Speaker 1: It was give was popping with your girl a Mada
Speaker 1: and you're listening to Exactly a Mada, a production of
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio one. I'm always late. I'm always trying
Speaker 1: to find new topics, new things to talk about Thanksgiving me.
Speaker 1: I'm in my house. I don't know how it is
Speaker 1: in yours, but in my house, we don't do nothing.
Speaker 1: I really feel get Thanksgiving us more of a family,
Speaker 1: you know, family thing, um, And I'm just saying I
Speaker 1: don't have family that. But honestly, my mom immigrated here
Speaker 1: to the United States by herself and her family has
Speaker 1: become our friends. So we end up going to our
Speaker 1: friend's house or whatever. But in Lakasa and we don't
Speaker 1: do none of that. But I definitely want to know
Speaker 1: how do you spend your holidays? How do you spend
Speaker 1: your Thanksgiving? Go to exactly a Mada on Twitter and
Speaker 1: on Instagram and let me know how do you spend
Speaker 1: your holidays, especially Thanksgiving. But before I get into all
Speaker 1: the detail sales of what thanks Giving means to me,
Speaker 1: some memories that I've had when it comes to Thanksgiving, um,
Speaker 1: and my real thoughts on you know, coming together as
Speaker 1: a family and celebrating such an important Dame m because
Speaker 1: when there's unity, there's force. I first want to bring
Speaker 1: my producer as my guest, because last time we did
Speaker 1: this together, we did such a great job and the
Speaker 1: chemistry and the Bible was so good. He's always behind
Speaker 1: the scene, but this time I want him to be
Speaker 1: on the scene. So Alex was good, was popping. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for coming in today. No, don I'm
Speaker 1: glad to be back here with you again. I think
Speaker 1: that we did such a great job last time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought me back. Guess you wanted me
Speaker 1: to in your house better. Um, how do you spend
Speaker 1: your holidays? Well, now, Thanksgiving? Because Thanksgiving and benevery everything
Speaker 1: else fault you know, comes into play. But Thanksgiving, how
Speaker 1: do you celebrate it at home? Well, I'm glad you
Speaker 1: brought that up, because you know what I think. Every year,
Speaker 1: earlier and earlier, people start putting out Christmas decorations right
Speaker 1: like it's crazy. You go to the stores everywhere is
Speaker 1: like Christmas is the very first right after Halloween, everybody
Speaker 1: starts putting Christmas things up. I know. Yeah. So um,
Speaker 1: as far as for me, like from what I remember
Speaker 1: as a kid growing up, like, Um, I lived in
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico on top I was eight years old, So
Speaker 1: I don't think we we celebrate I can't remember that
Speaker 1: far back, unfortunately, but I don't think we um really
Speaker 1: celebrated anything on the island with Thanksgiving. I mean we
Speaker 1: had parties, right because living down there in the island,
Speaker 1: you had parties for the entirety of the holiday season.
Speaker 1: But UM, I do remember coming back here to the
Speaker 1: United States, uh, to live. That's when things really started
Speaker 1: like kicking for me and remembering like my earliest you
Speaker 1: know memory of all this was going to my cousin's house,
Speaker 1: um and having everyone come over and being like who
Speaker 1: are these people? Right? Like I just came here to
Speaker 1: the States. I don't know who anybody is. But it
Speaker 1: was a good way for me to kind of get
Speaker 1: into the whole and in the way this country celebrates
Speaker 1: it right with food and and everything. It's it's really remarkable.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so that was that was like my earliest,
Speaker 1: uh memory. Did you ever like as a kid growing up,
Speaker 1: did you go to people's houses? Did you did you
Speaker 1: did your mom ever do anything at home or was
Speaker 1: it just completely skipped over? My mom was my mom
Speaker 1: was always working during the holidays because my mom used
Speaker 1: to work, and it's these places where like it's very
Speaker 1: it's very worn amongst the Latino community. But they sell
Speaker 1: the food by the pound. So my mom for the holidays,
Speaker 1: she used to have to cook, you know, for everybody
Speaker 1: else they wanted to come to the store and take
Speaker 1: food for home. So I remember just being in the
Speaker 1: kitchen with her until like the next day. She would
Speaker 1: literally not sleep, she would be there cooking for so long.
Speaker 1: The holidays never really was a thing for me, And
Speaker 1: I almost feel like Thanksgiving to me, it should really
Speaker 1: be about coming together the family. Let's share, you know, memories.
Speaker 1: I mean, at least that's how we want to do
Speaker 1: with my family. But let's share memories. So what that goes?
Speaker 1: And to me, it's like Thanksgiving us about the food.
Speaker 1: Everybody wants to come to your house accoman. I don't
Speaker 1: have like the most positive outlook when it comes to
Speaker 1: certain holidays. Um and then I don't know, I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to be stingy batom. I feel like, I mean,
Speaker 1: if you go to somebody's house, I just feel like
Speaker 1: rules and regulations are jew don't come here empty handed.
