p.m. I asked my uncle what was happening and he said as he kept honking his horn that it was our country’s 200th birthday. I was amazed because I had just come to live in the U.S. a couple of months before and I had never heard of a country that celebrated its birthday. That night we swam late, we ate lots of water melon and watched fire works light up the summer sky and I have loved celebrating Independence Day ever since. It is one of my favorite holidays…have a great 4th!
Eva Santiago 