Most fans see Gloria from Modern Family as a hot-headed Colombian who's too involved in her loved one's lives, but she's much more than that. Gloria's a dedicated wife and an outstanding mother. Being a mother is Gloria's greatest gift. Seeing the ways she takes care of Manny (and later Joe), it's clear that she cherishes every moment with her boys. However, sometimes her devotion to motherhood hinders her when it comes to her sons' independence.
In later seasons, Manny is a young adult and Joe is old enough for school, so Gloria's parenting style transforms. She adapts to keep up with her kids while also trying to stay beautiful and trendy. Her transformation brings amazing parenting moments, but she also has some questionable ones as well.
Updated Jan. 14, 2021, by Lynn Gibbs: Gloria Delgado-Pritchett is one of Modern Family's best characters. She's outspoken, she's stunning, and she always stands up for those she loves. Although she was new to the family in season 1, Gloria defended her new family and treated the Dunphys and Tucker-Pritchetts like they were her own flesh and blood. Everything Gloria did was for the betterment of her children. Still, she made a few questionable decisions when it came to fitting in, girlfriends and school.
Gloria Is An Amazing Mom
Her Mom Guilt Shows How Much She Cares
In the final season, Gloria was a working mom. With Manny at school, Jay retired, and Joe being so young, Gloria wanted to focus on herself. However, doing so made her miss out on the thing she loved most: being a mom.
In one scene, Gloria complained that she felt like her kids didn't need her anymore. Joe was obsessed with Jay and Manny was mature enough to take care of himself. Jay reminded Gloria that she was irreplaceable and that the only person Joe or Manny want when they're down in the dumps was their mother. It was a realization for Gloria that showed how much she cared. Her relationship with her kids is something that continued to get better from season 1.
She Instills Her Cultural Heritage In Her Kids
Hailing from Colombia, Gloria was proud of her family's culture and tried to implement it into her sons' lives. Just because she was living in America didn't mean she wanted her kids to forget their roots.
To keep the spirit of Colombia alive in their home, Gloria spoke Spanish to Manny, hired a Spanish tutor so that his Spanish would improve, cooked Colombian dishes, and kept her family's superstitions present. Sadly for Gloria, Manny wasn't all too interested in his roots, but Gloria became more likable because of her desire to integrate both cultures. She was an amazing mom for trying to bring Colombia with her.
She Is An Amazing Role Model
Gloria doesn't get enough credit for being an incredible role model. When Gloria moved to America, she became a cab driver to make ends meet. She also worked at a beauty salon to support Manny.
It wasn't until Gloria met Jay that things turned around for her. She finally had a dedicated partner, wealth, and a beautiful home. However, Gloria didn't take anything for granted. She always let her kids know how grateful they should be compared to where she came from and went back to work once her kids were old enough.
She Always Stands Up For Manny
Part of Gloria's charm is that she's an overprotective mother in an aggressive way. She coddles her children and praises them for all their accomplishments (even their faults), but she also sewers them to prove a point at times.
Whenever Manny ignores Gloria's advice and gets hurt, Gloria takes it personally and makes it her mission to hurt whoever hurt Manny. Manny gets in the way of Gloria's plan once he's aware of what she had up her sleeve, but it's sweet she goes to such lengths just to protect her little boy.
She Praises Manny Regardless Of His Abilities
Manny loves to do things that no one else his age loves. He's a unique kid with thick skin, but just because Manny loves art and poetry doesn't mean he's always good at it. Gloria would rather lie than tell Manny or Joe that their work is underwhelming. Protecting her kids and family's feelings was one of the worst things she could do because it wasn't preparing them for an honest review.
In 'Punkin Chunkin,' Manny created his own Thanksgiving centerpieces, which were anything but pretty, yet she told him they were perfect. Likewise, she hated his poetry but would rather listen to it than tell him his words fell on deaf ears.
She Came To America For A Better Life For Her Son
Gloria mentioned multiple times that she came to America to give Manny a better future. According to Gloria, Pablo Escobar Elementary was not the most suitable place for little Manny. By stealing her sister's ticket to move to America, she was able to enter the country where she eventually met and fell in love with Jay. While some found it shameless that Gloria stole her sister's ticket, she did it for her son's future.
When she becomes an American citizen years later, she and Manny take a walk down memory lane about how much they wanted to start a life in America and now they're living the dream.
