I've discovered something. Something so very unexpected. Stella likes to be sung to sleep! Now this is unexpected because one, I shamefully do not sing to my babies unless it involves somewhat wild and ridiculous dancing. And two I have a terrible voice. Despite this Stellita seems to enjoy it and it actually lulls her to sleep! While infants I would hum and sing to my sweet babies as I walked about the house at night. It mostly seemed to help me relax, I'm not sure why I stopped.
After reading three and four books a night and still having a wide eyed curly haired toddler cuddling my arm I decided one night to turn the light off, close my eyes and sing a lullaby. Mama was tired too! I took this as an opportunity to SING to Stella in Spanish! I never pass an opportunity to introduce my children to language and culture of any kind. Albeit food, dance, or language. We will take a table for four please because count us in. Global Citizens unite!
My Mr. had introduced me to a very common Spanish lullaby, A La Ruru and I fell in love with it and my Mr. all over again!! I have seen and heard this a few different ways but I enjoy the version my husband taught me and now the version I sing to Stellita.
A la Ruru bebe
A la Ruru ya
Duérmete mi bebe
Duermete ya
A la Ruru bebe
A la Ruru ya
Duérmete mi bebe
Duermete ya
It is very simply and harmonious even for the most challenged of us. The English lullaby I often sing is Rock A Bye Baby and the French is Frère Jacques. Both simplistic, beautiful and efficient! I am raising bilingual AND bicultural children. Opportunities to share their Hispanic Heritage via all of the senses is important and fun! We dance to Chavela and Vicente (and Don Omar thank you!!) we eat sopita, queso fresco and drink horchata. We enjoy books and art that embrace Latinos and Chicanos. And we sing Spanish lullabies too. We also eat, listen, look and move to other cultures too and it is a great joy.
In addition to joining this months Bilingual Blogging Carnival I'd like to say Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! I am deeply excited to read all about how others are embracing the Latino culture and its influence on our daily lives.
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Music is such a wonderful way to introduce children to language AND culture at the same time - good for you for taking advantage of this opportunity! And even if we don't feel like our talents are up to par, our kids know the love behind it and so love our singing all the more!
ReplyDeleteLove this post and now I can forward it to my Mexican husband and say "oy"! start singing this instead of bah bah black sheep though truth be told, the girls do love his version with the girl by the lake! We are Franco-Americano-Mexicano family but our espanol is lagging behind :( Look forward to more inspiration!
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