Toy Story

One Saturday when Juliette was recovering from a little illness, I thought I'd take her out to the toy store to browse and buy her a little toy to cheer her up. It's not something we do often though she will regularly request that we look at the toy aisle in the grocery store.  And she'll tell me all the toys she wants for her birthday or Christmas or that she really needs!

When we arrived at the toy store she urged me not to go too slow down the aisles.  But pretty soon it was me who was slowing her down because I found myself entranced by the modern child's toys and I had started snapping pictures on my phone.  I was sometimes amused and sometimes horrified by what is out there for today's girl especially.  So here's a visual rundown of the funniest and the scariest!

 

It makes sense that a French child's play kitchen would have a good variety of breads, and of course, a croissant!

Not to mention the French products they are used to like Knoor lasagne and the usual brands of detergent and Danone (the French version of Dannon) yogurt  Whiskas is international!

What French fake kitchen would be complete without a pressure cooker?  And even the real brand that dominates the market has gotten in on the action, Tefal.

But to really be like mommy and daddy, you need your own espresso machine. 

Moving out of the kitchen I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cinderella has had a makeover and is looking less doe eyed but rather sharp.  Don't think this Cinderella would take too much crap from her stepsisters.

Playmobil is a real classic in Europe but not quite sure what the German toy designers were thinking with this set?  That devil looks likes he's glowing red hot.  Theological debate not included.

Speaking of Playmobil, we saw an exhibit a few weeks ago in our town that featured some amazing scenes. Like the Civil War.  Cotton plants to boot!

And this German street scene.

A playmate for Juju!

I'm hoping Juliette will stay in the kind and gentle Playmobil world for a long time because frankly the next toy scared me to death.  If this is pre-teendom, I'm afraid, very afraid.

Bared midriffed dancers, fashion obsessed platinum blondes.  Childlike and womanly at the same time.  Yikes!  I don't want my little one to grow up too fast.

Reminds me a bit of a recent article talking about how boy and girl toys are more and more separate these days and how ads like this one from my childhood might not fly today.

The article points out, and rightly so, that nowadays Lego has its own girly line.  My sister and I never found Lego to be particularly limited to boys and that was before purple and pink Lego existed.

It all gives me pause about this next girl generation.  They've got way more to deal with in terms of sexualized images of girls, even from a young age.  Even if the girls on this box aren't sexy, they are definitely girly. 

So yet another reason to value every moment with my little one while she's still little and try to tell her that girls can be and do whatever they want.  Including thinking monster trucks are cool while prancing around as Tinkerbell.

Discipline Schmiscipline

I wish that things were easier when it comes to discipline.  I know I'm not alone when I say it's one of the toughest parts of raising a child.  My five-year old seems to come up with new challenges for me as if it's a game (and sometimes I think she's winning).  Now that she's in what they call "grande section" (the last class in pre-school, the equivalent to kindergarten), she thinks she herself is "grande" or big.  And therefore she can make all the decisions at home.  "C'est moi qui décide!" (It's me who decides) has become her new mantra. 

In situations like these I tell her she's not the boss yet and that she'll have to finish all her schooling (as in high school!) before she can really call the shots.  Sometimes this leads to a new crying fit because I dared to contradict her.  Then there was that mega tantrum last week getting her to take her bath.  She was lashing out at me physically through most of the bath and I even almost put her in the water fully-clothed. 

And as if these new kindergarten age challenges weren't enough, it's often compounded by the continual lack of concensus between my husband and me.  Five years into this parenting thing, we still don't seem to agree on the way to parent.  I know we've broken about all the rules like, Thou shalt not criticize thy spouse's parenting style in front of thy child.  But I do it, he does it, and I'm sure Juliette is getting quite the mixed signals. 

Take last Sunday.  Juliette was tapping her markers on the table and coyly saying it wasn't her.  We said, obviously it is you, and please stop.  But she continued and just as I was about to tap her on the shoulder and tell her to stop, Remi raised his voice louder than a drill sergeant telling off his new recruits.  Juliette started bawling and thus ensued an argument between the parents about just how far one should go in terms of shouting. 

It seems we can't find that magical compromise in terms of discipline.  Though young French parents are decidedly more open-minded than their parents' generation, I get the impression sometimes that the old "children should be seen, not heard" idea is still prevalent here. 

But after talking to some of my students who are also daddies, I've gotten some advice.  One told me about a book he and his wife use from the Super Nanny series.  This exists in Britain, too, and they have a website full of great articles.  I ordered the book in French in hopes that hubby will give it a glance.  Another says he and his wife try not to disagree with each other on discipline tactics in front of the children.  I don't know if I can keep to this one, but I'll try!

I know my little girl is good down deep and capapble of great sweetness.  Call her headstrong, call her stubborn, but I must stick with my gentle but firm approach and hope for the best.

School girl

Lately all Juliette can talk about is school. Pre-school, in fact, but for her it is "'cool.". As in, "I'm going to 'cool.". Or " I want to go to 'cool. But it's closed today.". Even though she really doesn't know what school is, it seems like a happening place with all the hype we've been giving it.

For example, she knows she's got to be potty-trained to go to school. It's a rather pesky requirement here in France, and one that has nearly driven us nuts. Luckily when my mom was here we got Juju more into the habit of wearing underwear and learning to hold it in. Now she'll look at me earnestly and repeat what we've been saying to her: "I'm a big girl now. I wear underwear.". And if she sees me getting dressed she'll say that I'm a big girl, too, since I wear them, too. However, (FYI: TMI alert) she requests a diaper for number two. The doctor said this is a form of being trained in 30% of kids.

She's still not sure about napping in school, and if I say she can bring her stuffed animal for naptime she says she doesn't want him to get dirty.

I think she is going to like being with other kids and having so many activities. We're curious to see how her language development will go since we don't really hear her speaking French at home except in an occasional exchange with her baby dolls or when she pretends to be on the phone. The babysitter assures us Juliette does speak French. Strangely though she's even shy to use it with her French grandmother. It could be because Remi and I are there and we both represent English to her. Or that Remi's mom uses some English words. I caught Juliette saying "What the (h)eck is that?" the other day so her English slang is coming along nicely.

She's got her Tinkerbell backpack (which she sometimes wears out on our outings). Here you can see her showing it off. (When she says "talk like a little girl, Mommy," she means speak French. She has noticed I speaker higher in French and one time told me to stop talking like a little girl!)

She'll be in before- and after-school care since Remi and I will both have longer days this year. As I've said before this is going to be a busy year for us all. And with my school as well, Remi says he'll have two students at home.