By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — It was two for the price of one Sunday along Central Park West where families celebrated Mother's Day and Cinco de Mayo with a parade.
"Being a mother to me is a profession that never gets any credit," said Consuelo Palencia, an elementary school teacher and mother of two who was taking in the parade for the first time.
"This to me is my Mother's Day — look at all the children and the way they're embracing tradition," Palencia said.
Learning Mexican folk dances was a way to make sure that her kids stayed connected to her family back in Mexico, said Karina Martinez, 34, whose three children study Mariachi.
"This is something that my husband, my children and I can all do together," Martinez said.
"It's so that my kids know their roots," she said.
Maria Hernandez, an Upper West Side resident who lives on the parade route, from 97th to 107th streets, said that she planned to spend the afternoon with her two grown daughters to celebrate Mother's Day but that she enjoyed the Ranchera music.
"I see a lot of people from my country watching the parade," said Hernandez, who is Dominican.
"It's about sharing," she said.
