Thursday, March 26, 2009

"My flag"

Yesterday my Daughter was finishing a drawing for my step dad who just had his birthday. She decided she wanted to draw a flag post with a flag raised, just like the one we have at the summerhouse in the Stockholm archipelago. 

She started drawing it, and I didn't pay much attention. Then she asked "where do I put the stars?". For a moment I was confused, not knowing what she was talking about. No stars on the flag last time I checked. Then it hit me. "Oh, you're drawing the American flag?", I said. For a moment the Daughter was confused, not knowing what I was talking about. "I'm drawing my flag", she said. 

Of course. If you ask my Daughter, born and raised in California to draw the flag - she will of course draw a red and white striped flag with white stars on a blue rectangle in the corner. Why would she automatically draw a blue flag with a yellow cross as I was assuming? In the end we decided to draw two flags - after all - here in California you see flagpoles with two flags all the time - the American and the California flag (and in the end neither flag was in the "correct" colors - but then, who cares, the point is that there are two flags up for the birthday boy).

But it was yet a reminder that however much I want to answer "Swedish" to the question on what my kids think they "are" - it's not what they would answer. 

So from now on we have two official flags in the house, mixing red, blue, white and yellow. And that's pretty neat too. 

6 comments:

Amelia said...

Hej!
Hoppas att allt står väl till med dig! Jag har lämnat en rätt kul utmaning till dig på min blogg!

Anna, Fair and True said...

:)

Annika said...

Jojo, då där är det...
Jag vet...
:-)

Indie said...

You do such a good job in capturing the emigrant experience, or the alien experience. I have always marveled at the courage of people who go to a live in a strange land. I like the way you chronicle the small realizations and realities along the way.

I am so glad you give your kids a sense of their Swedish identity so they don't have to reassemble it from fragments like so many second- and third-generation Swedes must.

I never asked you but do they speak Swedish?

{oc cottage} said...

And that, my dear, is what it means to be an American! All of our ancestors felt the same. Some of us have more than 2 flags...your kids are lucky! :)

m ^..^

JaCal said...

Amelia - oj - då måste jag genast titta efter! ;-) Jag är ju flera dagar efter mig här pga av jobb och meck.

Anna - många flaggor blir det...

Annika - ;-) tänk ändå att jag blev så förvånad...

Indie - for me the kids' Swedish heritage is extremely important - but equally important is for them to be Americans too. It sure is an intersting journey since we're both Swedish and "new" to a lot of things here too. Learning by doing. Yes, the kids are completely bilingual - and so far speak good Swedish without too much accents - we'll see how that turns out in the future - but at least they can speak, read and write it.

Tales.. - ;-) I guess you're right.