The kids are still excited about learning about the world so we do it for one more week.
Moviendo a Mexico
Briana got up from her siesta on Thursday and asked me, “Mommy, where does Dora live?” I told her, “Mexico”. “Can we go there this week?” she asked. Happy to oblige.
While Abigail continued to sleep, Briana and I went to nickjr.com to print out some pictures of Dora to color while we waited. While we colored I asked Briana if she remembered how to count to 10 in Spanish. “Uno, dos, tres….” She counted while we colored. Briana and Abigail can both count to ten in Spanish already thanks to Dora and Diego. On occasion they can get to 15 correctly. Abby sometimes gets confused and will count to 10 in English and then continue on saying “once…doce…”. It cracks me up every time and then I correct her as to what was “English that we speak” and “Spanish that Dora speaks”. This confusion, however, is exactly why we haven’t pursued learning another language yet, although I know many of the kids’ friends are learning new languages already.
When Abby wakes up we go look at the map and I point out where Dora and Diego live and we look at the flag of Mexico. I tell the kids that I studied in Cuernavaca as an exchange student when I was in my summer between middle school and high school. I tell them that that it’s great to immerse yourself in another culture so that you can see what things are different and the same in how other people live. I had lots of stories to tell the kids about Mexico and my surrogate family and school and friends there. We sat and talked about how life in Mexico is different and the same as in America. I explained siestas and the kids thought it would be great for Daddy to come home in the middle of the day and take a nap with them. We also talked about living with extended family. I tell them that at least once a week we had a soup with chicken feet, even the nails, in it. I don’t know that this is a Mexican staple, but it was for my family there. I don’t tell them that I lost a lot of weight from not wanting to try the more adventurous fare like the feet soup that my Mexican mom cooked, though I’m sure it was great because everyone else loved it. I also told them lots of silly stories about my friends and I and our adventures there. I never mention trips to Cancun or Cozumel later in life. Briana thinks Mexico sounds fun and it was. I also had some souvenirs to show them. Of course the most loved was a cute, little, turquoise ring that I got on a trip to Taxco, which, at least back then, was the turquoise capital of the world and also known for silver. The ring now only fits me as a pinky ring so I let the kids try it on and wear it around the house. I haven’t seen it since. L And I’ve had that little ring since I was a teenager!
Also, since I grew up in Texas, I tell the kids about the how we fought Mexico to get Texas. The first time we lost and that was at a place called the Alamo. But if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, so we tried again to get Texas and kept saying “Remember the Alamo” to motivate us to win. Then we won and we got to keep Texas. I think the story confused Bree. The girls haven’t totally grasped the concept of time yet, so they were struggling a little with the fact that it happened in 1836 and Briana kept asking questions like, “Did Grandmother cry when she lost her Texas?” regardless of the fact that I told her that the battle was a long time before Grandmother was born. Later, when Briana sees a picture of the Alamo, she says that it looks like a castle and she thinks it was probably made in China because everything is made in China. It cracks me up to see what sticks in their minds!
Then I teach them one of my favorite Spanish songs, Cielito Lindo. I found a you-tube video of Enrique Iglesias singing it with Pavarotti which we played and danced to (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD3mr2d-khg) . How in the world do I still remember all of the words from high school?! I also taught them Elena La Ballena (which I think we sang in middle school! This is why I have to have piece of paper with me to write down the kids funny quotes while we do these activities. I’d never remember them long enough to put the kids down for their naps and go to the basement to type up the blog because my mind is full of the words to Elena La Ballena!), and we sang La Bamba and finally my memory was exhausted of songs from Spanish class. La Bamba is the favorite of both girls.
Then I had to pick up the dry cleaning so I let the kids watch Dora in the car while we ran our errand. When we returned I cooked one of the few things that I cook pretty well. Chicken mole. Mole is a Mexican sauce that is made with nuts and chocolate and chili powder. Mine is pretty spicy, but the kids like spice, so I tone it down a little bit and we’re good. They’ve never had my mole before so they are both very excited to see me put chocolate and peanut butter in the pot.
We also made tortilla chips from whole wheat tortillas. Abby mostly eats the tortillas screaming “Quesadilla! I eat quesadilla!” Funny because when I actually make quesadillas most times no one wants to eat them. When in Mexico, you have to have margaritas…don’t worry…those were only for the grown-ups at dinner!
En Route to England
The Royal Wedding has forever imprinted on my girls. Anytime we hear even the mention of the names William or Kate, Briana starts screaming about princes and princesses and long dresses and kissing on the balcony. At least for now she thinks the kissing part was “weird” and “too much” and she wonders, “Why didn’t they kiss their mommies and daddies instead?”. But both my girls, and admittedly myself too, loved the royal wedding. So I figured we should spend some time talking about England.
Interestingly, after we look at the map, we go to look at the flag and there was no flag of England on my world flags poster - only one of the UK. So I explain to the kids that the United Kingdom comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We’re only going to talk about England. Luckily England has a pretty straightforward flag, so I draw it and let the kids make their own flags of England, which we tape to paper towel rolls functioning as flagpoles.
Once we have our flags, we talk about how the English settled America. I tell them that we were all English people until the American Revolution when we decided that we wanted to be our own country. One of the big battles at the start of the Revolution was the Boston Tea Party, when we dumped all of the tea from a big boat into the water to protest taxation on tea. I throw the slinky I’m playing with while I tell the story down the stairs to emphasize that we threw the tea out of the boat.
Briana, my sensible, rule following child, asks, “Why did we do that? We made a mess and ruined their tea.” Abby giggles mischievously and screams, “Mischief! I throw da tea with mischief.” And Abby throws her flag down the stairs. Briana, in turn, says, “Not me. I was just drinking my tea with Prince William and Princess Kate while Abby and those people were being bad. I didn’t throw any tea.” And Briana waves her flag in support of England. Please stay this good, my Briana!
There’s so much more I want to share with the kids: Shakespeare, Chaucer, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Margot Fonteyn, Stonehenge, Wimbledon, more about the Royal family current and past… I tell myself that the kids have a lifetime to learn and we move on.
We stop talking about history and talked about one of the things that England is known for now – the afternoon tea. I also tell the girls one of my pet peeves, that some people call afternoon tea high tea to sound regal, but in reality, a high tea is a heavy meal with tea, also called “meat tea” that is eaten later in the day and usually replaces dinner. It’s called high tea because you need to eat it at a high table (ie a dining room table) versus afternoon tea, or low tea, which can be eaten on low tables like coffee tables or held in your hand because it’s lighter foods like pastries, sandwiches, and scones. As I used to throw a regular tea party, my girls are well aware of tea parties. We enjoy a high tea/ dinner together – some chicken (which was supposed to have chicken and hot dogs but impatient kids won out and the menu changed), peanut butter and jelly rolls, ham and cheese mini sandwiches, carrot sticks, M&Ms, brownie bites, and diluted apple juice for “tea”.
 |
| Abby, watch what you're doing, not the camera! |
While having tea we listen to the Rolling Stones’ 40 Licks cd - an interesting juxtaposition with a tea party. I played “You can’t always get what you want” twice, just in case it seeps in and it did. All night long I was able to get away with singing that to the kids instead of saying no. We’ll see how long that lasts.
While our travels have been a lot of fun, I think we’ll explore other parts of the world another time and do something new next week.
<3 Pedigreed Housewife
Comments
Post a Comment