Instilling Britishness

It's not easy being the sole English/British element of Lydia's daily life as she grows up in Switzerland. All day she is surrounded by French: my wife and her family and friends; the crèche she attends twice a week; the TV and most of her books, and of course everyone else she meets or interacts with in the outside world. Well, it's what you would expect really, given that we live in a French-speaking area of Switzerland.

So, the enormous task of instilling the British spirit into my daughter, from the traditional stiff-upper-lip and politeness to discussing the weather and standing patiently in queues, is all down to me. I am responsible for making sure Lydia knows her heritage, and that at least some of my own upbringing rubs off on her. I think my parents did a pretty good job in raising me, so if I can be at least half as good a parent to Lydia then I will be happy.

But how can you make sure the British influence is present in such a francophonic environment?

Well, it isn't easy. During the week I only see Lydia in the evenings after work, usually for around of 2 hours before she goes to bed. I try to spend the whole time engaged in conversation, asking her questions and prompting her responses in English.

I'm trying to teach her the difference between French and English, to help her understand why I don't use the same words as my wife, and to explain that her Daddy comes from a different country entirely. I think she has started to grasp the fact that England is not in Switzerland, and she knows that she has to get on an airplane when we want to go to see her Nanny and Grandad. When I ask her where Nanny and Grandad live, she says "England", so at least that's a start.

I have just recently started to try a new technique, working on the British identity. For her 2nd birthday a couple of weeks ago, Lydia was given a chalkboard by my parents, and we have spent a fair bit of time drawing different objects, kind of a guessing game for her to play. Whilst doing this the other day I doodled a castle, and then drew the Union Jack flag (bottom-left in the photo).

Lydia asked me, "C'est quoi?" (what's that?), and I replied that it was called the "Union Jack", and that it is the flag of the United Kingdom, where her Nanny and Grandad live. She seemed to grasp this idea quite well, as when we looked at the photo on my phone a couple of days later she said, "ça, c'est Nanny and Grandad". Step 1 complete.

We are already working hard on the politeness side of things, making sure Lydia says "please" and "thank you" when she wants something. This is part of normal growing up, but I can count it as part of her semi-British upbringing.

As she grows up I will start bringing in mini history lessons, discussing the rich tapestry of British history. When she is a little bit older I also plan to take her to some of the museums in London, as the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are fascinating places to spend the day. OK so this isn't entirely focused on Britain, but everything is written in English so at least she will get to practise that.

One thing is for sure, I will do whatever I can to make sure Lydia knows she is part-English, and that she understands where her Daddy comes from.

C'MON ENGLAND!

With the kick off approaching for the Euro 2012 football championship, I've been coaching Lydia to support her English heritage.

Lydia getting behind the boys from England!

Fortunately there hasn't been any conflict of interest with her Swiss family, as the Swiss national team won't be involved in the tournament (partly thanks to England beating them in qualification). I've therefore been free to drape Lydia in the St. George flag as much as I wanted to!

My little England supporter

We might have a weakened squad, and I can't really see us beating any of the big teams (Spain, Germany, Italy and Portugal, maybe not even France!) but Lydia and I are ready to give our full support to the English team.

C'MON ENGLAND!!

A Very Merry Mockmas

As mentioned in my last post (Countdown to Mockmas), at the beginning of December we headed over to England to celebrate our Christmas before Christmas, affectionately named Mockmas. This meant taking Lydia on her third flight to my home land - what a little jetsetter!



How to get a baby through
the security checkpoint

Admittedly the flight over wasn't as easy as it could have been, as Lydia was not in a good mood. A squirming, whinging baby does not make for good company on a flight, even if it was only for an hour and a half.

Needless to say, it was quite a relief when we landed and got off the plane.

Lydia cheered up straight away, even managing a nice big smile for her Nan when she picked us up at the airport.

A day of shopping was on the cards for Chris and I during our first full day in England, getting those last-minute presents for the family ready in time for Mockmas.



Lydia with her
great aunt Ruby

 In the afternoon, Ruby and Jack - my mum's aunt and uncle and therefore Lydia's great great aunt and great great uncle - came over for tea. We don't get to see them often, although my brother James had invited them to his wedding in the summer, and it was great to see how happy she was while giving Lydia a cuddle.

We had arranged this get-together for a while, and we could tell Ruby was looking forward to it. When arranging a time for her to come round, my mum had said "come round any time from 3pm", to which Ruby had replied, "I'll be there AT 3pm!".

She also gave her a Christening bracelet, which is something Lydia will be able to keep as a souvenir throughout her life. Aaaaah... :)
 

Congratulations James & Kelly

Following on from my last blog, we all headed over to England for the wedding of my brother James and his fiancée Kelly.


The bride and groom

 It was a fantastic day that everyone seemed to really enjoy. The ceremony at Sopwell House in St. Albans was both beautiful and humorous, and even the reading I did ("Blessing for a marriage") went off without a hitch.

The aperitif after the ceremony was great, with delicious amuse bouches and champagne (or Pimms for the more traditional English-types). It was interesting to go from the ceremony room to the conservatory and veranda where the aperitif was held as the corridor between the two is lined with signed football shirts in frames.

It turns out the Sopwell House has been used to host various international football teams over the years (including a number of England squads), with the players relaxing in the luxury rooms and making full use of the spa treatments.

Fortunately, the weather held out for the whole day, as it was cloudy with some sunny patches but absolutely no rain (amazingly for an English wedding!). It meant the happy couple were able to take the wedding photos outside in the lovely gardens of the house.

Growing up too fast?



Lydia playing with Bugs

It's been a whole month since my last post. Lydia is now three months old and seems to change a little bit with each passing day. Time has simply flown by, and I am beginning to understand why people always say you should enjoy every moment with your child because they will be grown up before you know it.

Ok, so Lydia is still a baby. It's not like she has suddenly started walking, dressing herself, taking whatever she wants out of the fridge, and so on and so forth. She still needs us to do everything for her, and as such is still as helpless as the day she was born.

However, she is growing up fast. Over the last few weeks since my last blog entry Lydia has started to get much stronger. We can see her trying to sit up a bit whenever we have her laying down in our arms. She is also getting closer to being able to roll over. We lay her down on her back, she kicks her legs up in the air and rolls onto her side. At the time of writing, she hasn't quite managed to roll all the way onto her front yet, but I think that will come in the next few days.

Mothers Day Surprise

Whilst in England for the Christmas holidays, Hayley – my brother Adam’s fiancée – discretely suggested the idea of me popping over to surprise my mum for Mothers’ Day in March. I thought this was a brilliant idea, and would be a great opportunity for me to get some revenge for the surprise leaving party they had organized for me in September last year.

The idea would be for me to get a flight over and make my way to my parents’ house without my mum knowing, and then to nonchalantly walk into the living room as if my being there was a normal, everyday occurrence. I knew this would be a big surprise for my mum, and was very excited at the prospect of making Mothers’ Day something special this year – it would certainly beat the normal gift of flowers or Daim bars.