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Olivia Garcia Teaches Her Sons About Life Through Music

Olivia Garcia Teaches Her Sons About Life Through Music


Posted by admin Friday, September 2, 2005 - 20:19
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The Spanish cumbia song roared out of this tiny boombox inside the
bedroom shared by my 6- and 7-year-olds and moved down the hallway, finding its way to the kitchen where I stood.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and my sons, Diego and Mateo, were busy
singing — or shouting — the lyrics to Los Lobos’ classic “Cumbia de Mi Raza.”

Call it their “energizer” song: The boys — whose first language is
English — were in the process of putting away their superhero figures,
miniature military trucks, Stars Wars lightsabers and other toys that
had covered the carpet of their room. They were in need of something to get their bodies moving. What better than Los Lobos?

Spanish music carries a strong presence in our house.
It’s mine and my husband’s way of teaching our boys to appreciate a
form of art that has become a family tradition.
While I am a child of Motown (typical for many third-generation Mexican Americans like me), I remember watching mis abuelos let go of gritos as
they danced to a classic corrido or norteño. My husband, on the other hand, — a second-generation Mexican American — had the rancheras of Ramon Ayala and romantic ballads of Vicente Fernandez to study.

And now our sons are growing up on cumbias, and a little bit of Spanish oldies, rock and banda. They have no complaints, by the way. They proudly play the CDs that I burned for them, courtesy of the Garcia music collection.

They even bring the CDs along during family drives and visits to their Nina and Tio Froggy’s home.

Aside from Los Lobos’ cumbia song, my sons’ other favorites include: “Culebra (Banda Machos); “En el muelle de San Blas” (Mana); “A Dios Le Pido” and “Fotografias” (Juanes); and “Mesa Que Más Aplauda (Groupo Climax).

The Garcia tradition of Spanish musica was born of two reasons:

One, we wanted our children to improve their Spanish skills (we wantthem to be bilingual like mom and dad), and two, it was the only music that Julio and I agreed on. Holding on to my barrio roots, my taste in music goes from hip-hop and rap to Motown oldies and old school.

My husband, paying tribute to his country and small town upbringing, prefers heavy metal, 50s oldies,
alternative rock and country.

You can already see that we clash.

And our difference in taste became a big deal when our boys reached their impressionable ages. Of course, any age is impressionable so it’s important to start early.

As parents, we've become selective about music in the presence of our
boys. No profanity. No "I'm gonna kill you" or "I hate you" or "Sex me
up" genre. That just doesn’t sit well for us knowing that our 6- and
7-year-olds can be picking up the rhymes.

Songs about love and dance are fine.

I am sure we’ll be more open as they get older. For now, these little guys are just happy with their Spanish music.
They know that when it comes to family gatherings, the music is there.
They know when we’re at home relaxing or doing some chores, the music is in the background. Or when we’re out and about driving to a movie, the music is our soundtrack.

Now I am not saying that Spanish music isn't just as wild or edgy as
English. It is. So we pick and choose. We pick Spanish music that is fun and makes you want to dance. We are
already showing our boys some of our Spanish dance moves (Think good coordination. Most girls love a good dancer).

And our boys are on their path to learn Spanish. English will remain the dominant language in our home, but I couldn’t be much happier knowing that my boys are grooving to Spanish tunes.

Now where’s that cumbia song when I need it?

Olivia Garcia is Managing Editor of Hispanic Publications for Mercado Nuevo, the publisher of Más.  Contact Olivia at ogarcia@masbakersfield.com
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