You know those butterflies we tend to get when we’re about to do something big? Whether it’s giving a speech, stepping into an important meeting, jumping out of a plane or participating in a race, I am constantly looking for opportunities that provoke this simultaneous feeling of nervousness and excitement.

While I admit that I am far from a good singer, and still have much to improve on in terms of speaking in front of a crowd, the favorite butterflies that I get are, surprisingly enough, when I get to put a microphone in my hand, step on a stage, and belt out anything from reggaeton, banda music, rock en español, hasta salsa y música tropical… essentially, any genre of música latina, I’m game. With my light freckles, green eyes, and Irish/Norwegian background, let’s just say I’ve had my share of confused, then delighted looks from Latinos and non-Latinos alike. It’s all in a day’s work for me, being a “Gringa Latina.”

I once heard a quote from American golfer Paul Azinger, “If you don’t have butterflies, it’s because you know you have no chance.” With plenty of butterflies, even as I sat down to write this article, that is exactly what I’m seeking with this piece. A chance. A chance to explain more about my experiences and perspective as a Gringa Latina. A chance to thank people and companies that have given me the opportunity to follow my passion, both personally and professionally. And hopefully, a chance to hear from Latinos themselves, as I’m intrigued as to their thoughts on how thousands of us, who have no sangre latina, can feel so deeply about their language, culture and traditions.

While I could most likely be the subject of a study or even a book that explores the origins and social psychology behind this inherent connection to the Latin culture (Psychologist Brian Weiss might trace it back to a past life, while the Journal of Neuroscience may link it to a stronger connectivity in the white matter of the auditory cortex), the best way to explain it, in simplest terms, is that I’m most “in my element” when I’m speaking, listening or writing either in Spanish, or about the Hispanic community.

There is not an exact “moment” that it happened for me. Sure, I can remember watching soccer games on Univision when I was 6 years old in the suburbs of Chicago, I remember my first Spanish class at 14 with Sr. Snyder and getting A’s in Spanish the next eight years through high school and college; and of course I remember the life-changing experience of studying a semester abroad in Spain when I attended Indiana University, and you guessed it, majored in Spanish as well as Journalism.  At that point, I knew that I wanted Spanish in my life every day from then on — which of course meant marrying someone I could speak Spanish with, and someone to teach Spanish to, as we started our family.

Today, Guillermo and I have the unique pleasure of teaching our now 2-year old son, Elijah, the best of all his worlds on a daily basis. Fortunately, we live in a diverse community with no shortage of ethnic celebrations throughout the year. So with that comes pølse and folk music at the Norwegian Constitution Day Parade, boxty and rugby at the Irish American Heritage Parade, y claro, el grito y ballet folklórico at Fiestas Patrias celebrations, not to mention other Latino-inspired festivals throughout the year. So for me, it’s certainly not about neglecting my own roots, but rather, embracing an additional way of life. I look forward to living vicariously through Elijah and seeing his views and experiences, as he actually does have the ‘sangre latina’ that I never had, along with the European blood that I do have. I realize though, that he may be presented with his own challenges as it relates to identity, wondering where and with whom, he feels in his element.

From my perspective, I am forever grateful to the companies that gave me the opportunity to shine, once I followed my passion and pursued positions that allowed me to speak Spanish and represent the Hispanic community. Whether it was the team at Univision Radio San Diego, who not only taught me everything I know about karaoke en español, but truly immersed me in situations where I would learn — trying pozole for the first time outside of a concert venue, opening the doors to their cabinas and even letting me record commercials en español, and of course, engaging crowds at store-fronts throughout the city, as “La Crazy Tracy” formed an integral part of their Marketing and Promotions Department. Or take the team at the Mexico Tourism Board Chicago, where I was able to help coordinate press conferences for dignitaries like then-President of Mexico Vicente Fox, attend trade shows encouraging more incentive and convention-based travel to Mexico, and lead a group of journalists to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo so they could experience the magic and lure of the country for themselves.

