[Mother's Day 2010]
I’ve always found Mother’s Day to be a special holiday—it almost always seems to be sunny, there are always flowers, hugs, maybe a little gift, a delicious meal, and a lot of love. Here in Magyarmecske things were a little bit different. While I missed my mother on the day (and maybe she missed me) I saw something else that was a beautiful and different expression of the holiday. For weeks in April the children prepared for a Mother’s Day event at the school. Each class had (and every year has) the chance to perform something for their dear mums.
Room filled with families (mainly mothers and grandmothers) watching their children recite and sing.
In the schools verse (or poem) memorization is an important part of the Hungarian lesson. For example, when I was with the 2nd graders every week they learned a new part of a verse so that after a few weeks they would know the whole poem. Every Friday they stand in front of the class and recite what they learned—one by one. If they do a good job, they can move their chair to the front of the room and move on to the next stanza or poem. They also are able to evaluate each other on rhythm, tone, and presentation. (Which has been cute to see the children evaluate each other—“Oh! I really like that! She/he said it so beautifully” or “I think you need to work on speed because it was too fast.”) This verse memorization comes into play for this Mother’s Day event. Each class prepared a poem or song for the mothers about mothers and children—mostly poems or songs of love and thanks.
Children looking on.
Each child said part of the verse or a short poem. The lunchroom was decorated with flowers and filled with emotion, pride, and love on the day when the children recited and sung. In art class the children also had the opportunity to make paper flowers which they could give to their mothers after they recited the verse. They also could buy a single flower for their mother and give that to her. If the child didn’t have a mother, they could have a poem to their grandmother or to their father or choose not to recite. While it was a day of joy for many children, it was also a glimpse into family dynamics. For example one of the 2nd graders father’s came because his mother is not present; a 4th grader chose not to recite because his mother is not present and his father is an alcoholic and plays a minimal role in his life; and a few of the children just didn’t recite because they were a little bit naughty. But for the most part everyone did something.
Second graders waiting to recite. With flowers for their mothers.
First graders (Vivien, Anette, Klaudia).
The first graders started off, each one reciting and even some crying as they recited. It was surprisingly emotional—the poems were very nice and the beauty of the words plus the love for their mothers brought a few to tears. The second graders followed with similar reactions of reciting and crying. The third graders had a slide show with music—each child had brought in a picture of themselves with their mother (or family) which was set to music and slides. To say the least it was a very special day and a great show of the importance of family—especially mothers. I think also because people don’t tend to leave very much or go very far away, there is a very strong connection to family and separation even for a short period of time is difficult. To the people who live here, who may not have much, family is the one thing you can have and literally hold onto making it a central and important feature in everyone’s lives. On this day it was beautiful to see families connect and mothers smile.
Second graders.
I am always amazed at how well the children do with memorization of poems and stories and it was great to see them all in their best clothes, being clever and doing something so nice. While I always think we do good things for our mothers in the US, I have never seen something like this—maybe next year I’ll memorize a verse because now it feels like a card just won’t cut it! (Unfortunately, as far as I know, there is no Father’s Day here—sorry dads!)
Fourth graders and up reciting and singing.
I also had a chance to go to the Ovoda (preschool) and see their Mother’s Day event. Even these tiny 3-6 year olds, who can’t even read, memorized verses (some were actually pretty long!), sung songs, and did dances for their mothers.
Ovoda gyerekek (preschool children).
[I had a really good seat at the ovoda so I took lots of pictures! Here are a just a few!]
Reciting a long verse.
I was helping with an English class throughout the winter and the last two pictures are women who attended the class (along with their little preschoolers).
So this post goes out as a thank you to mothers—for giving life and being who you are! A special thank you to my own mother—I love you!
Popular Mother's Day song:
[Brief translation: the singer is asking their mother about her mother's life as well as her own: how she came to be--did you think of me before I was born--was I an accident, was I planned, was it coincidence that I was born, who was your first love? I think it is coincidence that my father is who he is, I am thinking of the future when I am in love, and the man asks me--what should I say to him?]
The translation can't really do it justice because from what I experienced it is a really nice song and the kids were very into it.
[One again, belated post. My apologies. Hope you enjoy it. Any questions, comments about anything please send me an email. emilie.swenson@gmail.com]
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