Once a week, my daughter goes to dance class. Since the dance center she attends is closer to my parents’ house, I take the opportunity to head to their house after picking her up from school. We use this time to hang out with the abuelos and I get a chance to see my parents before it’s time for her dance class.

It’s become such a regular part of our weekly routine, that every Thursday when I pick up baby girl at school, she confirms, “Are we going to Abuela’s house?” On the rare occasion when something interferes with our plans, she gets disappointed. I do too, honestly. There’s something very comforting about knowing that each Thursday afternoon we get to see my parents. My mom and I talk, she feeds us as only your mom and an abuela can, and both baby boy and baby girl get the extra hugs and kisses from their grandparents.

For me, seeing the bond that my children have with my parents is especially precious because I never had such a relationship with one of my grandparents. I didn’t grow up near any of my grandparents – my paternal grandmother passed away long before I was born and the other three grandparents lived in New York City. While this is something that I certainly wish I had as a child, it’s something I’ve accepted for what it was. But, it does help me appreciate the special relationship my parents have with my kids. It helps me understand that it is important for them to visit their abuelos, to have sleep overs, and talk with them on a regular basis.

So, while it’s certainly not the only time we visit my parents, dance class day will continue to be a ritual. We will enjoy what the abuelos have to share with us and keep on nurturing the treasured connection such a relationship affords.

Did you have a special relationship with your grandparents?

Last weekend we had a friend of ours visiting from out of town. He has been a good friend of my husband for over 10 years and gets along great with the kids. Baby girl thinks he’s pretty funny and as is true with most people, she loves talking to him, which is fine by us.

Except, there are those times when the adults get to talking and are so heavily involved in their conversation that it’s hard to let the kids participate. When you’re friends with someone for over 10 years, this can be especially true, since you have plenty of memories and inside jokes. You can imagine there were a couple of instances where this happened while our friend was visiting.

The first night our friend visited, as I tucked baby girl into bed, she said, “Mommy, when people visit us or we visit them, I don’t really get to talk a lot.” I responded by reminding her that she did talk quite a bit and that she even played a game with our friend and read a book. I proceeded to tell her that when her dad and I were her age, things were worse. “We weren’t allowed to just come up and talk to the adults like you do. If they talked to us, then we’d respond, but it wasn’t like we just started conversations with them on our own. At least you get to do that!”

This was probably the worst thing I could have said at that moment because she started to cry saying, “That’s just not fair mommy!” I quickly told her that’s just the way it was and those were the rules, but that it’s not her rule. This didn’t help as she continued to cry repeating it wasn’t fair. I finally calmed her down by telling her it was a long time ago and that her daddy and I were over it, so she didn’t have to worry about it.

I left her room laughing, which was the same reaction my husband and our visitor had. It’s funny that even though she’s able to interact with adults in a manner significantly different to how my husband and I did as kids, she found it unnerving we couldn’t.

What is something from your childhood your children found surprising?

Photo by Catherine

Heels for young girls at a local shoe store.

Last year I had the opportunity to host a Kellogg’s Love Your Cereal breakfast with friends and family. We learned more about Kellogg’s cereals and had a chance to ask questions directly from a Kellogg’s representative. This year, I’ve once again partnered with Kellogg’s and was part of the Ama Tu Cereal (Love Your Cereal) team they sponsored to the Blogalicious 2011 conference. I’m happy to partner with Kellogg’s again, as they’re a company that has been a part of my life since I can remember.

In Puerto Rico, and throughout much of the Caribbean and Latin America, we have a bad habit of calling things by the most popular name brand that makes it. So, for example, all pain killers are Tylenol, regardless of the actual brand. Likewise, for much of my childhood I heard my mami saying, “Quieres con fleik?” which translates to “Do you want some corn flakes?” It didn’t matter that she might have been talking about Frosted Flakes instead. Another way we referenced Frosted Flakes in our house was to simply call it “El Tigre” (The Tiger), due to Tony the Tiger of course! To this day, Frosted Flakes is still my brother’s favorite cereal and it’s probably my husband’s too.

As part of my work with the Kellogg’s Ama Tu Cereal team at Blogalicious, I helped provide information on how Latina moms responded to Kellogg’s Breakfast in America survey. The survey found that 9 out of 10 Latina moms want their kids to eat breakfast every day, but unfortunately, 40% said their kids did not. However, almost 40% did say they ensure their children have breakfast daily. Additionally, Latina moms are 20% more likely than moms overall to get up early to prepare their children’s breakfast. And, it was found that Latina moms are 17% more likely than moms overall to say their family brings breakfast to work or school.

