The case against bilingual books
Our local library branch recently purchased a handful of English/French bilingual books to add to their collection. Knowing our excitement for new books to read in French, the library staff […]
God Bless America.
The first Fourth of July I experienced as an Adult Third Culture Kid was in 2008. We went to some highly political parade in the middle of the country. We […]
Hope for this weary mama
Two lanky girls stumbled into the coffee shop. One following the other. They both wore glasses. Their gait was either demonstrative of high intelligence or the insecurity that comes with […]
France & Greece
Returned from Europe. Two kids on jetlag. Ayo 26 mos, Délice 5mos. Tall Mountain leaves for long trip to Asia. Kids use it as an excuse not to sleep at […]
Lost in translation
Words are spinning around in my head. I am living and breathing equivalents, false cognates, brilliant translation techniques like compensation even when I put a script down. Currently submerged in […]
Introducing Mandarin
Ayo’s first introduction to Mandarin was uneventful. I didn’t take him to some toddler class. Oh no, it wasn’t that glamorous. I have come to realize that the best language […]
Constant acts of kindness
I find that the mundane often meets the extraordinary these days. Date: Friday, March 7, 2014 Time: 11:30am [Read: soon to be collective meltdown time for kiddos.] Place: Our little neighborhood […]
Mama thoughts at TWO!
We have a two year old! We once marveled at our infant boy’s mini features, wondering who he would become. Today, we already have glimpses of who this little boy […]
The iconic American cookie
I was driving the hubs to the airport the other day when I noticed this hotel shuttle with a gargantuan chocolate chip cookie on the side… The branding person inside […]
Guitar in the park
It was about 3:30pm when we arrived at the park. We had so much fun there yesterday that we had to come back for more. The intense mountain sun again […]
Chatty blog “reduction”
Struggling to find the time to do the many things that I love. One of those many things is to journal. A few days ago, I started using the voice […]
Sweet moments
It’s going to be a good morning! Not safe or recommended but practical! You’d never know that we are headed out the door. Papa on duty! Here is how I […]
Cold days…
It was cold last week. We’re talking frigid. For several consecutive days, my weather app read -25c / -13F. We’ve never experienced such a cold snap in this city, but […]
You ate your what?!
I ate my placenta. And based on the squeamish reactions I have received since sharing that nifty piece of information, I thought I should write a little more about the […]
Home alone..with TWO!
Mamie has returned to France. The futon is folded back up and her trademark post-visit “secret card” has already been collected from the letterbox. Tragically, paternity leave is now over […]
Nine days postpartum…
Toddler naptime stream of consciousness, nine days into it… Trying this without using the “delete” key. Getting too old for these nighttime feedings. I love stroking Délice’s cheeks. Oh my […]
And then there were four…
What a very Merry Christmas indeed!
Minority language feelings
It’s got to be mind-boggling for any parent to watch the process of language acquisition unfold. As a linguist, I can’t tell you how much fun it is to experience […]
Twice Blessed
Woah, as of today, I am considered full-term! 37 weeks is certainly not when we hope to have a baby, but today is the earliest our birth center can welcome […]
Surprise!
Awesome surprise breakfast baby shower this past Saturday. Feeling so loved and blessed by this really special group of gals.
Fun times…
Just a few random photos from our travels (France + UK). The final pic is of Ayo and his second cousins in the UK. Ayo is 20 months old, […]
Tia Camp
Well, girls, I am pretty sure I am the luckiest pregnant mama out there. My sister-in-law, a.k.a. “Tia”, recently declared she would be taking Ayo one day a fortnight in […]
Flying alone w/ 19 month Ayo
This cozy Sunday afternoon found me catching up on Pam’s witty blog about air travel with a toddler over here. I beckoned Tall Mountain to come over and read her […]
This just happened…
Hi there, We just returned home by airplane and our tube of SunnyBaby SPF 30 squeezed out into our suitcase. I am wondering how best to wash the lotion out […]
East Hampton: a maid’s embrace & survival parenting
After filming all week in NYC, the production team moved to East Hampton for the weekend: a wealthy coastal village located on the peninsula east of New York. Ayo and […]
Museum day with a twist
Ayo and I ventured over to Brooklyn today, since the guys started their day filming someone on that side of town. We were happy to join them on their car […]
High Line and Central Park
Following more of a “down day” yesterday spent visiting with a family friend in New Jersey, walking around the area and chasing squirrels at a local park, Ayo and I […]
NYC Chinatown and CMoM
It turned out really helpful for us to fly into New York with one whole family day to figure out public transportation before Ayo and I were left to explore […]
When less is more…
Last week, I returned our ill-functioning blender we had bought over two years ago. Tall Mountain put it on my “to do list” and I shuddered thinking of the battle […]
NYC with a toddler?
