Can being a more nurturing mother be tied to your cultural background and your ethnicity? Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, seem to think so. Or, at least, that's what they found according to a study published in the scientific journal Child Development. After visiting the homes, interviewing, and observing more than 5,000 mothers some born in Mexico, others born in China, and the rest in the U.S., they found that Mexican mom are more nurturing than Chinese- and native-born mothers!

If you're Latina, you're probably not surprised by these results. After all, it's a well-known fact that one of the characteristics that binds us is the utmost importance we give to family and, in particular, to the role of mamás in our culture. 

Finally, some good news regarding Latinos and higher education. The Pew Hispanic Center has just released some very encouraging numbers for 2011 and they basically show that for the first time, more than 2 million Hispanics ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college. This means that Latinos are now the largest minority group with a record 16.5 percent enrollment share in the country's four-year college campuses. 

When it comes to two-year colleges, Latinos now account for one quarter (or 25.2 percent) of the 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled. 

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.

Happy news for all today! Amelia Rivera, the 3-year-old Latina girl who first made headlines after she was denied an organ transplant for being mentally disabled, will FINALLY receive a new kidney.

Rivera suffers from a genetic disorder that causes her kidney to fail and leaves her unable to walk or talk.  Doctors told her parents that she would die without a transplant, yet the little girl was not placed on the organ recipient list under the argument that even with a transplant, Rivera would most likely suffer from other health problems.  

It's my birthday! I am officially 23 today. And though I'm not as excited about this age as I have been about others in the past (remember 18 and 21?), I am looking forward to celebrating with my friends and relatives--especially because my family has been throwing me some pretty great birthday parties since I was really young.

Cómo me cuesta trabajo aguantar los berrinches de mi hija adorada.De verdad que cada vez que "arranca" uno de estos, siento como si me estuviesen taladrando las orejas. Esos sollozos gritones y falsos, son peores que hacerme una endodoncia - y si alguna de ustedes se ha hecho alguna - podrá entender a lo que me refiero.

El caso es que sus llantos exagerados, son para mí un suplicio. Y no los sé manejar. Pero estoy haciendo hasta lo imposible por aprender.

Se ha escrito demasiado acerca de la frustración de los niños, libros, blogs, foros, todo mundo nos da consejos, nos dice a qué se debe, nos explican su papel en el desarrollo emocional del niño, cómo tratarlos y demás, pero pocas veces se habla de cómo nos afectan a nosotros (los padres) los berrinches de los hijos.