Monday 3 March 2014

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Fastelavn


It is a Danish tradition to have this once a year Fancy Dress event when children dressed up to hit the black cat out of a barrel. Then all the sweets poured out of the barrel.

It can also be a costly affair for parents -  an expensive outfit that is wore only once! Of course, you can't recycle it for next year - that's bad taste!!! This is one Danish tradition that I can do without (oops, I hope I am not offending anyone).

(You may ask, what would those poor Danish parents do to keep in step? Well, there are no poor Danes in Denmark. Everyone is equally rich :-) That is why Danes are the Happiest People In the World - No stress, no lack of money, just enjoy life :-) Welcome to Denmark - The Paradise on Earth)

Maybe it is a way by which Danish parents love their children and wonderful to see their children all dressed up once a year, and my heart is definitely warmed by the efforts they make to let their children feel special.

I tried to embrace this tradition for the last 3 years, after all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, but my attempts failed.

Maybe it is because growing up poor in Singapore where the only time I got a set or two of new clothes was during Chinese New Year, which I looked towards with anticipation, and I am thus unable to embrace this extravagance, even though money is not a problem for us now.

It is just too much money to throw on an outfit, so we bought him a Spiderman outfit from the flea market complete with muscles so that he doesn't feel left out.

But to my great surprise J didn't wish to be all dolled up as Spiderman or Batman, but just this simple knight outfit. He was with the crowd, but didn't feel the need to out-perform the crowd. Ok, mommy is learning a lesson here from J... I can be true to myself and not embrace this tradition, and that it's ok not to be a Roman for once. I can be strong like J :-)

J told me as a matter-of-factly that one of his friends was dressed as Ninja Turtle complete with green make-up for the face. I asked him if he was sad that mommy did not do more. It was no big deal to him. I am proud of his strength and confidence to stand up against peer pressure... and wonder if it will continue even when he hits teenage...

You can read more here about Danish Fastelavn here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastelavn

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