Vanessa is Cuban American, married to her African American husband, and mother to their beautiful daughter, Alina. Vanessa explores issues of personal identity, the complexities of raising a bicultural/biracial child and the impact it has on her womanhood. Vanessa is also passionate about photography and capturing Alina’s every move. You can read more of Vanessa’s story at www.desumama.com.
Twitter: desumama
Having just given birth to mi milagro, the importance of preserving my culture has been heavy on my mind. In addition, being the only Spanish speaking caretaker in our children’s lives presents its own set of challenges. Language is truly the most impactful way I celebrate and embrace my heritage with my children. For that reason, I am always on the look out for supportive and informed communities in which to engage with other like-minded parents. In celebrating ourRead More ...
Being raised by generations of Spanish speaking women has established a solid foundation of kitchen know-how. And while I would not consider myself a fluent Spanish speaker, I can talk my way around a Latino cocina just fine. Spending much of my childhood centered on good food and loving family has ensured that I could always speak the language of la comida, la cocina y el amor de mi familia. Since embarking into her toddler years, my sweet two yearRead More ...
It’s Fritzi’s fifth birthday! Whistlefritz’s award winning Spanish for Kids program is at it again with their latest release, La Fiesta de Fritzi (Fritzi’s Party), and my two-year old was thrilled to be invited! With their engaging blend of animation and live-action, Alina was captivated by Maria and the Whistlefritz kids as they plan the perfect party for the fun-loving mouse, Fritzi. From learning colors with balloons to the lively family-centered music, La Fiesta de Fritzi (Fritiz’s Party) was aRead More ...
Newly pregnant with our first child, there were so many hopes and dreams I aspired to give my daughter: a secure sense of self, confidence in her womanhood and the ability to define her cultural identity in whichever way she chooses. Being of mixed races and cultures, I wondered who would win in the battle of personal identity definition…Alina or society at large. With that in mind, before Alina was born, I decided she would be bilingual in order toRead More ...
Raising bilingual children is what brings us together as a community here on SpanglishBaby. The world of language immersion is not win or lose; as parents, we simply strive to expose and enrich the lives of our children. And doing so in a mostly monolingual culture is no easy feat. It takes plenty of motivation, dedication and, sometimes, the willingness to accept a Spanglish result. However, what sets our individual stories apart are the experiences that unearth our motivation toRead More ...
Editor’s note: I am so happy to announce that we’ve invited one more regular contributor to our SpanglishBaby familia. Vanessa, of the beautifully written and illustrated blog De Su Mama, recently accepted our invitation to join us and we know you’re quickly going to see why we are thrilled. Vanessa has a different kind of story to tell, starting with what she writes about today. We hope you all welcome her to our family! My grandparents immigrated to the UnitedRead More ...
Ana
Roxana
We are two Latina moms – best friends since college – who are extremely passionate about ensuring our children not only speak both our languages, English and Español, but that they also grow up proud of both their cultures, Latino and American. Over three years ago we realized there's was a lack of information available for parents raising bilingual + bicultural children, so using our background in media, we launched SpanglishBaby.
