Daily Blog

  I love summers! Both Vanessa and Santiago were born in the summer (and so was I, even though I was born in February, since Peru is in the southern hemisphere) which means two birthday parties for us! As I mentioned last week, we celebrated my daughter’s 5th party in our backyard last Sunday. I’m not going to lie and say these are easy because they are actually a TON of work. And, even though, it’s basically non-stop from theRead More ...

The Riviera Maya in Mexico is a place that has truly been blessed by nature.  Its claim to fame is the turquoise Caribbean sea that embraces the coastline of the state of Quintana Roo.  But there is more to this paradise than the ocean; natural marvels, ancient history, quaint towns, eco-adventures and more provide the perfect setting for the ideal travel plans where the whole family will have  a fun vacation in a safe environment. Just be careful, very careful,Read More ...

When I first started writing for SpanglishBaby, my son and I were going it alone. I was a single parent trying to keep up with speaking my non-native language to him full-time. It was challenging, but relatively predictable. Now, I have taken on a whole new set of challenges regarding parenting and bilingualism. I am in a relationship with a wonderful man who has two daughters, ages 9 and 11. The girls both know Spanish, but have quite different viewsRead More ...

Editor’s note: This is Part 6 in a continuing series by Amy Conroy. To read the other parts, go here. Although this is the last one from San Miguel de Allende, Amy has promised one more post a few weeks after they’re back home in Los Angeles to share their impressions on their immersion adventure. We hope you’ve enjoyed living vicariously through Amy and her kids as much as we have! This will be short and sweet as I amRead More ...

My firstborn is turning 5 tomorrow. I can’t even begin to tell you how difficult this is for me to believe. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was trying to figure out if it was time to go to the hospital to give birth to her. A week from today she starts Kindergarten and they tell me that once they start school, time flies even faster. Is that even possible? Anyhow, we celebrated her birthday yesterday withRead More ...

This picture is a perfect reflection of how we are trying to raise our daughter with multiple cultures and multiple languages. One foot lies on the northern side of the equator representing her North American (Mexican-American) roots while the other foot lies on the southern side of the equator representing her South American (Ecuadorian) heritage. This may be a stretch, but I think it’s an appropriate one considering our meager attempt to add a third language, but her lack ofRead More ...

Editor’s note: This is Part 5 in a continuing series by Amy Conroy. To read the other parts, go here. What is ‘normal’? ~ the question of my life ~ To be honest, life in Mexico is really not so different than life in the U.S.  The details vary and one might say there is more ‘flavor’, but the basics are the same: Jack has soccer practice, Calvin does art class, Cecilia is starting gymnastics.  I grocery shop, we goRead More ...

I’m sitting here writing this post from my mother’s home in Costa Rica, on what is our third annual summer trip here. Our plan is to keep coming for one month every year, and I’ve been curious to see what changes I might see year to year as my children get older. Yet, as I reread the post I wrote this time last year I had to laugh because everything I wrote then applies this year, too — I almostRead More ...