Gypsy Child

Ponijao lives in Namibia with her family, including her parents and eight older brothers and sisters. Ponijao’s family is part of the Himba tribe, and lives in a small village with other families.

Mari lives with her mother and father in Shibuya, a busy metropolitan area within Tokyo, at the center of all of the city’s noise and excitement. Mari is an only child and lives a contemporary urban lifestyle.

Born in Mongolia, Bayarjargal, usually called “Bayar” for short, lives with his mother, father, and older brother Delgerjargal (“Degi”) on their small family farm.

Hattie lives in San Francisco, born to very ecological, “green” parents.  Both of Hattie’s parents are equally involved in her day-to-day life, fixing her meals, taking her to play groups, and spending time with her around the house.

What am I talking about?

Why “Babies” of course.

Breastmilk squirted on the babies face to wash the eyes.

A mother licking the babies face then spiting sharply.

A jacuzzi with mother and baby. Baby is not happy.

A river to play in.

A metal bath tub to sit in while a goat drinks from it.

These are all scenes you get to be a part of for a breif hour and 20 minutes.

Some of you might say yuk or gross. I say you need to see the film to understand how it is not gross. In fact is is very amusing.

For me, I would love it to just keep going and going.  I’m looking foward to the DVD with all the extras.

Here’s my take on the above.

Breastmilk has antibiotic properties that helps get rid of infection and also help prevent infection in the first place.

All animals clean their babies by licking them. It is the most natural thing. It is not uncommon in most cultures for a parent to suck out the mucus from an infants nose and spit it out when they are sick. I have been told this from some people I know that lived in Jamaica and other Islands. I know, Yuk you say. But this is normal for them.

My babies bath tub in St John was a metal tub we bought from the hardware store. You see people wash their laundry in them. The tub would sit on the deck and they would bathe outside in the fresh warm air.

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Babies-Loved it, laughed a lot. Soo damn cute with as much depth as you care to give to it. We cared alot and talked about it all day long.

Director Thomas Balmés and producer Alain Chabat – released the Focus Features Film called ‘Babies’.

Balmés and Chabat  worked over  four-years  making of the film.

There is no narration. It leaves it up to you to decide your own thought about what is going on. No conversations either.

There are some songs and dada, mama words.

I am so glad Balmé and Chabat were passionate about this movie. It brought so much joy and laughter to my heart and soul today.

My mother (72) and sister (53) and daughter (15) and son (18) all shared in the joy.

We were all smiling, laughing and I was brought to happy tears.

My 15 year old is driving!

My 15 year old has been driving for four months and I still can’t get use to it.

In eight more months I will release her to the open roads. Is this fair to all the other drivers on the road?

It is not her fault, she is a good driver, as good as any 15 year old. But that is just it, she will only be 16 and with that age comes that feeling of “I am indestructible”.

Will she remember to look for pedestrians and bicyclist when she is turning right on red?

Will she ignore her phone when it vibrates or rings?

She is already starting to adjust the mirrors and the seat after she is driving.

She is already finding a good radio station when she is driving.

I make her turn the phone off when she drives with me, will she do that when I am not there?

Will she be able to handle the aggressive driver that looses patience with her inexperience? Until I started helping my teens drive I forgot that some drivers are just learning and to be patient.

Will she get distracted when her friends are in the car?

The list goes on and on.

Another situation of letting go and trusting.

I am now 95% grey.

After four kids, and the last one now fifteen,  I have no hope for the remaining 5%.

My dad worked for Nabisco for 37 years.

We had free reign to all snacks from the warehouse.

I can remember going to see my dad and getting so excited because we got to walk in the warehouse and pick out what we wanted.

It never got old.  How can that large assortment of snacks and cookies ever get old. We picked Oreo’s, Chips-ahoys, Marshmallow Pinwheels, Lorna Doones.

When I saw this picture my son’s father took of him it reminded me of the Nabisco Raincoat Boy, that’s what my sisters and I called him.  

