Permanent Press

So our daycare has asked parents to make a little display about our family’s nationality. For the kids, you know.

Which is great. If we actually had one. When I do the math, the our kids’ national composition looks something like this:

1/4 Irish
3/8 English
1/8 Swedish
1/8 German
1/8 Scottish

This leaves us in a bit of a quandary. Most people at the school already identify as either Canadian or Québecois, or both. And everyone already knows that we’re “English”. So who are we supposed to say we are?

The flyer I took home from school suggests that we bring some things from our country to share with the class. For my part, I might have a bit of tartan kicking around somewhere. And maybe Jason has something Irish that he picked up at a garage sale.

Since my grandpa is a cowboy, maybe we could tell the kids that they’re descended from cattle wranglers, then bring some pictures of ponies and a crusty piece of old harness?

Or, since our kids are more or less named after Leprechauns, we could fly the Irish flag. Talk about daddy’s red hair and bring a few potatoes to class. That’s something people could relate to.

But if we wanted to be more exact about who we are and where we come from? Maybe I’d bring a piece of cedar from British Columbia. Or a Buddha. Jason could tote a box of toothpicks from his great grand-daddy’s factory. And a black flag.

Okay, I’m probably thinking too much about this. Irish it is.