Well, today is the 4th of July, which America knows as Independence Day and the rest of the world knows as the 4th of July.
Today presents the first of many moral dilemmas to come for me. Thing is, I’m British – quite proudly so – and I never really “got” or “cared for” American culture, so imagine my quandary when I fell in love with an American and moved here.
That wasn’t too hard to deal with, but now things have become more complicated. By virtue of Ellie being born in America, she is now an American citizen, and will be going to American schools and working with Americans.
So I’m in a situation that I’m just not too sure how to handle. I don’t care to celebrate July 4th (though I’ll happily take the day off, thank you very much!), but I need to allow Ellie to do so. Which means that in some capacity, I’m going to have to join in. It’s going to be weird and awkward.
And that’s just the start of it. When she starts to speak, do I teach her to pronounce it as “water”, or “woddah”? Do I intentionally teach her to misspell things like “tyre” and “realise”?
I think a little piece of me is going to die each time I encounter one of these situations, but it’s only fair to her to make her not stick out like a sore thumb (I’m happy to), and to prepare her for living in the environment that she’s likely to grow up in (America).
Fortunately, today at least, we’re just staying home and relaxing, just like any other day. I can deal with that…
