Thank you in any language...

For those of you that don't know I'm hispanic, which means that I'm bilingual. I speak English and Spanish fluently and always felt that it's something that I should pass on to my children when the time came. (If you're wondering, I'm not mexican...regardless of the jokes that some people might throw out there) So when Jacob was born, it was natural to me to begin exposing him to Spanish. It's well documented that children that hear two or more languages early in development will have an easier time grasping them as they grow up.

Now I'd say that right now the ratio of English to Spanish in my house is about 80/20. It's not for lack of trying but in all honesty when we watch television, it's in English. Crystal's dominant language is English, she knows some Spanish and can understand me for the most part when I go off in Spanish but she worries that she isn't saying the words perfectly and refuses to sound silly. So for the most part the Spanish spoken is either me or one of the bilingual toys that Jacob has.

For the most part when it comes to things to watch there's two catagories, kid movies and then everything else. It's pretty easy to find a kid movie, they saturate the market with things that they believe witll entertain a child for about 80 minutes in various forms. Anyone with chidlren will tell you though that each child has a preference for WHAT it is that's on the television. Knowing our kids the way that I do I'm always on the lookout for something that I think will tickle their fancy.

It's with this in mind that I found a copy of Megamind for them. Grace, thanks in large part to me I'm sure, has an enormous love for superheroes and the battles they wage against the forces of evil. So it was a no brainer to get the movie for her viewing pleasure.

In the last two years or so I've tried to get Grace to learn little bits of Spanish, things that I think will help her along. See in my mind's eye I hope that the kids do end up being bilingual and with the younger ones I have a better chance. With that thought I've told Grace that she should try as well since there's nothing worse than knowing your sibliings could be talking about you in another language while standing in front of you.

Six year olds though forget most everything in life except what they love and what they want to have. So I constantly get asked "How do you say (insert word here) in Spanish again?"

Jacob and Grace were being watched by Grandma for a little bit while I went into work for a couple of hours and when I picked them up I told Grace, "Come on, I've got a surprise for you at home!"

Now Grace is a brilliant kid. I don't just say that because she's my kid, she's REALLY a brilliant kid. She reads at the fourth grade level and is doing math at the second grade level.. she's only in first grade. She is only held captive by her own imagination and desire to learn. Obviously it didn't take her long to figure out what it was that I had waiting at home.

We head into the house from the car and I have to change Jacob's diaper. For Christmas one of our family friends was nice enough to give Grace a White board/Chalk board easel which she uses to play or write us notes.

So when I came back out into the living room with Jacob she had written:

Dear daddy-

  I (heart) you. Thank you (in Spanish) for getting me the Megamind movie.

                                                           Grace

I've been focused on getting her to undertstand how to SPEAK in Spanish, usually when she tries she sounds like a Texan talking to someone from across the border (which is beyond hysterical because she's never been to Texas). So she wouldn't know how to write in Spanish at this stage. It didn't stop her from trying though....

If you're unsure why this is funny... Thank you in Spanish is spelled Gracias.. So even when she tries to spell in Spanish, she does it like a Texan.

Where there is Peace...

If you have children you know something very basic, the moment they start talking they don't really stop. Sure they take a breath or perhaps have something to drink, but those are small obstacles for a child that has something to share, even if it's absolutely nothing.

The older that kids get, the more nothing they have to say.

Grace, my six year old, is blessed with the ability to continually carry on about anything that pops into her head. I don't think she was born with that filter that most adults have and children begin to learn early on. This can lead to some very tense moments when we've had to teach the value of being polite. There are other times though when what comes out of her mouth is nothing but pure gold and we sit and cackle like mad scientists who have perfected the ultimate experiment.

One of those times happened about a month ago.

I was off of work and went to pick up Grace from school. Jacob (the terrorist) was in the car with us and we took the shortest route between two points. However, as any parent will tell you, any road trip is going to be filled with non-stop chatter, even if it makes no sense.

For the majority of the voyage she'd been talking about her friends, the things that they'd done today and some of the lessons that she'd been taught that day. Then the following exchnage happened:

Grace: Daddy?
Me: Yes?
Grace: Today we learned about PEACE! I love PEACE!
Me: Really?
Grace: Yea I think it's great!
Me: What is peace?
Grace: Peace is like, when Jacob's asleep and no one's talking and I can just say anything I want and no one will interrupt me and I can just talk on and on and everyone will listen and then I can be happy!

(Note: I realize that the above caption for Grace is a complete run on sentence but it is how she speaks.)

Me: That's very nice sweetie but that's not really peace.
Grace: It isn't?
Me: (chuckle) No honey. Peace is when no one is talking, there's no noise and you just enjoy the silence. You try not to break the silence so you can enjoy the peace.

I looked in the rearview mirror and watched her come to terms with what I had just explained.

Grace: I don't like peace anymore.


Sigh, someday she'll appreciate it.