Daily Blog

Even before I got pregnant, I knew I wanted to stay home with my newborn children as long as (financially) possible. I was blessed to be able to do that for more than two years with Vanessa and about a year with Santiago. When it was time for me to go back to work, my husband and I agreed that we would hire a nanny to take care of our kids at home. But not just any nanny. We wanted a niñera whose nativeRead More ...

  Today, I’m writing about something that most of us don’t talk about: MONEY. Personal finances. Status. Just typing the words makes me cringe because they are such taboo topics in this first world, competitive country. None of us likes to admit that we might be down on our luck, or that we can’t afford to keep up with the Joneses (or los López, as the case may be). This constant pressure is something we can get over when we’reRead More ...

The magic words “make them learn English” from The Economist — Immigration reform was huge this week and with that came talk of whether undocumented immigrants on their path to American citizenship should be required to learn English. As long as they’re not prohibited from speaking their native language, the author says, and I couldn’t agree more. “The solution to this apparent conundrum is very simple: bilingualism. It’s a healthy thing that Americans have historically been too suspicious of.” The U.S. needs toRead More ...

January is almost done, completely ushering in 2013. I love this time of year because it serves as a natural point of review and reflection. Sure, you can make goals and resolutions anytime of year. In fact, I encourage anyone to mediate on what is most important in their life, setting actionable steps to achieve those goals. But, January is just that time of year that gives everyone a chance. No excuses necessary. My identity continues to change and grow,Read More ...

One of my biggest wishes for my children is that they would know the world and how to navigate themselves in it with grace and confidence. Part of this is teaching them to be comfortable, both in their own skins and in the presence of those that may be different from them. But the other part of the equation entails equipping them with the tools that they need to actually engage with different cultures; like a sense of geography, culturalRead More ...

Mami, hoy es January? That’s my 5-year-old asking from the back seat. I’m thrilled — finally the kids are getting the hang of time — the difference between seconds, minutes, days and months. But his question is also a harsh reminder. He is learning most of these new concepts in school. In school, they teach purely in English. And now the corollary — my husband and I, their only Spanish teachers, will never be able to keep up. We hadRead More ...

Last week, I wrote a post about some of the things I’ve done to ensure my daughter Vanessa loves reading in Spanish. One of those things is leading by example. But since I read a lot more eBooks than regular books these days, I figured the time had come to show Vanessa what I’m doing every time she sees me with my Kindle. I mean, I think she had an idea because I might have shown it to her before,Read More ...

I rarely make resolutions for the New Year. I tend to make them year round as I see fit, that way there is a better chance I will actually achieve them. And as far as New Year’s Eve, I was lucky to be awake anywhere near midnight as I’m so tired and just ready to have my second baby (due very, very soon!) But recently the SpanglishBaby team asked us what our resolutions were as they pertained to our kid’sRead More ...