2010 in pictures

So there's a free ticket being given away for Cybermummy 2011. I don't know which side of the Atlantic I'll be this summer, but against the possibility that I might be in England, I'm going to enter. The competition is 'Your 2010 in Pictures'. You can post either a single picture, or a montage. You can see all the entries here.

OK... So... My 2010 in pictures. I've been browsing back through my photos of the year, and the trouble is, I don't post pictures of my kids or myself, and it would be too boring to sum up the year in nature shots, so I was a bit stuck. But then I found a few that 6-yo took. She is very interested in photography, and is saving up her pocket money and Christmas money for a camera of her own. We occasionally let her use ours, as a special treat, and back in January 2010, she took these. I'm calling them "Barbie meets Postman Pat".

Here's the first in the series. It's Alexa from Barbie in The Diamond Castle. For those of you who are not familiar with the film, it's a heart-warming tale of how two sisters, who live together in a cottage in the countryside growing flowers to sell in the market, come across a magic mirror, in which a Muse called Melody is trapped. Melody entreats them to help, and they set out on a quest which is... you know what? If you are not familiar with the film, relax and count yourself lucky.

The second in the series features Barbie in an evening gown which 6-yo designed herself. Do you like the tasteful single green flower on the front? She looks a little disheveled, in an after-the-party kind of a way.

Photo number three shows Barbie in more casual attire.

I'm titling the next one "Barbie prepares to bite off Pat's nose".

Here is Hallowe'en Barbie. That fire is perilously close to her dress. No wonder her hair is standing on end.

And as a finale, here is the complete Barbie line-up. Postman Pat, it's your lucky day. What would Mrs Goggins make of it all? Reverend Timms, control yourself.


So why do these pictures sum up my 2010? Well, I can think of so many reasons. First, there's my growing girl. She was 5-yo and a Kindergartener when she took these pictures, and now she's 6-yo and a big First Grader. She knows her months of the year, and has no need for this jigsaw puzzle any more. I have no idea why she used the puzzle as a backdrop for her Barbie parade, and I marvel at the ingenuity and creativity that is a child. I love the mystery of their small minds.

Then there's the intelligent juxtaposition of our Englishness and Americanness. "Barbie meets Postman Pat" sums it up so perfectly. Look at her, all glamorous and movie star. And look at him, all homeliness and cups of tea in the post office. This is brilliantly chosen symbolism of a childhood split emotionally between Britain and America. The composition is significant too. 6-yo hardly knows who Postman Pat is. He's the man in this jigsaw puzzle, but she doesn't see him on television or lunchboxes, in magazines and colouring books. He's there in the background, but he's not part of the activity of her life, as Barbie is. The composition of the photos perfectly reflects the reality.

The photos speak to me of our fourth year in the US completed, and the continuing erosion of our familiarity with British life. There's Barbie in her Hallowe'en dress. We hardly knew what Hallowe'en was, four years ago, and now we are past masters at choosing costumes and knowing which streets in our neighborhood are good for trick or treating. Meanwhile, the puzzle shows Reverend Timms carefully putting together his harvest festival display, Bonfire Night in November, children dancing round a Maypole. These are celebrations of which 6-yo knows nothing (though the Maypole? Really? Does anyone still do that?) Does that make me sad? Yes, of course it still does. But I have also found out that it's ok to let those things go. And as time goes by, I know that my children will make sense in the future of this strange split identity that they are acquiring, because I see them doing it in the present. We spent the summer in the UK, and they loved every minute of it. They are proud of their nationality, but they love life here in America too. Their maturity and their confidence in this astonishes me.

Yes. I think this is a good way to sum up 2010.

By the way, I haven't fixed, cropped or edited any of the photos in any way. They are exactly as 6-yo took them.

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