Holiday Traditions: Noche Buena and Christmas

Building our family legacy of holiday traditions that celebrate our bicultural roots is important to us, as parents. Apart from being an interracial couple raising multiracial children, my childhood legacy was filled with various Cuban Christmas traditions from different sectors of my life. While it was fun, I want my kids to have the beauty of holiday traditions – in their home. With their family. I feel like Noche Buena and Christmas this year was exactly that – a beautiful blend of my Cuban heritage, American upbringing and unwavering commitment to my biracial babies.

Our Noche Buena was attended by my family, as well as one of my closet friend’s family too. There was about 12 of us, plus the kids. My mom flew in eariler that day and helped me finish off the meal of Lechon Asado, Congri (white rice and black beans), platanitos fritos, croqetas, Cuban salad, plus flan and Christmas cupcakes for dessert. I also made a signature drink this year – Cuba Libre – that was smashing hit! Alina enjoyed her Noche Buena survival kit, but not as much as the company of friends and loved ones. She even said our meal’s prayer that brought tears to everyone in the house.

Hosting Noche Buena and building holiday traditions is fun, but not perfect – I am not a hosting master, by any stretch of the imagination. I actually kind of hate it (am I allowed to say that?) but I’ve decided that hosting Noche Buena dinner will be part of my legacy. Every year gets easier and I learn a bit more on how to host a beautiful and seamless event (did I mention I forgot to set the table, and if an Instgram friend didn’t alert me, my menu would have been a mess?!). I love that Alina knows Noche Buena is a big deal, and that it happens in our home. This is important to me, so I will continue to do this true labor of love.

American Cuban Christmas!

In All-American fashion, we enjoyed a blessed and happy Christmas morning complete with toys, a flood of ripped paper and coffee for the big kids. While in Flagstaff, Arizona at the North Pole Experience, Alina asked Santa for a pet hospital for her sick doggies (stuffed animals). He delivered her this big girl version! Sebas got a bilingual train track (it is SO awesome!), and they both got spoiled by others as well. The kids were majorly spoiled by my mom who got them a huge wooden playset that now sits in our backyard!

We stayed on budget, but this Christmas exceeded all my expectations… Daddy D even managed to surprise me (and made me cry, the little booger) with a new work laptop! Later that day, after filling our bellies and our hearts, we took the kids to a movie… another very American Christmas holiday tradition that I love!

Even with all the material stuff that made our holiday fun, I am so grateful to have had my mom with me on Noche Buena and Christmas. For those that know me personally, know that growing up with divorced parents is not always easy. I was loved and cared for, but that hyphenated, balancing act between cultures and families and identities made for an exhausting childhood. But now, as a mom myself, I treasure my own mother – and my stepmom, too – with so much more vigor. This was my mom’s first Christmas with the kids, and to say that it was special, would be a huge understatement.

At some point during the month of December, I looked at Daddy D and thanked him. I’m not sure how or why it happened, but I’m living as close to my dream life as I ever thought I could. And the goals I want to accomplish or the things I want to improve on, actually feel attainable. I’m happy, ya’ll…. happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

I hope your holiday was filled with traditions – new and old – and concerted efforts to build a legacy that you’re proud of. I hope your heart sings when you realize that what you deposit into your babies’ lives is actually filling their beings. I hope you are proud of yourself and making plans to continue growing in blessings.

Con mucho amor,