Speaker 1: They just gonna and your mouth ready to eat. Now,
Speaker 1: if you go to somebody's house, you know Hugo takes
Speaker 1: something better. Don't just show up to people's house. They
Speaker 1: get ready to eat and you want to take you
Speaker 1: want to take to your house for the next three
Speaker 1: or four days. No, no, you have to have some
Speaker 1: you know, that's the important when you talk about the protocoloclo,
Speaker 1: the etiquette when it comes to going to somebody else's
Speaker 1: house for the holidays. One, let's get to it. What
Speaker 1: if you're bringing kids and I'm getting ready for mind
Speaker 1: and I already have my speech together. If you you
Speaker 1: better not act like you're hungry. You're better ask for anything.
Speaker 1: You better stitch your ass down roof. So you're just
Speaker 1: like when my mom when I would go, when I
Speaker 1: would go to the to my parents, to my family's house,
Speaker 1: even my aunts and uncle's, they'd be like, oh, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: if you need to use the bathroom exactly, because then
Speaker 1: it'll be like you ain't got no damn manners, and
Speaker 1: then you'll be eating. Okay, you never see no food
Speaker 1: in your house. You starting it because everybody got to
Speaker 1: be like, damn you bad parents. Your kid comes over
Speaker 1: here hungry as hell, tearry everything up Amida seeing that
Speaker 1: they don't touch nothing east and then you squeeze your
Speaker 1: lips like this and you look at if I'll see you,
Speaker 1: just so I get your kids together. Practice that, don't touch,
Speaker 1: don't ask for nothing, speech at home. That's one two.
Speaker 1: If you're gonna be there, you know. Another thing, it's
Speaker 1: not just don't touch anything, but that's because if you're
Speaker 1: going to somebody else's house, you would have a good time.
Speaker 1: It is your duty as a parent to make sure
Speaker 1: you have your kids under control. Nobody else should be
Speaker 1: babysitting your kid. I don't care who it is. You know,
Speaker 1: everybody's trying to have a good time and celebrate. So
Speaker 1: that's important. See if stella. Another thing, no say DNA,
Speaker 1: don't don't I know, get handed that you eat with
Speaker 1: your eyes and don't say you get to play and
Speaker 1: you just get you and you just stuff. You're playing
Speaker 1: full of stuff, get it, you don't get to eat it,
Speaker 1: and then you throw it away as hope. That is
Speaker 1: so that is so messed up to have to throw
Speaker 1: the food away. Get didn't know, get a small portion,
Speaker 1: get what you're gonna eat, and if you want seconds
Speaker 1: get yoursse up and get a little bit more. But
Speaker 1: I don't throw away the food. Oh something my parents
Speaker 1: also taught me. Yeah. Yeah. Another thing if you if
Speaker 1: you're gonna go to somebody else, like I said before,
Speaker 1: no stop at the supermarket and just get something or ask, right,
Speaker 1: because that's not That's another thing, Mina. I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: to your house, but you like me to take something.
Speaker 1: For the most part, they're gonna be like, oh no, no no, no,
Speaker 1: don't bring anything. But if you bring it, they're gonna
Speaker 1: take it. So if you don't know what to take,
Speaker 1: you can always take dessert. You can't go wrong with
Speaker 1: that day that you apple pie umbo, whatever brings something
Speaker 1: that's out of courtesy, especially if you're thinking of taking food.
Speaker 1: Another thing, don't go into people's house with a damn
Speaker 1: plastic container from your car. They can let me get
Speaker 1: the container from my car so I can take some
Speaker 1: leftovers to my house. Don't don't do that. That's so
Speaker 1: messed up. Do you have any any etiquete or any
Speaker 1: rules and regulations not to break? Yeah? So, um, that
Speaker 1: was number one. My father was a cook in Puerto
Speaker 1: Rico right for many years before we moved out. Here
Speaker 1: and he always wanted to make the pin. Always always
Speaker 1: like we didn't we didn't eat. Yeah, we had turkey,
Speaker 1: but it was like a minimal amount. But we would
Speaker 1: also bring the pnin just in case. And that was
Speaker 1: one thing he would always say, like, I'm gonna bring something.
Speaker 1: And my aunt we would always go to house shout
Speaker 1: out and um, she would go and obviously her oven
Speaker 1: would be full of making everything else right, So we would,
Speaker 1: you know, all take our pieces of what we wanted
Speaker 1: to whether it be or whatever, we would make it.
Speaker 1: And always every year until I left my home to
Speaker 1: to go to the Marines, we would always bring something,
Speaker 1: no matter what, you know, whatever flying you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So that for me now is a grown up that's
Speaker 1: instilled in me. So any time I go to my
Speaker 1: parents house or anyone's house that I end up going to,
Speaker 1: we either bring some type of of dessert, we bring
Speaker 1: some time, you know, like you said, you know, you
Speaker 1: bring that with you. Um. And as of late, now
Speaker 1: that I'm older and i'm you know, thinking back about
Speaker 1: when my parents were my age, that right now, that
Speaker 1: coquito you make your own coquito, you bring it in
Speaker 1: as asked, that special drink you know, for everyone. So yeah,
Speaker 1: so I have my My two daughters were the same way.
