Irish Christmas memories

It's the 1st of December and Christmas FM is finally on air, which means it's the official start of the festive season. This is the occasion to share some of my Irish Christmas memories, and I have a few, having spent 14 of the last 15 Christmases in Ireland!

So, in true "Friends episodes titles" style, I share with you some of my best festive season stories...

The first one

The first Christmas I spent in Ireland will of course remain very special. I used to live with this Irish family and the daughter enrolled me to wrap the insane amount of presents she bought for her friends. She also had me writing the list of recipients for said presents, which led to a big laugh because I couldn't spell half of them. I was only in Ireland for a coupIe of months so I had never heard of Siobhan, Caitriona or Niamh at that stage. That first Christmas was also the start of our very own tradition of celebrating with friends who were not going home either, and we have done the same ever since.

The one where our landlord invited himself for dinner

Yes, he was the best landlord in the whole world, and tenants who are currently struggling with their rental house or apartment will definitely be jealous, so I apologise in advance. This guy showed up on Christmas Eve because he had nothing planned and ate dessert with us. He also brought us presents, wine and chocolate. Something he did every single year until we moved out.

The one where it snowed on Christmas day

I can't remember what year it was (2005 maybe?), but one thing I know is that it was completely unexpected. It wasn't that cold so never in a million year we would have thought it would be a white Christmas! Imagine our surprise when we opened the curtains in the morning. It didn't stick that much but we took time to enjoy a nice walk and built a (very small) snowman.

The one with the worst Christmas present ever

If you have a partner, I'm sure you know how difficult it can be to find a great gift. And let's face it, some people are better than others at choosing presents. And some of them are actually useless, even when you write a list. One year, my husband, despite the list I gave him, offered me a plastic shoe rack from Lidl. Apparently, it was to store my enormous shoes collection. Except I only had about 4 pairs. He must have confused me with my sister who is a total shoe addict. Let me tell you I wasn't impressed.

The one where I finished my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve at 6pm

A few years ago, my then 4 years old decided he wanted a rocket ship from Santa. But of course, he told me that on the evening of the 23rd of December. Every normal parent would have found an excuse for the lack of rocket ship under the Christmas tree, but not me. So off I went to Smyth toys on Christmas Eve, only to discover they closed at 4pm (in fairness, they were opened almost 24 hours for 3 weeks before Christmas). So I raced to the other side of town to Argos. It was 6pm and the shop was closing. The employees were sending people out, and there I stood, almost crying. Again, completely my fault, who in their right mind would try and buy something on Christmas eve at 6pm? Luckily, a very nice employee saw me in distress and let me buy the beloved rocket ship, just in time for Christmas. It was somehow a very stressful evening, but when I saw the my son's reaction on Christmas morning, I knew it was worth it.

The one where I was sick

The first 12 years I was in Ireland, I worked over the Christmas break. As I was never going home, I didn't mind, and I could save holidays for other times during the year. But when I changed job, I discovered the company was closing for a week at Christmas so I had no choice but to be off. I was actually excited about being on holidays at home, and not having to travel anywhere for once. The excitement rapidly died off though. I had a cold for about 10 days before Christmas, then a severe stomach bug on Christmas Eve. My Christmas meal consisted of a slice of bread, three potatoes and water. I was sick all the way to New Year's eve, and on New Year's day, I finally got better so I decided to step out of the house, and you know what happened? I twisted my ankle! Of course, I was back on my feet and felt much better just in time to go back to work...But yeah, a Christmas I'd rather not remember!

The one with one too many Danish snaps

The joys of an international Christmas... A few years ago, my Danish neighbour had this great idea of bringing Snaps to our traditional Christmas meal. If you don't what it is, it's a very strong ice-cold Danish liqueur shot. The drink proved so popular on the day that all the guests were chanting "Skål!" (Cheers!) and "Glædelig jul"( Merry Christmas). Unfortunately some friends took the Danish Christmas spirit a bit too far and ended up either sleeping in the bathroom or sick in the corridor... And don't get me started on the worst hangover of all times...Having said that, it was one of the best Christmas I've had in Ireland so far, and all the friends who were there on the day agree (and they still want to drink Snaps).