I know that it gets hectic in the morning as the entire household works to get ready for school and work. I admit that my husband and I are not good about eating breakfast and most days skip it. However, we make sure baby girl eats breakfast every day. It’s not always fancy, and sometimes it is a bowl of cereal, but she always eats something in the morning.

What are some favorite breakfast foods for your family?

Disclosure: Kellogg’s was a sponsor for the Blogalicious 2011 conference and I was compensated for my work.

Cereal photo: Mike Johnson – TheBusyBrain.com

As you know, I try my best to raise my children in a bilingual environment. I speak Spanish to them as much as possible, as do my parents, we sing songs in Spanish, read Spanish or bilingual books, and sometimes, we also watch cartoons in Spanish. My husband is very supportive in this effort and will point out new Spanish shows to us when he finds out about them and tries his best to repeat the Spanish spoken. It was actually him, who first introduced our daughter to El Perro y El Gato.

If I remember correctly, we were staying at a hotel and as he was browsing the channels, he stumbled upon HBO Latino, which was showing cartoons that morning. As I walk out of the shower, my baby girl screams out to me, “Mami, look! Perro y Gato! In Spanish!” She loves to point out when music, shows, books, etc., use Spanish. We watched the rest of the show wishing that we were HBO subscribers at home, since we had just found a new, funny, cute, bilingual show. Check out this behind-the-scenes look to hear from the show’s creators, animators, and even the voices of El Perro y El Gato.

El Perro y El Gato premiered a new episode titled, “Sigue Soñando / Keep On Dreaming,” on Thursday, September 15, the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month. We were sent a sneak peek DVD of the new episode, which of course, was enjoyed by all. The main characters of El Perro y El Gato are an overexcited orange dog (El Perro) and his laid-back, always hungry friend, a purple cat (El Gato). To keep our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month going, today we have a 4-DVD set of El Perro y El Gato to give away to you!

ModernMami™.com Reader Giveaway

We want you to enjoy El Perro y El Gato with your children, so we’re giving away a 4-DVD set of the show, as pictured above!

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest for a 4-DVD set of El Perro y El Gato, simply leave a comment below sharing why watching bilingual shows is important to you and your family.

Extra entries (optional):
Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on Twitter.
2. Tweet the following: Encourage #bilingual learning at home. Enter to win El Perro y El Gato DVDs from @modernmami! http://bit.ly/mPSylQ #giveaway #contest
3. Receive post updates by subscribing to our RSS feed. You can do so either via email or through a RSS reader. Leave a comment saying you did so or are already a subscriber.
4. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
5. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the details of this contest. Be sure to include a link back to this post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Friday, October 14, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. You must be 18 or older and a U.S. resident. No purchase necessary. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winner will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

El Perro y El Gato Photos and Video Provided and Used with Permission

Custom Hispanic Heritage Banner by Justin Edwards
and © ModernMami.com

A few months ago, one of my aunts was visiting from out of town. She was staying at my mami’s house and they were heading out for a day at a local park since they were bored with staying home. I took the opportunity to tag along so baby girl could have some fun at the park and get to know her Tía better.

Before we left, my Tía changed her clothes, and upon her return from the bedroom, my daughter noticed. Tía asked her, “How do I look?” to which my girl responded, “Good!” My Tía proceeded to pat her belly in that manner we adults often do when we’re indicating we need to lose weight. But, my daughter stared at her blankly. I spoke up and let my aunt know that baby girl had no concept of what she meant. “We don’t really point out things like that at home. She has no clue what you mean by that.”

Before entering her dance class last night, baby girl asked me if they would be able to wear make-up during their upcoming performance. (It’s going to be her first showcase since she started taking lessons.) I told her that no, she would not be able to wear make-up and that make-up is not something little girls wear.

At the end of the dance class, her instructor turned towards the parents and said, “I’m not a believer of putting make-up on babies, so for Saturday’s showcase, there’s no need to put make-up on your girls. They’re beautiful just as they are. You can just leave that stuff for the other studio.”

This morning, baby girl turned the TV on while I finished getting myself ready. I had forgotten that I left it on the food channel last night, which shows infomercials in the early morning. A couple of minutes later, baby girl runs into my room and proceeds to explain to me:

“Mommy, this man found this melon and they take the melon and make it into some type of cream you can then use to make yourself look younger and pretty!” She waves her hand around my face as she says this.

“Really?” I say. “And looking young is what makes you pretty? Would I not be pretty if I looked older?”

“Oh no mami! You always look pretty.”

“Thank you baby. So, why do we need to look younger, then? We’re fine the way we are, aren’t we?”

A bit puzzled, she pauses, thinks, then says, “Yeah!”

