Improv
01/05/11
This blog update is not part of a new year’s resolution to revive my withering blog (though can I claim in retrospect that it was a new year’s resolution and that I followed through for once? ). It simply occurred to me that I should share with you this lovely moment with my boy Gabriel as an example of the double-fun of bilingual parenting: Add to the magic of watching your children flourish and develop into the most fascinating people in the world, your constant awe at their ability to do it in two languages.
My wife and I rotate bedtimes with each of our two boys. Sam is still a bit too young for a formal bedtime story, but with Gabriel, we read a couple of books and in recent months, we top it with a totally improvised story. You should hear some of the trippy stories I’ve made up while in the tired trance of a post-10-hour-work-day! But here is one from a few months ago that illustrates the unexpected fun of this kind of thing. Letting the boy take over the narrative is both hilarious and an amazing tool to get him to talk to his heart’s content in the language of our Conquistador oppressors.
Enjoy!
Wow, how I loved this sweet, intimate, funny moment with you and your boy. I applaud you for how much Spanish he speaks and for the great care you take in parenting him.
You are a good, good dad!
And please, write more — despite 10-hour-days.
Cheers y happy new year!