Apr 17 2007
Borloloys
I am the bunso (youngest) – the youngest of six children; the youngest of thirty-seven cousins on Mom’s side and the youngest of ten cousins on Dad’s side. I also went to school early so I’m younger by an average of two years than a lot of my friends and classmates in grade school and high school. So wherever I went, I was the baby – spoiled rotten, helpless and dependent, the center of attention – all the delightful powers that go along being the bunso.
See how crazy about me my brothers and sisters were during the good old times.
Then, a horrible thing happened – the borloloys came and usurped my position.
Borloloy – decorations, frills, accessories; baubles, bangles, and beads..
Who are the borloloys? They are my nephews and nieces, offsprings of my brothers and sisters, eleven little runts who are the cause of my cruel fate of being relegated to the sidelines and exiled to Cambodia.
Dad speaks of nothing except his eleven wonderful apos. Mom makes them clothes and buys them everything their little hearts desire. Our house in Kamuning is studded with pictures of these little brats. Even my yayas‘ attention are now distracted with their new bibis (Bisaya for baby).
When the first batch of borloloys, Marina and Tammie arrived to torment me, I suddenly understood how Small Evil Big Brother or SEBB (again, I say “evil” with much affection) felt when I was born – he was no longer the youngest of five kids but was demoted to just the fifth of six kids. So when Marina and Tammie arrived, I did to them what SEBB did to me – I bullied them! 
First, I called them borloloys… because that’s what they are — decorations, accessories, and frills in my life. Second… oh, there’s no second… that’s about it. My diabolical intentions ended there because the borloloys are… well protected and fortified by parents, grandparents, and yayas.
Anyway, when I went home to Manila last month, I simply had to see the borloloys, so we had a family gathering in Sixter’s house and to my dismay, the borloloys weren’t little anymore. In fact, they had to stoop down to kiss their Auntie Toe.
Notice how Auntie Toe is the one in the Mickey Mouse shirt.
So anyway, here are pictures of the next generation of the Mendoza family – the borloloy generation.
- Tammie, Toni and Tia – kids of Sis New Hamster, who live in the States:
- Boris, (Uncle SEBB), Maddie, and Mia – kids of Big Evil Big Brother (BEBB):
- Marina and Mariel – Sixter’s kids:
- David and Luigi – SEBB’s kids:
And finally – Missy! BEBB’s new baby. She was absent during the family gathering because she was being born.
Another thing about borloloys? Just like real borloloys, they are the cutest, loveliest, and most adorable little things!
- Mommy at 72
- RomyNenitaTogetherForever at the Pasig Fun Run
- I Got It From My Mama
- Things I Learned from Mommy
- The Last Wedding in the Family
Print This Post
Wow! That must’ve been quite a gathering. What with all those kids in one house.
Actually, it’s the same on my Mom’s side of the family during those once a year reunion in my Mom’s hometown. After all, there are seven of them in the brood with each having an average of three kids… and that makes us twenty one cousins in all. That’s not counting their own children pa ha?
So, when can we expect to see a ‘little Toe’ joining the Mendoza pack?
Wow, ha, ang laki pala ng tribu mo!
Now you made me miss my precious two borloloys…Naku!
Anyway, kahit na dalawa lang sila, ang advantage eh, my mom is so distracted na so the pressure is off for me to produce borloloys for her. Bwehehe. Wattarelief.
wahaha. kaw nga pinakamaliit. hehe. joke lang ate toe. borloloys ha. parang never ko naasociate yun with them ha
Oo nga ang lalaki nila. Di mo na sila ma bully ngayon…hehehe. Ang saya sigurado pag nagkikita-kita , laging grand reunion. Ok din pala ang maraming kapatid.
This post reminds me of Ragrats cartoons and how Cynthia resented the babies and did crazy antics with them. Hope it wasn’t as “raucous” as with the borloloys and you.
When Marina and Tammie were born, Dad bought an aircon para hindi mainitan ang mga borloloys when they visit. We lived our entire lives without aircon and he buys for the first time only for his apos!
sigh. i miss my pamangkins with this post! if only these ‘borloloys’ don’t grow up to be bigger than us. i just wish they’d stay as cute and cuddly and innocent as they are. hehehe….
btw, i linked you up. i enjoyed reading your blog, your posts have subtle humor injected in them, and it’s great to read about you and your honey’s life and ‘adventures’ in cambodia.
di lang malalaki mga cuties pa, pero sa pic parang mga kasing age mo lang sila mam Toe
Ay naku … ang tatangkad na nga nila. Eh di ok mukhang bunso ka pa .. o isa sa pinaka.