Speaker 1: I would. We would go to my parents house when
Speaker 1: I was groing up because I was divorced, so I
Speaker 1: would take my daughters with me and I'd be the
Speaker 1: same to hey, listen, if you guys want anything, you asked. Now.
Speaker 1: I wasn't as strict as my parents with me, right
Speaker 1: like if I hear you breathe, we're leaving, you know,
Speaker 1: but yeah, but I would. I would grant them, you know,
Speaker 1: the ability, and you know this is the thing, and
Speaker 1: your mom's gonna do it, so get ready for this.
Speaker 1: Uh once their grandparents, whatever rules you had will never
Speaker 1: apply to that kid or in yours two kids, you know,
Speaker 1: so you gotta gotta get ready because they're gonna be spoiled.
Speaker 1: That's crazy because my mom used to beat my ass,
Speaker 1: and I remember I used to go to my room
Speaker 1: and be like you fucking and I would just hit
Speaker 1: everything and I would just be like, you know what,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I can't when you go to sleep,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna wake up and you're gonna I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: be here. And I would get my book bag and
Speaker 1: I would stuff closed in there and everything, and I
Speaker 1: would just stand behind the door like just watch, and
Speaker 1: then I would I would literally like try to leave
Speaker 1: and then bring my ass right back home. So, you know,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of things that I did that
Speaker 1: I think that my my kids are obviously probably gonna
Speaker 1: do it to me because the saco repeats. But I
Speaker 1: told my mom, Mommy, well, this is just changing topics
Speaker 1: real quick. But do you think that when I have
Speaker 1: my kids, um, you're going to spank them? And I
Speaker 1: spank them beat them? Asked spanking I don't know about
Speaker 1: and she was like no, because you beat the hell
Speaker 1: out of me. I still got scars in my legs. Yo,
Speaker 1: you baby, someone that I even turned out to be
Speaker 1: an artist. And I'm like saying no to violence because
Speaker 1: I'm not saying they get a child abuse so bad,
Speaker 1: don't Sometimes talking doesn't work. Every parent has their own method.
Speaker 1: By the way, we should do a show about that.
Speaker 1: But every parent has their own method. I parents use.
Speaker 1: Some of them used to use the belt, the hangar,
Speaker 1: the branch whatever from the tree. Everybody had their own
Speaker 1: thing and things work differently for you know, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: take your eye part away or whatever. I personally think
Speaker 1: that after you say things two times, you're three, that's
Speaker 1: an automatic. I'm gonna beat your ass. That's it. Like,
Speaker 1: that's it. It's like it's like when you're driving and
Speaker 1: you get a warning. After that you get a ticket.
Speaker 1: So it's like I've already warned you, and I warned
Speaker 1: you about what's gonna happen. So that's it. But with
Speaker 1: that being said, you know who deserves to get some
Speaker 1: ass beats too. Anybody that goes to your house with
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving and gets drunk, your ass needs to get a
Speaker 1: whooping me that we're not doing that. Don't go into somebody.
Speaker 1: I know that you get excited. I know that you
Speaker 1: get happy. I know I get that part. Beat Obama
Speaker 1: with your mouth. If you already know that you're feeling
Speaker 1: a little sassy, you're feel little saucy. They wore they
Speaker 1: want to drinks. Three drinks for drinks. Yeah, yeah, that
Speaker 1: way on. Where are we going? Where we gotta go
Speaker 1: all the way over there. Keep it keep it nice,
Speaker 1: keep it juicy, keep it light. And another thing that's
Speaker 1: very important also is that during the holidays, we also
Speaker 1: know that a lot of people have accidents, you know,
Speaker 1: and we want to prevent everybody from No, don't drink
Speaker 1: and drive. I know you've already heard this a thousand times.
Speaker 1: You're still gonna do whatever you want, but at least
Speaker 1: I told you don't do it. Drink enough to feel good,
Speaker 1: to feel nice, and even after you're drinking. If you
Speaker 1: feel that you need to stay at this person's house,
Speaker 1: stay and if for any of to what reason they
Speaker 1: don't let you stay in their house, stay in your Carntana,
Speaker 1: get in your car, take your seat back and just chill, relax,
Speaker 1: chill till you feel good. If you know, if you're
Speaker 1: intuition tells you you know. I ate too much. I've
Speaker 1: been drinking too much. I had way too much fun.
