Kindertag! Children's Day!

i got chocolate and candy, little toys, maybe a book. car dealerships in your city might put up bouncing castles [Hüpfburgen], smaller communities gather for food and games, libraries offer readings for kids.

june 2 seems to be the perfect day to celebrate the children on both sides of the atlantic.

yesterday, june 1 was traditional children's day in germany. tomorrow, june 3 was the first national children's day declared by a u.s. president. that was in 2001. subsequently the rule was established that every first sunday in june is supposed to be dedicated to the wee ones. never mind this doesn't seem to be followed in a noticeable way.

but to the best of my knowledge children's day is not a highly celebrated day in the united states. maybe because it is one of these shifting holidays that are pinned on a first day of something in the month of so and so as many of the u.s. holidays. maybe because people are still in recovery from their memorial weekend. germans, you remember -- again this shifting principle -- the last weekend in may is when in the united states the summer season is officially greeted with bbqs, the opening of pools, and the beginning of motorcycle season. talking of which i learnt that the biker meeting in dc, dubbed rolling thunder, even dwarfs the classical meeting of bikers in sturgis. around 40,000 bikes are waiting for around six hours to file in line to get to go on a half hour convoy showing of their chrome and leather.

you get the idea; there are many distractions from the children's day. indeed, the u.s. calender is at least of for 2010. instead of the first sunday in june, the second is chosen according to a national children's day website set up by an organization in illinois.

in bold big letters the website is begging for national children's day to "gain city/state/national recognition". well, president bush's declaration back in 2001 doesn't seem have gone far.

in germany, children's day even appeared in most popular newscast the other day. that was thanks to a study by the Christian aid organization World Vision in which researchers asked ca. 2,500 german children how they like their lives (the link leads to an English-language website from Deutsche Welle, the German pendan of Voice of America). participating children were between six and eleven years old. four out of five are "content with their life and well-being", the study found. In a nutshell:

"The study found that happiness is somewhat tied to material possessions, but not nearly to the extent that many might expect. Most important, it said, is that the children feel they are treated with respect. Education researcher Sabine Andresen said it was important for parents to find a balance between placing value on their children's opinions and enforcing rules that establish order in their daily lives."

if next or the next after sunday, i'll watch out for candy at eye height in stores and word about the status of the kids in america. i'm afraid, however, i won't see and hear much.