As a Latina, I also want to raise kids that take pride in their roots and their culture.

As a parent, I know I have my work cut out for me. I want to raise strong, intelligent, resilient, and kind humans. However, as a Latina, I also have the responsibility to raise kids that take pride in their roots and their culture.

I am thankful that we live in a time that “accepts” racial differences. And yes, that’s in quotations because I’m not naïve to the climate of our world and current reality. However, my generation, and the ones behind me, are lucky enough to see more diverse family dynamics. And that include multicultural and multiracial families. While this is true, society is still pretty obsessed with putting us each in a racial box. That’s why we’re asked time and time again to fill in those in those tiny boxes that asks for our race and ethnicity.

I really want to teach my kiddos about their mixed heritage – that they are Dominican – and hope that they’ll always celebrate that part of themselves. Honestly however, I’m doing a bad job at doing this. I try to introduce cultural stories into our home with books (like these) and cuisine when I can. I also love spending time with my side of the family so that the kids are exposed to how we talk and communicate. But there are certainly other things I can be doing and as a parent, I’m going to try and continue to do what I can to help my kids develop in who they are, completely. I want them to know their strong sense of self in who they are and that includes their multiracial, multicultural background.