Now, we are celebrating one of my favorite times of year, as the consulting firm that Guillermo and I launched three years ago will be implementing a series of Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations with our clients. My team and I get to develop recipes with bilingual chefs and culinary students, integrating many authentic and even mainstream brands into each dish. We get to partner with Spanish-language radio stations to engage listeners and provide scholarships. We get to merchandise stores to reflect the booming demographics of the Latino communities they exist in… I could go on and on…

Above all, many thank you’s are in order. Gracias a mi suegra mexicana, who after each dish she makes, whether it’s chiles rellenos, picadillo con salsa, or enchiladas suizas, I seem to have a new favorite. Thank you to the family at a nearby park that welcomed my son and I, though we were complete strangers, to watch as each of the children at their party had their turn at the piñata — and in the meantime, teaching me a new verse to “Dale, dale, dale” that I had never heard before! Thank you to sites like SpanglishBaby and Latinaish who bring out the best in people like me, and provide useful resources for thousands of us “Gringo Latinos” who want to keep the conversation going both with friends and families alike.

And now, as I douse my Edy’s Outshine Mango Fruit Bar in Valentina Hot Sauce, I await with más mariposas, your experiences either as, or with, a “Gringo Latino.”

Raised in Chicago and of Irish heritage, Tracy Galindo is fluent in Spanish with a career spanning more than 10 years  working closely with the Hispanic community, including Univision Radio, the Mexico Tourism Board, and the Ethnic Marketing Desks for grocers Jewel-Osco and Albertsons. In a matter of 13 months, Tracy married into a Mexican family, started her own marketing firm, and became a mom. When she’s not helping companies skyrocket their sales, Tracy and her husband, Guillermo, channel their energy toward volunteering, traveling, and raising their toddler to be bilingual and bicultural. If you are among the growing number of “Gringo Latinos”, join us on Twitter @gringolatinos or LinkedIn. We talk movies, music, and much more!

{Images by sergio_space1}

September 15th marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month — a month-long celebration to honor the history, cultures and traditions of U.S. citizens with heritage from countries in Latin America and Spain. The dates of September 15 through October 15th were chosen because several countries celebrate their independence day during those weeks: México, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The celebration also includes October 12th, known as Columbus Day.

Of course, I always like to say that as a Latina mom raising a bilingual and bicultural child, we celebrate Hispanic heritage every single day. But the beauty of this month is that we get a bigger opportunity and more online, on-air and community events and tools to teach all children about the rich heritage that Latino Americans have in this country.

If you want to join in on the Hispanic Heritage Month festivities with your kids, here’s a list of 15 children’s books that celebrate important Latino personalities and traditions.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING AND FOR THE FULL LIST OF BOOKS

Hispanic Heritage Month is all abuzz with celebrations happening all over the country to recognize the richness of the Latino cultural heritage in the United States. From Sep. 15 through October 15 we have so many opportunities to immerse our children in the beauty of one of their cultures and teach others about it as well.

Disney Junior is joining the celebration with four beautiful :30 second spots featuring Latino children and parents talking about elements of their heritage that they embrace.

The four spots feature:

• A game of lotería
• A piñata party
• Children singing De Colores
• A boy learning to make a banana helado from Colombia

And, guess what? My girl, Camila and I, were invited to be featured in one of the spots! Since we love to play lotería, and it’s a perfect game to practice words in Spanish, that’s the spot we’re on!

Want to take a sneak peak before it starts airing tomorrow (Thursday)? Then press play on the video below!

My girl and I had so much fun shooting these together and now we even have a beautiful keepsake to treasure as much as we do our game of lotería. Camila’s reaction when I showed her the spot was hilarious because she saw the entire thing quietly and with a critical look on her face. When the spot was over, I asked her in Spanish, “Did you love it?” She said, “I did, but that’s not how it is, they got it wrong because I told everyone that after you win, you get a sticker.” Yes, she did say that many times to camera, so I had to give her a quick lesson in how TV is made. Not sure she totally got it, but at least now she’s not critical when she watches the spot! Now, she can’t wait for all her amigos y amigas to see it as well!

Catch all the fours spots airing during Hispanic Heritage Month on the Disney Junior programming block on Disney Channel and on the 24-hour Disney Junior channel.

And remember, your child can enjoy all their favorite Disney Junior shows, like Doc McStuffins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates, in Spanish! How? Just find the SAP option on your cable/satellite provider’s remote and select the Spanish option.

Can’t thank Disney Junior and Disney Channel enough for providing the Spanish-language option and for creating these Hispanic Heritage spots to celebrate our culture. ¡Gracias!