Speaker 1: I'm tired, be tired. That's it. Don't go anywhere because
Speaker 1: and and not only that, the drinking and driving better
Speaker 1: the pup pos. The puppos know what time it is
Speaker 1: and they is ready outside in the streets, ready to
Speaker 1: give you all that ticket. So I get control that
Speaker 1: I'm being as goes for the family members. If you
Speaker 1: have any friends, time being that you know you see
Speaker 1: your friend getting a little bit late. I feel I
Speaker 1: may be wrong. It is your responsibility as a friend
Speaker 1: or as a family member, have you see somebody doing
Speaker 1: too much? I don't just watch them drinking, going crazy
Speaker 1: and not say anything. And you see them get in
Speaker 1: the car and you're like, okay, we'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Say something, because then God forbids something goes wrong, you're
Speaker 1: gonna feel so guilty and so responsible. Right. And it's
Speaker 1: always this time of the year that the most accidents happened,
Speaker 1: and and it's proven that they usually happened after holiday
Speaker 1: parties or holiday events. And just like you mentioned that
Speaker 1: my uncle loved to drink. He had his course light
Speaker 1: every Friday after work, had this little course light. Um,
Speaker 1: and you knew my uncle was feeling uh, you know
Speaker 1: great when came on boy your boy, you know when
Speaker 1: he would turn on that chat that he knew he
Speaker 1: was already saucy, you know. And that's one thing. You're
Speaker 1: the host, you know, you're you're at home. But he
Speaker 1: was also had the right mind to know that if
Speaker 1: he was feeling good, possible other family members were filling
Speaker 1: saucy as well. And there was always an inflatable couch.
Speaker 1: There was always a room to give away if need
Speaker 1: be right. Um, there was always a couch to sleep on.
Speaker 1: It didn't matter. And that was one thing that we
Speaker 1: did a lot. We my cousins would were living by
Speaker 1: Coney Island in Brooklyn and I live in Jersey, so
Speaker 1: we knew that, you know, traveling that late at night,
Speaker 1: knowing that people were also in the road, perhaps drinking.
Speaker 1: My uncle would say, hey, you know you're staying here,
Speaker 1: make sure you pack a bag. So we did that
Speaker 1: for many years where we would stay by them until
Speaker 1: they moved to Jersey. And even then we still you know,
Speaker 1: even though we lived like ten blocks away, we would
Speaker 1: still just stay over the night or whatever, you know,
Speaker 1: and it was it was great. I do have a
Speaker 1: question for you, though, did you guys um ever have
Speaker 1: you said you went even as a younger, you guys
Speaker 1: went to other people's houses. Yeah, I would go to
Speaker 1: other people's houses. Not everything's giving because for the most part,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it is that when I was younger,
Speaker 1: my mom was the one working, and then as an adult,
Speaker 1: it's funny how unconsciously you repeat the psyche. Then it
Speaker 1: wasn't like a thing for me to like Thanksgiving, Christmas.
Speaker 1: None of those things have ever been a thing to me.
Speaker 1: I don't really it sounds messed up, but I don't
Speaker 1: really care too much for it. I'm like, is there work?
Speaker 1: Is there a show? Can I be on stage? Is
Speaker 1: there a radio show? What am I doing? I feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, the holidays, it is time for you to work,
Speaker 1: and it's like, you know the rest of the time.
Speaker 1: But even like last year. Last year, I was on
Speaker 1: stage with people. I was on stage with a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of big artists. It was a huge concert here
Speaker 1: at Bayside, Miami, and it was New Year's and everybody
Speaker 1: was with their families and the grains. And to me,
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm over here rehearsing with my dancers,
Speaker 1: getting my show together. So it hasn't really been a
Speaker 1: thing to me. Battle I always did, you know, try
Speaker 1: if I could to go to somebody's house just for
Speaker 1: the food. Really, do you feel you want to change
Speaker 1: that for your for your kids? Do you feel like
Speaker 1: you want to start your own traditions and something moving
Speaker 1: forward to they can they can have that as well.
Speaker 1: It is so weird, but all of a sudden, since
Speaker 1: I've had this motherly instinct thing happening inside of me
Speaker 1: or whatever, now I'm thinking like, oh mother, Now I'm
Speaker 1: thinking like my mom, and I'm like, what the hell.
Speaker 1: So yes, I'm thinking about like, oh, you know I
Speaker 1: want to give them is I want to give them
Speaker 1: things that they can pass down to their kids and
Speaker 1: be like, oh no, my mom gave this to me.
Speaker 1: So all those things that I couldn't do, I want to.
Speaker 1: I'm such a workaholic. It's like to me, it's like
Speaker 1: I work sometimes even sometimes to do this podcast. I'd
Speaker 1: be caught up like, oh my god, I'm doing so
Speaker 1: many things. But at the same time, now that I
Speaker 1: have kids coming on the way, I feel like I
Speaker 1: want to make time for them. I want to be
Speaker 1: able to say no, these days I don't work because
Speaker 1: I want to be able to give them that time.
