A group of kids from dagis (day care) go sled riding at Tantolunden.
I feel like I lead several different lives that regularly meet and diverge. One is the me that lives in Sweden. Another is the me that is from the US and still another is the me who has an Australian husband and thus a strong connection there too. I tend to adopt the aspects of living in each of these places that I like and ignore those aspects that I don’t like.
I was at a funeral here on Friday and while the event was naturally difficult, it was also uplifting. That was mostly due to the Swedish tradition of having a lunch after the service that included speeches by friends and family members. It felt like a wedding celebration in the US and seemed so perfect in the celebration of this person’s life. The tradition is one I would like to incorporate into my life in the future.
The friend who I went to the funeral for is an American who was married to a Swede. For her, it was interesting that the Americans called and dropped off meals in what I see as typical American “what can I do to help” mentality. On the other hand, the Swedes sent flowers with notes in what I see as a typical ” I don’t want to intrude” approach. There is nothing wrong with either way, of course, but I think it does spotlight an interesting difference between our cultures. (As for me, I was one of the friends who dropped off a meal.)
When I was in Cincinnati over the holidays, I was asking some friends about day care practices in the US. Here, it is quite typical to see a group of 3- and 4-year-olds from a day care center sled riding in the park. Each child was in a snowsuit and wore a reflector vest on top. They were having a blast. Taking kids to sled ride in the park is not something that my friend’s kids in US daycare get to experience. I think that is too bad.
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Just a little child care info (as this is one of my fields) — practices vary from center to center and regionally. There are programs that are quite adventuresome with their young children but it depends on the educators and their philosophy of what are valuable experiences for young children, and ideally these should be grounded in their world. In NYC children sport water shoes and bathing suits to go to the sprinklers, swim at the Y, sled ride or play in the snow at Central Park, go pumpkin and apple picking upstate, etc. I know programs out west can be even more adventuresome with nature as they are immersed in it!
About trips with kids, as whole, I do think Americans are considerably more concerned about safety and potential legal issues. When I helped at a school in Guatemala, the children walked through a construction site on their way to the zoo (a big no-no in the US). I will also never forget hauling several 12 year olds out of a river in the Amazon basin while teaching in Ecuador — we built a balsa raft and took it through rather rough rapids. That same trip I had to help a group of kids through what I call quicksand mud — one girl was waist deep in it before we pulled her out. The school´s director and I laughed as we knew that these experiences would have been questionable back home.
There is no doubt about that. As far as the sled riding day care kids here, the teachers put bumper guards around the trees in the areas where the kids are playing. A great idea.
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