My Mexican Family

I just returned from The Woods today with the Squeaker.  It is Spring Break in El Paso so a lot of my family, including my grandma, caravan-ed out to Houston to stay with my parents for the week.  4 out of my dad’s 7 siblings were at my parents house along with their families.  Now I love El Paso and going to El Paso to see everyone but I love it even more when they come to Houston to stay with the ‘rents.  At one point there were 25 family members in the house.

We went to El Paso over New Year’s.  Sometimes there are good visits with the fam and sometimes there are not so good visits.  It’s just the way the cookie crumbles.  This New Year trip to introduce la familia to Olivia was a not so good one.  I just was not prepared for the onslaught of parenting advice that we got and by the end was totally burnt out.

This visit was not like that at all.  It was great.  I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.  It was what a family should be and I wished that my family lived closer so that we could have these moments more often.  It was just so nice to have everyone sitting wherever they could find space eating beans and rice and enchiladas.  It reminded me of the times when we still lived in El Paso and at least once a week we would have dinners like this at my grandma’s.  Like Thanksgiving or Christmas but without all the pressure and expectations.

I really want Olivia to experience this all the time.  I know that we will only be able to go to El Paso a couple times a year.  Maybe we could get our friends together for something like this.  I don’t know.  Maybe I just miss my family.  They’re big, they’re loud, they’re pushy, they’re busybodies but, man, do I love ’em.