Despite my very best efforts, The Wictor is the only one of my kids who is still truly bilingual. But he is at the age where he is muddling up the languages - mixing up the vocabulary and trying out grammatical rules on one language which belong with the other. This is a perfectly normal stage and they soon work things out by themselves. In the meantime, it can make for some cute little conversations.

Yesterday as we were leaving the supermarket together, it started to rain.

“Garde Maman!” he said, “C’est pleut!”

“Il pleut”, I corrected absently.

“Oui Maman! C’est pleut -ing!”

Apologies to non French speakers out there, usually I translate things my kids say, but this one doesn’t really work in translation.

Baby Sister still understands French but prefers to converse in English now. Unless she wants something or just wants to please. This morning she came to give me a “present” of a bow from one of her Christmas parcels.

“Maman! ” she said proudly, “Un cadeau pour toi! Une Beau! A bow!”

I hope everybody had a great Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or Just Another Winter Week!