The Barlow Adventure

Maxi, Marcos and Abe

Tonight at dinner, Abe gave me his typical rundown of his day.  Out of nowhere,

Abe: "Mom, your spanish is much better now."

Me: "Thanks Abe.  I still have to work hard."

Abe: "Yes, but you know lots of words now, even more than Dad."

Me (thinking): Yeah right.  I have you fooled. At least I am no longer an embarrassment to the poor kid. "Thanks Abe."

You see, last year, Abe was playing a game with his friend on the floor.  

Midturn, he stops and asks: "Mom, will you say something in Spanish?"  

Me: "Why Abe? What do you want me to say"

Abe: "Just say anything."

Me (knowing right where this was going): "Abe just play your game."

Then Abe turns to his friend and says, "Mi mama habla castellano muy, muy malo." And then they laugh. Thanks Abe. 

So tonight after Abe's proclamation, I started asking him tell me how to say different phrases in spanish. The kids love this game.  I start with simple phrases and then increase the difficulty, just to push them and encourage Peyton.  Abe used a subjunctive conjugation and I asked him if he meant to use present tense, just to see how much of the language he understood.  He then gave me a 5 minute explanation, with examples, of why he meant to say it the way that he did.  

So for everything that has been difficult the past two years, this on the top of my list of reasons why it has been worth it.  When we first decided that Abe would not go to the english-speaking American School, we doubted our decision.  And when the boys in the class tackled him on the playground and put leaves in his pants because he couldn't speak spanish, I questioned our decision again.  But today, I know that we made the right choice for him.  Sometimes, I listen in awe and just can't believe how far they have come.