traditions

If you grew up like me, you remember being pushed to give an abrazo to relatives you didn’t remember or who just plain gave you the heeby jeebies. I survived all those awkward moments, but I’m not planning to put my children through them. When Ana recently posted about piercing her daughter’s ears, it was the occasion for our first disagreement (friendly, of course). In explaining my reasons for not piercing my girls’ ears, I referred to my belief in bodily autonomy.Read More ...

There are rites of passage in many cultures that are sure to raise eyebrows, and even judgmental comments, from others. Many are justified for being inhumane and even torturous, but I refuse to believe that piercing my daughter’s ears when she was an infant falls within that spectrum. If I sound defensive right off the bat, I might be just a tiny bit. This week I wrote an article over at my Babble Voices blog – Besos – titled “HowRead More ...

I have to admit the traditional American Easter celebration with bunnies, egg hunts and such still feels new to me. As much as I grew up with both the U.S. and Salvadoran traditions, in El Salvador Easter week was Semana Santa; and that meant a week of beach and religious celebrations. This is honestly the first year we’ve gone all out with a visit from the Easter bunny, an egg hunt and, claro, learning how to make cascarones (confetti EasterRead More ...

I haven´t been this excited about sharing news in a while.  And that´s a huge statement considering the last two and a half years since Roxana and I launched SpanglishBaby have been blessed with partnerships, opportunities and a community that went beyond our expectations. A month ago I received a phone call that I know will be life-changing:  I was invited to be one of 24 Ambassadors for the México Today Program–a public and private initiative which is officially launchingRead 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 ...