I'm going to be a Godmother...
... to my cousin's illegitimate son with an underaged girl.
Frankly, I have extremely mixed feelings about this. The good - being a godmother sort of makes you feel responsible for someone. You can choose to be an active participant in that person's life, or remain detached, but inevitably, it's the parents' hope that you would lend a hand to that child somewhere along the way. My family, on a more superstitious level, also hopes that I can impart some sort of lucky charm to the poor kid. And really, I don't mind that they asked me to (although it was kind of 'appointed' - when the matriarchs of the family decided, it was final).
The bad, however, is the entire family situation that kid is going to end up in - his dad is my cousin, youngest son of the uncle that died months ago. Did I mention that that particular cousin is at least 3 years younger than me? Without a job and practically an elementary school drop-out. His mother is some young teenage girl that my cousin doesn't even care about. He's already declared to my mother several times that no, he has no romantic interest in her at all, much less marry the girl. Oh, and that kid is in fact, his second child, because the first girl he knocked up immediately married the first respectable guy that her family could find (and hushed everyone about that child's paternity - we'll probably never see that child). My mother has even implied that, this was probably one of the bigger reasons why my uncle suffered a heart attack.
Anyway, being a matricentral family, the elder women basically banded together a few weeks ago to decide what to do with the newborn. The girl's mother hinted that they didn't want to raise the baby since she still had younger children to take care of. My aunt, after an absence of 13 years working as an OFW, (she was supposed to be home for retirement before my uncle died), declared that she wouldn't mind raising her grandson, especially after the first paternity check - the baby looked so much like his recently deceased grandfather that there was no question about it, and the resemblance even brought my mother to tears. The baby's mother also stated that she wanted to continue studying (oh yeah, she'd better get educated - I don't even want to contemplate how stupid she and my cousin were, ugh) so, it all works out. And indeed, that baby has at least 4 aunts and uncles (2 OFW's, 1 apprentice cook and one will inherit their dad's farm) who could put together a fund for his school tuition if his father doesn't straighten his life out. *sigh*
At least, my mom and aunts have already put together a baptism feast, after which, they're planning on moving the child to our side of the family. The only problem I'm facing so far is keeping my composure - I don't mind being a godmother, but my knuckles are itching like hell for a good, straight punch at my cousin's face. SO. MUCH. Well, nothing for it but to grit my teeth and be polite.
Frankly, I have extremely mixed feelings about this. The good - being a godmother sort of makes you feel responsible for someone. You can choose to be an active participant in that person's life, or remain detached, but inevitably, it's the parents' hope that you would lend a hand to that child somewhere along the way. My family, on a more superstitious level, also hopes that I can impart some sort of lucky charm to the poor kid. And really, I don't mind that they asked me to (although it was kind of 'appointed' - when the matriarchs of the family decided, it was final).
The bad, however, is the entire family situation that kid is going to end up in - his dad is my cousin, youngest son of the uncle that died months ago. Did I mention that that particular cousin is at least 3 years younger than me? Without a job and practically an elementary school drop-out. His mother is some young teenage girl that my cousin doesn't even care about. He's already declared to my mother several times that no, he has no romantic interest in her at all, much less marry the girl. Oh, and that kid is in fact, his second child, because the first girl he knocked up immediately married the first respectable guy that her family could find (and hushed everyone about that child's paternity - we'll probably never see that child). My mother has even implied that, this was probably one of the bigger reasons why my uncle suffered a heart attack.
Anyway, being a matricentral family, the elder women basically banded together a few weeks ago to decide what to do with the newborn. The girl's mother hinted that they didn't want to raise the baby since she still had younger children to take care of. My aunt, after an absence of 13 years working as an OFW, (she was supposed to be home for retirement before my uncle died), declared that she wouldn't mind raising her grandson, especially after the first paternity check - the baby looked so much like his recently deceased grandfather that there was no question about it, and the resemblance even brought my mother to tears. The baby's mother also stated that she wanted to continue studying (oh yeah, she'd better get educated - I don't even want to contemplate how stupid she and my cousin were, ugh) so, it all works out. And indeed, that baby has at least 4 aunts and uncles (2 OFW's, 1 apprentice cook and one will inherit their dad's farm) who could put together a fund for his school tuition if his father doesn't straighten his life out. *sigh*
At least, my mom and aunts have already put together a baptism feast, after which, they're planning on moving the child to our side of the family. The only problem I'm facing so far is keeping my composure - I don't mind being a godmother, but my knuckles are itching like hell for a good, straight punch at my cousin's face. SO. MUCH. Well, nothing for it but to grit my teeth and be polite.