Speaker 1: So definitely, I want to change, you know, change the
Speaker 1: traditions of not celebrating things giving or Christmas and doing
Speaker 1: it and showing them that this is a time for
Speaker 1: us to come together as a family and doing all
Speaker 1: those things that I never got to do. So most definitely,
Speaker 1: and I want to create my own traditions too. There's
Speaker 1: things that for example, um, I don't know, you can
Speaker 1: come up with you can come up with something that's different,
Speaker 1: that's special, that no one has done in your family,
Speaker 1: but it stays amongst you guys, and they'll always have
Speaker 1: those memories like, oh my god, I remember what my
Speaker 1: dad used to do this La da da da, And
Speaker 1: you know it's new, it's different. You could just come
Speaker 1: up with it. It could be the smallest little thing,
Speaker 1: but what seems small to you will be big to
Speaker 1: them that they will always remember, like, damn, I remember
Speaker 1: you used to do this, you know, so I definitely
Speaker 1: want to create those memories for them. And I think
Speaker 1: most I think most of it for you, a madam,
Speaker 1: might be coming from the fact that your mom did work.
Speaker 1: Your mom had to work. Your mom was trying to
Speaker 1: provide for the family. Was very It wasn't very easy
Speaker 1: for her to come by right, to have to build
Speaker 1: those traditions. But she was still trying to give you
Speaker 1: that time even though she had to work, right, because
Speaker 1: you are now, you know, you're very fortunate to now
Speaker 1: to be able to care for your mom right and
Speaker 1: give her, give her those ting I'm about to try
Speaker 1: to take your hands back to work, but I hear
Speaker 1: you thanksgiving to work. It's tough about here in the streets.
Speaker 1: I got too many damn bills and I got two kids.
Speaker 1: Hell but yeah, so so I think for you now
Speaker 1: as you you're right, it's a mother intuition, right, And
Speaker 1: for me I was I got married very young. Um,
Speaker 1: and you know I had my kids very young. So
Speaker 1: which is right? By the way, I almost feel like
Speaker 1: I wish it depends And I'm gonna ask you this too.
Speaker 1: I do not even in and we'll talk about this
Speaker 1: data too, and this is another episode. But um, when
Speaker 1: when you have kids earlier, I almost feel like you
Speaker 1: mature faster and then you get to enjoy your kids.
Speaker 1: Your kids are growing up with you, you get to
Speaker 1: enjoy them. But then, so those are the benefits, but
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things you don't get to experience,
Speaker 1: and a lot of things you don't get to live.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things you have to like cut off.
Speaker 1: But then when you get older, it's like, Okay, I
Speaker 1: already live my life. Now I want to have my kids,
Speaker 1: and it's like, yeah, but now I'm old and I'm tired.
Speaker 1: Anybody got time for that? Um? You know, how do
Speaker 1: you feel that the holidays have been for you since
Speaker 1: since you actually had your kids early? Yeah? So, um,
Speaker 1: obviously I had a great Um, you know family upbringing,
Speaker 1: with the with the events and stuff like that. And
Speaker 1: you know there was times that my dad was a
Speaker 1: truck driver, so yes there was times he had to work,
Speaker 1: but um he would try to get off early, and
Speaker 1: you know we could do the trans the Thanksgiving traditions
Speaker 1: and whatever. But yeah, so once I had my kids, um,
Speaker 1: I I kind of like instilled all those things into them, right.
Speaker 1: I passed it down like this is what we did,
Speaker 1: this is how we grew up and do. Once I
Speaker 1: got divorced, um, you know, you you do the separates, right,
Speaker 1: so you now there's two thanksgivings and to what whatnot?
Speaker 1: So I did my best to give them as much
Speaker 1: of me as possible. So like Thanksgivings will be would
Speaker 1: be split. Right. They would do early with their mom,
Speaker 1: late with me. But I still give them the traditions
Speaker 1: and for me myself, Um, I would have to. They
Speaker 1: would sometimes sleep over some more or less. They would
Speaker 1: go with their mom back home late at night. Um.
Speaker 1: So because of that arrangement that I had with her,
Speaker 1: I still was able to go out and do my things.
Speaker 1: I was still able to go out if I wanted
Speaker 1: to go to you know, with my adult friends to
Speaker 1: like a small event. But you gave a really good
Speaker 1: point that I hadn't even thought about, because that's what
Speaker 1: I'm saying now, thinking as an adult, now, thinking as
Speaker 1: a parent, how do you think that that may have affected?
Speaker 1: Or did it affect or did it it did it
Speaker 1: take some time for the for them to accustomed to,
Speaker 1: like we have to split sometimes with that sometimes how
Speaker 1: was that so for for them? For them it was
Speaker 1: it was kind of seamless. Because see when I separated
Speaker 1: from my ex wife, Uh, they were young, they were
Speaker 1: they were young. There were three and one. So, um,
Speaker 1: they had questions coming up, right because obviously you know
Speaker 1: she got remarried or whatever. But it was more or
Speaker 1: less like her and I can say had a really
Speaker 1: good working relationship as parents. Right, So we knew that
Speaker 1: the holidays were pretty big for both of us, right,
Speaker 1: so we would split it a certain way, We would
Speaker 1: act certain ways with the kids. We would come together
Speaker 1: to give gifts or whatnot. So for Thanksgiving itself, though, um,
Speaker 1: there was times that I would get invited over by
Speaker 1: her mom, you know. So I had a really great
Speaker 1: relationship with her parents. I still do, and I would
Speaker 1: come over and have a little bit of a food before,
Speaker 1: you know, before I took off to go see my parents.
