Get advice and share experiences about all things multicultural including biracial, interfaith, and bilingual families.
Hola! I have a whitey-white-creamy-pasty-alabaster-European California kid (5.5 years old) that badly wants to learn Spanish. Her dad’s family is from Argentina (so I guess she isn’t THAT white, but she definitely got more of my genes 😉) and the lot of them speak Spanish (some of them ONLY speak Spanish.) We also live in San Jose, Ca, and most of the time at playgrounds and such there are pred... More
Hello! I’m a little worried that my 20month toddler only does 24 understandable words for now. The other thing is she babbles a lot and she understands almost everything I tell her in Spanish and English. She tries to sing in sentences. But I don’t know if its because I talk to her in two languages or she is just behind. What are you’re experiences and should I have her evaluated or im just jum... More
For those that have a grandparent watching baby during the day, how did you deal with the guilt of the expectation that their help is no longer needed once you/spouse gets home? Aka, you don’t want them staying for dinner even though it seems natural (and that grandparent is single which makes the guilt even worse)? Oh and let’s make it harder. You’re asian 😂
This has been very hard to decide and my family have been debating on this long before my son was born. My husband is American & I’m from the Philippines. I’m just curious if there are other parents out there that has children born here in the US? Did you apply for dual citizenship or just let them stick to their US citizenship. There’s too many pros & cons. Thanks!
I have dual citizenship with Japan and the US. My husband is American and we both decided it would be cool to give my daughter dual citizenship as well. Everything went fine, but the only issue with Japan is that they don't really like people having dual citizenship. Technically we're supposed to decide when we turn 22 or 23 which nationality we're keeping, but they also kind of hav... More
Me and my husband are leaning toward the name Enzo for our baby boy due in a couple weeks. Any middle names that would sound good? Last name is Bahena and we are Hispanic. Thanks for all and any suggestions 💙
"With little kids, you often think they're pushing your buttons, but that's not what's going on. They're upset about something, and you have to figure out what it is." https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/XXX-XXXX53/a-playful-way-to-teach-kids-to-control-their-anger
My husband and I are fully Mexican but speak more English. Our families mostly speak Spanish so we need something that sounds good both in Spanish and English. I’m due first week of May 😊
Which language did you start teaching your baby first? I’m bilingual my husband speaks only English.. I try to talk to our baby in my native language majority of the time but end up speaking English a lot of well especially when DH is around. I want to start teaching her words, letters, numbers, etc (with flash cards) but not sure which to start with or do both but I don’t want to overwhelm her... More
Michaela, did you ever feel left out though when your son and husband would talk? Mine is worried he won’t be able to communicate with LO
He’s only 9 months now so I’m not sure how left out I will feel when my son actually speaks back but I can say since he was born I have already picked up so much Arabic that I generally know the topic of conversation and so I don’t feel too badly left out. I imagine that as he gets older I will learn even more. Also to me, the benefits of my son knowing two languages outweighs that emotion. Bec... More
So, my oldest is turning 15 this year, she is having a quinceañera party which, in Latino culture, signifies her transitioning into a woman. Now, she is not a woman and will never be a woman in my eyes, still my baby girl. But I do understand she is getting older and the fact that she doesn’t live with me, due to a divorce from my first wife, makes things a bit more challenging. I want to have ... More
You may want to have the talk with her, but make sure she wants to have the talk with you first. The best thing you can do for your relationship and her self-esteem is respect her boundaries. I’m sure she’s watching tv shows with mature themes. Find out what she’s watching, then watch them on your own, and start a conversation with her about the characters. You can pass along your wisdom to ... More
I have a son named George. And just found out I’m expecting a second boy ! What would be a good little brother name that goes with George? I’m from the Hispanic decent so would like something that sounds both good in English and Spanish. Thank you!!
Back story: I’m pretty much an agnostic but converted to my DH’s faith and we raise our LO in the faith. Now with Christmas coming up my mom has been asking us what we wanted. DH never replied to it and now recently said he can’t take x mas presents and they shouldn’t get LO presents either. But my mom has already bought us stuff so he said to give it as end of the year gifts or New Years gif... More
Is your DH jehovah witnesses? I have family who is and I know they don’t celebrate Christmas or Easter. They usually take their kids to buy a new toy or two after Christmas. It’s not from Santa it’s just from the store. I think your mom is over stepping with the whole Santa thing since your DH and you have both decided to raise your kids in his faith she needs to respect that. End of the year g... More
Can I just remind everyone that Santa and the Easter Bunny are not “religious” so use them the way that’s best for your family. Also if they are in school and can’t actually celebrate whatever holiday party the kids are having- let them be the “photographer” so they’re not participating but they’re not ostracized either. Last - there’s always “fall fest”, “Holyween” or some other semantic phr... More
So my wife is Korean and I am Chinese. I’m 5th / 6th generation Chinese American and my wife is 2nd generation Korean American. My sister in law is called Emo which mean aunty (from the mother side). A friend of ours posted a comment about how much the Emo’s love our daughter referring to both my sister in law and my sister. During dinner last night my sister in law said that our daughter on... More
I am worried he is verbally delayed and I am not sure how to balance it all. I want him to learn all 3- Polish, Spanish and English.
