I spleam.

[la_rainette]

Froglet has her theater class on Tuesdays (she will be a lioness in The Lion King for Kiddies by Kiddies and is very very excited about it), so afterwards we traditionnally eat out with her friend Myles and Myles' parents. Today was not exception.

We were halfway through our entrées when Tadpole suddenly exclaimed: "I spleam! I spleam! I spleam!"

Now, Tadpole will repeat as many times as necessary for you to understand what she wants. She will not, however, try and express it differently. She will use different tones of voice - pleading, cajoling, yelling, whining - but she will not alter the essential content, so it is of vital importance for your nerves that you understand RIGHT AWAY.

"I spleam" just wouldn't parse.

Of course, Froglet, who has a vested interest in the situation, translated for me. "She wants ice cream", she trumpeted triumphantly.

"I spleam", Tadpole confirmed with obvious satisfaction.

I was dead tired and longed for a moment of quiet. Ok, I said, and got them ice cream. We got into the car, and I turned the music on.

"Mom", said Froglet, "I can listen to the music and eat at the same time!"

!

"Yes, I can! Do you know why?"

?

"Because I have 2 ears, and one mouth" (so far so good), "and eating ice cream isn't noisy"

I should hope it isn't! That's why I bought it in the first place.

Next time I want silence, shall I just buy ice cream for myself and stuff it in my ears then?

Comments

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

[dies of cute]

y'all speak french together, i assume? were they speaking english because les myles are anglophones? (i can't figure how to transfer "i spleam" into kiddie-french.)

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

I fear we speak whatever is most logical when we open our mouths. Ahem.

The other day, Tadpole was kissing me all over the face: "et on the front" *kiss* "et sur le nose" *kiss* :D

Another example: "where is your booboo, Tadpole?" "Mais la! On the pied!"

:D Endless cute fun.

[friede.livejournal.com]

My best friend in high school, Cynthia, was the eldest of five children, the youngest of which was a toddler. Her parents were also French, though living in Texas, it took more effort in order to ensure their children could be bilingual.

When Cindi was little, they spoke nothing but French in the home -- so she speaks English with some of the tics of a nonnative speaker, and thinks almost entirely in French. Her sister Stephanie, three years younger, grew up with more English in the home, and as a result speaks both nearly perfectly, with a slight bias to English. It progresses the same way down to her baby brother, who understands but for the early years of his life would refuse to speak French. Haven't seen him in several years, but I do wonder how his bran works now, compared to his sisters.

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*nods* I am curious too to see what comes out for us too. We speak mostly French at home, and Froglet goes to a French school, but we have many English speaking friends and I fully intend to keep it that way.

My parents brought me up bilingually (French/German) and I am SO grateful to them, I hope to accomplish the same with my little ones, but I am finding out that it isn't as easy as I thought...

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

Oh, and les Myles are a typical Canadian family: she's Chinese but has lived in Canada ever since she was 6, so communication with her own mum is sometimes difficult (mum speaks only Chinese; daughter understands but speaks mostly English); he's of Portuguese descent, anglophone but francophile and speaks French very well. And Myles goes to a French school like Froglet, so Froglet and Myles communicate in both languages.

God, but I love Toronto :D