For me, one of the best parts about being a first generation (1.5 by some accounts) immigrant is that I am able to objectively look at the positive and negative aspects of both my cultures. By recognizing something doesn’t work well in one, I don’t feel at all as though I am rejecting it – just making the best of it. The issue at hand: secrecy.

With all that’s going on in the global economy, my daughter’s private school has also fallen victim. As I’ve mentioned, it is a French immersion program and also teaches a bit of Spanish.

The school is run by someone I think is also a first generation Haitian immigrant. In our culture, you NEVER air your dirty laundry. However, I feel to best adapt to the American culture, you have to learn to separate family laundry and business laundry.

Basically, the school is in serious financial trouble and we, the parents, weren’t informed until quite late in the game. At that point, many parents felt that there was not enough transparency with the school’s administration and wanted a lot more information before doing anything. What we received in response was the financial projections for the next school year .

So, I may be reaching, but I think that the principal considers the school’s woes to be her dirty laundry. The thought of giving its patrons, the parents, an inside look to what may be happening seems to be uncomfortable. In turn, we feel uncomfortable providing additional financial support.

Do you have similar norms in your culture and have you experienced something similar? How did you handle the situation?

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I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss this topic (and my husband suggested it ), but I think there is an interesting dynamic that may be occurring for immigrant families during the US economic crisis.

For instance, many immigrants provide financial support to family in their countries of origin. As I heard one journalist put it, “when the United States sneezes, other countries develop pneumonia”, so if we’re feeling a squeeze here it’s only worse in other countries. This can create an added pressure for immigrant families who may be finding it more difficult to maintain the same level of support and make ends meet at home.

I also think that during this perfect storm, we are forced to look at some of our comforts and some of the expectations we have by virtue of living in this country (i.e. acquiring large amounts of debt). We may also see the fragile state of developing countries and how they have more at stake right now than we realize.

So my first question is: How are you handling the crisis as it relates to your family here and abroad? Another question is for parents who may not have families who need their financial assistance in their countries of origin. Are you using this economic situation to teach your children about poverty and/or financial responsibility? If so, how? If not, do you think that it’s inappropriate to discuss these things with children?

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