Chansons en Francais?

In my urban existence I used to see these foreign language schools for children in Chicago.  I decided my future kids would definitely attend such a program.  After all, the number one thing I hear people say they wish they knew how to do was to speak a foreign language.  However, living in suburban Johnson County, I have found that these fancy places are basically non-existent and that foreign language programs for preschoolers are inaccessible to working parents, unless your preschool happens to offer something.  So, I really want to expose my kids to foreign languages... what's a suburban, non-bilingual, working mom to do?

Well, my son and I love music and I took some French classes in high school and college so I scoured iTunes for some super basic French kid songs... so that I could understand enough to tell him what the songs were about.  So far it's been a success - he loves listening to them and can even sing a few.  I don't expect my son to be fluent in French, but the idea is to expose him to it.  Yes, I'd prefer to get my kids into a program where they could really learn the language, but I'll have to settle for what I can offer.

I thought I'd share a couple of our favorite French kid songs.  If you've had a semester of French at any point in your life, chances are you can get the gist of most of these (and when in doubt, the internet often has translations)

< My all time favorite is "Mon Corps" from the album "Wiggleworms Love You"  It's a song about the music you can make with your body
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mon-corps/id114311167?i=114310811

"Nage, Nage, Nage"  by Hannah Naiman >
A short little song I learned in high school French class about a little fish who is eaten by a barracuda, who is eaten by a shark, who is eaten by a whale.  What's not to love?
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/savez-vous-planter-des-choux/id402376582

< The album "Bilingual Songs: English-French, Vol 1" by Sara Jordan Publishing is cool (please ignore the lame looking cover art) because they actually sing all the lines in French and English... so you can be certain what they are saying.  Here are our favs from this album:
Colors / Les Couleurs
Days of the Week / Les Jours de la Semaine
Counting to 10 / Compter Jusqu'à 10
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/sara-jordan-publishing/id275409452

Classic French songs we like are from "Chansons et Comptines de Notre Enfance"  It's where we get "Alouette" and "Frere Jacques"  >
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/chansons-et-comptines-notre/id307174317

If you have any other good ones, let me know!

BTW, if you know of foreign language programs in Johnson County that offer weeknight or Saturday classes for preschoolers, please let me know that too.  Any language is acceptable. :)

Cheerleader Menality

I was a high school cheerleader.  I know, that's pretty suburban, right?  Well I've found that the cheerleader dies hard.  Not only do I still maintain an unhealthy personal fondness for all things SM West (not that I miss high school, I just love West), but I suffer from cheerleader mentality.

Basically I'm a fan of anyone and anything that has crossed my path and not been terrible.  I realized this when I was describing to my husband why I love Facebook. 

That person who I haven't seen since 8th grade... they're in a Broadway show! 

That guy who sat 3 rows down from me in my geometry class... he just had a baby! 

That girl from my law school that I haven't seen since graduation... she just opened her own firm!

  All of this sounds ridiculous to my husband.  "You haven't talked to these people in years.  Why do you care?"  Well, I figured it out.  The cheerleader dies hard.  I like to see people succeed.  I like to hear about the victories in their lives and to cheer them on (you know, by "liking" their posts and bragging to whomever might slightly care).  It doesn't matter that I haven't seen or talked to them in years.  If I have even the loosest connection to them they are obviously awesome and worthy of success and happiness.  If that creeps you out, unfriend me, because I am secretly (or not so secretly) cheering for you.

Oh, and if I find something I love, I want to share it.  So hopefully I can do that through posts on this blog.  By the way, if you're reading this, then you're officially awesome and I'm cheering for you!

 

Undeniably Suburban: The Moment of Truth

So when did my suburban-ness become undeniable? 

 

As a suburbanite with kids, some things you have to think of when you buy a house - yard, schools, neighborhood, bedrooms, etc. - were starting to become apparently lacking in our former house.  I loved our former house.  It was a wooded half-acre lot with tongue-in-groove ceiling, metal fireplace, and a generally unique design.  Sure, it had TONS of problems and needed lots of work we couldn't afford (but had to do anyway when we sold it), but it had a unique and cool aspect that helped me in my denial.

 

Our house sold in 2 days!  However, house hunting for our third house together proved significantly more difficult than the last two.  Mostly due to my husband eyeing suburban comforts and me refusing to have a cookie cutter house in an ultimate suburban neighborhood.  When my husband starting turning his nose up at every house older than 5 years or without a 3 car garage (seriously!) I quickly learned we were facing homelessness.  Do we get an apartment and continue to look while probably never agreeing on anything, or... do I give up on my personal taste and get an ultimate suburban house that's "great for the kids?"

 

Yep, you guessed it.  See when you're a true suburbanite, house hunting involves one overall concern:

 "a great place to raise kids." 

New neighborhood with lots of kids? (check)

Neighborhood pool? (check)

Close to "award winning schools?" (check)

Not too close to any questionable neighborhoods, businesses, or busy streets? (check)

Nice yard to play in, but not so big it takes too much time to mow? (check)

3 car garage for all your toys and junk? (check)

And if you can get it never-lived-in and able to pick your own finishes (aka "building") all the better.

 

So, since I didn't want to move into temporary housing, we found a home under construction and jumped in to pick our finishes from that point on.  The day we decided to put an offer on this house... I broke down.  I felt like I was betraying everything that I had thought I was.  Chicago was far behind me and I was about to put an offer on a cookie-cutter house with stucco in the ultimate suburban neighborhood.  Was I really this person? 

Enter realization: yes I was... because it was a great place to raise kids. 

I had a small mourning period - mourning the loss of "cool" me and preparing for soccer mom me.  It helped that an urban friend (and former suburbanite) comforted me by calling my spec home a "spec-tacular" home and we were able to avoid a couple of typical Johnson County finishes and add a couple of cool light fixtures.  But at this point I knew it was true.  I was undeniably suburban.  

Undeniably Suburban: My Story

So... I spent most of my growing up days in suburban Kansas City.  It's undeniably suburban.  In college (K-State), I studied abroad and fell in love with traveling... and also with urban life.  So I went to law school in Chicago (Loyola Chicago) and fell IN LOVE with that city.  I studied abroad again (solidifying my commitment to travel and big cities) and then... fell in love with a boy. Not a big city boy, but a small town boy from Oklahoma... oh, and he had a daughter so he wasn't portable - meaning I had to choose either him and his sweet daughter or Chicago.

So, since I found the only thing I found that I loved more than Chicago, I packed up my Wrigleyville apartment (in a horse trailer none-the-less), moved to Tulsa, and married this rowdy Okie.  Marriage and children had never really crossed my mind before him, so I was a little surprised by myself.  I guess love can do that to you.  A few years later, we relocated to suburban Kansas City and I find myself here again.

In 2010 we had a little boy and now I'm pregnant again (like roughly 35% of the other suburban women between the ages of 25 and 35 walking around).

My life is... undeniably suburban.  I say this because I have tried to live in denial.  I have tried to be cool and pretend I'm still hip and a little urban for the last several years of my life... but I'm not.  I've come to realize: I'm undeniably suburban.