Homework Helper

Poor Josh, he is definitely the one that we all have to turn to when we need to understand some French and we just can't get it! So, Josh comes home from work after having to listen to French all day with his co-workers and he then has to help the kids to understand what they need to do for their homework and to translate any papers that come home from school and need attention. I can do some of this with the help of a dictionary and/or an online translator but since Josh can understand the grammar so much better than the rest of us, it often still comes down to him. We are all getting better though so it shouldn't be all on him for too much longer. In fact, today, we surprised him by having all homework done when he got home from work! Quincy had a great time at his sleepover with Raphael last night. His parents are very, very nice and speak some English as well as being fluent in Spanish. Quincy said that Raphael's dad made the "best" pizza in the world with sauteed onions as the sauce, homemade crust, an egg, olives, fresh tomatoes, ham and cheese. When I picked up Quincy this morning, I was able to talk to Raphael's mom some and she told me how wonderful it is that Raphael gets the opportunity to work on his English with someone as nice as Quincy. She would also like to get to know the rest of us better and plans to invite us over for an apertif one day soon. The kids and I did a little clothes shopping again today. Tabitha has outgrown her warm jacket and since it has been only about 5 degrees Celsius each morning, she needs to have something warm to wear. That girl is now only about an inch shorter than me!
You know how the inclination is to often speak more slowly and louder to someone who doesn't speak your language? Well, I am starting to think that this truly does help! Max's soccer coach and a salesclerk in a store today said something that they wanted us to understand but not knowing any English, they just repeated it in a slower and louder voice and I was able to understand so much better when I didn't have to strain at all to hear above any extraneous noises.