My parenting education class has devoted the last three weeks' classes to "culture". As in, this week we're supposed to bring in something from our culture to share. A food, a song, a nursery rhyme. Anything.
This would not be a problem if I felt I had a culture.
Two weeks ago, we all went around the room giving a brief synopsis of how we teach our child(ren) about their heritage and I happened to be last in line. I was sure someone before me would say what I had to say- "I'm a European mutt with no real culture to speak of."
Instead, everyone had very impressive stories to tell about how their child was half Chinese and half Japanese and they were being spoken to in both languages at home to encourage polylingualism, or how the mother's family is German so she learned German specifically in order to pass it along to her children or how their kid is taught to prepare traditional Oaxacan foods by a grandmother and a great-grandmother. My mutt comment was met with quick, sympathetic nods.
Still, on Wednesday, I'm supposed to bring in something that typifies my culture. I'm running through all my options here: care to vote?
I'm from New Jersey- How about some Aqua Net hair spray with an explanation of how I'm teaching her to tease out her bangs? Salt water taffy from da shoah?
My dad's family was partly Polish, somewhere down the line- Maybe I'll buy some Trader Joe's pierogies and pass them off as a family recipe?
My mom's family is a mix of everything WASPY and European, including English- If I stick with English, I've got loads of nursery rhymes: Humpty Dumpty was supposedly about Richard III, can't I just claim that bouncing Z on my knee to this rhyme is my culture literacy project? How about London Bridges? Hey, I even attempt to speak ENGLISH at home!
3 comments:
Does "culture" have to be about your ethnicity? As a dancer, you could say something about introducing Zoe to music and movement, different ways of communicating through art, etc.
Your Parenting class sounds great. Nothing like that around here. How about talking about taking her to Vermont? It is a very special place for your family.
grammalouie has some suggestions:
Vermont, the lake, the mountains
Unitarian Universalism, religious education
music, dancing, movement
having dinner together as a family every night
Remember: every family has its own "culture" and, as "my buddy mimi" says, does that have to be about ethnicity? Maybe it has to do with values. Now there's a word to chew on!
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