Other Winters I Have Known...
We continue to make lots of snowmen and do other winter-type activities at school this week, despite the fact that it still is not like winter at all here. In fact, I don't think it's like winter for those people who have lived here all of their life and are used to warmer winters than what I'm used to. For one thing, we've had almost no rain at all this winter, which even I know is unusual.
All of this led me to a conundrum this morning. I was sitting in the dentist's chair, leaned of course way, way back. The dentist was drilling all kinds of bits of enamel and other stuff off of my tooth, and I was both a little tense and marginally sleepy and definitely disoriented all at the same time. In the middle of this Altered Dental State I began thinking about what we were doing at school that day, and suddenly wondered if I was leading my Little People astray. Well, I think I was thinking about the finished projects that I put up in our room as opposed to the finished projects that the morning teacher puts up. I came to the realisation that she doesn't seem to be putting up any winter things at all - no snowmen, snowflakes, penguins, anything. Suddenly I was worried - could it be that children in (at least this area) of California just "don't do" snowmen? Was I misleading the Little People by introducing them to all manner of winter things that they might never really experience in their lifetime? Was it not enough to always say, "Now, where we live we don't get any snow, but some places it snows in the winter," every time I introduced some cold-weather winter thing? Was my cultural bias created by other winters I have known inappropriate for this part of the country?
It was a true dental conundrum. And in that state, it truly puzzled me.
However, at lunch today I ran it by my co-teacher who has lived in this area all of her life. She was able to confirm that yes, kids here "do" snowmen. That the typical California "winter crafts" indeed do not all involve palm trees with Christmas lights on them. That it is acceptable to do wintery things that yes, they may never experience.
So I will continue, at least for a week or so more. And then perhaps we'll turn to Spring, or even early Summer - to match the weather.
