A joyful drive home

I climb into the car and turn it on. I slowly pull out of the parking spot and begin the daily drive home from school. My daughters waste no time getting down to business.

Sheela: What snack did you bring today?

Me: Cheez-its.

Sonia: Yahooooo!

I open their bags and hand it to them as I pull onto the road.

What song do you want on?

My younger daughter quickly scolds me for asking the wrong question.

Sonia: But we never played popcorn!!!

Me: OK, fine, popcorn it is. Who wants to start?

Both girls shout, “ME!”

Me: OK you know what to do…

Both girls: ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS! SHOOT!

Sheela: I have……I have……I have….

Sheela takes no decision lightly. She will make a fine Supreme Court justice one day.

Sheela: I have….PAPER! What do you have Sonia?

Sonia: I have ROCK!

Sheela: I WIN!

Sonia is still learning the finer points of Rock Paper Scissors.

Me: Alright Sheela, start us off.

Sheela: OK, so you see that hat in the seat next to you? I made that hat and it’s what they wear in Germany! Everyone from Germany wears that hat! All the Germanies wear a hat like that.

Sheela’s German hat

I look at the hat and think to myself, ‘Is Robin Hood German?’ before resuming the conversation.

Me: That is AMAZING Sheela! What a hat! Did you learn anything else about Germany?

Sheela: Yes, in Germany, they do not drive cars. They drive sailboats! Everyone has a sailboat. Even the kids. The kids have kayaks!!!!

On one hand, I appreciate that our typically American education system is making an attempt at exposing young children to other cultures. On the other hand, I’m not sure if efforts like this are helping or hurting people’s impressions of Americans.

Me: Wow, that’s really surprising! You know, I’ve never been to Germany. Maybe we should plan a trip there to see what it’s like.

Sheela: Yes, we have to! But you have to keep that hat and wear it when we go to Germany. Otherwise, they will not let you in! Everyone in Germany wears a hat like that. I’ll have to make another hat for me.

I can’t stop laughing at the image of arriving in Germany wearing hats like this. I’m really considering planning a trip to Germany just so I can watch Sheela wear this hat the entire time.

Me: OK, OK. Got the German hat. Anything else from school today? What’s something that made you laugh or smile?

Sheela: Well, something that made me laugh was when Luke was rolling his hula hoop and chasing it and then one time it kept rolling and rolling and rolling! We were all laughing!!!!

Me: Wow, that is hilarious! OK, time to popcorn!

Sheela: I didn’t say what made me smile…something that made me smile was when I looked through the fence and saw Sonia playing on the playground!

I suppress the ‘Awww…’ that’s rising up within me.

Sheela: Popcorn….Sonia!!!

Sonia needs a little more guidance going through her day.

Me: OK, Sonia, did you have a good day?

Sonia: I had a GREAT day!

Me: Awesome. Did you do any work today?

Sonia: I did A LOT OF WORK today.

Me: Did you do work by yourself or with friends?

Sonia: With friends.

Me: Oh which friends? Kipton?

Sonia: No.

Me: Emerson?

Sonia: No.

Me: Avery?

Sonia: Yes.

Me: Oh, awesome!

I now know what pulling teeth is like.

Me: Anything else cool happen today?

Sonia’s excitement is palpable in my rearview mirror as I see her hands start to go into explaining mode.

Sonia: We saw a BUG on the dinosaur slide!!!!

Me: Wow, that sounds exciting! What did you do?

Sonia: What!?!

Me: What did you do? Did you touch it? Did you slide on top of it?

Sonia: I watched it. And then…it flied away!!!

Great story…

I sense Sonia is more interested in her Cheez-its now than any more stories from school so I start to wrap this popcorn game up as we enter our neighborhood.

Me: Alright, Sonia, last question. What’s something that made you laugh or smile?

Sonia: Something that made me smile was when I see Sheela and Nadin playing on the playground.

I’m pretty sure she’s just copying Sheela, but I still feel tears welling up in my eyes at the thought of my girls smiling at each other through the fence on the playground.

As the girls start to fight over who gets to say ‘WE’RE HOME!’, I begin to wonder if I should put up a fence between them.