She Makes Both Of Her Sons Feel Special On Their Shared Birthday
Funny enough, Manny and Joe share the same birthday. Gloria did everything she could to delay Joe's labor so that Manny didn't have to share his special day with his younger brother for the rest of his life, but Manny eventually gave her the green light. He appreciated his mom doing everything she could to give him a day to himself, but ultimately, Joe was going to come when he wanted to. It was one of their sweetest moments as mother and son.
Once Joe makes his way into the world, fans see Gloria throwing them two separate birthday parties so they can both have all eyes on them for a whole day.
She Teaches Manny And Luke A Valuable Lesson With Alcohol
In 'Grill, Interrupted,' it's Jay's birthday and everyone heads over to his house for a BBQ. Alex just got accepted into Caltech, Phil is pumped over the new grill he bought for Jay, and Gloria is busy making sure her boys don't get into their bar.
In the scene, Gloria pours water into her tequila bottle. She explains that she's noticed Luke and Manny eyeing it and she knew they were going to try and drink while underaged. To prevent them from doing so, she pulled the ultimate mom move and drained the tequila so that the only thing they drank was water.
Gloria Isn't Always An Amazing Mom
She Loves It When Manny Starts Lying
In one episode, Gloria was bothered when she felt like her son was a goody-two-shoes. She worried he would be made fun of for always following the rules and never crossing the line. However, when she talks it over with Jay, she realizes that Manny had actually been lying.
Manny lied to Gloria and Jay about being invited to Mitch and Cam's game night because he forgot to give them the invite. Instead of talking things over with Manny, Gloria was ecstatic that her son was lying and hoped this was a promising trait for Manny's future. Gloria got lucky that Manny was such a good kid and didn't need to lie. It's upsetting that she wanted him to get into trouble in the first place.
She Destroys Manny's Cake
In 'A Fair to Remember,' Manny was entering a cake-baking competition at the local fair. As per usual, Manny's opponents were all girls or older women, which made Jay and Gloria nervous about his reputation. They didn't want boys his age picking on him because of it.
To protect Manny from being bullied, Gloria decides that he won't be picked on if he doesn't win. She goes up to his cake and takes out a huge chunk of it, destroying its integrity. Many felt it didn't make sense for Gloria to ruin her son's art since she supported him in so many ways. Manny was upset when he saw the cake and thought an older competitor did it on purpose before Gloria finally fessed up. Destroying her son's cake due to her own insecurities was low.
She Makes Manny's Girlfriends Uncomfortable
Manny has never acted like a kid. He's always been a middle-aged man stuck inside a kid's body. Gloria and Jay gave him plenty of opportunities to act as a young boy, but Manny's always been sophisticated. From espressos to poetry, Manny is a diehard romantic. Due to his love for women, this puts Gloria in a tough position time and time again.
Whenever Manny had a love interest, Gloria would be supportive while keeping one eye on them. In the earlier seasons, Manny invited a girl over who liked salt added to her chocolate milk. Manny ended up loving it, which made Gloria furious because it meant Manny was more interested in his new girlfriend than his mother. Her continued interference in his relationships made it hard to date.
She Goes Too Far With Pranks
In 'Sarge & Pea,' it's time for Luke and Manny to start looking at colleges. Phil and Gloria take the boys on a college tour where Gloria seems to take the whole "college experience" too far.
She ties Manny's shoelaces together, pushes him into the girls' locker room, and puts a baby pig in bed with him. By the end of the episode, Gloria came clean and only did this to hide her emotions from overwhelming her. She was happy for Manny but sad he was moving out of the house and moving on with life.
She Arguably Likes Manny Better Than Joe
With Manny in college, it became Gloria, Jay, and little Joe. As many cute moments as Joe had, Manny was her firstborn and her best friend. He's been by her side for years and it was harder for her to leave her son than vice versa.
When it became Joe, Jay, and Gloria, she notices that Joe is a mini Jay and it makes her miss Manny more. It's sweet that Jay finally has a connection to a child of his but that didn't mean Joe didn't still need his mother. As much of a bond as Joe and Jay had, Joe still needed Gloria to be present.
Her Joke About Manny's Biological Father Is Low
Just like Claire, Gloria is competitive and always wants to win — she's also not afraid of a good prank.
In 'Daddy Issues,' Gloria tries to get back at Jay and Manny for acting poorly, so she invites an old friend named Jorge (played by guest star Gabriel Iglesias) over and tells them the two used to date. In reality, they never dated but he did look and act eerily like Manny. She knew that his appearance would make Jay and Manny re-think who Manny's real dad was. While Jay and Manny were torn up over being lied to for most of their lives, Gloria starts laughing because it was all a joke. The joke was low and the only one laughing was her.