Re: Raising kids in a different culture
excellent suggestions from everyone. I am however confused on one thing, why does one have to wear desi clothes for eid. we are mixing culture and religion and it can be confusing. we have many cultural events like shaddis and indoendence day type things.
I see no issue in getting western clothes for eid. What I do know is that as a kid I did not really find a huge difference in eid in pak, ksa and uk, always dressed up, had special treats at home, went for prayers, got eidi, visited ppl or had guests, many times a few ppl would host everyone and everyone would gather there. the key is effort..having friends, family around, and a good sized community also help
I simply dont buy new kurta shalwars for eid anymore, I dont wear them often enough to justify spending the money on something that will just sit in my closet most of the time.
key things ppl have pointed out already
1) take time off 2) make it important 3) celebrate the day 4) give gifts 5) go to community events 6) have get togethers, go visit friends
No--you don't have to wear desi stuff, and I dont' think it's a fast rule that you have to, esp if it's not importnat to you. but for me personally, and i'm sur it goes for alot of other women, i wear regular, western clothing all the time...it's cool to just take a day and wear shalwar kameez and churiyan and all that, when normally i wudn't be able to. Maybe in Pak it's easier for ppl to get new stuff made every Eid, since it's so easily available there and cheap, but that's not so much the case here, esp when things are so expensive!
Anyways, so since we're talking abt Eid and Xmas and all, i just took a huge advantage of hte after-christmas sale and got my nephews and their dadi some nice things. As a kid we never went to school on Eid, and I never understood why others did as well...it's only these last two years that i've had to have been in school on Eid b/c of assignments or exams... :(