NAG, according to Merriam Webster, is to cause (someone) to feel annoyed for a long period of time.
Nag is a verb. Nagger is my mom—I mean, a noun.
Growing up, my mama would always talk to me with her voice 10 times the volume. This is, I think and I believe, her natural voice when she talks to me. For 22 years, I am so used to hearing her voice from the moment I am dreaming until I fall asleep. It is definitely a part of my everyday life.
Twenty-two and a half years into this world and let me tell you about my momma. She is:
Human alarm clock
I STARTED going to school at 4—well, I believe that time she wasn’t a human alarm clock, yet. She would calmly wake up her little baby to prepare for school. But when I reached high school [the phase where we, well, all get lazy], she would always shout “Perosa! Ano ba! Papasok ka pa ba?” all the way from the kitchen and, believe me, I can hear it from my room with all doors and windows closed. Even now that I am already working, she would still yell with the exact words even before my alarm goes Cccrrriiinnnggg!
Human to-do list
MY mama—she’s all the post-it mama that I need everywhere I go. But, in this case, she’s a talking post-it. She won’t tell or remind me about my parties, travel or date night with my friends, but she will tell me to always keep my clothes in my closet clean and arranged, wash the dishes every after meal, put my shoes in the rack, and she never, ever forget to remind me to eat on time.
Real-life Siri
SIRI, basically, knows all the details of my iPhone; my mama—she knows everything that I don’t know, like where I left my headphone, my favorite shirt, my phone, sometimes, on even the tiniest thing that could be missing. She always know where it is, and that’s where the famous Filipino mother line goes, “Huwag kasi puro bibig ang pinanghahanap. Gamitin mo din yang mata mo.” Relate?
Superhuman
WHO disagrees when it comes to calling our mama a superhuman? They’re the strongest force of the galaxy. They can do all the most impossible things in this world.
Women before are just at home to do all the chores. But whatever the title they call them, we all know that there are things in life that only our mothers can fulfill. Just like cooking your favorite dish. No one serves the best spaghetti but our mom.
A personal resident doctor
HAVE you ever felt sick, and you don’t need anyone but your mom? Not even the best doctor can make you feel better but only your mom, even if she lectures you on why you get sick the whole day, like the famous Filipino mother line “‘Yan kaka-komputer mo!” She may be mad at me because I am weak and sick; I know in my heart she’s just worried and doesn’t want to see me in pain. She’s even willing to sacrifice anything and everything just to make me feel better. I remember the time when I was hospitalized, she didn’t go to work nor leave my side until I fully recovered from my ruptured appendicitis. And for the briefest of hours, it occurred to me that the best feeling in the world is to be cared for. I didn’t know if mama was just there to nag me, but for the first time ever it felt O.K.