What about you, any Christmas memories you want to share?

Read More

6 reasons why my kids are more Irish than I'll ever be

My kids are finally starting to understand the concept of multiple nationalities. They know they are Irish, French and Mauritian, but because we live in Ireland, it is clear that they feel Irish first. And there are a few things that made me realise they are more Irish than I'll ever be.

They speak Hiberno-English  

I took me a few years to use typical Irish expressions because I had to get used to the way Irish people talked, but for my kids, it's natural. A few months ago, my 5-year old insisted on buying Actimel in Tesco, something I never bought before but that he had tried at the childminder. And when I asked him why, he just said " 'cos it's nice, like!". And when he was in his "I love to clean everything" phase, he told me "Look, I'm after cleaning the bathroom!"(which, if you don't know, is a typical irishism). Soon, he will be saying "grand", "Thanks a million" and "yer man". And that will be the end of it!!

And also Irish

Trying to to get them to speak French is an everyday battle. But surprisingly, they love learning Irish! My 8 years old is reading a book at the moment, and of course I don't understand anything, but he is able to translate for me! My youngest comes home and starts speaking to me in Irish. It's only a few words and expressions as he's only in Junior Infants, but he seems very interested. I wish they would put more effort into speaking French, but at least I know they enjoy learning a different language, which can only be positive.

They have the accent

My youngest speaks like a Dub, even though we live in Meath. I suspect it's because a lot of young kids have parents who are from Dublin but moved to the area a few years ago. He pronounces the "th" like the Irish, and when he said "like" (the Actimel story), it sounded a lot more like "loike"... When I heard that, my first reaction was "Where does that accent come from?!", because it's certainly not from me!!

They love salt & vinegar crisps

There are so many different crisps flavours I wonder how the salt & vinegar became the winner. My husband and I were never brought up with that kind of choice when it came to crisps. I am more of a cheese and onion flavour myself, but my kids, in their true irishness love to snack on salt & vinegar...

They know more about Irish traditions than I do (or at least they will soon)

This one is kind of a given because they learn about them at school: Halloween, St Patrick, St Brigid, Christmas...They sing songs I've never heard of and tell me stories I've never read as a child. Soon they'll be talking about the Late Late toy show and I'm so not prepared for that!!!

They consider themselves Irish

If I ask the question "Where are you from?", their answer is "Ireland". And that says it all really. That's fine because how else could it be? They're born here, they have an Irish passport, they go to the local school, they speak English...I would actually be concerned if they didn't feel Irish!

The good thing is, they tell me they're also French. The Mauritian part hasn't really kicked in, but I suppose it's because we go there so rarely  they can't relate yet. One thing for sure, they are Irish but they are well aware it's only one part of their cultural heritage, and that means we have done a good job so far!

Read More

Rant of the day: School hours

After 5 years of caring for my children (and very well I have to say), my childminder has decided to let me down. The reason? She's exhausted doing the school run. In fairness, she has kids of her own in another school and she minds 3 other kids apart from mine, so I guess she feels like she's spending more time in her car than at home.

But the real problem here is that Irish schools really make parents' life difficult.

In a way, I want to praise the Irish education system. Kids have a good routine, they go to school everyday for 5 or 6 hours, Monday to Friday. In France  there is always a big debate about school hours and days: 4 days or 4 and a half day? If it's the latter, should they have school on Wednesday morning or Saturday morning? The days are longer: 9 until 4:30pm at least in primary school, with before school and after school care within the grounds of the school. I'm sure it's tough for the kids and come Friday, they must be exhausted.

I'm not blaming the education in itself either. So far I've been very happy with my local school, the teacher who is helping my special needs son, and the curriculum. The only thing that would bother me a bit is the over-emphasis on the first communion this year as my son is doing it. But hey, I put him in a state Irish school, so I have to deal with the consequences I suppose (The consequences being the compulsory monthly mass I have to attend...).