Speaker 1: So for them, um, they never had it bad amount
Speaker 1: of because they saw that there was there was some
Speaker 1: type of good friendship there. There wasn't an animosity, there
Speaker 1: wasn't any bitterness or anything like anybody arguing. So we yeah,
Speaker 1: I gave them that. And growing up now now they're
Speaker 1: one and eighteen, oh my god, yes, got used to that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so they're doing whatever they want and and you know,
Speaker 1: and even now, like they still I've instilled the traditions
Speaker 1: of like Thanksgiving and coming together as a family. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, and I grew up over yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: And you know I grew I grew up in this country, right,
Speaker 1: so since the age of eight, so you know, you
Speaker 1: grew up with with um, with other friends of mine
Speaker 1: that have traditions like that, you know, like getting together
Speaker 1: and whatnot. So you know, for I wanted to kind
Speaker 1: of like continue to give them that even now is
Speaker 1: they're older. The first thing they asked me about it
Speaker 1: is like, hey, what time you guys doing dinner or
Speaker 1: you know, like when you know, and I'm like, I
Speaker 1: know they drive, but me as a down you guys
Speaker 1: need me to pick you up. What's up? You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. You know whatever, you guys need to
Speaker 1: just let me know. Dad though, I'm not even going
Speaker 1: to fry, like I'm still in my thirties. So that's
Speaker 1: the good thing, you know, That's what I'm saying. I
Speaker 1: feel like, oh my good Lord, I want to be out,
Speaker 1: Lord help me. I want to be an all boring
Speaker 1: mom because I'm late now. But when my kids are
Speaker 1: like in their twenties, I would be like, look, I
Speaker 1: don't shoot your ass. I ain't going on. But mom's
Speaker 1: moms have changed your changed your your your new age style. Mom,
Speaker 1: know you're gonna be hipping cool, You're gonna have your
Speaker 1: you know, I think that for you a matter. I
Speaker 1: think you're gonna have such a great time with your kids.
Speaker 1: I think that, Um, I could already see the change
Speaker 1: in you, and I already see what's happening. And I
Speaker 1: can tell you that I think once you start, you know,
Speaker 1: a year from now, we could be doing this podcast
Speaker 1: again and you will be in a totally different world.
Speaker 1: You know, close the door up. But you'll also you'll
Speaker 1: also be thinking, like a mom, what can I do
Speaker 1: to make this special for them, right, so that you know,
Speaker 1: something like Thanksgiving, Now you're gonna start a tradition with
Speaker 1: your mom, right that your mom is going to be
Speaker 1: involved with. Right. So whether it be whether it be
Speaker 1: the kids running around saying, you know, Grandma woke up
Speaker 1: early or whatever she's making you know. Uh. And that's
Speaker 1: one thing I remember a matter was waking up because
Speaker 1: my dad would wake up, like at four o'clock in
Speaker 1: the morning to put the panel in the oven. Right,
Speaker 1: so you wake up with that smell in the house,
Speaker 1: and you know, you have the little chat playing in
Speaker 1: the background or already you know, um Mega over here
Speaker 1: be playing a little bit of Christmas music, you know,
Speaker 1: so like it's it's it's those things that you're going
Speaker 1: to feel when you have your kids. And you know,
Speaker 1: something else that I do want to teach my kids.
Speaker 1: It sounds uh, it don't sound awkward, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: teach them how to clean after Thanksgiving parties over. That's
Speaker 1: another thing. Let's hit that point when you go to
Speaker 1: somebody's house or even if it's in your own house,
Speaker 1: I don't care how big how small you are, because
Speaker 1: usually they'll leave it to the elderly, they'll leave it
Speaker 1: to the mom's familia or latilla or whoever. And those
Speaker 1: everybody wants to act Okay, I'm already stuff, I can't move,
Speaker 1: they can't have food coma and those say I'm stuck
Speaker 1: over here. No, no, no. That's another etiquette that we
Speaker 1: have to learn. When somebody cooks, you have to participate
Speaker 1: somehow or at least offer even if they tell, you know,
Speaker 1: you don't have to like what they say, Oh do
Speaker 1: you need any help? And you're praying inside that they
Speaker 1: stay no. But you know, if they ask me out
Speaker 1: or you know, whatever, it's it's a nice way. Also
Speaker 1: if you participating, if you didn't bring anything, you know,
Speaker 1: or whatever, you didn't know what to come up with,
Speaker 1: at least try to offer some help, you know, because
Speaker 1: they already went out there, they bought the food, they've
Speaker 1: been cooking since earlier in the day. They try to
Speaker 1: give the best, you know, um ambiance. They've been a
Speaker 1: great host. Just put a little bit of your part
Speaker 1: and I'm sure that they're going to be thankful that
Speaker 1: you at least tried. Yeah, And that's the and that's
Speaker 1: the thing, right, So like we knew that that met
Speaker 1: she would be making um the night before gadiando. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we knew that they were up the night before.
