Missing the Parade

Yesterday was a parenting first for us, and probably the first of a long list: the first time we missed a school event. A's school was celebrating Purim (the jewish carnival holiday) and they had a costumed parade to which the parents were invited. School starts at 9am and the parade was scheduled for 10am. My class starts at 9:30am so there was no way I could go, and SleepyPapa had an interview scheduled at that time. The good thing is that A is still too young to care whether we are there, but that will probably change down the line. From talking to other parents, it seems like many schools here hold similar things during the day, and I think that's not very fair to working parents. We feel guilty enough taking a day off when our children are sick, we are not going to ask for one to go see them dressed up (at least I am not).

I don't remember my school having anything for parents during the school day when I was little. We had shows at night or on the weekend. Obviously in Paris there are far fewer stay-at-home moms, so no one would show up if they did that stuff during the day anyway. I do remember feeling bad that my mom couldn't chaperone our field trips, and I think she did take a day off once to do it. So if I felt that way about chaperoning, when most mothers were also unable to chaperone, I am afraid to think about how children feel here when their parents can't make it to events where there are many moms. I feel that the schools could maybe hold the event closer to pick-up time... it's easier to leave work a tiny bit early than to leave it 20 minutes after you got there.

The good thing is that A had fun at the parade and told me all about his and his friends' costumes. The school took pictures and I am looking forward to seeing them. And I'll wait to feel guilty until A actually cares...