What I'm actually fed up about is the fact that the school day ends at a different time depending what class your child is in.  I have one child in Junior infants and the other one in Second class. The youngest finishes at 1:40pm and the eldest at 2:40pm.

Seriously, what are parents or carers supposed to do during that dead hour? Stay in the car? Spend 20 mns exiting the car park, go home for 20 minutes and go back to school? And I'm not even mentioning the fortune you'd spend on petrol if you do 3 journeys to and from school everyday...

I am complaining, but the truth is, I don't even drop or collect my kids from school (bad mum I know), but I can completely understand why my childminder has given up after one month of a daily struggle.

I know the school has started to have some after school activities, but they all start at 2:40 as well, so what do I do if I want my 1:40 child to attend one of them? Well, suck it up I think and tell him he will have to wait 2 years to be able to go to the Lego club after school... That's actually the reason why my eldest didn't do any afterschool activities the first two years. The childminder couldn't have coped with the amount of travelling. By the way, did I mention the afterschool club only lasts for 45 minutes?

Anyway, I suppose this is all in the interest of the children, which is understandable, and as parents, we are supposed to put their needs and well-being before ours. But surely an over-stressed mother or childminder, going crazy because she spends most of her afternoon being a taxi driver is not going to do them any favours.

In the end, I think the Irish education system is really adapted to the needs of the children (which again is the most important thing), but they obviously didn't think about the parents.

As for us, we found a good after-school creche that will pick them up from school, supervise homework, and offer daily activities. They will even give them dinner...at 4pm, but I guess I can't have everything!!

If you're an expat parent, what do you think about your host country's education system?

Read More

The two sides of silence

When you become a parent, the first thing you give up (along with sleep) is silence. The house is always noisy, be it with cries, long negotiations about bed time, fights breaking, or the toys you wish you didn't buy (Hello, Hulkbuster !). In short, there is always something going on.

But yesterday, my husband travelled to France with the kids where they will stay for 3 whole weeks before we join them in August. I came back home after work and got in our empty and silent apartment. I just took time to enjoy the moment and didn't even put the TV on. Instead, I just soaked up in the silence. For the first time in at least a year, I slowed down. I took time to do nothing and just relax. I even enjoyed a bath in peace and without fear of the kids turning the light off from the outside.

My parental instinct, however, was still intact. For a split second I even thought my kids were still around when I heard children crying and noises in the corridor. Then I rang them to see how they were getting on. Kids are great at making their parents feel guilty. My youngest kept saying he was missing me and how he couldn't wait to see me. The oldest didn't want to speak to me at all. I know they're going to have a good time so I don't worry too much.

After a well deserved evening of peace and quiet, I checked Facebook one last time before going to bed. And unfortunately, the silence that ensued had a totally different meaning. I quickly checked the different news websites, not believing that once again, France had been struck by a terror attack. I had no words. I'm still gobsmacked, and disgusted, and just tired of all this shit.

I am fundamentally a utopist. I wish we'd live in a world where hate wouldn't exist and all cultures and religions would cohabit peacefully. I'm a dreamer, I know. I also know I'm naive to think things could change. Things are not going to change. It's  only going to get worse. People turning on each other, immigrants will become scapegoats and pay for the actions of nutjobs and scumbags. Governments will pretend they do everything in their power to destroy terrorists when in fact the geopolitical situation is a lot more complicated than that. And who pays again? Innocent people.

We don't know the motives of this crazy guy who decided to have a wild drive and kill almost a hundred people in Nice. However, the different medias have been very prolific in showing tasteless interviews of survivors who lost loved ones, asking witnesses stupid questions like "did you hear people scream?", "Did you see people die?"...

Is this the sort of world we're going to live in now? A world where we'll have to watch every step we take in case something like that happen again? A world where every bit of life and death is shown as "entertainment"? Obviously, we are guilty as well. If people weren't watching, or instantly sharing everything they're experiencing, there wouldn't be such expectations and results.

