Mariana
Mariana loves sandwiches best, although going 95% vegan two years ago means having traded in ham and swiss for eggplant and roasted red pepper. Her boys, Santiago (5) and Sebastian (3), agree that sliced bread is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The boys are native Spanish speakers despite the fact that neither of their parents is, which has made raising them in Spanish a labor of love. Her commitment to raising bilingual children was made possible by being a first-generation Chilean-American born and raised in New York City, and by having spent two pre-kid years living abroad in Mexico City and Salamanca, Spain. Mariana moved to the RGV in 2010 and never wants to live anywhere else. While the kids are at school, Mariana is a full-time Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UTRGV. She has written for the New York Times, Womankind Magazine, and Yahoo Parenting.
I Wish You Weren’t My Mom
Yesterday my son showed me a sentence he had typed out for me on the computer: “Momi I rele luv yu.” I think he was trying to make reparations for a barb he sliced...
A “Good Enough” Summer is Good Enough for Me
This society puts a lot of pressure on teachers to describe our summers as “awesome,” since we have “off” while the rest of the world is expected to be in the office. What people...
La Tristeza: Why we should be okay with Sadness
Not once have I been consoled by an adult who tried to rush me through sadness by telling me that I’m fine. Nunca he encontrado consuelo en las palabras de un adulto cuando me...
Sometimes I’d Rather Do Dishes
I used to hate doing dishes more than anything. Now I realize what an escape it can be from the complications of real life. Doing dishes allows me to pull my weight in the...
Let’s Sit Outside!
There is a magical street in North Austin that wakes up at 5 p.m. every weekday. Moms (and some Dads and Grandmothers) plant their camping chairs outside in the street and set their kids...
Are you March-ing toward your New Year’s Resolution?
Just a few months ago, we were formulating our New Year's Resolutions. I like to call them our highest hopes for our best selves, and by March, it's high-time to assess where we're at....
Dual-Language Education in the RGV
Charlemagne wrote that “to know two languages is to possess a second soul.” I like to believe that my children, in whom I have planted and am nurturing the seeds of two languages, are...
Embracing Domesticity in 2018
If you’re into new year’s resolutions, mantras, manifestos, and other Gretchen Rubin-type happiness hacks, you should pick a one-word theme for 2018. Choosing a theme is supposed to help you salt your year with...
Failing Forward: A Lesson in Clean Up
Todo el mundo derrama, lo importante es limpiarlo
Translation: Everyone spills; the important thing is to clean it up. This is one of my mantras. I repeat almost daily to my little ones aged five...
Grateful for Tantrums
They say to be grateful on Thanksgiving Day, specifically, but sometimes the real day is the hardest one, what with all the cooking and the families and the expectations and the dishes. I think...