Hola, Parlez vous Francais?

The really neat thing about DVD's is that they have so much stuff on them - way more than the videotapes of yesteryear offered us growing up - Now kids can flip to their favourite parts with ease, in seconds using the index. They have bonus footage and with seperate audio and video capabiities, even offer multiple languages and commentaries right alongside the video.

My kids have discovered other languages - mostly from watching Dora The Explorer. They run around yelling Spanish words at each other, with no clue at all as to what they are saying really. "Salta" "Uno" "Para";or maybe they do....

As I got in the van the other day, before I could even slip my key in the ignition, I was treated to a round of "VAMOS" from the back two carseats. They proceded to do this "Vamos, Vamos Vamos" chant (which means "let's go" in spanish FYI) all the way to Walmart, which is only 4 minutes away, but feels like 28 when kids are chanting from the rear monotonously. Why doesn't it get boring for them? How can they be content to chant "vamos" for a minumum of 4 minutes, but can't sit still for 30 seconds to eat dinner, which is much more interesting in my opinion, especially since I went to the trouble to cut their ham into the shapes of little gingerbread boys, and offered plenty of hints that dessert would be really good. Instead they poke their food around the plate for a while, then tell me that they're going to "save it for later" which really means, "I don't feel like eating this" at which point I say fine and "save" their dessert until they've finished dinner. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. My kids don't eat much. Maybe if we held our dinner conversation in Spanish they'd be more inclined, except when I speak spanish to them, they just look at me like I'm some alien from outer space. Apparently, only Dora can speak Spanish properly (and her cousin Diego).

Another favourite activity of late is to put the Monsters Inc DVD on, and listen to it in French. Don't ask me how Duncan knew how to do this, or that the option even existed, or that the funny sounds he was hearing was "French" but he managed to do it, and smirked at me "I'm watching Monsters in French".

He's 4.

Isn't there a rule somewhere that kids aren't supposed to outsmart their parents until they're at least teenagers and *really do know it all*? I suppose it's possible that he just remembers the ONE time that we accidentally put that movie on when we first bought it and it defaulted to the French version, and I may have possiblymentioned something to the effect of "Oops that's in French, lets put it in English". That was over a year ago I'm sure, maybe even 2 yrs- still things have a way of bubbling to the surface with my kids long long LONG after they hear it. It's the same principle that a child will not repeat that naughty word they just learned until an appropriate moment, like when Grandma comes to visit, or in front of their Sunday School teacher, or the preacher, or when introducing them to a new playgroup......Not that my kids say naughty words - They don't - at least not yet. I have 2 starting school this september though, so I'm sure they're bound to come home with a few choice words, and not all of them will be in English. The benefit of a multicultural society. Naughty words in 14 languages.
nice.