Spanish Saturday

One of the toughest parts about being a military family is keeping our culture while constantly being relocated around the world. Hubs and I both grew up speaking Spanish, because our grandparents were responsible for a great part of our upbringing and that's all they spoke. Now that we're outside of Miami, mostly away from the Hispanic community, and our parents all speak English, there really hasn't been an emphasis on teaching the girls another language.

My little Puerto Rican

When I was pregnant with V, we swore up and down that our kids would be raised bilingual. We've failed in that department. Without the grandparents around to help, it really isn't convenient to teach the girls. Although Hubs and I are familiar with the language, we're both much more comfortable speaking English, so that's pretty much all we speak at home. Dora has helped with some of the basics, but that definitely won't get the little ones speaking fluently.

Enter Spanish Saturday, or Spanish Sabado. We've tried it in the past, but I'm even more committed to sticking with only speaking Spanish on Saturdays to at least get the girls familiar. My Midwestern-raised dad picked up Spanish by being around my grandma contantly for 20-something years.

Luckily I was able to add bunch of great recipes to my repertoire by watching my grandmother in the kitchen. There is no lack of Cuban food on the menu in this house. Lately, I think my meal plans have even had more of a Hispanic flair to them. At least the girls aren't missing out when it comes to that. Oh, and let's not forget that the day can't start until there's a pot of Cuban espresso on the stove.

Even though maintaining our culture as a military family may be difficult, there are a couple positives that come with being a military family. For starters, there's always the chance that we'll pick up an additional culture by being stationed overseas. Germany is one of the duty stations near the top of our list because we'd love for our daughters to see Europe. The commissary does a great job of stocking familiar foods so that we can always have a taste of Latin cuisine at home.

How do you maintain your family roots while being away from family?

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