A couple of years ago a friend of mine and mother of four children (who now has five) inspired me to do something fun for the kids and educational for me as a parent — hold a documentary interview with your child. I know we try to be the best parents possible (we talk to our kids, we ask questions, we encourage their questions and we elicit information from them all the time). I tried to gather all the information that seemed to be important for me at some point, I tried to define their likes and dislikes and identify their thoughts, views and opinions. As it has been two years since the last interview, we did another one recently. It was a lot of fun doing it and it will be a great keepsake too! Enjoy!
1. List your best features of character.
Kasia: I am happy and silly, I respect others and I am loyal
Jasiek: I am sporty, thoughtful and friendly
2. What feature of character would you like to have more of?
Kasia: I would like to be less selfish and have more musical talent
Jasiek: I would like to be sophisticated
3. If you could never eat one of the dishes that I make, what would it be?
Kasia: FISH!
Jasiek: lecho
4. What is your favorite dish that I make?
Kasia: lecho, cauliflower + angel hair, tofu + broccoli + rice, spinach+pasta
Jasiek: shepherd’s pie
5. What would be your preferable pocket money and what would you spend it on?
Kasia: 4 Euro per week and I wouldn’t spend it all at once – some on iTunes music and some to save
Jasiek: because I save to buy expensive stuff like professional climbing gear, I would need more than now (the kids get 2 Euros a week), maybe 5 or 10 Euros
6. What do you think? Are we wealthy or poor? Do you have any needs that we cannot meet?
Kasia: we are in the middle, there aren’t any needs you cannot meet but there are some indulgences
Jasiek: definitely no needs, we have everything we need. And we have enough money
7. When you are sad, what makes you feel better?
Kasia: funny people, funny films, funny photos and sometimes good food
Jasiek: I am telling myself “don’t be sad” or I look for something to do to forget that I am sad
8. What in particular makes you sad?
Kasia: the fact that we have water parks and there are children that have no clean water and some that have no food
Jasiek: The Second World War (Jasiek has just finished “The Boy in The Striped Pajamas”)
9. Who do you think is the greatest genius of all times?
Kasia: I don’t know, there couldn’t be just one genius because the wisdom depends on others, this one genius couldn’t be wise if he hasn’t learned from somebody else
Jasiek: Roald Amundsen (the first person to reach the South Pole)
10. If you could be anybody or anything you want, who or what could that be?
Kasia: definitely not the tooth brush or toilet paper…maybe I would like to be air
Jasiek: Sir Edmund Hillary (the first person on Mount Everest)
11. If you could rearrange and redecorate our house, how would it look like?
Kasia: first of all, it would look like Agnes’s house (my cousin’s cool house) but it would have one more floor, indoor pool and it would be more modern than ours
Jasiek: the house would be round and made of stone and glass, going high up…and it would have two rooms…I think it is enough
12.Your favorite book.
Kasia: “The Replacement” by Brenna Yovanoff – I have to add that the book is not for faint hearted people
Jasiek: “Who Could That Be At This Hour” by Lemony Snicket
13. What film have you seen lately that impressed you?
Kasia: “Inception” and “A Walk to Remember”
Jasiek: all National Geographic films are interesting but they aren’t necessarily touching or moving
14. Who do you admire the most? Why?
Kasia: all parents of seriously ill children, both physically and mentally
Jasiek: Sir Edmund Hillary, Roald Amundsen, grandfather John and grandfather Jasiek.
15. What do you think is in outer space?
Kasia: I don’t know
Jasiek: maybe nothing…
16. What fun activities have we done as a family lately?
Kasia: vacation and all the trips are fun
Jasiek: we play badminton
17. Where would you like to go for a family weekend?
Kasia: London or Singapore
Jasiek: Antarctica
18. What sport do you feel good at?
Kasia: skiing, badminton and snowboard
Jasiek: hiking, skiing, badminton, climbing
19. Why is sport important for you?
Kasia: you need to be healthy and do some physical activity, otherwise you would look like this one guy….(beep)
Jasiek: because I feel good when I do something with my body
20. What are you proud of?
Kasia: I am proud of the fact that I have good grades, a lot of friends and that I am mostly physically fit
Jasiek: I climbed a very difficult wall and I made my own hiking stick
21. Describe the most beautiful place on earth.
Kasia: it is somewhere with beautiful beaches where you can have dinners and watch sunsets and all the people are nice
Jasiek: big mountains, bigger mountains and the biggest mountains
22. How much time, according to you, can a child spend in front of the computer?
Kasia: 45 minutes
Jasiek: 10 minutes
23. What is the most disgusting thing you can think of?
Kasia: whenever I think about something [disgusting], immediately in my head appears another, more disgusting thing
Jasiek: Ice Worms
24. Who amongst our family or friends do you feel the closest to (except your parents and sibling)?
Kasia: Maggie and Josephine (Kasia’s friends), grandma Irenka and great grandma Marysia
Jasiek: Tommy (Jasiek’s friend), uncle Jacek and uncle Heniek (I asked Jasiek, why not his grandma and he said that as far as women are concerned, I am the only close one…touching…)
25. What bothers you/makes you angry in today’s world?
Kasia: everything I see in the news
Jasiek: school makes me angry, I would rather have a job
26. One memory from kindergarten.
Kasia: the one time we had a lockdown drill and I thought someone is actually going to shoot us
Jasiek: when we were playing with animals and I had an orca, Tommy had a dolphin and David had a whale
27. What do you like about your school?
Kasia: Wonderful Wednesday (our ski program) and the fact that the school is small and we all know each other
Jasiek: TAG (Talented And Gifted)
28. If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?
Kasia: I would scare people like they do in horror movies and if I wanted to know something about others, I could follow them
Jasiek: I would just go…
29. Favorite dessert.
Kasia: Raffaello and strawberry-vanilla smoothies
Jasiek: Eton Mess
28. What do you think about Poland and the Poles?
Kasia: I think the same about the Polish that I think about other nationalities…I also think that they all have the same handwriting (????) but Poland is more important for me because that is where I was born and I am half Polish
Jasiek: I think that the Polish are very nice, Poland is not a big country and some people don’t know it exists, but I think it is a great place
29. What is the best thing about living in Garmisch?
Kasia: first of all, the mountains, we can ski, snowboard and snowshoe and when it is raining, we can go swimming and the people are very optimistic
Jasiek: the mountains, which you can climb, hike and ski
30. What would be the most difficult if we ever have to move?
Kasia: if we go to a country where another language is spoken, I would have to learn a new language and I wouldn’t know anyone at the beginning
Jasiek: the lack of mountains (if there aren’t any) and strange names
Aniukowe Pisadło 