Procter & Gamble (P&G) hosted a "Thank you, mom" panel to discuss the ever changing roles of parenting in today's society. One of P&G's panelists was MamásLatinas co-founder Lucia Ballas-Traynor who, along with the other speakers, expressed their thoughts on parenting in their respective households.  

But Lucia brought to light the one thing the majority of moms have in common: the need to be in touch with their culture.  

Four years ago, when my best friend and I launched SpanglishBaby, a blog for parents raising bilingual children, we had a hard time finding any kind of products that would help us raise them proud of their heritage too. Since then, it seems like the market for this type of products has exploded. From apparel to toys and even decor for their rooms, there is now a plethora of choices to choose from.

Today, I wanted to share my favorite online boutiques that cater to parents like you and I who are raising proud bicultural children.

Every year I jokingly say that my family has THE most unique Thanksgiving dinner on the planet. With my mom being Russian, my dad being Cuban, and us taking on American traditions ever since we came here in the early '90s, it might actually be pretty true. Every year, when we sit down at our dinner table, surrounded by friends and family, I can't help but smile at the varied array of dishes we have collected and added to our big, fat multicultural Thanksgiving.

As the mom of a first-grader who's growing up bilingual but goes to an all-English school, this is something that worries me tremendously. Until last year, when she entered kindergarten, my daughter Vanessa was exposed to Spanish the majority of her waking hours. Even though she attended preschool, it was only a few hours a day three times a week and the rest of the time she was home with her Spanish-speaking nanny and, later on, with her Spanish-speaking parents. 

I wasn't too worried about her increased exposure to English (and decreased exposure to Spanish) during kinder because she didn't know how to read or write yet. But now that she does, I feel like I have to work overtime to keep Spanish alive at home.

Motherhood does appear to be inching later in life for more and more women these days. And there are many personal reasons for this choice. For some though, it's the opposite as they're worried about becoming late mothers and its possible consequences. What was/is your choice? That and more in this episode of ¡Oye!

I was eight years old when my family moved to the United States. It was just my parents, me and my younger brother, who was only 2 at the time. My family adjusted quickly to life in America. I learned English, went to school and pretty much consider myself an American. My parents had a bit of a tougher time learning English, of course, but--despite their heavy accents--they are pretty comfortable with the language now and we often talk only in English when we're all together.

They've adjusted to life here and we all consider ourselves proud Americans. I consider myself as having (mostly) grown up here but my brother, despite being raised by a Cuban father and Russian mother, is the true Gringo of the family. 

Until recently, my answer to that question was yes. I was one of those Latina moms who practically forced her children to say hello by giving everybody a kiss. I mean, I'm not talking complete strangers here, but I do mean my friends, the (Latino) parents of their friends and definitely our family members. But lately I've been thinking that this is not such a hot idea. Even though it's the way I was raised and it's a completely cultural thing, upon further reflection, I have to say that I'm simply not okay with forcing my kids to do something they don't want to do. 

Now, there's a big difference between being a brat with no manners and simply not feeling comfortable giving someone they don't really know a kiss. Truly, what worries me the most is sending mix signals to my children. In other words, I'm constantly telling them that they should never ever let anyone touch them and yet I'm forcing them to kiss people they barely know? How confusing is that?