Dear Maman

Our youngest is in 7th grade in our homeschool. She wanted to learn a foreign language this year - French - and since we already had "Tell Me More: French" from our oldest's high school days, she began using it.

It's working. The other day she started talking to me in French - and I hadn't a clue as to what she was saying. It's more than a little disconcerting to have your 12 year old speak to you in a language you don't understand.

Lately, she's been leaving me her wake-up request notes in a charming mix of English and French:

Dear Maman,

Si vous plait, wake moi up un heure avant le pumpkin farm.

Merci!

Aime,
R

And yes, we went to the pumpkin farm yesterday. But this year, it was just two parents and our French-speaking youngest. Quite the startling contrast to our trip to the same farm in 2002:

We had a very nice time on the bumpy hay ride out to the pumpkin fields, which were particularly beautiful this year. It was a good year for pumpkins; they were huge, and plentiful, and, from a distance, the big orange squashes dotted the fields like bright polka dots .

So today the kids go trick-0r-treating. As is our tradition, we'll serve up beef stew to the neighbors who pop in for a bite to eat, midway through the candy collecting.

Aime,

Maman