Gros Bisous

There were lots of gros bisous (“Big Kisses,” an informal closing to French letters and e-mails) among us as we said good-bye to our French friends/more like family this past week. Our remarkable three weeks of visiting, sharing, and playing, culminated in a wonderful vacation to Cape May at Gemma and Papa’s cottage.

Mathias, age 7, lost a tooth while he was here, and we learned all about the rituals surrounding the tooth “mouse” (no tooth fairy in France) who appreciated the treats Mathias left (2 M&M’s and a thank you note), retrieved said tooth during the night, and left the lucky little guy a whopping $5 Euros!

Of the children, Diane, age 3.5 yrs., seemed to use foreign languages most easily. She would stick an English “Thank you,” or “Please” expression in a conversation at just the right time. She and her brother were also pretty patient with their godmother when I stumbled on phrases like “Play-Doh” or other things I couldn’t remember/didn’t know the French words for. Mathias seemed to understand a lot of English conversation, beyond what he is currently able to say, which is such a powerful language building-block.

Declan had fun peppering his evening conversations with “Bonne nuit” (goodnight) and practicing questions for Mathias, like “Want to play superheroes with me?” and “Did you learn any more English words, yet?” with an incredible accent. He seemed to both enjoy and get frustrated (since he couldn’t understand) hearing me speak French, something he doesn’t usually witness except during tutoring sessions.

Quinn was an equal-opportunity language learner, echoing loudly the ends of anything anyone else said loudly. So if Diane shouted “Maman!!!!!” for something, Quinny did the same thing. There were a number of occasions when Nat and I both responded to the beckoning call, not sure which girl was looking for her mom.

Kisses for Papa during the brunch Olga and Sal hosted for Nat’s family.