The French Connection

I am a terrible parent. Or at least I did a terrible thing. Last Saturday I completely forgot about a birthday party that J was invited to and looking very forward to attending. Caught up in T-ball, C2's return from a week in Bordeaux and an hour of sunshine, the party never even entered my mind until 6:00 pm when a friend called to ask if J was sick. I felt awful.

Birthday parties are a very big deal at age 5 and fantastic occasions for J to mingle with his french-speaking classmates and further integrate into our community. There are geo-social advances made with every one of these opportunities. So being mature and poised, I immediately e-mailed the classmates' mother with apologies for J's sudden onset of fever. There you go, no feelings hurt, no social slight, no harm done. C2 asked how J would keep to the story. Story? what story? He can't explain himself that well in french yet, so I wasn't worried.

This morning J walked into school with a gift for the classmate who received it with pleasure. As they walked away, I overheard J say "Voici ton cadeau, Marie, ma maman a oublié ton fête d'anniversaire".

The good news is J's french is coming along beautifully.