My Meimei is very interesting: The growth story of a Chinese brother and sister in Germany

Author: Feng Ping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: When I gradually started reading some German, I would read a segment of German children's books to my son every night. On one hand, it was to improve my German skills; on the other hand, I wanted to spend more time with him and cultivate his love for books. I found that reading stories to children is the best kind of love for them. Sometimes when my son misbehaved, I would punish him by not reading him a story, and he would be very sad. When my daughter was two or three, I also read her a story every night, and she loved it just as much. Now (6 years old), she has excellent reading skills in German and loves reading. The more I read, the more I realized that German children's books describe nothing but the fun and daily life of children—essentially, how to play happily. Here, I haven’t found a single “genius”-level children’s book. The classic has to be the children’s book Children from Bullerby by the famous Swedish female writer Astrid Lindgren (deceased). It describes the joyful childhood life of six or seven children from Bullerby. Every time I read it, I feel very happy—it’s truly a sense of childlike wonder! As far as I know, most German parents and children have read this book. In fact, the lives of children here are indeed as carefree, joyful, and free as those described in the book. The children here are energetic and unrestrained; they truly play however they want to be happy. I’ve discussed this topic with some mothers and preschool teachers, and I told them that Chinese children have no time to play. They found it hard to believe. They said every child has their own personality, and children should have colorful childhoods to grow up healthily and develop their imagination and creativity. Parents, preschool teachers, and elementary school teachers here pay great attention to cultivating children’s qualities, habits, and willpower in the process of “play,” and they also focus very much on developing children’s hands-on skills and independence. I envy the childhood life of children here, so I want to write some small stories about their lives in China and share these joys and freedoms with more children and their parents.