The cynics corner
I am an evil mother. Last night I was forced to spend nearly two hours at my daughter’s end of year party (misibat siyum). This is something not for the faint of heart. They started at 6 pm (Isn’t that when we normally eat dinner?) and ended at nearly 9 pm (isn’t that nearly two hours after her bed time?) And what went on in the middle? G-d help us all!
Lets see….
There was a song sung by the girls to their mothers…I didn’t catch all the words, but a friend (read: fellow cynic #1) said isn’t it a bit sickening that the girls (who are 5-6) are singing about getting married and being mothers of sons (banim). Well, yeah that was a bit icky.
The boys at least danced with their fathers and sang “HaMalach HaGoel” (a very nice biblical song). Another fellow cynic (who didn’t come) mentioned how much she can’t stand the separation of sexes at this age. What is a single parent of the opposite sex child supposed to do?
Another few notes about the girls’ song…the teacher told us when to hug our child. And we were all given scarves to wear on our heads. I didn’t put one on, since I already wear a scarf, and neither did the other mother who covers her hair. Big girl questioned why I didn’t wear the scarf, but luckily I had “mom #2″ to point to.
Cynic #1 also pointed out to me the next day that this party was nothing more than a photo shoot. He said that there was absolutely no content showing us what our children learned during the year. Sad but true. Husband of cynic #2 commented that he got some great shots in his video camera of parents fighting over spots to take pictures. Cynic #3 doesn’t even come with a camera…she was also infuriated over the little girls coming out with bridal veils!
Although I’m glad I had these fellow cynical parents to commiserate with, my little one will not be attending the same kindergarten.
