Independence Day Musings

The topic of the week on  ABC and 123 Summer Picnic is Independence Day. Both my husband and I came to the United States as adults, so Anna is the first generation American in our family. The situation is complicated by the fact that we are not even coming from the same country and the same culture. We are making up a lot of holidays and traditions as we go along the same way as other immigrant families approach their new world in the Silicon Valley and elsewhere. So what is it that I want to teach my daughter about Independence Day before she goes to school and learns all about Betty Ross and Declaration of Independence?

• It’s a birthday of our country. Countries are older than people, but they also have special days to celebrate and remember how they came about.
• It’s a day to celebrate with our neighbors. The street that we live on has an Independence Day bash where everyone brings out tables and barbecue, contributes to potluck dinner and celebrates together. It’s very kid oriented. It will be our first 4th of July in this neighborhood, so we are very excited.
• It’s time to remember that there are people in other parts of the world who are less fortunate. It’s a little early to communicate this message now, but I want to raise some awareness of the world around us over the remaining 2 years at home.
• It’s time to celebrate your heritage. We would really like Anna to learn more about our own cultures and why we came to the States.

While she is a young child, I truly want her to think that she lives in the best place in the world. After all, both of her parents have chosen to come here – what could be a better proof? When she is older, we can have different discussions about how democracy works, why she needs to question authority and how to distinguish true patriotism from patriotic propaganda. It will come… but for now, let her be a child and celebrate another birthday of her beautiful and proud country.

G is for Games

Both my husband and I like board games. Since we are both from Europe, we prefer European board games – The Settlers of Catan is my favorite, but we have very many different ones. Of course, they are way too early for Anna, so we started trying toddler board games with her. Hi-Ho Cheery-O was a short-lived hit, but Chutes and Ladders proved to be too long and too confusing. So one day my husband sat at the kitchen table and in ten minutes created a board game for our daughter. We play it together as a family every day now, and everyone has a blast. The game is played with a six-sized dice and with wooden game pieces. There is a musical square – you are supposed to sing a song if you end up there. There are a lot of squares that involve move backward or forward. There is also “hug kitty” square – Anna has a favorite toy and she is very excited when kitty (who sits on the table during the game) gets a hug. And there is a square that requires kissing a player on your right or on your left. It’s simple, but it enforces a lot of concepts – left and right, backward and forward, taking turns, following directions, etc. And the best part is in the end – the winner gets a piece of chocolate and shares it with other players

We also play word games when we are in the car. Because ABC and 123 has “G-related” activities planned, we picked sound guh yesterday. I asked Anna to come up with some words that start with this sound. She volunteered guitar, goat, guest and get, then said that she wants to guess now (of course, at this point I pointed out to her that guess starts with sound guh too). When we play a guessing game, it’s almost like a crossword. I tell her something about the target word, and she is trying to guess what it is. For example, an animal who lives in a jungle, likes bananas, and also lives in a zoo sometimes – gorilla. Someone who comes during Halloween, says Boo! and not real – ghost. Anna really has fun with this game, and I think it extended her vocabulary significantly.

Every Day is Earth Day

I am excited that Earth Day gains a lot more prominence in the United States. I come from Europe who started recycling and renewing way before America opened its collective eyes to the need to use precious natural resources as something that is not infinite. That said, there is no country in the world with this amount of natural parks and open space freely available to all. We are extremely lucky, and we need to be proud, grateful and mindful of what we have. And… we have to use it. In my mind every day is an Earth Day – a day to instill in our children a sense of wonder and appreciation of what nature gives us. It’s also a day to learn how to share the world with other creatures, how to keep our environment clean, and how to use its resources wisely.  And most importantly, it’s a day to get your young children outside – to let them smell the flowers, watch the bugs (unfortunately, my daughter is not a big fan), walk barefoot in the grass, climb the trees. Don’t have any particular plan or theme, don’t plan to do anything – just let them be, let them experience the nature in their own unique way. And maybe we can step out of our frenetic lives and experience the world their way – not doing, but being.

Happy Passover!

As I mentioned before, I want to raise our daughter with awareness of different faiths and different cultures. Jewish faith and culture is closest to me in many ways, since I have Jewish heritage. My family was not religious, but my passionately atheistic Jewish grandmother made a point to celebrate Passover every year… with matzo bread and pork cutlets. So in her honor I tried to explain Anna Passover holiday yesterday.

Me: You know, today your baba and deda (my parents) celebrate Passover. It’s a very important holiday.

Anna (interested): They get presents?

Me: No, but they have a special meal to celebrate this holiday. It’s when people called Jews left the country called Egypt and went to their promised land.

Anna: What is Egypt?

Me: It’s a country in Africa.

Anna: Curious George lives there! He is their friend!

Me: Umm… Yes. … Egyptians were mean to Jews. And God talked to the leader of Jews. His name was Moses.

Anna: Not Moses! Jesus! He is a guy nailed on a cross. Teacher Brenda told us. Someone washed his feet, and that is good. Why do baba and deda have special meal today, mama?