I don't want to bring up my kids in this world. I want them to be tolerant and understanding. I want them to think by themselves, try to understand different sides of a situation, to be empathetic, yet realistic.

My utopist side is taking over I know...But after last night, there's one thing I'm know. I'm glad I live in Ireland. It's not perfect, it has its flaws, but I feel safer here. I cannot even start to imagine what it's like to be in France at the moment. All I can think of is a country being torn apart and divided, not united, despite what the Internet is trying to tell me...

Read More

Maths problem

My son's homework... makes me want to cry!

After 13 years of living my life in another language, I consider myself bilingual. But there is something I really cannot do in English, and it's maths.

I don't remember ever being good at it. Maybe in primary school, but still, I have memories of struggling with silly things like divisions or types of angles. Now, imagine having to do it all over again, but in a different language.

This is what's happening right now when I'm desperately trying to help my 8 years old with his maths homework. I don't know maths vocabulary in English, I don't know how the teacher has explained and worse, I actually cannot count or do arithmetic in English.

Before I had to face that problem, I never really asked myself why I was always counting or doing mental arithmetic in French. And if I'm at the ATM I always think about my Pin number in French. I know my Irish phone number in English, but if I had to give a French number to someone, I would have to think harder before saying it. Strange isn't it?

I was so puzzled I decided to research the issue and see if I was the only one who couldn't do maths or use numbers in their second language. And I finally came across this article.

In short, it explains that the majority of bilinguals count in their native language because they favour the language of instruction. Basically, the process of learning arithmetic tables is so hard that it stays in your brain and it's easier and more efficient to reactivate the cells involved when we use numbers  than learning it all over again in a different language.

But the study also shows that when it comes to numbers we have to remember, the language we think in can vary according to circumstances.

All of this makes perfect sense to me. That's why I remember my different passwords involving numbers in French, why I know my own phone number in English and especially why I find it so hard to explain additions in English to my son.

There's only one solution I think. Learning arithmetic with my child in English all over again. And I thought I was being done with maths since the end of secondary school! The nightmare is only starting I guess...

What about you? Do you find it hard counting in your second language? Or are there other things you can only do in your mother tongue?

Read More

The challenges of being an expat parent

Little trip to the beach as a family

I'm trying to organise the summer holidays at the moment. The plan is to drop the kids to my parents in France in early July, they'll stay over for a month and we'll join them for a 2 weeks holidays in August. The price of the flight to take them over is extortionate, more than half the price of the ferry for our August trip. I still don't know how we're going to make it, but at the same time, I want them to see their grandparents, practice their French, and I need some rest as well. So I'll have to find a solution...

This is just one of the challenges expat life brings when you have kids abroad. And there are quite a few others...

No family around to step in

I'm glad my parents are still in good enough health to mind the boys for a month in summer, but the rest of the year is different. We are extremely lucky to have a good childminder and a friend for back-up, but what do you do when the childminder is off and your friend is not available? Take days off work, leave early, arrive late... We had to organise ourselves to minimise childminding costs like working different shifts for example, and we always managed to make it work, but sometimes I just wished my mum was around the corner to help me out. We've also said goodbye to nights out just as a couple or with friends. The last time it happened was one year ago...

Holidays

When you live abroad and both sets of grand-parents live on different parts of the globe, there is not much choice for a holiday destination. We go to France once a year and to Mauritius every 2 or 3 years (although it has become so expensive with 2 children that we don't know when we'll be able to afford the tropical destination again...). I would feel bad if my parents didn't see the kids for more than a year. They're not getting any younger and I also want my children to know them.

This year, we've decided to treat ourselves so we're going on a short family trip to South west France in May. A place where we don't know anybody and where we'll be able to just chill out without having to schedule family and friends visits. I can't wait.

