The girl got cold

By Cristina Massa

If there is a universal and categorical imperative in the exercise of Mexican-style motherhood, it is "The baby will not get cold".

We Mexican mothers live with a cervical fear of drafts, bare feet, cold water. We cover beings less than a meter tall with little jackets, blankets, hats, big towels and hoods. We evolve to sweaters, sweatshirts, thermal T-shirts and jackets, as they exceed that size. But we never, ever, abandon the task of making sure that every being that comes out of our womb, united by adoption, and even with a blood relationship or by affinity up to the fourth degree, regardless of age, height or weight, is properly covered.

This essential characteristic of Mexican motherhood is present in women dedicated primarily to the home, in part-time workers, in professionals and businesswomen, in the countryside and in the city.