Ok, it's been a while since we've shared one of these. So, here's one from last night...
We dropped the kids off at a friend's house so that we can go on our bi-weekly date night around 5pm. Around 7:30pm we return from our nice and quiet retreat as a couple to pick up the kids. They are having such a great time, so we sit down and chat with our friends for a bit while all the kids play together. Before we know it, the clock reads: 9:20pm! YIKES! Our kid's bedtime is typically 7:30pm...the very latest 8pm. It's a school night too...oops!
The girls are red-eyed and temperamental , but still manages to utter the I'm-not-tired-can-we-keep-playing? line that every child somehow has convinced themselves that their parents will believe and allow. Um...no. (It's 9:30pm now.)
We load them into the car for the 3-minute car ride home. As we pull onto our street a mob of neighborhood kids spot our car and RUN towards us. We stop the car in order to unlock the gate so that we can pull our car into the driveway, and all the kids surround the car like a bunch of groupies awaiting the Rock Star to come out of the limousine. They are shouting (yes...shouting at 9:30pm) ELLA! CATELYN! This group of kids were WIDE awake at this time and their ages ranged from 4yrs-9yrs old.
When we got out of the car, the older kids grabbed Ella and were holding her and passing her around. So, we engaged in a short conversation with them before excusing ourselves in order to bathe and put our kids to bed as quickly as possible (as it was already WAY past their bedtime).
Did you pick up on the cultural difference here? On a school night, children are allowed to roam freely at 9:30pm (and they were still out and about long after we finally got our kids into bed)...even the young children! We've been told that children are allowed to go to bed whenever they want...even on school nights. A cultural difference...um...definitely.
2 comments:
Sounds pretty judgemental. I agree, kids shouldn't run free at that hour.. they shouldn't "run free" at all in this day and age. However, do you think you're setting a good example, making people long for a similar lifestyle, similar values, seek to be Christian as well when you judge them? There are better ways of addressing issues like these without being THAT guy who proclaims to be living for the glory of God. I find these types of comments dishonorable because they don't help make seekers.
Dear Miraclepups,
I appreciate your zeal. However, I think you may have misunderstood the intention and tone of this post.
The "Cultural Adaptations" series of posts are simple observations of cultural differences (American culture vs. our new culture that we live in) that we ourselves are experiencing. This culture's value and use of time is very different from the culture in which we were raised. I made no claim of saying their values or culture were inferior, nor did I say that mine were superior. I simply stated that they were different...very different from that in which I grew up in (whether I grew up a Christian or not).
The purpose of the "Cultural Adaptations" posts are not to make judgments or pompous plans to change people (neither of which are our job - nor are we in any position to do so). But instead, it is to simply share with our friends back home the differences that we observe through our American eyes which are in the process of learning to adjust and adapt to our new host culture. Nothing more.
I do hope this helps clear up any misunderstandings.
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