It might give you comfort to know na sa family namin ako din ang pinaka …. maliit. Teka ano ba ang height mo. Hindi yata kita nakitang tumayo duon sa Banana Leaf. Seated, mukha namang maliit ka lang sa akin ng 2 inches. heha.
Grabe, mukhang you had lotsa fun sa family reunion nyo. Enjoy siguro sila sa kanila sorely missed TitaToe.
You got a big family there but imagine on my father’s side where they are 12 siblings, almost 40 first degree cousins and not to mention their sons and daughters. God when we have a reunion it’s like the whole area is having a fiesta
Thank God for the next generation, because they make everything so much more fun and exciting!
Snglguy, it must be difficult to keep up with your nephews and nieces. I can’t even remember who the children of my cousins are when we have those big family reunions. I remember my Lola used to poke all of us with her baston saying, “kanino ka?”
Gypsy, haha… that is indeed a relief. We don’t need that kind of pressure. Yes, our parents really put all their attention on those borloloys, don’t they?
Tin-Tin, yeah… ako nga ang pinakamaliit.
Di bale na, hindi ako mukhang auntie. 
Naku, you’re the eldest… di pa yata pwede magka-borloloy. 
Ann, ang ingay pag madaming kapatid.
Hindi na nga ako sanay ng maingay ngayon e. Achaka ang lalaki na ng mga borloloy… sila na nga nagb-bully sa’kin e. 
Major Tom, I wish I could do those stuff Cynthia did to the babies… mwahahahahahaha!
Sixter, yeah! It’s so unfair! I think I’ll make a whole new post about how unfair it is between us and the borloloy generation.
Thanks Carey!
Oh, you have borloloys too? Aren’t the next generation just big. They grow soooo tall nowadays. 
And they’re such smart alecks too. 
Melai, hehehe… hindi lang sa height nila ako naaabutan… sa maturity din yata.
Annamanila, I tell them nga that since they’re bigger than I am, they should be the ones to give them gifts and not the other way around.
Hey, I think I have a sister who’s not bigger than I am… baka pareho kayo… haha! 
Chase, wow 12 siblings! When you have a family reunion, you need nametags and color coded shirts.
Ang saya-saya! 
Pinayhekmi, yes, they do make everything more colorful. Aren’t you excited you’re going to have your own borloloy soon?
Pareho pala tayong bunso. hehe
Nakakatuwa naman how things turned out with the other borloloys.
hi Toe, coincidence, we posted similar topics, family get-together. so, they are called borloloys, those little rascals, and noisy little brats? you belong to a big family, too? thanks for sharing the family pics.
ang cu cute naman ng mga borloloys na yan, oo nga mukhang na overpower ang beauty mo, pero hindi rin siguro, bakit kasi nilagyan ng text yung mukha? pero magaganda ang mga burloloy ibig sabihin maganda ang tita!
ang cute ni missy!!! ang liit-liit pa alam na kung pano humarap sa camera!
ansarap ng malaking pamilya no? pagnakita kita ang gulo-gulo pero ang saya-saya din! pansin ko lang sa mga family reunions by generation din ang groupings, ah eto mga 80’s to, ah sila mga dekada 90 na, the rest either matatanda na or mga bagets pa. haha.
Ferdz, so spoiled ka rin?
Yes, the borloloys are so cute… kahit mga istorbo sila sa buhay ko… hehehe! 
Hi Belle! Rascals and brats are right!
Masaya sa malaking pamilya no? 
Iskoo, okay, you’re currently my favorite commenter… hehehe!
Talbog sa beauty ko yang mga borloloy na yan. 
Zherwin, it’s a pity I wasn’t able to see little miss Missy when I went home to the Philippines. Ang saya nga ng malaking pamilya. Pero kawawa naman ako… mag-isa lang ako sa dekada 70… al the rest, 50, 60, and then 80 na.
well, you know what they say… the more the merrier
I can imagine how noisy it can be!
I have 5 borloloys back home, all of them boys, plus my 2 boys… pang basketball team talaga!
Gorgeous kids, especially the baby
Pining, 7 boys? Wow, must be a handful for your mother when they’re all together. I have 8 girl-borloloys… they ought to meet.
