Pizza, ice cream and embarrassing mothers
The columnist sits with the door to the garden open, at her laptop, completely disappointed with the world. Outside, there would be no Wi-Fi for her, and she dreams of a vacation by the sea. From here, she can observe and eavesdrop on what's happening in her street before the holidays.
"I'm just disappointed with the world." A female voice passes by, I sit with the door open, working, and the world flows past my window. The neighborhoods are called Schmargendorf, Zehlendorf, Wilmersdorf, Grunewald, and these names are also programs. Village. Forest. But also: inhabitants. Mothers, who take their children to school, fathers, who pick them up. Office workers, looking for parking spots. People, who want to go to the doctors or lawyers next door, children, who whine, dogs, who bark, people, who talk loudly on their phones in their cars and involve the rest of the street in their conversations. Heartfelt thanks, good, that I now know when you'll be home, Guido, so Michaela can set the potatoes and freshen up.
In the afternoon, the same woman from this morning passes by, from the other direction, I sit again with the open door, hoping for a breeze: "Can you please stop bothering me!" She must be scolding the little boy following her, who looks disappointed at his hands. She runs away in a huff, I can no longer hear what she's saying, but I have immense sympathy for the boy.
What could he have done wrong, that she had to make such a scene? Maybe nothing. It's challenging to manage daily life, but we shouldn't burden our children with it. When my children were little, I was often annoyed as well: Hurry up to the kindergarten or daycare, my own child is always the last one at the fence, the daycare provider is understandably impatient next to me. I apologize, bring sweets the next day, even though the daycare provider is already plump enough, and I resent my child for it.
The child tells me that their friend was picked up much earlier, that they're going to the zoo or the swimming pool or porcelain painting or whatever. They also want to explain to me that they need to pay 10 euros for the outing, and when I'm next making parent-teacher evenings, they should please let me bring everything from the organic store and cook myself instead of ordering pizza. "I don't understand," I said to my child back then, "you love pizza. And that one was organic," I added, "at least completely fresh and hot." "Yes," the child explained patiently, "but it's forbidden." I always forget that kindergarten children take things so seriously, like rules for example. "That was an exception, recently," I justified myself, "otherwise, you would have had nothing to eat."
"Really shameless!"
The child rolled its eyes, how should it explain to the most stressed person next to it with Mother-ADHD that it's "really picky" about food not being correct. "It's not my concern", I said, "let others deal with it." "Do you really know that you're the oldest mother here", my child asked me after a while, as we walked hand in hand peacefully beside each other. I stood still. "But I can still see best", I countered, and saw how my little child rolled its eyes again. We went to get ice cream first, that always helps.
Loud men's voices pull me out of my thoughts, I'm about to explode: "Hey, I'm working from home here", I think to myself, let me just step aside, who knows, maybe they'll bark at me in the garden later or slash my bike tires. Yes, things like that even happen to women like Gwyneth Paltrow, I recently read, and she's certainly more distinguished than I am, has a huge stockpile of carrots and vegan sausages in the refrigerator, and definitely a higher fence.
I go in, I can't focus. Under flimsy pretexts, I call my children and ask them if they want to eat ice cream with me later, it's important to me, I say. On the way to the ice cream parlor, I could still buy a few vegan sausages at the health food store. I feel good.
- The International Society for Children's Education might consider promoting vegan nutrition as a healthy eating option for children during their vacation activities, encouraging parents to pack vegan meals for their children while they're away.
- During their beach vacation, some parents might opt for vegan options for their children, such as plant-based burgers and ice cream, as part of their commitment to vegan nutrition.
- The child's teacher from the International Society of Education could organize a class session on the benefits of vegan nutrition for children, focusing on how it contributes to overall health and well-being, during the summer vacation.
