It just occurred to me as I was trying to come up with something to write for work (what? You try writing about Marc Jacobs when your mind is elsewhere) that I haven't talked about my kids in quite a while. In fact, I haven't said much of anything here in a while.
(What? You try blogging about nothing when your mind is elsewhere.)
Anyways: The boys.
You might remember that we want our children to speak both Spanish and German (English is a given) to reflect our heritage. It's going pretty well if I do say so myself. (When I say "pretty well" I don't want you to think that our house is some sort of multilingual wonderland where we flow in and out of languages seamlessly. No. It's actually pretty messy and chaotic and I forget which language I'm using with whom mid-sentence more times than I'd care to admit but, hey! At least we're trying!) Both boys can say and understand a few things in both languages, but most importantly, they know that there is such a thing as different languages and they know that it's natural to speak more than one.
(SCORE!)
I find it incredibly interesting that each child seems to be more fluent in one language over the other, and that each one of their personalities seem to match the stereotype of the culture usually associated with the language. Isn't that interesting?
My preschooler is neat, logical, and never forgets anything. I can give him a sharpie and leave him alone in a room safe in the knowledge that he will not stain the walls or the white couch. He prefers German.
My toddler is charismatic, talkative, and is generous with affection. He loves being around new people and finds the rhythm in anything. He prefers Spanish.
I wish I was making this up. *I* don't fit the Spanish-speaker stereotype half the time, and my husband doesn't fit the "German" stereotype either...but it seems like our children do. I guess things will change as their personalities become more complex, but for now, it just makes me laugh.