Adapting to a new education system

I'm still quite new to this as my eldest is only in First class, but the Irish system is a bit different than the French so I had to adapt. For example, I had a hard time understanding why there are no canteens in schools and why the day is so short (9 until 1:40pm would be considered a half-day in French schools!!). What bothers me the most is making sandwiches for my kids everyday. I wish they could eat a hot balanced meal at school, like in France.

The other thing is homework. It might sound a bit stupid, but I learnt everything in French, so explaining maths in English to a 7 years old (when I'm already very bad at maths in French) is hard work. Counting and numbers is the only thing I have to think about in French all the time. I can't make additions or subtractions in English. My brain just doesn't work this way.

Then there's Irish... It's quite funny seeing my kids talking to me in Irish, but I don't understand a word, so they won't get any help from me (unless I start learning the language myself).

English is another issue. I know I'm bilingual, but that doesn't mean I don't mispronounce words sometimes, and I'm afraid of passing bad habits. The good thing is I'm a spelling freak in general, so I can correct my child with written work. But what about the parents who don't have a good English? How are they supposed to help their children?

Bringing children up in 3 different cultures

This is probably the hardest challenge, but the most rewarding in the long term. My children are still a bit young, but it is quite clear that they define themselves as Irish, even if they have a Mauritian dad and a French mum. They know they have family in different countries, they try to speak French (when they want...) but Ireland is their home. However, for us, parents, belonging to Ireland and feeling Irish is something that will never truly happen. We love living here and are very well integrated, but we'll never be Irish (well, my husband is technically Irish now, but you see what I mean!). We speak French to each other, both our original culture are still very present in our home and our social lives.

The challenge here is to make sure our children know where they come from, not by forcing them, but giving them opportunities to learn about their origins in a positive and fun way, like a month long immersion in France or Mauritius...

If you're an expat parent, what was the biggest challenge you had to face?

Read More

Christmas in Ireland: 6 surprising customs...

Irish people love Christmas more than the French I think, or at least that's what they're portraying. So here's a little list of surprising Irish Christmas "customs" I've discovered over the years...

1- Believing in Santa

This is the strangest one of all. In France I would say the average age a child stops believing in Santa is probably around 8 years old. Here, it's not uncommon for a child to believe until he's 11 or 12! Parents seem to be responsible though. I have heard things like "Oh, she's 10 and I really have to get her to believe at least one more year!" It's like they want to keep the Christmas magic as long as possible. Is it a good or a bad thing, I don't know. I just think it's a bit too much. On another note, I was also told some kids pretend to believe so late because they want better presents. Madness! 

2- Santa

Once again, Ireland can go a bit crazy with the Santa experience. Queuing for hours and paying 5 or 10 euros to get a picture with the man himself is not my idea of the Christmas spirit. Having said that, we visited Causey farm with the kids, and even me, being a bit of a Grinch, I had a great time. It was a bit expensive, but definitely worth it. The kids very much enjoyed visiting "Mary & Joseph", seeing the animals, learning about Irish traditions in the Christmas barn, meeting the elves and Mrs Claus, trying to find their name on the nice list in the elves workshop and Santa even came down the chimney. They received presents and even got to see real reindeer ! What more could you ask for?

3- Christmas cards

We're almost in Christmas cards overload both at home and at work. Friends send Christmas cards, customers and suppliers do the same. The craziest thing is kids giving each other cards at school. The first year Ciaran was in playschool, I was completely unaware of that "tradition", so imagine my surprise when I found 10 Christmas cards in his bag! We repaired the mistake the following year, but seriously, you know the parents are the ones writing the cards, it's wrecking everybody's head and the gesture is just becoming meaningless. 

4- Presents

Being far away from home, I don't have the dilemma of getting presents for my parents, sister, brother and nephews but this brings another problem. Where do you draw the line with presents? For example, the first Christmas with my son, our childminder gave him a Christmas present. And the parents of the other children she was minding too! Seriously, where does it end?? I love giving presents, but I'm starting to run out of ideas (and money)!

5- Christmas crackers

I know I talked about it before but this is my favourite Irish Christmas tradition. Who doesn't love a bit of a friendly "fight", a crappy joke, a small gift and a ridiculous paper crown? It's so cheesy but I just love it. And it seems to be a consensus with all my foreign friends, and even my family back home.

