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My aunt crossed over to the U.S. in plane with illegal documentation. 

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My aunt, from Mexico, found herself making too little money in her home country as someone who studied and received a degree on psychology. Ends just didn't meet one way or another until she decided to come to the U.S. and leave her 3 children behind in my grandmother's hands. Her plan was to start working, in hopes to make more in the U.S. with whatever job she could and save up to eventually cross over her daughter and two sons with her. In Hondagneu-Sotelo's "I'm Here, but I'm There" we learn about common definitions of what motherhood is and are introduced to the idea of broadening these definitions to one that fits mothers like my aunt who chose to take the route of what Hondagneu refers to as a transnational mother.

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My aunts home consisted of teddy bears, toys, small tables and chairs, kids plates, spoons and forks, etc.

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She found a night job at a hotel using an illegal social and had a part time baby sitting kids during the day. She cared for about 3- 5 kids during the week for about 7 years. During these years she built a relationship with each kid. She mentioned her house looking as if she had kids living with her with many toys and kid furniture, even though her kids were still in Mexico, because she wanted the kids to feel at home. She treated the kids as if they were her own and knew the responsibility that came with caring for a child.

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Example of what the letters she sent over looked like. These are written in spanish to represent exactly the kind of things she wrote

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Many definitions of motherhood refer to a present mother who is physically present in their childs life. However, not all mothers are always present. This is not to say that those who are absent are bad mothers, there are just countless ways to be a good mother. While my aunt was away, she knew her kids missed her presence but she didn't have enough money to go over and visit so she was limited to letters and phone calls. Her kids now cherish those letters she sent to them because they now understand the heartache she must have felt when trying to build a home in the U.S. for when they came over. In these letters my aunt would pour out her emotions expressing the love she had for them and promising they'd be together again soon.

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My aunt constantly sent over money to my grandmother to make sure her kids had all the food and materials necessary to live with my grandmother. This is a way of understanding the division of reproductive labor learned in class where there are middle class women, like those mother's of the kid kids my aunt cared for, who are paying migrant workers, like my aunt. All while, my aunt pays my grandmother to care for her kids in her home nation.

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My aunts plans were accomplished 12 years later and had enough money to send her children over with her safely.

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Breadwinning was something we learned where mothers earned their money not only to send to their children and the children's caregiver, but it was also to help them prepare for whatevr future these mothers had in mind. My aunt's initial plans when coming into the U.S. was to work to where she had enough to have her children sent over with her. She finally had a stable job that was paying well, along with her side hustle, that she was able to get a home with the help of her husband and my dad. She eventually became a U.S. resident and was able to begin the process of giving her children legal documents until finally her plan came to life and her children were finally physically with her. After so much hard work and tears with being apart from her little cubs for so long, this family was back together again.