Communication studies major over here, it may seem like a delay at first while your child sorts out the information but he already is able to differentiate the languages. Please don’t worry about the seeming delay he will fair far better than his peers in school and in the future. It’s the perfect time for him to learn multiple languages. I credit my own success and intelligence to understandin... More
I am expecting my second baby. We have not yet found out the gender but I already started looking for names. We have a boy name but not a girl one. The only girl name we like is TOO common so I don’t really like it anymore. We’re both Hispanic and I just want a name that sounds both good in English and Spanish as our families only speak Spanish.
Has anyone successfully conceived a girl baby after following the so called “rules” to increase your chance of having one? For instance, I have read that if you don’t allow yourself to orgasm it can help your odds or that if you purposely only have sex a few days before ovulation and not on the day of ovulation, you have a better chance of conceiving a girl. Also, changing your diet has been re... More
If you’re into trying to conceive a specific gender, I’ll just tell you this... The genders of both of my kids match up to what the “Chinese gender predictor” had predicted. Soooo if you want to try for a boy or girl, just plug in your age and possible conception months and see what it predicts. Then try getting pregnant that month. Sure, not exactly scientific, but no harm in having fun with i... More
We used shettle method for both our girl and boy. They say it’s 50/50 no matter what but either we got lucky (50/50) or it helped increase the odds. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shettles_method?wprov=sfti1
My 2.5 year old started going to daycare two months ago and I’m really struggling to accept that he is losing his/ and my mother tongue. I worked very hard to speak solely in our native tongue, assuming he will pick English up easily enough, which has been the case. But he happily spoke to me and understood our mother tongue. For about three weeks, he’s refused to use anything other than Englis... More
We have a quatrilingual household here 😂🤣 but focus on the 2 main languages we mostly use English/Spanish. When I am alone with my kid I speak nothing else but Spanish to him even though the TV or music might be in English. When both my husband and I are with him it's mostly English. The books we read to him however are of different languages as some are enough to lull him to sleep. I do si... More
I have a half African American and half Mexican daughter. Her hair is getting longer and I’ve been told I have to put stuff in her hair to protect the curls. She’s got the big Shirley temple curls. I have bought the “Miss Jessie’s Multicultural Curls” lotion and it doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I use the “glop and glam” shampoo and conditioner in her hair. I’m just not sure what to use for... More
As a hair stylist I would say less is best, we get so caught up in the hype why to often, trying way to many products! Just 4 Me kid line would be just fine for her hair washing and conditioning once a week, and deep conditioning once a month/ not to over condition and way down or clog hair follicles and if hair seems to get limp then you’ve over moisturized and can implement a protein every ot... More
I can relate- my daughter is also Black/Mexican... she’s only 2 but her hair looks like Fancy Nancy, it’s wild and all over the place. I love the Shea Moisture coconut milk, it works well with her hair.
Does anyone have a child that is in or gone through Spanish immersion schooling? My daughter is about to start and I wanted to hear others experience and advise. Thanks
My son is in a bilingual school (Spanish/English) and loves it. It's not a total immersion, but his head teacher will only speak Spanish to the children. It did take a few weeks to warm up, but he had just turned 4. He has already picked up an ton in just 5 months. It helps if you can support it at home. It's so wonderful when children can learn a new language during their critical peri... More
My husband is from El Salvador and speaks fluent Spanish/English. I want our 20 month old daughter to learn Spanish as well. However, there are a few problems: 1. I am a stay at home mom, so she is around me 24/7; and I am only fluent in English. I cannot afford someone to babysit while I go take classes; nor do I have the family support. 2. My husband is almost never home due to his grave shif... More
Hello. I have a suggestion, I am from El Salvador too. If your husband is fluent in Spanish, he may be familiar with a book called El Silabario, which. means the alphabet. If you are able to buy it, it will ease your learning experience. Every page is short and easy to read. The last pages of the book, have short stories, to practice your reading. Maybe your husband can make time to record a pa... More
I recently had to take our oldest to the hospital (she’s fine) and while we were registering in the ER, the admin person who was reviewing her patient file turned to me saying “Oh, well, she’s obviously not Hispanic.” Granted, my family are light-olive toned Hispanic and Spanish and my husband is all types of WHITE. So upon appearance, yes, you might not think Hispanic. Here are my two major ... More
That’s awesome! My son goes to Spanish immersion preschool three times a week. There are lots of pasty kids in his class, and they speak better than he does!! 😊 We are trying to improve our use at home too, to help him get more fluent as Abuela only speaks Spanish and I get in trouble weekly that I should speak more Spanish to him....so we’ve added flash cards to our bed time routine. Keeping ... More