I realize: sometimes I really am a mommy blogger. And Chickenblog is my compulsive collection of scrapbook memories, highlights of my children's journeys. And. It's kind of cool. I mean really cool. Because if there is one thing I've learned about these journeys it's that they move very, very fast, and good stuff and key moments can get buried and lost, so it's good to have some notes and pictures to look back on, so you can say, We did that. You went there. She said this. Yeah. This is good.
Maria made a culture box, for a school theme about culture, heritage, and emigration. I love how much initiative she will take for these kind of projects. She gathers her supplies, and dives right in to create her vision.
And may I congratulate myself? I confess: I had ideas, suggestions, tips, obsessive compulsive controlling impulses, and I kept them all to myself. Thank you very much. (Please, nod approvingly, thank you.)
Inside her box she collected things she could share from places she's been, from places her ancestors traveled, from her own local culture, too. Let's see...
Her wool bracelet, that she made at the Atwood Street Festival, in Wisconsin...
Postcards from Spain and Holland...
My own tiny kitchen toys from México, and clay beads...
The chicken toy Aunt Becky brought us from Guadalajara...
The woven hat, handmade, from El Valle....
And the paper craft surfer's car, a woody, from Ruby's Diner...
Alright, so there was a parenting lapse on my part. No biggie. I just completely spaced on the Culture Day Class Party. The end of the semester for Max, and Alex, all the projects, and late nights, was intense... by Friday there were still things to wrap up, support, and I was more than ready for school to give us all a break! Mentally crossing off my accomplishments, and trying to breath, I pulled into Maria's school, when she said, "Mommy, today is culture day, and I need to dress in something from Mexico and bring food to share." As in, right now.
¡Aye, Mamá!
Never give up! Never surrender!
(Walk Maria to class. Confirm with teacher. Party starts at ten. Go back home. Collect Alex's paintings, which were too many to bring earlier, never mind. Get Max. Take Max to school. Take paintings to Alex. Go back home. Meet service person to work on that thing that was broken. Leave to my culture day salvation and buy guacamole and chips. Go to Maria's school with my proud contribution. Two hours. Done!)
So, yes, in my Other Mother Blog I would probably go into great detail about my very obviously store bought contribution sitting on the table next to amazing, amazing! homemade tamales, pupusas, chilaquiles, gnocchi, jamón de España, even Belgian chocolates! Each of the three first grade classes had tables overflowing with foods from Japan, Korea, South Africa, Spain, Italy, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belgium... and more. And the children's desks had all of their adorable and fascinating culture boxes, each unique and dear.
Speaking of dear... oh, dear, I am in love with pupusas, and curtido, the light and crispy slaw you see on top of what looks like a corn tortilla. The corn torilla-like dish is the pupusa and it is from El Salvador. It is filled with something delicious. I love Rosie, Charlotte's mother, the wonderful woman who made these savory delicacies. It is something like a tamale, but lighter, and the lightly dressed cabbage salad gives the whole dish a refreshing finish.
Gee. I sure do love Culture Day!
Maria and I walked from desk to desk admiring all the different boxes her classmates made. Maria's favorite: Emma's box with the African beads for wearing in your hair, and the collection of shells, too. We were not allowed to touch people's treasures, but Emma gave Maria permission to touch the beaded medallion... I loved the look of reverence on Maria's face as she explained how special Emma's things were.
There were about forty-two more stop and go errands to make before the day was through, and at times I wasn't sure how it would all get done, but this was an hour I was very thankful to have shared with Maria.