Listen to your kids

I think a lot of people think this parenting thing is a one way street: kids, bask in the glory of my awesomeness and do as I say (but may be not as I do.)  Truth is, that's a sure way to miss out on some really good ideas.  Take learning a language, for example.

You, Miss Over-Achiever, are working on your third language.  Third language!  Shit, I have a hard enough time with English.  Seeing you dive into French, I thought, "wow, I should learn another language."  Japanese has fascinated me since we hosted exchange students when I was a kid.  Half an hour on a teach yourself site and I quickly started thinking of a new course.

I had three years of Latin in junior high and two years of Spanish in high school.  I can remember very little of the former and some slang and swear words in the latter.  Swearing is fun, so Spanish it is.  Oh, and it's probably more practical.  If I ever make it to Argentina I'll be able to communicate, which is infinitely more likely than me attending a church service conducted in a dead language.

So, thanks, kiddo.  You've inspired me to abandon my monolinguistic ways.  I don't think I'll be catching up to you, but that's cool.  You can translate Chris and Lolo's Facebook updates for me.