You have to celebrate the holidays as they come. But how did the good old first day of school suddenly become a huge party with a bouncy castle and the like? Bartek from the Orsons finds himself surrounded by mountains of presents and school cone madness.
Recently I was standing in a schoolyard in western Stuttgart with a wrapped present and a coffee, excitedly looking for the right entrance to the sports hall. There were balloons and arrows everywhere and the faces of the adults reflected all the different types of parental emotions, from searching and worried to relieved and relaxed. But I don’t have any children.
Which led me to the question: “Did I have adult friends as a child and did I invite them to my first day at school?”
Every child goes through several important stages of independence in life. First they are taken to daycare and have to get by without their parents for a few hours, then to kindergarten, and later to school, where duties and personal responsibility suddenly arise, and homework, tests and so on are due. I can still relate to that. But when I, as a kid born in the 80s, think back to my first day at school, my absolute and only highlight of the day was the school cone.
Back then, we didn’t go to a pub to eat fries, nor did any of my or my parents’ friends come over and take special time off work to attend the theater performance by the fresh second-graders to welcome the new first-graders, as excitedly as if it were a high-class musical straight from Broadway.
Maybe because there was no fuss about my first day of school, this time I was as happy as if it were my personal first day of school and not that of a friend’s daughter.
A happening
What used to be the real highlight (a great, large and well-filled school cone) now seems to be the bare minimum.
But all the guests (invited by voice message from the 6-year-old herself, very sweet) all brought flowers, games, coloring books and other colorfully wrapped items, which were later unpacked together in the restaurant after the ceremony at school. Like a second birthday this year.
When I first started school (that must have been in ’91) no other presents were needed and we ate at home.
I remember eating a chocolate bar for the first time on the first day of school: Lion (underrated to this day).
I’m definitely not trying to say that everything used to be better. I’m just amazed at how social events are changing, how they’re becoming more and more numerous and bigger. JGAs, engagement parties, bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, birthdays, school enrollments… Of course, this year I was also a guest at a second school enrollment party, the next day. There was cake, lots of presents and… mmm, no kidding: a bouncy castle!
But hopefully the kids won’t expect an even bigger increase in the upcoming events, right? For the 16th birthday, there won’t be anything less than a private Taylor Swift concert with a real horse and keys to the first car à la Kylie Jenner.
We don’t want to complain
But that shouldn’t be my problem. I like being a guest. In general, I think we should keep making every event a big one where adults can indulge in day drinking. When the first tooth falls out, the first time homework is done, the first broccoli is eaten, the first time riding a bike without training wheels… there are still many celebrations ahead of us. Even without children! I’m looking forward to it! Cheers!
Your Bartek
