Xochico is a brand based out of my hometown of Santa Ana, California. Originally known for their pan dulce cushions, they’ve expanded their offerings into the types of physical products that Mexican-American Millennials like me drop their cold hard cash for in a hot second.
When my oldest hit toddlerhood and started modeling the behavior of the people around her, I set up a play kitchen next to mine for her to use when she could not join me in my cooking (for us, cooking is a life skill, not a gender role). I gave her my plastic molcajete salsa bowl and got her a miniature cast-iron skillet. When it came to purchase play food for her, however, I hit a wall. None of the food out there looked like what we ate at home. I have since been crafting food items for her, something that the extended family has happily joined in on.
When Xochico came out with pan dulce keychains, I immediately thought about getting a bunch of them, cutting off the chains, and using them as play food–if I ever had children.
Now that I do, it seems as though they were reading parents’ minds all along. They made the box.
Did I pay $30 for a few play food items? Hell yeah, you bet I did.
Of course, then I became dissatisfied with the coffee play toys…
For the rest of the this 100-day project, I want to share more work by Mexican-American 90’s kids, particularly those from my hometown. This was something I was inspired to do after having an unexpected real talk with a colleague of mine thousands of miles away from our homes. Hoping to eventually write about that.