Speaker 1: We knew my father was up the night before making
Speaker 1: the petness. So like for me and my cousin you know,
Speaker 1: and everyone else, the first thing we would do is
Speaker 1: like once everything's done, like we would you know, try
Speaker 1: to sneak our way back into the bedroom to go
Speaker 1: play some sega. But we would kind of just like,
Speaker 1: you know, help out and clean up a little bit.
Speaker 1: And that's what my my daughters do now. You know,
Speaker 1: they're like very helpful, they're very hands on, um, you know,
Speaker 1: and and and they've they've I just I just believe
Speaker 1: that you're going to have the same experiences and you're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to do that for them as well. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, give them, give them etiquettes, right, help clean
Speaker 1: up um whatever that, whatever it is that you think
Speaker 1: should be done. And again, this is something great because
Speaker 1: you're doing it for the first time for your not
Speaker 1: only for yourself and your kids, but you're you have
Speaker 1: your mother involved, right, which is great. Your mom is here,
Speaker 1: your mom still young, your mom still you know, vibing
Speaker 1: and doing her thing. You know, I know, I definitely
Speaker 1: feel like one. You know, I wanted you guys to
Speaker 1: hear today on the podcast exactly not just about my
Speaker 1: own personal experiences, but also just hitting certain points just
Speaker 1: in case you forgot certain etiquettes that you do have
Speaker 1: to have or that you should have when you go
Speaker 1: to other people's house or even in your own house,
Speaker 1: expect these things from people that come into your household. Um,
Speaker 1: but also to just share, you know, my my thoughts,
Speaker 1: my feelings of how now you know, I am going
Speaker 1: to start creating my own traditions. I'm gonna start actually
Speaker 1: um being part and and now I feel like I
Speaker 1: am creating my own tribe. I am creating my own people.
Speaker 1: Now I feel like, damn after these kids, I didn't
Speaker 1: have more kids, so I can continue to do it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: create more people that I can. You know, rule, I
Speaker 1: am the leader of my of my empire. But I
Speaker 1: think it's important to remember at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: the things giving really is about coming together as a family,
Speaker 1: coming together as a whole. And when I say family,
Speaker 1: family doesn't just mean the people that you are blood
Speaker 1: related to. There's some there's some people that you meet
Speaker 1: throughout life that become your friends, that become more than
Speaker 1: friends and become real family. There's more. In my case,
Speaker 1: I have more real friends that have turned out to
Speaker 1: be family for me than my own family. UM, invite them.
Speaker 1: That's another thing. Don't forget. Don't feel like, oh, this
Speaker 1: person might already be doing something. Just the action of
Speaker 1: the thought of you calling someone or reaching out to
Speaker 1: them or texting them. Ay, listen, if you're not doing
Speaker 1: anything for Thanksgiving, come through, just that small little action.
Speaker 1: You don't know what that can mean to someone, because
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, a lot of people
Speaker 1: are are putting a facade or showing you what they
Speaker 1: want you to see of them, and you truly don't
Speaker 1: know what they may be going through, whether it's financially, emotionally,
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be. So just a little offer
Speaker 1: of like y'o listen, come through, there's some food at
Speaker 1: the crib. Just come vibe, you know, and even if
Speaker 1: they say no, at least you put out that positive energy,
Speaker 1: You put out that love for them. Um. So I
Speaker 1: think that that's super important. Like I said, Thanksgiving is
Speaker 1: not just about how I'm all stuff my face as
Speaker 1: somebody's house. You know, it's a moment to come together.
Speaker 1: If you haven't spoken to somebody in your family in
Speaker 1: a long time, take this opportunity to reach out. Or
Speaker 1: if they're there and they're just sitting there, whatever, even
Speaker 1: if you see them once a year, but have that
Speaker 1: bonding connection. Another thing, Drop the damn phone. Drop the phone.
Speaker 1: Most people want to go to all these you know events,
Speaker 1: the holidays. Yes, I get it. You want to have
Speaker 1: memor reason, you want to post on Instagram, dada, but
Speaker 1: don't post that you're a happy family on Instagram to
Speaker 1: then get off Instagram and then ignore the fact that
Speaker 1: they're there the moment that you're there. Be present. I
Speaker 1: think that right now it is so important. And I'm
Speaker 1: learning this myself because I am a phone like freak.
