Tag: Children

About Me, Family, Inspirational, Love, Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles

A Mother’s Letter to Her Daughter on Her 1st Birthday (for Alexah)

It takes 365 days for the Earth to complete its orbit around the sun. Today signifies the completion of your first revolution. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is 92.96 million miles. The average distance between a dream and its manifestation is the number of times your knees have bled while clinging to the ground in prayer. You are my greatest prayer manifested in human form and for the rest of my life I will remember this moment, and be grateful that you chose me to be the vessel to bring you into this world. Continue reading A Mother’s Letter to Her Daughter on Her 1st Birthday (for Alexah)

Nancy Arroyo RuffinLeave a comment
Family, Love, Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles, Writing

The Mamí Chronicles: A letter to my daughter on her 3rd birthday

I have been writing to you since the day I learned I was pregnant. I have an entire journal documenting every single day of my pregnancy with you. When you born I wrote you a letter on your birthday. Last year I did the same thing. Writing is what I do and it is my way of documenting my life and legacy. You are a part of my legacy. So today I am following tradition and writing you a letter on what is and always will be the most important day of my life. Continue reading The Mamí Chronicles: A letter to my daughter on her 3rd birthday

Nancy Arroyo RuffinLeave a comment
Family, Funny, Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles, Writing

The Mamí Chronicles: #ThingsMyKidSays

One of the many joys of being a parent to a toddler is witnessing their little brains in action. One never knows exactly what they’re thinking or what they will say at any moment. My daughter just turned 3 and one of my favorite things to do is listen to her speak and share her thoughts. I marvel at how bright she is, at her ability … Continue reading The Mamí Chronicles: #ThingsMyKidSays

Nancy Arroyo RuffinLeave a comment
Family, Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles, Writing

(The Mami Chronicles) The Curse of Bendito: How to raise confident kids

The worst thing parents and care takers can do to their children, in my opinion, is to feel sorry for them. As a Brooklyn born Puertoriqueña, I call it the curse of the “bendito”. In my family we have used the term bendito way too many times. From when little Juan falls and scrapes his knee to when Doña Maria’s roof caves in from a tropical storm. The phrase is used in pretty much every situation to denote sympathy or frustration and while some things do garner sympathy the truth is that there will be many experiences we have no control over. We have to teach our children how to rise above their circumstances. Continue reading (The Mami Chronicles) The Curse of Bendito: How to raise confident kids

Nancy Arroyo Ruffin4 Comments
About Me, Love, Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles, Writing

The advice I wish someone would have given me as a kid

It has been two years since my daughter was born and every night while putting her to sleep I think about the person she will one day become. I think about the daunting task parents have in raising confident, kind, and productive members of society. I sit in her dark bedroom and also think about the challenges she will one day face and my heart … Continue reading The advice I wish someone would have given me as a kid

Nancy Arroyo RuffinLeave a comment
Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles

(The Mami Chronicles) On Parenting: How to raise confident kids

The worst thing parents and care takers can do to their children, in my opinion, is to feel sorry for them. As a Brooklyn born Puertoriqueña, I call it the curse of the “bendito”. In my family we have used the term bendito way too many times. From when little Johnny falls and scrapes his knee to when Doña Maria’s roof caves in from a tropical storm. The phrase is used in pretty much every situation to denote sympathy or frustration and while some things do garner sympathy the truth is that there will be many experiences we have no control over. We have to teach our children how to rise above their circumstances. Continue reading (The Mami Chronicles) On Parenting: How to raise confident kids

Nancy Arroyo RuffinLeave a comment
About Me, Love, Mamihood, Writing

The Mamí Chronicles: A letter to my daughter on her 2nd birthday (July 27, 2014)

July 27, 2014   Today is your birthday. There was no big party this year just a small and intimate celebration with your grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. We spent it with the people who love and care for you most. As I sit in your dark bedroom rocking you to sleep, your tiny hands hang flaccidly against your side as you nestle your body … Continue reading The Mamí Chronicles: A letter to my daughter on her 2nd birthday (July 27, 2014)

Nancy Arroyo Ruffin1 Comment
Mamihood, Poems

For colored girls

She will learn from early that she carries history in her hair. Generations of thick tangled tresses. Genetically made up to be wild, not tamed or managed or straightened. Tautly twined coils stretched like the goatskin that cover djembe drums each lock relentlessly rebelling. Defiant like sugar cane, too relentless to conform, to transform, to be altered into something that she wasn’t really destined to … Continue reading For colored girls

Nancy Arroyo RuffinLeave a comment
Current Events

What kids can teach us about acceptance

“They seem like a normal family”, that’s what 11 year old Elle replied when asked what she thought about the family in the now infamous interracial Cheerios commercial that depicts a White mom, a Black dad, and a biracial daughter. The video above, filmed by the Fine Brothers,  was created to address  the “sensitive subject of racism and its impact on individuals, families, and the … Continue reading What kids can teach us about acceptance

Nancy Arroyo RuffinLeave a comment