Yesterday we shared with you the wajrapuco. Today’s instrument of the day is the güiro!

MamYala has provided us with an awesome set of coloring pages featuring instruments from Latin America and Spain. Each day we will be posting a new coloring page with a new instrument and its name in Spanish for you to enjoy with your niños. This is a great way to spark a conversation about Latin American music and it’s roots. Who knows, maybe you’ll even be inspired to do a little research with your kids and find music that highlights these instruments!

Click here for a printable version of todays instrument : the güiro

We invite you to come back tomorrow and check the new instrument coloring page of the day.

Today marks the beginning of the month-long celebration known as Hispanic Heritage Month. Today’s also the Independence Day of several countries in Central America, así que ¡Feliz Día a los salvadoreños, nicaragüenses, guatemaltecos, costarricences y hondureños!

Tomorrow it’ll be Mexico’s turn and on Sept. 18, it’ll be Chile’s Independence Day, so it obviously made huge sense to have this celebration of all things Hispanic during this time of the year.

Now, I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been a huge fan of Hispanic Heritage Month. For starters, I wasn’t really aware of its existence until a few years back. I honestly don’t remember it being a big celebration back in Miami where I grew up and spent almost 20 years of my life. Not in school and definitely not in my house. But now that I’m raising two first-generation American children in Denver, it seems to make more sense than ever for me to embrace this celebration and use it as an opportunity to expose my children to even more of our Latino culture than we already do on a daily basis.

Most of us are lucky enough to live in areas where there are tons of events in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month since the Latino population continues to spread throughout the entire country. But even if there aren’t any scheduled events in your town, you can still celebrate all things Hispanic right at home.

While there’s a couple of events my kids and I will be attending here in Denver, I still plan on doing the following three fun and easy activities with them at home:

MÚSICA

Music lovers that we all are, la música is a part of my family’s lives every single day. Whether we’re home or in the car, Pandora is always on. While we listen to lots of music in Spanish, we love others genres as well. But in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ll be doing something a little bit different. Every day, starting today, my husband and I will showcase one Latino musical artist or group by playing several of their songs, talking about their genre of music and explaining a little bit about who they are.

From salsa to rock en español, the possibilities are endless! I can’t wait to get started with this one, but I don’t know who’ll go first. Will it be Rubén Blades, Olga Tañón, Luis Miguel, Alejandra Guzmán, Choc Quib Town, Susana Baca…?? I guess it’ll all depend on my mood!

POTLUCK

We have a diverse group of Latino friends who hail anywhere from the Dominican Republic all the way down to Chile and Argentina. My husband is Puerto Rican and I’m Peruvian, so we have almost every country in Latin America covered.

The idea is to have everyone bring the most representative dish from their country of origin. We’ll hopefully get a good balance of appetizers, entrees and desserts. Not to mention beverages, including a few “tragos,” like my mom’s famous Pisco Sour. While the idea is to expose our kids to different tastes within Latino cuisine, this will be a party for everyone and I’ll most likely organize it for the end of Hispanic Heritage Month.

¡Qué rico!

FAMILY TREE

I’ve been wanting to do a family tree forever. And while it’s probably going to take us a lot longer than the four weeks of Hispanic Heritage Month to complete this project, I think it’s a great time to at least get started. Because my dad is no longer with us, I think I’ll probably get started with his side of the family, so my children can learn more not only about him, but their great-grandparents as well.

There are tons of ways of doing a family tree, including scrapbooks and digital photo books. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing, but first I plan on enlisting the help of my children to gather photos, letters, newspaper clippings and even recipes relevant to our family’s history.

A good way to get started with a family tree, is to find out how and when your family got to the United States. I’m really looking forward to this project and can’t wait to see what my children and I end up discovering about our heritage!

How do you celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month?

{Photo via MSMP84}

This weekend the kids and I are preparing to attend our first ever Festival to celebrate Mexican Independence Day! With the Fiestas Patrias coming up I felt it was only right to teach the kids a little more of our Mexican culture and so we’re crafting for Hispanic Heritage Month!

Since we will be attending a festival that is said to have a parade, what better way to show our pride then by waving colorful Papel Picado Flags!

