Daughter 1 sets off for university in Lyon in less than two weeks, how time flies, it only seems a moment since we were dropping her off at the infant school every morning…but it has made me realise how cunning parents in the UK are.
Bacs and brevets are over and it’s fun time for the children so daughter two is heading to England for a week of fun with a couple of Dutch friends. I’m not sure what Mrs B said to her brother and family to convince them to put up with a group of teenage girls but [...]
“Imagine there’s no tax specialists, it isn’t hard to do. No bankers or accountants, no politicians too…” As children pass through the education system in France they are usually expected to know at a pretty young age what career they want to pursue, so they can choose the appropriate course and subjects. Sounds reasonable, but [...]
The big dilemma in our lives at the moment is helping older daughter decide where to go to university, and so far we’ve not been much use. The first decision is whether England or France is the ‘best’ option and there doesn’t seem to be an easy answer…each have their own merits, and expats with [...]
I guess parents with school age children in any country have noticed that there is suddenly a point when the children stop asking for help with their homework – either because they have given up doing any homework at all, or because they know you won’t be any help even if they do ask. I [...]
One curious phenomenon about expats in France, at least the ones we know, is that their children reach a certain age – typically about 13 to 15 years old – and then start talking about ‘going home’. Not all, but a pretty high percentage, seem to like the idea of going to university in the [...]
Growing up in south Wales my school’s ‘preferred’ sport was rugby. Not preferred by me because I was always a bit small and pathetic and didn’t particularly enjoy being thrown to the floor by lads twice my size, but perhaps it taught me something that prepared me for life ahead – such as the wonders [...]
Mrs B is on a holiday business trip to explore Alsace this week. I’m not sure yet if Colmar in the rain counts as a great pleasure but the result is that I am home alone with the girls. Nothing easier, you might think. As I did, picturing a week of leisurely cycling, and quietly [...]
We’ve reached that scary time in every parent’s life where a son or daughter is 16 years old and thinks it would be a good idea to learn how to drive, so we’ve been finding out the rules for teenagers learning to drive in France. Think ‘stress’ and ‘expense’ and you will be pretty close. [...]
We’ve just got past one of the little hurdles that come along every now and again – this time, helping younger daughter to find a place where she can do her ‘work experience week’ in February. These weeks are, in principle at least, quite a good idea – every 14 year old spends a week [...]
We are under pressure today – we have to decide whether the children should receive the H1N1 flu jab. The school have sent a letter home that we must return today marked with our intentions so they can go ahead with planning. Does anyone know the ‘best’ answer? The risk of the illness turning serious [...]
Both our daughters would be considered bi-lingual and chatter away or read and write in either French or English with no difficulty – preferring French with each other and English with us old folks who struggle to keep up with their teenage blabberings in French. Eldest daughter is even doing a literary BAC, which involves [...]
The rentrée – return to school after the holidays – takes on a significance in France that it doesn’t have in the UK, or perhaps elsewhere, so I thought I’d give a quick run-down of what it’s all about. It’s always a stressful time when the summer holidays come to an end – not for me [...]
This week Mrs B is away stamping her carbon footprint on the gardens of Normandy so I have the sheer joy of a week at home alone with the girls (aged 15 and 13). The end of the school year is always a busy time, with numerous exhibitions, spectacles and events to, errr, enjoy, and [...]
The second, and I’m sure much anticipated, tale from lycee. …either my daughter has mastered the art of subtle overstatement that I aim for, or things are rather worrying. It appears that the ‘we all work very hard at school’ post will have to wait until next week. The ‘blocus’ referred to is a blockade [...]