Hispanic Heritage Month is a big deal in our family. As a half Puerto Rican mom, I want my daughters to know their roots and know why they should feel proud of their heritage. And while we talk about this topic year-round, this month allows us to dive a little deeper than we normally do.
My grandparents left Isabela, Puerto Rico, as teenagers and moved to New York in search of a better life. They were proud to be American citizens and I was proud to be their granddaughter. I sadly lost my grandparents in my late 20s, but I am so grateful that I had a chance to really bond with them and hear about their lives before they passed away.
I show my daughters pictures of them, and tell them stories about how I loved sleeping at their home because my grandmother would make us her famous arroz con gandules (rice and beans), which believe it or not, no one in my family has since perfected, although it seems so simple.
I do whatever I can to remind my two daughters they’ve been to Puerto Rico when they were babies, and have relatives there who love them dearly — even though we, unfortunately, haven't seen them in years.
I want my girls to know about their cultural identity and feel free to ask me any questions they may have about Puerto Rico and what it means to be Latino today. I also want my daughters to learn about other cultures and be able to answer questions about their own.
Here are just some ways we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in our home:
We brush up on our Spanish
I’m still working on my Spanish — I am in no way fluent — and as I’m reteaching myself the language of my parents, I try to teach my kids, too. I do whatever I can to bring the language into our lives, starting with bilingual books. Some books on my daughter’s shelves include Los Pollitos and Un Elefante. They also love the book Camila, a gift that their aunt sent directly from Spain.
We watch cartoons with culturally relevant themes
Personally, I love Elena from Elena of Avalor because she’s a feisty and fun Hispanic princess who kicks some major butt. I’m just sad Disney hasn’t fleshed her character out more via merchandise. We’ll rewatch the Pixar movie Coco every few weeks and discus the movie’s messages about family, love, and death — and of course, Dia de Los Muertos.
We listen to famous Latin performers
I’ll often play songs from famous Latinos, such as Celia Cruz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Selena, Juanes, and Julio Iglesias (my mom’s favorite) in the car.
We cook family recipes
Food is often the heart of any culture — and ours is no exception. My girls like eating plantains and flan, and I’ll tell them they’re foods connected to their heritage. At home, we have tins of Florecitas ice gem cookies, manufactured in Puerto Rico, which my younger one loves as much as I do. I often joke to my girls that our shared weakness for anything lemon (limon) flavored, especially ices (called piraguas), comes from our Hispanic roots.
We play with toys with a Hispanic/Latinx tie-in
I have purchased toy tortilla-making kits for my daughters, and we play restaurant with them. I recently showed my girls pictures of the one-of-a-kind new Barbie dolls of performer Celia Cruz and author and activist Julia Alvarez, so they know about the impact these women have had on the world. There are tons of educational ways to incorporate culture into our play any month of the year.
