In these remaining days of  Black History Month , I find myself reflecting on the lessons this month has for all of us, and impressed that I have seen glimpses of social change throughout the media recently.  New Amsterdam had a theme in its most recent episode ( Season 2, Episode 4 ) where quiet racism caused tumors to grow in a 13-year-old Latino boy. There’s no insurance code for this ailment, and the mom is beside herself because she has tried to shield her son from this exact thing his whole entire life.  Similarly, the Moth Podcast had an episode for Black History Month, in which Devan Saniford, a black father,  recounts his experiences with police racial profiling, and how he had always told his son that he didn’t speak out against it at that time, because he felt like his voice wouldn’t be heard, and it didn’t really matter. But as he shares his tale and the experiences that followed it, he learns that the true lesson for his son is to teach him to speak out.

The #gerberphotosearch2020 closed last night at midnight. Of course, I think Mateo is the cutest baby ever, so I had to enter him! As a part of the  application, parents were asked to answer two questions. Here is what I said makes Mateo so special, and a special tradition and memory I have of him. Tell us what makes your baby special   Mateo is a miracle baby, and every day he reminds us of what a miracle he is, with his playful demeanor, infectious smiles and affectionate disposition. He is my second rainbow baby, as I had an a ectopic pregnancy in 2015, which resulted in the loss of my pregnancy and my left fallopian tube. I still had one remaining functional fallopian tube, however it was attached to a lazy ovary, and we didn’t know if I would ever be able to conceive a child naturally. With luck I did, and his older sister was born on May 30, 2017. She was our first rainbow baby, and imagine how surprised we were when we found out we were pregnant again! Just ab

In honor of  National Marimba Day in Guatemala  yesterday, I'd like to share a little example of why the music of the marimba is important to our family. As an infant, Mateo hated riding in the car. He spent most car rides crying in discomfort and no amount of singing, clapping, or tapping could dissuade him from his bellowing. Often times when he was fussy I would hum to him the song “ All the Pretty Horses ,” which my mother used to sing to me. But this day, even that wouldn’t work. We tried everything. Then one of his Tias decided to play her favorite canción for him: “ Ferrocarril de los altos ,” a traditional Guatemalan song featuring the marimba instrument. And he quieted right down! We laughed with relief, and joked that his preference of music clearly demonstrated he is of Guatemalan descent. From then on, whenever he was upset by the car ride, we would play la musica marimba and the melodic tones would soothe him.  It was obvious to us that the melodía d

En septiembre, fuimos a una fiesta de cumpleaños para una de mis sobrinas. Fue un gran evento completo con una mesa de postres con una fuente de chocolate, un trampolín, un DJ, un camión de tacos y probablemente 100 personas. Las mesas estaban llenas de amigos y familiares, sonriendo, riendo y devorando deliciosos tacos. Los niños corrían alrededor de la yarda, llenos de energía por el chocolate y el ambiente festivo. Como la mayoría de las fiestas guatemaltecas, la gente llegó lentamente, y la mayoría llegó tarde. Mateo tenía solo tres meses de edad, pues me senté en una mesa sosteniéndolo durante la mayor parte de la fiesta, observando el evento, mientras Francisco cuidaba a Maya y Sofía jugar con sus primos. El DJ nos guió en algunos juegos, y luego llegó el momento de la piñata. Fue una fiesta tan grande, y tenía dos piñatas, una para los niños y otra para los adultos. Aunque la mayoría de los niños generalmente les encanta golpear la figura llena de dulces, la piñat

With all the hype about the 2020 Super Bowl half-time show, I would be remiss to not share my own reflections, as an American raising three Latinos in this country. I must be honest... none of our family actually watched the half-time show live. Without the Patriots in the game, we didn't have much interested in this year's super bowl, and after a very long day, all three kids, Papi and Mama were in bed and asleep by 8pm. But I woke up the next morning to social media in an uproar.  HipLatina  called the white people appalled by the show racist, @thebilingualmami clarified that sexy dancing is just dancing for Latinos, cautioning us against cultural relativism  (when you judge another culture based on your cultural standards) and Brianne Schneckenberger responded by writing an eloquent FB post that went viral about how white-centric the American mind is, and outlines the cultural references in the show most white people probably missed.  So this morning I had to look