We had Nabisco envelope openers, paperweights, tins, towels, plates. The list goes on…

The Raincoat boy was on most of them along with the animal cracker train.

Uneeda Biscuit Boy

Nabisco, once called the National Biscuit Company, created the UNEEDA biscuit. It looked promising, but they had to find a way to make sure it got to customers all fresh and tasty. So while other companies were selling crackers in bulk out of barrels, the National Biscuit Company created the Inner-Seal Package, an ingenious system of inter-folded layers of wax paper and cardboard. To market the new cracker they created the illustration of a wholesome, little boy clutching a box of UNEEDA Biscuits. The lad was wearing a raincoat and rain boots to demonstrate the moisture-proof nature of the package.

Two boys having fun in 1986 and 1987.

FUSION DE TROIS from Juma Stevens on Vimeo.

Keith & Nicole’s Wedding (Part 1/3) from Juma Stevens on Vimeo.

Keith & Nicole’s Wedding (Part 2/3) from Juma Stevens on Vimeo.

Keith & Nicole’s Wedding (Part 3/3) from Juma Stevens on Vimeo.

I was reading a post called “Free Range Children-Just look East”.

The blogger wrote about a debate he participated in at college. The question was: should first world countries be obligated to make third world countries more westernized?

He was on the No side of the debate when actually he felt the answer was a definite yes. This was until he began to prepare for the debate. I loved the questions he asks at the debate. He held up a picture of a smiling Indian child and asks, “Does this child laugh any less than a child in a first world country? Will all the wealth that comes with a First World existence make this child’s smile any wider?” The other side took pause at this but ended up winning. I felt that had the judges really thought about these questions he would of won the debate.

Just as a child can be loved and happy anywhere; a child can also be crushed anywhere, anyplace if those caring for them are cold hearted and do not take time to listen and love.

My son, 17, listens to his I-touch a lot. The computer is also a good friend of his. He spends many hours researching movies he wants to write and direct someday soon.

One day he turned off all his electronics and just laid down to clear his head to allow the thoughts-his thoughts only-to play in his head.

Latter that day, he was telling me how profound that experience was for him. I realized I could of told him a million times to just turn it all off and all he would of done was thought I was annoying.

I set the lure by doing yoga and meditating, by talking about how those experiences work for me when the subjects come up in our conversation, which we have often.

You know how we say, “I hope someday they get it”.

Well…he got it. ♥

What does the smiling Indian child have to do with the 17 year old that learned to appreciate silence?

Love, nothing but love. 

Happy Birthday Moremi.

I have known you since you were two. Your mother would push you around Warfside Village in a stroller. She would come visit me when I worked at Freebird Creation Jewelry store. You did not seem to mind because you always had a big smile on your face. And oh what a face you had. You were one of the most adorable little girls I had ever seen. Your hair was black, big and beautiful. Your skin was a golden dark brown, eyes big and brown. Your mother always had lots of colors to brighten you up, lots of African bracelets and hair clips, deep greens mixed with reds and yellows.  She would dress you in the softest, most comfortable, cute cotton clothes. A lot of care and love went into your day-to-day safeguarding.

I think every child comes into this world with there own agenda. You definitely had yours. As a child you were very headstrong. This might be tuff on the parents but deep down we are always happy for the headstrong children because we know they are survivors. You can come up against most anything and at the end of the battle you will be riding on top swinging your flag with a big smile and lots of people smiling with you. You just have this aura about you that people want to be around. You radiate something special.

You and your mom might of banged heads a bit but you were always polite. I loved hearing your voice. It had a little gravel but very feminine. You would say, “Hello Jeanie, Hi Jeanie, How are you doing today? Bonjoir!” as you jumped on the trampoline.

You were always nice to my kids, as you can see in this picture. When you would first see people for the day you would have a warm greeting for them as if you were truly happy to see them. Not everyone has this quality. This is a special thing, to make others feel welcomed.

Now you have a family of your own. I know you will pass on the love you were given along with plenty much more of your own.

Happy 21^st. May life send you blessings and happiness.

not shy

Moremi with Glen watching her sing