6- The general Christmas spirit

I know I haven't spent Christmas in France for a good while so I might be mistaken, but I think this holiday seem definitely more important for Irish people (unless I have just met Christmas nuts who start counting the days from September). For some reason it just looks more festive. Too many decorations, Christmas carols choirs, Christmas jumpers, movies, music, Xmas FM, Santa at every corner of the street, even the school is over the top with elves "watching" over the kids to see if they've been naughty or nice! 

I definitely think Irish people have the best Christmas spirit I've ever seen...

What about you? How do you celebrate Christmas in your own country and what do you think about the way Irish people celebrate it? 

Read More

Is it too early to talk about Christmas?

As we were eating dinner, we reminded the kids they had to be good and eat everything on their plate because Santa was watching. Before going to bed, they started to misbehave and we told them if they didn't stop they would end up on the naughty list. Once they were in bed, Fabrice went back to the living-room and he started to sing a Christmas song.

That's when it hit me. It's only November! Why do I feel that Christmas is starting earlier and earlier each year? Tesco has been stocking Santa chocolates from before Halloween, the lights have been turned on in some parts of Dublin already and I think we're not far off hearing Christmas songs on the radio (although that's the only part of the run-up to the holidays I actually enjoy). On top of that, my Facebook wall has been filled with Christmas posts from over-excited friends. To be honest, there's too much hype for too long and I feel I'll be bored of it all before the day actually comes. Before you say anything, I know I've just written a Christmas book review, but I didn't have a choice, I wasn't gonna do it mid-December (the author would have killed me...).

For me, Christmas festivities should start on the 1st of December. You know, that's when you start eating your advent calendar chocolates (and you manage for about 5 days then it just goes downhill!). In my family, we used to put the tree up around the 10th of December but there were no outside decorations or lights. I'm still quite amazed when I see the amount of the stuff people put on their houses here. My childminder even has a giant Santa in her front garden (It's not there yet, although I expect him any day now). I just think it's all a bit over the top.

I know I am guilty in a way, because we don't stop the kids from talking about it, and we actually encourage them to an extent. We bribe them into being "good boys" so we're not doing ourselves any favour. Their list to Santa is already done, but there are only 3 toys on each, so I'm quite proud on this one! Now if only someone could tell me what a "Golden coin maker" is, I'd be happy. I guess I'll have to go trough the Smyths toy website to find out!

What do you think? Is it too early to talk about Christmas or are you the type who already wears a Christmas jumper, dreams about the Late late toy show and has the decorations up?

 

Read More

The highs and lows of raising bilingual children

We'll get there... Eventually!

Since the kids came back from France, they tend to speak a mixture of French and English and it can be very funny. "I'm going to reveiller Papa" (I'm going to wake daddy up) said Ethan this morning, and when I asked Ciaran to say something in French, he just took a French accent but kept talking in English. 

Sometimes I feel a bit discouraged and realise I did many things wrong when trying to raise them with two languages. Everywhere online you can find tips on helping your kids to become bilingual, and frankly, it looks like we broke a lot of golden rules!

One parent - One language

Yes. In an ideal world where the two parents speak different languages and your child doesn't have any delays.

We had a plan. A good one. Because we are two French speakers but really wanted our son to speak English we decided that I would speak French and my husband would speak English (the reason being he has a better accent than me). This worked for a while, but it was hard to keep going. Ciaran started to speak very late and had difficulties understanding basic instructions. He wasn't speaking French or English, he was just speaking nothing. For a while, we thought his delay was due to having two languages. Which brings me to the next point...

Don't give up one language, even if you think there's a speech delay

I remember telling my mum I would NEVER stop speaking French to Ciaran, even if a speech therapist would tell me to. As it happens, he told me to keep on speaking French, despite the delay. But after a long and heated argument with my other half, we decided it might be better for him to be confronted to one language only. So I started speaking English to him. At that point, I felt like a failure. And I cried. A lot.

