folklore

How did your parents get you to behave when you were younger? Besides the usual threats of a hit, a dirty look in public, or that surprisingly painful tiny pinch on your arm delivered so stealthily that no one noticed? Some of my friends were threatened with the boogeyman, a creature that would come if they did not behave. And most everyone is threatened with no presents from Santa closer to Christmastime, right? One threat I heard often from my mom, her sisters (mis tías) and mi abuela (grandmother) was that La Llorona (the weeping woman) was going to get me if I did not behave and if I were to wander outside away from home, she could easily snatch me up and take me away. They told me that she would lurk around looking for children to take. If I were bad, sometimes I would hear distant crying…though maybe […]

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