The other day, some woman was lecturing me in the grocery store. (This must happen to all young moms, but that doesn't make it any less ridiculous!) I couldn't escape, either; she was my cashier!
The short version is that she noticed that my face was slightly sunburned and decided I must need to be taught about the dangers of skin cancer, and that she needed to solve my "problem" that Jack could get sunburned on his scalp.
The conversation really wasn't that interesting. What
was interesting was when she decided that because he had a hammer on his shirt, Jack's "favorite thing" must be Bob the Builder, and that the perfect way to get him to wear a hat was to slap Bob the Builder on it.
"He will LOVE it," she assured me.
With most American children, she probably would have been right. But Jack has NO idea who Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob, and all those idiots are. The only item we own with a pop-culture character on it (aside from books) is a classic Winnie the Pooh umbrella stroller.
This got me thinking about what weirdos we are. In our house, a popsicle is homemade ice cream, made from berries we picked ourselves, and frozen in a mold in the freezer. Soda is flavored seltzer water mixed with weak juice. Jack eats "peanut butter and jelly" which is actually pure ground almond butter and homemade jam. It's not all food-oriented (we don't have cable TV, for instance), but that's probably the most visible difference.
I was feeling distinctly like an expat in my own country until I realized that my food choices are quite American after all -- just from the wrong decade. Before fast food hit and mamas, for the most part, left the home, my homemade jam and ice creams would have fit right in!
