Barcelona kids

The much-needed thundershower having paused for breath and the sun begun to shine brilliantly, I ventured up the street to buy a baguette, noting somewhat unhappily that the rain had reconstituted the dried dog turds on the sidewalk. My excursion coincided exactly with the moment in which the schools let out (the school day here ends at 5 p.m.), and the panaderia (bakery) swarmed with parents and their children clamoring for their merienda (afternoon snack): chocolate-swathed donuts, candies, croissants. Some were accompanied by a grandmother or grandfather, attesting to what I am told is a failing of the Spanish social system, the lack of affordable child care, so that families with children do not move far from their parents, who look after the grandchildren while the parents work.

As before, I was struck by the warmth of the interactions between children and their guardians. Catalan kids are coddled, hugged, kissed, petted, indulged, and affectionately scolded or regaled to a very great degree. Fathers are very involved, and indeed, Spanish fathers (while largely denied custody rights by the socially conservative courts) are entitled to paternity leave nearly equal to that afforded to mothers. Despite all this coddling (or perhaps because of it), Catalan children grow up to be hard-working, responsible, and well-behaved (if you overlook their refusal to relinquish territory on the sidewalks, perhaps a result of their sense of entitlement). The family is prioritized here, which may be one reason why it can be difficult for a foreigner to break into the social structure of the reserved and businesslike Catalans: between work and family gatherings, there is little time for socializing. How different from our own American culture, in which families are scattered to all corners of the continent and sadly, often do not even know their grandparents. The flip side here, though, is that families can be over-controlling and intrusive. So, which system is better?