“Those people on TV are trying to trick people into thinking they don’t look pretty and thinking they need to look younger so that they can then buy what they’re selling.”

“Yeah, because they want more money!”

“That’s right. They are selling something and they want people to buy it. So, they make people think they really need it and trick them into thinking it will help them be better. But, that’s not what makes people pretty, mama.”

“Make-up?”

Feeling incredibly hypocritical, I said, “Make-up doesn’t make you pretty either, sweetie. It’s just something older women wear when they want to dress up and look a little different. But, it doesn’t make them pretty. In fact, if you wear too much make-up, it can make you look bad and takes away from what you really look like.”

“Ok mommy.”

*************************************

These are some examples of the daily struggle that it is to raise a girl. Regardless of how much emphasis you put on positive self and body image, or if you purposely refrain from showing negative examples (such as patting your belly or other areas of fat), the images make their way into your household and child’s mind in one way or another. Whether it’s another family member, TV, or some other external influence, you still end up having to curb the perceptions created.

When my Tía did what she did, she didn’t think of how her actions would be perceived. She did what many of us do. She pointed out a flaw in her body.

When baby girl’s dance instructor said what he said, I felt like applauding. This was one of the reasons we chose that dance school, because when we researched other ones in the area, many had photos of students in fancy outfits and wearing make-up on the homepage of their website. For us, that was an immediate turn-off. We wanted her to learn the art of dance and provide her with an outlet for socialization besides preschool. We did not want her to be part of a spectacle.

When I explained to my girl that make-up is not what makes you pretty, I had trouble coming up with the right words as to why women (myself included) do wear it. Because, let’s face it, when we put make-up on, we do in fact “feel” prettier.

So, as parents, how do we overcome these perceptions and continue to provide positive examples for our children? How can we curb the outside influences? And as women, how do we avoid sending mixed messages by telling our girls one thing, yet doing another?

What do you do to recover from those moments in parenting when you just lose it all? Those moments when the frustration, disappointment, and overall lack of positive energy leave you and you end up in a state of utter insanity with your kids?

I despise the person I become when frustration takes over. I lose patience, am ill-tempered, and lash out, making my daughter feel horrible in the process. It’s unfair to her. I can feel myself getting close to the point of losing it. Even though I try to avoid it, without a doubt, something always pushes me over the edge.

Normally, after I calm down, I sit and talk with her. I let her know that I don’t like acting that way. I apologize. I let her share how she feels and in turn explain how I felt. It’s all I know to do.

But, is it enough? Is an apology and quick conversation enough to recover from a major parenting fail? Especially if months later, it happens again?

I fear it’s not. I fear she’s going to end up in therapy if I have many more of those moments.

How do you prevent such moments? And, more so, when you have them, how do you recover from them? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo: Dmitry Kichenko

My five year old will be starting Kindergarten this fall. She just completed pre-Kindergarten and since her preschool follows the same school calendar as the public schools, that means she has an actual summer off, just like all school-aged kids. This also means that she’ll be spending a lot of time at home and we need to figure out ways to keep her busy. She’s not the type of kid to sit still for too long, plus we don’t want her to waste away the summer and forget everything they did in pre-K this past year.

We’ve lined up a few activities for the summer that will help her keep busy, entertained, and should be fun. Here’s our plan.

5 Ways to Keep Kids Busy this Summer

1. Summer Reading Program

Our local library has a summer reading program for kids to keep up with their reading while out of school. They provide a reading list, a calendar for kids to mark off days they read, and a goody bag at the end of the program in exchange for a full calendar. Our library’s program is for ages 6-12, but I figure that since baby girl is reading well for her age, we can work on the books appropriate for 6 and 7 year olds. She loves to read, so this is perfect for her and will get her extra excited about the books.

Photo: elvissa

2. Museums

At least one of our local museums is offering free admission on Mondays throughout the summer. I need to check with some of the other museums in the area to see if they have a similar offer, but have heard this is not uncommon. A visit to a museum is great for a) getting the kids out of the house, b) expanding their minds, and c) providing conversational topics.

Photo: aarongilson

3. Summer Day Camps

Luckily, baby girl’s preschool is hosting a summer day camp full of activities, weekly field trips, and a review of the pre-K curriculum they just completed. We’ve enrolled her for 5 weeks of camp this summer, though the weeks are spread out. Our local YMCA is also hosting a summer day camp with field trips, as well, so that may be something you can look into.

Photo: Richard Styles

4. Free Bowling or Other Recreational Activities

You may have already heard that AMF is offering two free games of bowling per day for kids 16 and under at over 200 locations in the US. I plan to take advantage of this offer a few times throughout the summer, though baby girl hasn’t quite mastered the art of bowling. She’ll still have fun, regardless, plus it’s an indoor activity – something that’s super important here in Orlando.

