Coco's American Identity

Of course Coco is American. That is really important to us because we are American. But I now understand, in a very concrete way, that her American identity is much more than a passport she carries. Yesterday, the lawn guy came to mow the lawn, and Coco was absolutely amazed! 

(She had no idea what was going on! ;) Get the whole story after the jump. 

When she first heard it, she looked alarmed and scared. I casually said, "Oh, sounds like someone is mowing their lawn" and carried on with whatever we were doing. Then she crawled over to the back door, pulled up and stood there, squealing and pounding on the door and I realized. Oh my goodness. My child has never seen a lawnmower before.

When he went around to the front and she could still hear it, nothing would satisfy her but being taken out on the front steps to watch. He stopped, smiled at us like we were crazy people and asked nicely, "She likes the lawnmower, huh?" That was when I actually had to explain that she's never even seen a lawnmower. It's a good thing for these visits to the US. Otherwise, Coco would find the place entirely foreign when we move back in a few years. As she gets older and more curious, I really see how different her life is in Zurich than it would be here. What sort of things are quintessentially American to you? What other experiences that shape us do we take completely for granted?