The schoolyard
Even though this is not my first maternity leave, I am still having the chance to experience new things. My daughter is already in school since more than two years but I had still hardly had the chance to interact with one of the most scary places (both for kids as well as for parents by the way) in the whole education system....the schoolyard.
This is the focal center of the whole school ecosystem where teachers, children and parents come together at one specific moment in time, the end of the school day.
Like every microcosmos there is a strict hierarchy in there and I have the strong feeling that since I am an evident newcomer I am right at the bottom.
It is amazing to see how many mothers are there at 15:15, right in the middle of the afternoon. There are also quite some fathers, to show male emancipation. For the ones of you that are not familiar with what it is being emancipated in 2015, it is the freedom not to work!
There are very few grandparents and quite some nannies. As I have told you, a microcosmos on its own.
My huge belly attracts quite some attention, so that I am approached by some of the new and hesitating mothers who desperatly want to climb the social ladder, they have an easy opening line with me, and I am the most cordial self, trying to make them feel at ease. Of course my acquientance will not help them an inch up, since I am a temporary member of this community, but they do not know yet.
The consumed tiger moms just look at me with curiosity, of course they know me since I am there also in the morning, but they nevertheless wonder what am I doing there in the afternoon, all of a sudden, several days in a row.
I do not bother explaining to them that I am on maternity leave, just want to check how long it takes them to figure it out themselves.
The bell is ringing, all the kids start to most chaotically stream out of the gate and all the bets are off, everybody is suddenly only looking at his own kid, including myself. Nora is not yet used herself to see me there.
This is a tricky moment, since in the crucial five minutes after the kids are out, all the playdates and social relationships in the ecosystem are built or destroyed. I am clearly too new at this game to even be able to get into the field, you know a bit like playing golf if you do not have a certain level they do not even allow you on the range.
Nora helps me out arranging her own stuff, even though she is not the most popular among the kids, she is certainly well known and very loud. What comes out of it is that almost everyday I have to take care of two kids instead of one. The typical amateur mistake! Rule number one, playdate should never be at your place, but always at the other kid's place.
Give me some time, I will get better at this.
This is the focal center of the whole school ecosystem where teachers, children and parents come together at one specific moment in time, the end of the school day.
Like every microcosmos there is a strict hierarchy in there and I have the strong feeling that since I am an evident newcomer I am right at the bottom.
It is amazing to see how many mothers are there at 15:15, right in the middle of the afternoon. There are also quite some fathers, to show male emancipation. For the ones of you that are not familiar with what it is being emancipated in 2015, it is the freedom not to work!
There are very few grandparents and quite some nannies. As I have told you, a microcosmos on its own.
My huge belly attracts quite some attention, so that I am approached by some of the new and hesitating mothers who desperatly want to climb the social ladder, they have an easy opening line with me, and I am the most cordial self, trying to make them feel at ease. Of course my acquientance will not help them an inch up, since I am a temporary member of this community, but they do not know yet.
The consumed tiger moms just look at me with curiosity, of course they know me since I am there also in the morning, but they nevertheless wonder what am I doing there in the afternoon, all of a sudden, several days in a row.
I do not bother explaining to them that I am on maternity leave, just want to check how long it takes them to figure it out themselves.
The bell is ringing, all the kids start to most chaotically stream out of the gate and all the bets are off, everybody is suddenly only looking at his own kid, including myself. Nora is not yet used herself to see me there.
This is a tricky moment, since in the crucial five minutes after the kids are out, all the playdates and social relationships in the ecosystem are built or destroyed. I am clearly too new at this game to even be able to get into the field, you know a bit like playing golf if you do not have a certain level they do not even allow you on the range.
Nora helps me out arranging her own stuff, even though she is not the most popular among the kids, she is certainly well known and very loud. What comes out of it is that almost everyday I have to take care of two kids instead of one. The typical amateur mistake! Rule number one, playdate should never be at your place, but always at the other kid's place.
Give me some time, I will get better at this.
Comments
Post a Comment