Today, my wife and I made a Schultüte for my daughter’s first day of school. This day will go down as a special day I won’t forget.
A Schultüte means a “school cone”, meant to be given to children on the first day of school. My daughter is in the final months of preschool. The International German School organized an evening for the parents to come together and make a Schultüte. Some of us learned about the German tradition for the first time. On the first day of school, in late August, 3 months from now, the children will have to pick the school cone meant for them from a Schultüten-Baum (school-cone tree). This evening was when we designed such a big cone.
My wife eagerly asked me to find some inspiration on Pinterest. We soon settled on a mermaid-looking shape. We got to work. I was focused on drawing and cutting. After that, I used the hot melt glue gun to stick things together.
My wife and I were the last to leave, with the two teachers who stayed back. We did not expect to be at the school for almost three hours to do the art and craft work.
I used to be proud that I tend to participate in the parent-teacher activities so that my wife did not have to, but this evening it was such a relief for me that she came. I grew up in a public school system that did not emphasize arts and crafts and self-guided learning. I learned about how the classroom is organized for the Primary 1 kids. I was intrigued by the education philosophy.
This is a day to remember because I felt that my wife had not had time to slow down and do some painstaking work for a long time. She said, “This is a great date night.”
Tomorrow, I will fly with my daughter to Danang for Ironman 70.3. I’m excited to spend the weekend with her. We have done this same event as a family in the past two years, but it got boring for my wife. However, I will make the best use of the daughter-and-father bonding experience. May there be great memories together for the two of us.