Today we went to the local public library for the first of their bi-lingual story hours that would be in English and Hindi. I thought it would be a great chance for H to hear another language, especially since the facilitator is a native speaker.
I walked in expecting to see a good mix of moms to find that H was the only non-Indian in the room. I felt bad only because I thought, 'Great, now he'll be the only kid that doesn't get the story." I had him go sit with all the other kids, and it struck me once again how much difference race doesn't make to kids. Within about five seconds I heard two of the little boys say "Those are so cool!" I looked over to see their heads, along with H's bowed over the matchbox car and motorcycle that he had insisted on bringing with him. They pulled their own cars out of their pockets and the connection was made.
The story hour started and I realized that a lot of the kids were actually going to Hindi school and were not fluent in it. The librarian asked all the kids who knew Hindi to raise their hands and H threw up his own...then I realized that he may not have been just following what the other kids did. He thought she was saying his name...Henry.
In further pursuit of multi-culturalism, when I checked out we were told our copy of Dora and the Three Little Pigs was ready for pick-up..Come on, Vamanos!
Hoping that humor and sarcasm can get me through this thing they call motherhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment