My kid is American but fully appreciates her British, Jamaican and Barbadian culture. She is proud of each country in every arena – sports, food, speech, travel etc. She is truly cosmopolitan and is even prouder to be American now that Barack Obama is the first black president.

Show your kids the world and they will respect it.

Her driver??? Why does she need a driver? What’s wrong with driving her own car? Or if she can’t drive, maybe her nanny could? Perhaps that makes more sense in the “proper culture.” In my world, driving and caring for your kids is proper culture!

oh eva, I’m sorry if I didn’t explain it well, Kate was joking when she said proper culture, because the interview is for the British edition of Elle. So they always say the same things about her in British mags : Kate now looks totally the Hollywood A-list star but she stil feels British blah blah. She doesn’t tell Lily that British culture is more proper than American culture. She only shows her old ads that she liked when she lived there, just like you would share childhood pictures I guess.

She said in the interview that her driver is British and Lily’s nanny too but Lily goes to an American school and her (step)dad is American so she’s definitely in both cultures. She just wants to give her a chance to experience just as much of the one she’s not living in every day.

Eva, I think they’re writting acting debut because I’m fairly sure that this time she’ll have lines in the movie.

I love this mommy and daughter duo, I bet they are so close and share ‘everything’

Lovely. Wonderful to encourage this obviously bright girl in a field for which she has talent and love. Kudos!

Lily making her film debut? She’s already been in two films – and has in fact already played her mother as a child once before (in the second Underworld movie.)

That aside, I’ve always liked Lily Sheen. She sounds like quite a character, and it’s sweet how besotted Kate is with her daughter, even after she’s outgrown the cute baby years.

Sarah that was exactly my point.Sorry if it wasn’t clear. I think that Lily Mo can have th best of both worlds and feel unique and proud of being the daughter of two UK citizens in the US.What prompted my to write the comment was Alice’s info. that Kate meant UK culture by proper culture. That would mean that only one side of Lily Mo’s reality is appropiate and desirable while the other is well… not proper.
I am not afraid of sharing my heritage and past with my child or my students for that matter.In no way do I think that my country of origin makes my child anyless American.I however,choose to remain a citizen of my country of birth and leave it to my kid to be a citizen of the world.

I know this is tottaly off topic but, i can some how see lily dating the eldest beckahm boy. :p

eva, nothing in the interview made me think that kate is teaching lily to not like america. i’m not sure that her actions warrant some kind of caution against the pitfalls of raising culturally aware kids.

i am an american who was raised by foreign-born parents. i was surrounded by our culture/religion growing up (and now). but, by virtue of growing up in this country and going to school here, i naturally think of myself as an american. i never thought of myself as any less american for having a different culture. and, there is no rule saying that i can only be one thing.

it’s a shame that foreign-born parents are made to feel like they have to choose between their cultures and “american culture” or somehow their children will grow up unamerican. that notion is ridiculous to me. it is possible for lily to identify with being both american and british at the same time.