¡Tápa el niño! This is something I’ve heard from Mexicans ever since my baby was born. My mother-in-law is absolutely horrified that I let him walk around barefoot. I have even let him feel the rain without a hat and winter coat. I’m the talk at the in-law family table. Some say, “Well that’s good. It’ll make him strong.” But most whisper and squint their eyes at me.

I’ve learned that this is a cultural difference. I saw it most clearly when we went to the US Embassy in Mexico City to register my son’s birth allá. There was an American couple in front of us with a baby who was just weeks old. The tiny, little guy was no bigger than his daddy’s forearm. He was dressed in a lightweight, short sleeve, onsie. That’s right- no blanket, no winter coat, no hat and no, (are you ready for this?) no shoes!

The contrasting image that immediately comes to mind is when I’ve taken my baby to get his vaccines. Mothers pour into the health clinic with little bundles of joy wrapped up like tacos and covered in two, three or four blankets, their little faces buried beneath several layers of flannel. Now keep in mind, it’s not cold here. It never snows. The summers can be quite hot. On these particular days, my baby showed up to the clinic barefoot and wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

It’s a major lesson in not being ethnocentric, in respecting the cultural norms of the host country. I was always good at that. It came naturally. That was before it got personal. There is nothing more personal than parenting.

As time has gone by, my mother-in-law and I have slowly learned to meet in the middle. I bundle my baby up a bit more when we go outside now. I even bought him a new hat. My mother-in-law is learning to see the beauty in walking barefoot in the grass. Meanwhile, Diego is growing, living and learning where two cultures meet. He’s been wrapped up tight in his grandmother’s reboso and also felt the chipi chipi on his little bare head.