Papel picado is one of the most used decorations in the Mexican culture. While it has become a modern trend at weddings and birthday parties, these stenciled tissue papers are usually hung like streamers. To have them on a little flag is not only cute, but very easy for kids to celebrate with!

To make some of your own here is what you will need:

-Tissue paper

-Wooden sticks

-Scissors- decorative and/or  regular

-adhesive- we used dots

Let’s get started:

1- Fold your tissue paper (appx. 8×10 in size) and fold in 5ths

2-Folding only in 4th and leaving the 5th portion off cut the bottoms in decorative form. We used zigzag scissors.

3- Cut shapes, Like  half circles, at the fold. Remember not to cut the fold off completely this will cut your flag in to pieces.

4- Open it up half way and do the same. The more cuts the more decoration on your flag!

5- Open up your flag and place adhseive on the stick directly. I found that if you roll the stick onto the tissue flag that it is easier to secure.

All done with your Banderita! Repeat with different colors and enjoy!

Now Let’s Celebrate!

Not only is it Hispanic Heritage Month in September, but we also celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day!  Have you ever seen the Mexican Metal Tooling Art technique?  The process of working a rounded tool on the back side of soft metal to create a beautiful piece of raised art is called Repujado.

Here is a simple form of this technique that your little ones can have fun with and then wear.

What you will need to make a repujado Mexican cuff bracelet:

• Metal Cuff Bracelet
• Foil Pan
• Permanent markers
• toothpick or paintbrush (with a thin rounded end)
• toilet paper roll
• Duck tape

 Note that the foil can be sharp so handle with care. An adult may need to cut the foil first and do all the bending to avoid little ones getting cut.  Cut the toilet paper roll the width you want your bracelet cuff to be and cut your foil an inch or two larger then the toilet paper roll.  Make sure to place newspaper under your work when tooling.

1. Decide what side will be the front and turn the foil over and draw the design with your toothpick (make the point blunt). My little one wanted me to draw and he would color.  You can work on both sides to give it a raised and indented look. Take the rounded end of the marker and rub it back and forth in the large areas of your design to give it a raised look.

2. Wrap foil around the toilet paper roll and fold in edges making sure no pointy ends are out.

3. Then place  duck tape over the back side to cover the ends of foil, as shown above.

My boys wanted some super power, monster truck boy cuffs! 

{Photo by: cliff1066™}

My daughter Vanessa always wants to know what kinds of games I played as a child or what kinds of song I sung or what kind of books I read. Sometimes I use that as an opportunity to expose her to our culture in a fun way.

Well, the other day she asked me what kind of stuff I used to watch on TV. When I found “El Chavo del 8″ DVDs at Walmart, I knew I had to get them immediately so that I could show here instead of tell her.

If you grew up in Latin America in the ’70s and ’80s, then “El Chavo” (and “El Chapulín”) must have been a part of your daily life. Or, at least, they were of mine. I used to laugh so hard watching all the characters’ crazy antics. When I put the DVD in the player, I wasn’t sure how Vanessa would react – especially because I hadn’t told her too much about it other than to tell her that I was going to show what I used to watch as a child.

I wasn’t sure if she’d get some of the humor, but I guess I had forgotten the universality of stupidity! Ha! As soon as El Chavo did the first stupid thing – I think he was watering Don Ramón’s feet – she burst out laughing. She also laughed when she heard Kiko crying and after the second episode she was mimicking one of El Chavo’s immortal sayings: “Bueno pero no se enoje”, lifting her hands like him and all.

After seeing how much fun she’s been having watching those episodes, I decided that they were a great way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month because, to me, El Chavo will always be a part of our culture!

Another thing that I decided to include this month to celebrate our culture is more music. I’ve already got Vanessa  (and even Santiago) hooked on several of old school Shakira songs, but I recently decided it was time to check out her last album in Spanish. I’d heard some of the songs and they reminded me of her beginnings, so I was happy to find the Sale el Sol CD at Walmart because that’s the only way we can listen to music in my car.

I was not disappointed an neither were my children. Not only did a lot of songs remind me of the music I fell in love with back in the early 90s, but I also loved the variety of genres, including merengue, reggaeton, rock, and ballads!

¡Muy divertido!

