Greek Mamas and Their Multiple Personalities

Protective, sensitive, passionate, fierce... a few words of the hundreds that could describe the breed of Greek moms! They're like cartoon characters with such strong traits that immediately separate them from the rest. You can't really describe the Greek mama with one word, though. She's got several sides to her:

The Cook

It's what she does. She cooks and she feeds. She cooks and she feeds. She's taken her role of prolonging the human species very seriously, that's for sure. How many times have you been force-fed? "Τι με κοιτάς παιδί μου; Φάε το φαγητό σου! Τα παιδάκια στην Αφρική δεν έχουν να φάνε κι εσύ που τα έχεις όλα, κάθεσαι και παίζεις με το φαγητό σου!"

This doesn't stop when you get older. You're now old enough to respond to the growling sensation in your stomach and recognize that it is hunger. After all, you are living alone in college. This small detail doesn't seem to matter to the Greek mom. Her usual question when she calls you: "Εφαγές σημερά; Τι έφαγες;" and then you hear "Πάλι βλακείες τρως; Εγώ φταίω που κάθομαι και σε ακούω! Αντί να πάρεις το φαγητό της μανούλας σου και να το έχεις έτοιμο εκει να το τρως όποτε πεινάς, κάθεσαι και μου τρως σκουπίδια απ'έξω!" And then the next time she sees you, she'll be the first to notice any change in your weight, no matter how trivial.

The Stylist

Yes, the stylist. She's got an opinion about everything you happen to be wearing throughout all of your life and all of the fashion stages you may go through. She insists that when she dressed you - up until your tenth birthday - it was the best you ever looked. On the other hand, looking at old pictures now, you swear you'll never make your kid wear anything that tacky!

"Pull your pants up" is her constant greeting when you're a teenager and when you decide to get a piercing, usually innocent, she'll scream: "Τώρα μάλιστα! Μετά από αυτό τι να περιμένω δηλαδή από εσένα; Άλλες 3 τρύπες στα αυτιά και μετά θα μου φέρεις και κανά παιδί στο σπίτι!" Getting a few extra piercings automatically means losing your morals.

(Read more about the Greek Mama at www.allthegreeks.com)

Image: http://christophermattix.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/mother-and-child.jpg