Speaker 1: I'm on my phone all day, I'm on Instagram, on
Speaker 1: this and all these, all these things. But learn to
Speaker 1: be present. If you're there for two or three hours,
Speaker 1: namas or whatever the kids may be. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: you can't look at it or you know, FaceTime a
Speaker 1: family member that's far away, then maybe can't make it,
Speaker 1: and you're creating that family bond by doing that. Um better,
Speaker 1: don't be on your phone, instagramming and everybody else when
Speaker 1: you're right there at a moment, you're you're missing the moment,
Speaker 1: you're not living the moment because you're caught up on
Speaker 1: somebody else's life on social media. So drop the phone,
Speaker 1: enjoy the moment, and if you do use your phone,
Speaker 1: use it to create memories, use it to take pictures,
Speaker 1: use it to take videos downloaded on your phone on
Speaker 1: your eye cloud. So the years from now, you can
Speaker 1: show it to your kids, you can show it to
Speaker 1: your family. You can have these memories because we're here
Speaker 1: today and we could be gone tomorrow. You know, sometimes
Speaker 1: we we take life for granted. We take our friends
Speaker 1: for granted, we take we take the people that love
Speaker 1: us to support us, the people that care about us
Speaker 1: for granted, like you know, whatever. From as there, from there,
Speaker 1: it's like, no, say I love you, say thank you,
Speaker 1: say something nice, don't start, no fight, don't start, no beat,
Speaker 1: don't go to you know what I mean? Oh? Because
Speaker 1: what I need? You said this about me? Because I
Speaker 1: remember this is not the time. We just went through
Speaker 1: the coronavirus. We are the survivors. Okay, we just survived
Speaker 1: the pandemic. So please this year, let's be grateful. Let's
Speaker 1: be cool. Let's have a vibe. Let's let's appreciate the
Speaker 1: fact that we're still here. A lot of people didn't
Speaker 1: make it. A lot of people are gonna have to
Speaker 1: celebrate these things giving and their gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of empty seats on that table. You know, let's be
Speaker 1: grateful the fact that we're still here. We have our health,
Speaker 1: we have our family. Um, and if for anything, so
Speaker 1: my reason, you lost a family member, I'm so sorry
Speaker 1: for your loss, um, but let's share the memories of
Speaker 1: when they were here in a happy place, you know,
Speaker 1: grateful that God gave you the opportunity of being able
Speaker 1: to share and experience that life with that person. I
Speaker 1: just want this year to be more of a positive vibe.
Speaker 1: There's so much negativity happening already in the world that
Speaker 1: if you have a little couple of Thanksgiving going to familia,
Speaker 1: make the best out of it. Make the wellow me know,
Speaker 1: make jokes, you know, have take shots, dance so many
Speaker 1: you know, child to pull somebody out and me like, oh,
Speaker 1: let's there's make the best out of this year. You
Speaker 1: got the power to to make that difference because you
Speaker 1: narrate your story. It's it's really up to you. Either
Speaker 1: you could sit there, be bored, look crazy, look you know, tired,
Speaker 1: or have an attitude, or you could be like, you
Speaker 1: know what, I'm going to take control of this situation
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna change the narrative. Right agreed, present like that,
Speaker 1: that should be, that should be Today's go to be present,
Speaker 1: be president, be president, be there, enjoy the moment and
Speaker 1: and just celebrate things giving from your heart like me
Speaker 1: minute minute. And I'm so excited because this year I'm
Speaker 1: gonna start. I'm gonna start my own tradition. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: and my babies are not even here, but I just
Speaker 1: want to start practicing. Um. With that being said, you
Speaker 1: know that I love you guys, think you so much
Speaker 1: as usual for joining exactly and made my producer Alex
Speaker 1: Cardoza or car Cardoza, uh, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: always being such a cool producer, for always having such
Speaker 1: a good vibe. Um, you know, in my I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have you my things giving in spirit because I'm sure
Speaker 1: you're gonna be with your family that I'm being post
Speaker 1: some videos and some pictures of your traditions. I want
Speaker 1: to see what you guys do for Thanksgiving. Posted and
Speaker 1: hashtag exactly a Model, whether it's on Twitter or on Instagram.
Speaker 1: Go to our our social media platforms at exactly a mata.
Speaker 1: You can also check out all of our podcasts on
Speaker 1: YouTube at exactly a mata on the search bar, or
Speaker 1: a made la Negra or adela a l N just
Speaker 1: gonna find it um. Don't forget to rate us, rate
Speaker 1: us five stars. You already know this podcast is lit.
Speaker 1: We always bring you new content, new information. Sometimes it's
Speaker 1: more fun than others. Sometimes you know, we gotta educate
Speaker 1: and sometimes we just you here talking ship. But hey,
Speaker 1: we need that sometimes too, So don't forget to rate us,
Speaker 1: and share this podcast with all your friends, with your
Speaker 1: anybody that you know. Share especially if you know that
Speaker 1: there's somebody that needs to hear this, share this podcast
Speaker 1: with them. Exactly a Model. This has been a production
Speaker 1: of my Heart Radio's Michael tap podcast Network. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts on I Heart, visit the i Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.
Speaker 1: Already know what time it is is your girl Mada.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to exactly Amata and enjoy your holidays.
Speaker 1: Sinking Game