The Times

2 TIMES/GUIDE Weekend of May 8/9, 1976

For some it's the first one...

By ELIZABETH OWEN Staff Writer "I think it's going to be a boy," said Nancy McGuigan, gazing down at her rounded stomach. "I don't know why, but I can just feel it." Nancy, who lives with her husband Joe on SW 121st Street, is expecting her first child in September. At 27 and after four years of marriage, she said she feels she is finally ready to accept the responsibility of raising a child. "We always wanted to have children, but before, there were things we wanted to do by ourselves," she said. "Still, it's going to be a real change for me." Nancy, who works at the First Federal Savings and Loan in downtown Miami, said she has always worked in the past, and that being at home full-time will be her most difficult adjustment. She said she plans to go back to work when her yet to be born child is about a year old. Nancy said she and Joe have had no qualms about bringing a child into a world where changes seemingly occur almost overnight. "I think things are getting better in the world... people are getting back to easier, less-involved ways of life," she said. "And kids aren't running around getting into the drug culture like they used to be." The most important thing for a mother, she said, is to know your child. "I'm going to make sure that I stay aware of everything that's happening with my child. To me, motherhood means being able to handle the responsibility of another human life, and being there while the child is learning how to make decisions for himself," she stated. Nancy said that many couples who try and raise a family often get divorced becuase they feel they must drastically change their way of life once they have a child. "Joe and I are going to keep the same interests we've always had. I don't think we should change because of the child. We love to go out and do things, and we plan to include our child in everything we do," she explained. "Raising a child does not mean molding him into what you think he should be," said Nancy. "I believe in guidance and I like structure to a certain extent. But I want my child to experience the things he decides to experience," she said. "I'm not going to worry. I'm just going to let everything fall into place." Charlene Stade, 37 another Southwest area resident, is pregnant with her third child. She said her nine-year old daughter Carrie and seven-year-old son Gregg are taking the matter seriously. "Gregg wants a boy and Carrie really wants a girl," said Charlene, who is expecting anytime. "The children are the ones who really wanted a baby... this was their prayer." Charlene said parents should definitely assume a strong role in developing their child's character. "I think parents still have to contribute to the child's thinking and that's a challenge. I don't feel the outside world should affect my child as much as my husband and me. "I view motherhood as a career. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of diligence." But being a good mother is no easy job, said Charlene. It doesn't come naturally, like many may think, but has to be learned, she added. "Fortunately, every mother has a mother of her own, and this is good training. A mother is shaping her child's life, forming his perspective of motherhood. "Mothers need encouragement because they have disappointments and failures. They make mistakes. "It takes a husband and a wife to raise children," Charlene said. "To me, motherhood means being able to handle the responsibility of another human life and being there while the child is learning how to make decisions for himself." —Nancy McGuigan "I think parents still have to contribute to the child's thinking and that's a challenge. I don't feel the outside world should affect my child as much as my husband and me." — Charlene Stade

... but for her it's an old, familiar story

BY ANA MARIA ALVAREZ Staff Writer For Mrs. Hortensia "Chi-Chi" Paz, every day is Mother's Day. To look at the tall, attractive woman, one would never imagine she is a mother of nine and the grandmother of two. And yet the task of raising nine children — which she readily admits has not been an easy one — has proved to be quite exciting. Her children range in age from six to 22, and with the addition of two toddler grandchildren, you can be sure there is never a dull moment in the Paz' Coral Gables home. "This lady is a multi, multi-talented woman," proudly states 20-year-old daughter Racquel as she looks across the room toward her mother. "Necessity has left me no other choice," says Mrs. Paz laughingly. When the Paz family — Armando Paz, his wife and their first five children — came here from Cuba in 1960, they were accustomed to a different lifestyle. Sixteen years and four more children later, Mrs. Paz has learned that it is more difficult to raise nine children in America than she had ever imagined. "If I had known that I was going to live in this country I probably would not have had a large family," she says now. "But since I do have them, I'm a happy woman. "I never worried about the monetary side of it. I'd always tell my husband that we would manage to dress and feed as many as we had," she said. "The problem is not being able to have the time I would like to spend with each and every one of them and give them the moral support they need." "My husband and I love children and despite the sacrifices we have had to make, both of us have always agreed that the children come first. "But the day has only 24 hours and I've learned that you can't stretch them," Mrs. Paz said. From the looks of things, however, Mrs. Paz seems to do wonders with her time. She cooks, sews all the clothes for her girls and is even the barber, or better yet, the hairstylist for her family. The atmosphere at the Paz' home is warm and friendly, and they all seem to agree that being a large family is just plain fun. But with seven growing boys and two girls, accidents will happen. "When I go to Doctors Hospital, everyone knows me," said Mrs. Paz. "We've had some really horrible accidents but nothing fatal, thank God. I've learned to take things very calmly now." Perhaps the worst incident occurred when Tino, who is now 16, drank a bottle of fiberglass hardener. "He was just a baby and he came in with an empty bottle of fiberglass hardener. It smelled so bad that I didn't think he could have swallowed it, but he had." With three children in college and four in high school. Mrs. Paz is always finding ways to save. Her most recent project was cutting the cost of renting formal attire for high school proms. "I went to rent tuxedos for the two boys going to the proms and they wanted $45 apiece — $90. So I decided to make the tuxedoes myself," she said. The couple's eldest son, Armando, and his wife Cindy and their two children, Blue and Racquel, also live at the Paz home. Armando, an honor student at the University of Miami, will graduate this summer and will be moving up north where he will continue his studies to become a dentist. "When they got married we made the garage into a large bedroom for the boys so they could have the upstairs of the house for themselves," said Mrs. Paz. "Armando has been a straight 'A' student and has earned his way through school with scholarships,"" Mrs. Paz said. "He has set a great example for the rest of the children. He's their idol." Being a mother of nine might not be for everyone, but for Mrs. Paz, it seems to be a natural. "'My husband and I love children and despite the sacrifices we have had to make, both of us have always agreed that the children come first." — Hortensia Paz