I love big cities. I love how alive they are, how endless the culinary, cultural, interpersonal experiences can be, how outrageous personalities and clothing are acceptable, how beautiful architecture and […]
27 week (final?) pregnancy run
Well, yesterday may well have been my last run for this pregnancy.. Surprisingly, I still feel fantastic when running thanks to the rather dumb looking, but really helpful Gabrialla medium […]
Birthday weekend
Wow, this past week has been hectic. Tall Mountain was busy conference-hopping last weekend and shooting the next film until late at night most nights this past week. Back on […]
Saturday mornings…
The weekend is a perfect time for baked goods. We all agreed that this couldn’t-be-more-simple chewy berry oat bar by Yammie’s hit the spot! If you don’t have oat flour, […]
Pregnancy 2.0
In case you haven’t gathered from various social media sites or missed the subtle change from “child” to “children” in the blog description, I am 21 weeks pregnant with bébé numéro […]
Watching people age
Last night, we watched the beautiful documentary “56 Up” after having seen “49 Up” a few years ago. In 1964, a group of UK seven year olds with varying social […]
Pico Iyer: Where is home? (TED Talk)
I posted this beautiful TED talk by Third Culture Kid author Pico Iyer to my Facebook wall the other day, but I am not sure the fast pace of social […]
Black bean brownies
I have a friend who is legitimately gluten intolerant. Knowing how hard it has been for her to deny scores of tasty things (if you haven’t yet, just try to […]
Language at 16 months
Language and speech is one of the most exciting areas of child development to me. If you know me at all, that comes as no surprise. Well, life is barreling […]
Bastille dreamers
Often, held captive by the prison of our minds, by all the things that might not work, we stop dreaming about change. Those prison walls thicken as we age. By […]
Taking my woes to the hills
I so appreciate your powerful words of encouragement, friends – through loving comments here, separate emails and texts. I took Ayo and my cares to the mountains this morning, to […]
Cupcakes & hotdogs
Today was the first day I have felt like myself again following another gruesome trip over the Atlantic. The airplane didn’t turn back this time, but we missed our connection in […]
Au marché…
Best Friday morning market finds: one cute little green top, a pretty tablecloth, fresh goat’s yoghurt for Ayo (made yesterday), a crate full of inexpensive apricots for jam making…
Language & travel: seizing the opportunities
I just finished reading Maria Babin’s thoughtful post on multilingualism and travel. When thinking about traveling with children for the sake of language acquisition, or to see family, or just […]
Sleeping baby bubbly
Last night was jetlag night number 5 and Ayo slept through! Hooray! I am not sure if it had something to do with this being the fifth night or based […]
Flying me crazy!
It is hard to believe that this is Ayo’s fourth trip to France in less than a year. He is such a fortunate toddler and he doesn’t even know it! […]
Cranberry chia energy bars
This week, I got hooked on these DIY energy bars by Inspired Edibles (click through to view recipe). Math was never my forté but check out this equation: less sugar […]
French vs. American Butchery
After visiting the farm and pouring over the details (quality of beef, cost, transportation etc), we finally decided to purchase a whole cow with three other families. One of the […]
14 months: I love it when…
… he fake laughs to get your attention: “HA. – HA.” … someone looks straight at him and he responds with a bashful ducking of the head and a wide […]