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In a further attempt to “Document the Days” . . .
Yesterday felt like a new day, a new beginning, a new start! I want to hang up my wall calendar again and fill it with fun activities and events. I want things to be normal.
But, they aren’t . . . not quite.
This is the first time since March 9, 2020 that BOTH of my boys have walked back into their school building. David started 10th grade on Tuesday, September 1, and Pierre began 2nd grade yesterday morning, Thursday, September 3.
Normal or Abnormal?
After dropping the kids off at school, it was the strangest feeling to walk back through the door of our house to quiet and stillness. Yes, our dog, Bernie, was still sleeping peacefully underneath our bed upstairs. Yes, Timothee and Robert were still nestled snuggly under their bed sheets.
However, school had officially started, and life felt normal . . . for just a moment.
But things aren’t really normal.
Nothing feels “normal” about school—masks all day, social distancing, temperature checks at the school entrance.
Kids are back to school, but our traditions are not back to school.
All of my first days of school—my own and those of my four boys—have always been filled with morning poses in the school yard, photo shoots in the classrooms next to teachers and classmates, and pictures while sitting at their desks.
Not Today!
Back-to-school traditions . . . not today!
My family’s traditions were thrown out the window the minute the boys’ school announced “curbside drop off and pick up.” Parents are no longer allowed in the school yard or the school building. We can’t even get out of our car to kiss our kids goodbye!
It’s so sad! I won’t get to meet Pierre’s 2nd grade teacher until who knows when. I won’t be able to see his classmates. I won’t be able to envision Pierre sitting at this desk, because I’ve never seen his desk nor his classroom. I won’t be able to take first day of school pictures with his new teacher and his friends.
Thankfully, as we pulled our car up to the school curb yesterday morning, the director of the boy’s American school told me that I could get out and quickly take a “1st day of school” picture.
She must have seen my disappointed eyes through the glass pane of the car window. She must have heard my longing for some normalcy in the day.
I thanked her, put my mask on quickly, and jumped out of the car with my phone in hand.
Pierre quickly posed in front of the school entrance. I think he was smiling behind his mask!
Then, I kissed him on his forehead and sent him off to 2nd grade.
American Traditions?
I was so grateful that the American director of the American school knew the American tradition of this American mother living in Spain!
As we drove away from the school, I began processing my feelings and thoughts about this with my husband, Vincent. I was feeling sad and disappointed that my “back-to-school traditions” had been stolen by COVID-19.
“That is so American!” Vincent said.
Immediately feeling a bit criticized for my American ways, I asked him what he meant.
“It’s so cultural. In France, we don’t do any of that. My mother never took pictures of me at school on the first day,” he continued. “It’s so American.”
At first, I began defending myself, my country, and my culture. Then, I realized that my French husband wasn’t being a “Cultural Critic,” but he was making a cultural observation. He was right.
In all my years living abroad in France, Morocco, and now Spain, it had never occurred to me that I was the only mother having my 5-year-old son pose in front of the door of the school, in the classroom, at his desk, and next to his new teacher!
I had never noticed!
Failure to Notice
I had been so engrossed in my own American culture and traditions that I had failed to notice the culture and traditions—or lack of—around me.
Looking back today, I honestly wouldn’t have done anything different during all those “back-to-school” first days with my boys. I now have tons of photos and memories of my kids on their first days of school that those other parents don’t have.
You can never go back to those days . . . they are forever gone.
However, I can now honestly say that I never noticed the cultures around me, because I was so set in my own traditions and couldn’t see them.
It took my husband’s observation and remark today to open my eyes and to point that out!
A ‘Cultural Learner’
Wow! May I always have my mind expanded and my eyes open to the people and cultures around me. May I be a “Cultural Learner” and grow daily in my cultural awareness.
That’s one of my lessons learned during this extraordinary time of COVID-19 Back-to-School 2020!
My other conclusion . . . I’m still American, and I still love the back-to-school traditions of my culture.
So, in the meantime, I got my camera ready for some after school pictures at the 4 p.m. pick up and took my kids out for a traditional, back-to-school ice cream treat at McDonalds.
Whoever said cultural traditions can’t be fun AND yummy?! 🙂
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
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What are your family’s back-to-school traditions? Have you ever considered these traditions as being cultural? How have your back-to-school traditions been altered this year during the global pandemic? How do you feel about that?
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures!” Write about them in the comment box below.