Disclosure: As part of the Walmart Moms program, SpanglishBaby received compensation and the product to facilitate this post. As always, all stories and opinions are our own.

Image courtesy of the Disney Channel

Hispanic Heritage Month is here, and what better time to teach our kids a little more about our history. Since we Latinos are very diverse, it’s great to be able to teach our kids a little more about not only our family’s history, but about the history of Latinos throughout North, Central, and South America, and all the beautiful islands in the Caribbean. See? We’ve got so much to cover!

Now let’s face it, our kids love to watch TV, more than we’d like them to sometimes. So this month why not take advantage of all the programming that will be honoring Hispanic and Latino culture. We’ve been paying attention to all the channels that will be airing special shows in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Image Courtesy of the Disney Channel

This month Disney Junior will be airing a special episode of “Special Agent Oso” featuring guest stars Rita Moreno, Rico Rodriguez and Raini Rodriguez. Plus,  a brand new 45-minute ”Handy Manny Great Garage Rescue” special premiering Monday, October 3rd and featuring guest stars Ed O’Neill (“Modern Family”), Freddy Rodriguez (“Ugly Betty”), George Takei (“Star Trek”) and Harold Perrineau (“Lost”) alongside series star Wilmer Valderrama.

In addition to that, Disney Channel and Disney Junior started airing on September 15 a series of spots called “This is me” that feature real kids talking about their heritage and traditions.

Disney XD will introduce new spots with stars Ryan Ochoa from “Pair of Kings” and Mateo Arias from “Kickin It” discussing their family traditions. It’s great for our kids to see actors out there they can relate to and who are proud of their heritage.

Discovery Kids en Español will be taking a more historical approach to Hispanic Heritage Month, airing a series of short programs that feature the lives of  four Latin American heroes that fought for freedom in some of our  countries: General Simon Bolivar, Benito Juarez, Francisco de Paula Santander, and Jose Marti. The whole family can learn a little more about the lives of these four heroes when the series airs.

After we’ve enriched our minds with Latino history we can head on over to Discovery Familia with our kids for a game of “atuendos tradicionales” {pictured above}

Nick Jr‘s heritage page has various activities for your kids, one of those activities being Hispanic Heritage Hero trading cards that are a fun way to make sure all those history facts they’re learning stick.

Now, SpanglishBaby parents are not exempt. PBS is celebrating Hispanic Heritage with a great lineup of programs to entertain and examine our history, cultural contributions, and heritage. On September 30th, you can catch the likes of Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan and José Feliciano at the concert that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted, In Performance at the White House “Fiesta Latina.”

There is a lot on the agenda for Hispanic Heritage month, but maybe the best part of it all will be to enjoy this month with our niños and pass on more of our cultura to them.

Hispanic—or Latino—Heritage Month, a celebration that runs until Oct. 15, started last week. Unlike years past and because of the influence of the growing Latino population, many more communities have special events and activities during this month-long celebration which are a great way to expose your bilingual children to our culture, food, music and arts.

Our good friend Melanie, from ModernMami, has compiled an awesome list of resources to celebrate this month with your niños. In it you’ll find links to all sorts organizations which have put together fun activities, ideas, lesson plans, recipes, and general information related to Hispanic Heritage Month. Thanks, ModernMami!

While I wish I had the time to work on all of the suggested activities with Vanessa, I’ve decided instead to incorporate her love for books with this yearly celebration by making a conscious effort to read her at least one book related to our heritage throughout the duration of Hispanic Heritage Month. I’m relying on the following suggested reading lists to help me make pertinent choices:

• School Library Journal – Divided into elementary, middle and high school sections, this list makes it easy to choose by age. The bibliography includes both fiction and non-fiction choices.

• Scholastic – These recommendations are also grouped by school age, but they start as early as PreK.

• The New York Public Library – Another great list divided into not only by age – younger and older kids – but also by poetry and song.

• The Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award – Browse their list of current and past winners of the annual award given to “the author/illustrator of the most distinguished book for children and young adults that authentically reflects the lives and experiences of Mexican Americans in the United States.”

• The Seattle Public Library – A short list that includes both fiction and nonfiction as well as bilingual books.

• Colorín Colorado – Divided by age groups from 3 to 12, this recommended reading list includes Latino and South American children’s authors.

¡A leer!