Multiracial Motherhood: How Can You Bring Families Together?

What Can We Learn From One Mother's Story?

Happy Friday!Fridays are my favorite for so many reasons. They mean my husband gets to be home all weekend with us, they mean family night, and they means another mother is joining us for Family Fridays!This series is so special to my heart because it’s a chance for mothers to come together and share their experiences with their own multiracial family. The beautiful thing is that all of our families are unique. They all have their own special qualities, unique challenges, and different experiences.Today, Larisha from We're Parents blog is joining us! She's going to share about her multiracial family and one thing she's found that can bring all families together!

Let's Meet Larisha!

Hey y'all! I'm so excited to have the opportunity to share a bit about our family with The Almost Indian Wife crew, thanks to Brittany.Let's start with a bit of a background.I'm Larisha, a Caucasian American, born and raised in the hills of West Virginia. Andrew, my fiance, is a Jamaican American, born in Brooklyn, raised in New Jersey. Together we raise our two young daughters in New Jersey, just a short drive from where he grew up, while running our website, We're Parents, together.

Now let's rewind a bit.

Andrew and I met in 2005 during a History class freshman year at West Virginia University (Go 'Eers). The chemistry was always there, but I had a boyfriend and it wasn't until 2009 that we officially started dating.  I was working on my Masters and he had just finished up his undergrad degree.  He was moving back to New Jersey and we dated long distance for 3 months, then we decided that he would move in with me (WHOA, that was fast!). A few months later, we moved to New Jersey, and the rest is history (pun intended)It's been a whirlwind of an adventure and while we could tell you the stories of people asking if the girls are biologically mine, or the looks that we've received over the years while holding hands, you've probably heard all of that before or most likely experienced it yourselves.Today, I want to focus on how we've blended our cultures together SLOWLLLYYY.  It was really important to me for his mom to like me. I knew she was hesitant about me. Andrew quickly informed me that if she wanted me to understand what she was saying, she would speak so I could understand.  If she didn't, I wouldn't. His family speaks a strong dialect of Jamaican Patois, and while 90% of the time at this point in our relationship I can understand them, this advice still holds true to this day. Luckily, he did let me know earlier on that based on how she spoke to me, he knew she liked me. 

The key -Food.  No seriously.

Alan D. Wolfelt once said,

“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.”

Now let's not get ahead of ourselves too much here. I was a pretty terrible cook when we met.  Almost everything was processed, and not well seasoned, and well, it just sucked.  I could make my way around the kitchen, but it wasn't pretty. His mom on the other hand, AMAZING.  She should have her own show. It comes so easy and natural to her.  In the moments where I haven't always understood something and definitely in times where I wanted to become closer to her, there's always been food. When there's been trouble in our family, when there's been happy times, there's always been food. She's challenged my stubbornness with food (I didn't want to try ox tail, but SOOO happy I did). 

Cesar Chavez once said,

“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.”  

Through everything, his family has taught me about joy, togetherness, and the amazing bond that a family can having, bridging two extremely different cultures, one meal at a time. 

If I had one piece of advice for other multicultural families it would be to let food bring you together.  Ask your partner's mom (or dad, whoever cooks the most) or another prominent family cook for the family recipes.  But more than that, when you are around them and there's a food involved, try to incorporate it into what you do with them. Let food be the love that breaks the barriers.

Stay updated with Larisha by following her here!

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