Last year, I also heard that some of the movie theaters had certain days of the week where they had free movies for the kids. That’s something else that would be fun and is also indoors.

Photo: Paul Sapiano

5. Swim Lessons

Believe it or not, our girl doesn’t yet know how to swim. This summer, we plan to fix that and have enrolled her in swimming lessons at our YMCA. Depending on how she does her first two weeks, we’ll see if we enroll her in further lessons.

The weeks that we have none of the above activities planned, such as this first week off from school, we are keeping her busy with continuing to write in her pre-K journal, reading, visits to abuela’s house, workbooks, and of course, playing with the various toys she owns. It’s sure to be a fast summer and before we know it, we’ll be preparing for the first day of Kindergarten.

How do you plan to keep your kids busy this summer?

Want a quick and easy way to get your young children to clean up around the house? I tried this with my five-year-old today and I just know that any preschooler will enjoy it as much as she did. It absolutely adds an element of fun to cleaning and even more, gives them a challenge!

All I did was simply tell her, “Let’s see how much you can clean up in one minute! I’m going to count to 60 and you go around and see how much you can put away. Ready? Set? Go!” I then counted 60 seconds as she ran around the house picking up. She was so worried about the time that twice she passed by me and slowed down just enough to hear what number I was on. But, she definitely did more in that one minute than she would have done in five minutes had I just told her to clean up her stuff.

The best thing was that I too had fun. I went around picking up a few items myself, but enjoyed seeing her having fun with something that ordinarily would have been a boring task. She ran, she laughed the whole time, and she completed her task. It was a true win-win for both of us.

After she caught her breath, I suggested that next time we should see how much we could clean up in three minutes. She was all for it!

What games do you play with your children to make chores more fun?

This is a sponsored post.

In the eight years that we’ve been married, my husband has customarily been “the breakfast guy.” I’m not much of a breakfast person; my breakfast meals consist primarily of bagels, yogurt, or a bowl of cereal. I rarely eat egg and am not a huge fan of traditional breakfast foods – except for bacon, that I’m good with. Thus, my husband inadvertently took on the role of cooking breakfast the majority of the time since he is actually very much a fan of the meal and could eat pancakes all day long. In all honesty, the man makes better pancakes, and even better eggs, than I do, so I’m happy to have him do it.

Breakfast in bed is, apparently, a tradition for Mother’s Day throughout the nation. I don’t particularly remember doing this for my mami growing up; I’m pretty sure we took her out to eat that day. But, I can say that one of the most fun memories I have of my own Mother’s Day (this year makes only my sixth) is when my baby girl and husband snuck out of the house early in the morning to our local grocery store and bought the necessary items to make me my very own breakfast in bed. The look on my girl’s face alone as she helped carry the plate into my room made the day special.

My breakfast in bed that day was pretty simple and perfect for someone like me who doesn’t normally do a huge breakfast. This year, my husband knows that if he and baby girl decide they want to treat me to a Mother’s Day breakfast in bed, they have some very simple breakfast recipes they can choose from. Here are a few you too can share with your family.

Mother’s Day Simple and Easy Breakfast Recipes for Breakfast in Bed

Bagel Faces for Mom

Ingredients
Package of Bagels
Cream Cheese
Veggies – tomato for a mouth, peppers for eyebrows, cucumbers for eyes, sprouts for hair.

Recipe courtesy of Walmart

Kellogg’s Granola Parfait

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients
1 container (8 oz.) low-fat vanilla flavored yogurt
1/2 cup fresh fruit (sliced strawberries, sliced banana, blueberries or raspberries)
1 cup Kellogg’s® Special K® Low Fat Granola

Directions

1. In 2 tall glasses, layer yogurt, fruit and Kellogg’s® Special K® Low Fat Granola until glass is full.
2. Top with extra fruit.
3. Serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy of Kellogg’s

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Chocolate morsels

Directions

1. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or electric griddle to 375°F; grease with cooking spray, vegetable oil or shortening. (Surface is ready when a few drops of water sprinkled on it dance and disappear.)
2. Stir all ingredients until blended. Pour by slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle.
3. Add chocolate morsels to your liking to each pancake.
4. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker’s Bisquick® Pancake recipe

I hope you enjoy your Mother’s Day this coming Sunday with your family and hopefully you get to enjoy your very own (simple) breakfast in bed!

What are some quick and easy breakfast recipes you enjoy eating?

Disclosure:  As a member of the Walmart Moms program, I was compensated for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.