Traditions + Culture

(Photography by Julio S. Sandoval) Last week, we baptized my gorgeous boy, Santiago. Ana, who is my son’s godmother, and her beautiful family came to Denver from LA for the celebration. It was a lovely ceremony and the party afterward was fun and totally relaxed. I cooked arroz con pollo! Santiago wore a beautiful white guayabera his godfather brought from Mexicali. I was worried he’d cry or at least soltar un chillido when the water was poured on him. Instead,Read More ...

We’re baptizing our son, Santiago, on Saturday. I feel terrible that we’ve waited this long (most Catholics do this right after a baby is born). His sister was baptized when she was barely 2 months old. Santiago is 19 months today. I can come up with a handful of reasons why we’ve waited this long, but the truth is that I’m really happy we’re finally doing it. I’m also really happy because Ana — who is Santiago’s godmother — andRead More ...

“Yes we can” was the simple yet powerful campaign slogan used by, now President, Barack Obama, but long before the 2008 elections these words were used as a call to action. “Sí se puede” was the battle cry of farm workers fighting for fair wages in the 1970s. Organized by civil rights activist César Chávez along with Dolores Huerta, the labor union, United Farm Workers of America or UFWA, (which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW), initiated a boycottRead More ...

Today many of us are home with the kids in observance of the President´s Day national holiday.  Coincidentally, this year it fell on the same day as another celebration which has been held around the world every February 21st since the year 2000.   Yes, it is called International Mother Language Day and it was proclaimed as such by the UNESCO. “International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity andRead More ...

We were finally able to spend a Christmas with family in Mexico after three years of quiet holidays as a family of three in Los Angeles.  Travel is one of the most significant and effective ways to immerse your child in a language and culture.  Aside from the obvious benefits for our girl’s bilingual development, travel to Latin America for us is a matter of connection to the essence of who we are and to the heart of our heritage. Read More ...

Mexico has been very present in my life lately.  From the continuous buzz regarding the Bicentennial and tomorrow’s Centennial celebrations, to next week’s environmental COP16 summit in Cancún, to the planning of our family trip to spend la Navidad with my husband’s Mexican family. We haven’t celebrated the holiday season with family at all since Camila was born three years ago. So, this trip will be special in many ways.  In an odd way, even though I was raised inRead More ...

Editor´s Note:  Today we kick off a very special week in celebration of two festivities that define our biculturalism:  Halloween and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead.)  Throughout the week we will feature guest posts and videos that will add color, spice and vida to Día de Muertos Week on SpanglishBaby.  So, make sure you are subscribed to our feed so you don’t miss a beat! Today´s post, written by Verónica Gonzalez Smith, is an introduction to howRead More ...

The weather is chilly, pumpkins sit on front porches and fires are lit up in chimneys. Fall is officially here, and with it the holiday season of excess kicks off with Halloween and, for some of us Latinos, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  Nutrition is always a huge topic around the holidays and more so around Halloween because of the insane amount of candy our kids are exposed to. Now, we know we can´t stop our kidsRead More ...