Reflections of a Father: Raising my Kids Puerto Rican

For me, my identity as Puerto Rican was but a cultural aspect of who I was, an accident of history. I refused to let that part of me influence how I behaved, who I befriended, what I chose to eat, wear, watch, listen to or dance to as an adult.  So, I was not inclined to put my kids on a forced path to Puertoricanness.

I guess that I was not counting on our annual trips to the island- a “luxury” that as graduate students we could afford. Once there they were exposed to a world that they love (mostly because they don’t have school and every relative pampers them like if it were the end of the world). They can’t wait to get to Puerto Rico and it is always hard for them to leave.  But they know we are always going back.  The trips to the island led to my children getting a genuine interest in the culture and the history of the Puerto Ricans. I’m a historian so that was right up my alley. And just like that their lessons on puertorriqueñidad started.

Read more at:  http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/chronicles/reflections-father-raising-my-kids-puerto-rican