Be consistent

Always speak the same language. Have some rules. Consistency is the key. When I was pregnant with Ethan, I wondered if I should speak French or English to him. I decided I would give him a chance and try speaking French again. As it happened, he doesn't have any speech delay, he understands French very well and can speak it (when he wants...). The only thing is I speak French to Ethan and English to Ciaran now. Fabrice speaks English to both of them but we speak French to each other. So much for consistency.

Even if the road to bilingualism is bumpy and sometimes it seems there is no light at the end of tunnel, I know I am doing a few things to help them on their journey:

I read stories in French as much as I can

Actually, I read stories in both languages, but I brought back a lot of books from France over the years and I'm trying to get them interested as much as possible.

They watch movies in French (sometimes!)

Most of the time, they just want to watch the English version, even if it's a French DVD. But lately we managed to watch "Brother bear" and "The Lion King" in French. And they're even starting to sing the movie songs in French. The only downside is that "Hakuna Matata" has been stuck in my head for days now...

They spend time in France

They stayed with my parents for 5 weeks during the summer, and since they came back the improvement has been spectacular. They even speak French to the childminder, who doesn't understand a word.

At the end of the day, I think we have tried to do the best we could with what we had. It's not easy to teach a different language to a child with special needs, but to my surprise, Ciaran is making a lot of progress. The weird thing is that his best subject at school is Irish, which is amazing considering he still needs speech therapy! Ethan is a bit on the lazy side, and lately he's been mixing up French and English (I've read that's normal and I shouldn't worry), but at least he's making an effort.

I was always conscious of the fact my kids would be better in English than me, and somehow I felt jealous. Now, I want them to be as good as me in French. I know it will take time, and I don't want to give up. I know sometimes I take the easy way out and start speaking English because I think they understand it better, but I'm really trying my best.

Every bilingual family is different and what works for one might not work for the other. I've also stopped comparing my kids to other bilingual children because we all have a different story. Ours is a bit less straightforward than others, but for the moment it works, and it's all that matters.

Read More

A taste of the future

Doing nothing on holidays is easy...Doing nothing at home is scary!!

Yesterday we got a taste of what life could look like when we retire (or at least when the kids leave the house). And it wasn't pretty...

We spent a few days in France last week-end, and left the kids with my parents, where they will stay until mid-August. I was so excited at the idea for the past few months that I couldn't stop thinking about it. May and June were dragging, homework was killing me and all I wanted was peace and silence in the house.

Well, we definitely have silence now. So much so it was scary for the first few days. Habits still kick in when I hear some kids shouting outside and I wonder for half a second if they are mine, then suddenly come back to reality. They are in France, having a great time, and I'm here, wondering what to do with all this free time.

The first few days back were easy. It was mid-week, we were both working and the routine didn't change too much. Except I slept half an hour more every morning and didn't have to take care of anyone else but me. Pure bliss...

Then, Saturday came along. We hadn't planned anything (and on second thoughts we should have), so after lunch we were kind of lost. What are we doing today? Where are we going? We had no clue whatsoever. 

I started wondering what were we doing before we had kids? Why were we complaining about being so busy all the time? Then my husband reminded me we used to go out a lot, eat in nice restaurants, meeting friends who also didn't have kids. It was a different life altogether. Plus we had a lot more money to afford it all.

In the end, we went for a  20 minute walk on the beach and when we came back, we were so bored we decided to make a list of our favourite movies. We wrote them on little pieces of paper and picked two each at random. Basically we spent nearly the entire day watching movies. Oh dear...!

If this is what retirement will be like, I don't think I'll be able to cope! On the other hand, my eldest told me he didn't want to grow up and would live with us forever, so maybe we won't have to face the prospect of being bored after all...

As for today, we've decided to go on an adventure. We're taking the car and we'll just see where it takes us...because there is no way I'm staying home to watch "The wolf of Wall street" for the umpteenth time.

 

 

Read More