This week, we welcome Beatriz Rivera-Cruz, a Puerto Rican mami who quit her teaching job to start her own Spanish immersion daycare in San Diego, California. Not because she had it all figured out, but because she was tired of the impossible choices we face as Latina mothers trying to preserve our language and culture.
The Invisible Burden We Carry
Here’s what hit me hardest during our conversation: American mothers don’t lose sleep wondering if their kids will speak their heritage language. They don’t spend hours researching schools 20 minutes away or completely restructure their work schedules around a 9-to-2 Spanish program that costs $2,100 a month.
But we do.
When an American mom needs daycare, she googles “daycare near me” and gets dozens of options within her budget and close to home. When we search for “Spanish immersion daycare,” we get maybe two results – if we’re lucky.
Beatriz put it perfectly: “We have to move mountains while other mothers are just trying to find something close and affordable.”
The Perfectionism Trap
What surprised me most was hearing Beatriz admit that she used to be incredibly judgmental about other families’ bilingual journeys. She’d internally criticize mamas who weren’t doing “enough” Spanish immersion or whose kids responded in English.
But something shifted when she started actually talking to these mothers – when she looked them in the eye and heard them say, “I’m embarrassed about my Spanish” or “I’m struggling because English has become my stronger language.”
“It’s very easy to judge from afar,” she told me. “But when you see someone commit to 15 minutes of Spanish with their kids and then beat themselves up for ‘failing,’ you realize – 15 minutes is enough. Today it’s 15 minutes, tomorrow it might be an hour, next month they might take a trip to Mexico.”
It’s Not About Perfect – It’s About Persistent
Beatriz used this analogy that I can’t stop thinking about: Some of us are training for the bilingual triathlon – moving to Latin America, full immersion, the whole thing. Others are just trying to get to the gym consistently – Spanish during dinner time, weekend calls with abuela, bedtime stories in our native tongue.
Both paths are valid. Both matter. Both are enough.
The only thing that’s not enough? Doing nothing at all because you’re paralyzed by the fear that whatever you’re doing isn’t perfect.
The Power of Seeing Yourself Reflected
When Beatriz’s son was little, he would beg her to speak English. To him, Spanish was just “the language mami speaks” and “the language abuela speaks.” It felt irrelevant to his world.
But the moment he walked into that Spanish immersion daycare and saw other kids – kids who looked like him, kids from families like his – speaking Spanish naturally, everything changed. He realized this wasn’t just some quirky thing his family did. This was a whole community, a whole identity he belonged to.
They never had that fight again.
What This Means for Our Journey
I keep thinking about what Beatriz said: “Don’t even start with your kids. Start with yourself. What are you doing to enrich your identity every day?”
For her, it’s Bad Bunny while she’s getting ready in the morning. It’s opening the windows on Saturday morning, putting on Latin music, and cleaning the house. It’s reaching out to other Latinas in her community and building friendships.
Her son sees how much she loves her culture. He sees her living fully into her identity without shame, without code-switching, without apologizing for who she is.
“He’s going to love himself because he sees that I love myself,” she said.
The Village We’re Building
Here’s the truth: We can’t all quit our jobs and start daycares like Beatriz did. But we can create community wherever we are. We can celebrate the 15-minute Spanish conversations. We can support the mama whose kids answer in English. We can stop judging and start building.
Because raising bilingual kids isn’t just about language – it’s about identity, belonging, and giving our children access to a world that’s twice as big, twice as rich, twice as beautiful.
Your bilingual journey doesn’t have to look like mine or like Beatriz’s or like the family you follow on Instagram who seems to have it all figured out.
It just has to be yours.
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
And remember – good enough is actually extraordinary.
Show Notes
I sat down with Beatriz Rivera-Cruz, a former Spanish teacher turned entrepreneur who quit her job to start her own Spanish immersion daycare when she couldn’t find what her family needed. As a Puerto Rican mami married to a non-Spanish speaker, Beatriz shares the real struggles of preserving her language and culture, and why perfectionism almost derailed her entire journey.
What You’ll Hear:
- Why immigrant mothers carry an invisible burden that monolingual moms don’t face
- How perfectionism and judgment kept her from supporting other bilingual families
- The moment her son’s relationship with Spanish completely changed through community
- Why “good enough” bilingual parenting is actually extraordinary
- Practical ways to start your bilingual journey without moving mountains
Ways to Follow Beatriz:
- Charla Collective: www.charlacollective.com
- Follow on Instagram and Facebook
- Email: beatriz@charlacollective.com
About Our Guest
Beatriz Rivera-Cruz | Founder of Charla Collective
Beatriz is a life-long educator turned mother who has married her professional background with her cultural passion to open a Spanish immersion daycare and community center in her town of Vista, CA. She is a former Spanish teacher, mother of two, and proud child of Puerto Rican parents.
Over the last five years, she’s worked tirelessly to raise bilingual children, and she’s got some reflections, lessons learned, and tips for other parents who are on the same journey.