Honestly, I remember all their names even to the second degree cousins and aunts and uncles. I think I have this so called pornographic memory
Hi Toe! Cute naman ng mga pamangkin! Sarap maging bunso ano? Just imagine kung anong feeling ng mga panganay tulad ko? Hehehe
Sana dito rin sa bahay namin magkaroon na ng mga borloloys
The thing with being short and not looking your age is you can simply blend in with your brood of borloloys and get away with it. I should know I get away with it all the time hehe
Nice bunch you have there, the latest addition is so cute
ay isa pa lang borloloy namin hehe siguro pag panahon ko na, dadami na ng husto wahahaha dyosme! even the thought scares me hehe
Anyway so kelan ka mag produce ng offspring Toe? haha talagang “offspring” yung term…parang ang cute kasi pakinggan hehe
Seriously masaya pag marami! Marami kang mauutangan, maraming puwedeng hingan ng load, maraming puwedeng e-nag na manglibre…yeah dami talaga perks. Kaya ako masaya na marami akong pinsan na mahuthutan hehe
Chase, you’re so funny… wahahaha… pornographic memory.
Sasha, the youngest in our family is the smallest… so we all pick on her.
You must be a very responsible and mature person. 
Naku, nap-pressure ka na ba magka-borloloy? 
Daphne, OMG, you’re so right. We look like borloloys ourselves.
Missy, does look cute… too bad I haven’t seen her yet. 
Verns, naku, sigurado ikaw, magkakaron ng isang dosenang borloloy. You’ll be pregnant the entire decade of 2010.
Ayan ang hula ko sa’yo… Madame Toe. 
Offspring? Cute nga… parang mga sisiw at uod. 
bwahahahahaha you made me laugh today Toe! Gawd! I need a good laugh. Uhhmmm 2010…wag naman! hindi ba puwedeng baguhin ang forecast mo? Mga 2008 sana eh? Kung puwede lang naman mag request hehehehe
anong sisiw at uod? parang kabayo at kambing hehehehe para akong adik noh? You want to ask what I smoked? lol
A beautiful, big family! You’re so blessed
Having a big family is a joy ! Naku lalo na pag reunion talaga when everybody’s there for the never ending kwento at halakhakan ! Your post made me miss more my family ***sniff***snifffff***! They are so grown up and beautiful especially Marina
!!
Verns, 2008 mo makikilala yung tagagawa ng borloloy mo… hrhrhr!
Uy, next year na ‘yon! Oh man… kabayo at kambing… hrhrhr! 
Thanks Tee! I know that I am blessed with my family.
Haze, hirap talaga ng nasa abroad… nakakamiss talaga ang pamilya. Yes, Marina looks more mature and sophisticated than I do.
i could just imagine what fun time you had when you were here! now that they are getting bigger–are they still borloloys, or are they graduating to some more fancy name?
gosh! toe, 15-20 years down the road, there would be a lot of borloloys in my family of 7! we have 2 now.
I can see from the pictures what a happy, happy family yours is, Toe. And how cute that the Borloloys have now to stoop down to kiss Little Auntie Toe. Actually, our own borloloys are fast growing too and now, 5 of them (I only have 9) have to stoop down to kiss me or I have to crane my neck to talk to them.
Sexy Mom, even if they grow old and gray, they would forever be my borloloys.
Gosh, Sexy Mom… you must be a proud doting grandmother… how exciting with all your seven kids… you must have a whole barangay of borloloys in a decade or so. 
Bugsybee, nakakatuwa talaga when these borloloys have to stoop down to kiss Auntie Toe and Tita Bugsy.
Since they’re bigger than we are, don’t you think they ought to be the ones now to give us gifts? 
I agree! I agree! Actually, I am touched when they go somewhere and bring a “pasalubong” for me. No matter how small (a seashell from a beach in northern Negros which I still keep), they are deeply appreciated.
But the funniest pasalubong of all came from a nephew who went on a 45-day study tour of China last year (courtesy of a taipan). When he came home, he was dressed from head to foot in all sorts of fake/imitation products because he said these were the only things they could find there. BUT his pasalubong to me was a pirated copy of the book “Chicken Soup for Teachers” which apparently was published somewhere in China. The catch: very thin onion-skin like paper and all sorts of grammatical errors and wrong spellings! Nonetheless, it was deeply appreciated!
Bugsybee, OMG, you’re nephew is so funny… dressed head to foot in imitation products… that’s so cute!
Ahahaha… Chinese version of Chicken Soup ha. But really, he’s so sweet… and Chicken Soup for Teachers is definitely the perfect choice for you. 
And the cutest is . . . . ME!!!
Hahaha… Shark, bigla kang napa-comment.
Anokava? Nakikisali ka pa sa mga cute! 