It’s impossible to hide her czechness / Jeji “cechost” se neda zaprit

As many of you know my daughter has a Czech mom (that would be me) and an American dad. Although we live in the US, fully submerged into the American culture, her Czechness cannot be hidden for long and that is for various reasons:

1/ She does not have very many toys. I like to buy her the $1.00 toys at Target or I get her toys at a local second hand store. They are as good as new and cost half the price. I also let her play with trash – yes, trash! An empty water bottle or an empty cardboard box can get you long ways! The other day, I stocked up a bunch of empty plastic bottles into Hahna’s portable tub and 45 minutes later she was still happily jumping in and out of it, having a blast. Or try to recycle an empty  cardboard box the Czech way and make a little house out of it (see picture)…the possibilities are endless. For more tips on  trash toys read  the post about my grandma.

When Christmas comes around we don’t buy her more than 3 presents. Hanicka usually gets one big present and couple of little ones. What is the point of giving her more than that? She would just end up feeling overwhelmed and could not appreciate any of the presents.

2/ She wears home-made clothing. Don’t worry, I don’t go too crazy about it but I like to make her comfortable sweats quite a bit. It is so quick, it saves  a bunch of money and it creates a wonderful memory (mostly just for me:0)). Oh, and one more thing: I get to be the cool mom on the playground since home-made stuff ( also called organic – a very hot term) is “in” these days :0). You would not believe how many compliments I have gotten just by sewing two tubes together (i.e. pants)!

3/ She plays in the dirt. I let little Hahna play with rocks, sand, rain puddles and mud. Why? Because that is the funnest thing out there! Count your rocks, arrange them according to their colors, sizes and shapes, jump into rain puddles…c’mon! Remember how much fun that was when we were kids? As my dad (doctor, mind you) would always say: “Little bit of dirt never hurt anyone!”.

She is too small to play on the street but if she was old enough she would be probably playing by herself since there are no kids that play outside anymore. What is up with that? All the moms are brainwashed  into thinking that their child will be abducted by some horrible child molester. Result? Empty, sad streets. I wonder if the kids in Czech are still playing outside…

4/ She looooves food (especially the peasant-like specialties like bread and potatoes). She is not picky at all, eating pretty much anything, which is pretty much a Czech trait. I personally eat everything except liver…and weird sea creatures like clams and shrimps and stuff…BLAH!!!

CZ: Jak vetsina z vas jiz vi, ma dcerka ma ceskou maminku (tedy mne) a americkeho tatinka. I kdyz vyrusta v Americe, jeji ceskost se nezapre a to z nekolika duvodu:

1/ Hanicka nema moc hracek. Vetinou ji kupuji malickosti v dolarovem obchode anebo ji kupuji hracky v second-handu – vypadaji jako nove a stoji o polovicku penez mene. Take si hraje s odpadky – ano, s odpadky! Vite, jak strasne se ji zamlouvaji prazdne lahve od vody? Nebo prazdna krabice? Nedavno jsem ji naplnila vanicku nekolika prazdnymi plastikovymi lahvemi a o 45 minut pozdeji byla Hanicka stale velmi zaneprazdnena. Nebo jim zkuste postavit domecek z prazdne krabice – to jsou pak v sedmem nebi (viz. foto)! Vice typu o “prirodnich” hrackach se muzete dozvedet od me babicky.

K Vanocum ji nekupujeme vice nez 3 darky a to z par duvodu: jednak by ji to prislis ohromilo a jednak by si jich vsech uz tak nevazila.

2/ Hanicka nosi doma udelane obleceni. Nebojte se, moc to neprehanim, ale par paru kalhot jsem ji usila, protoze je to velmi jednoduche, clovek usetri a navic je to pekna pamatka (tedy spise pro maminku nez pro Hanicku).  A jaka dalsi vyhra z toho plyne? Jsem oficialne ta hipova (stylova) maminka  na hristi, jelikoz doma udelane (tzv. organicke) oblecen je ted velmi “in” :0)!

3/ Hanicka si hraje v hline. Nerikejte mi, ze hrani si s kaminky, v pisku, nebo poskakovat v louzi neni ta nejuzasnejsi hracka! Jak muj tata (doktor!) vzdycky rika, “vzdyt je to cista spina!”. Hanicka je jeste mala na to, aby si hrala na ulici, ale i kdyby byla starsi, stejne by si tam asi nemela s kym hrat, protoze deti si na ulici jiz nehraji. Maminky se totiz boji, ze jejich ditko unese nejaky hrozny pedofil. Zajimalo by me, jestli si ceske deti hraji na ulici, jako to byvavalo za nasich casu…

4/ Hanicka miluje jidlo (zatim jeste nevylizuje talir)! Kdo z nas, Cechu a Slovaku, nemiluje jidlo? Co je lepsiho nez cerstvy chleba s maslem? My jsme z jakehosi duvodu jak se rika vsezrouti; vidim to sama na sobe – ja jim v podstate vsechno, snad krome jater a vodniho “hmyzu” jako jsou skeble, krevety,chobotnice apod…..FUJ!