IAS 380R Babysitting

Large Cultural Proof

Yesterday I spent the whole day babysitting for two little French children. Célia is three and a half and Lucas is 15 months old. The day had a rigid schedule which we were able to successfully stick to, for the most part. I noticed many little differences in how they’re treated and raised compared to American children.
    We started the day with a breakfast of bread, butter, jam, or honey, organic fruit juice and rice cakes. Then at 10:00 we got out the stroller and went for a long walk to the harbor. Célia often has to go the the bathroom when we’re outside, and it’s customary for her to go in a bush, even if we’re near the house and there’s a bathroom just inside. After the walk Lucas had his bottle, which is prepared with breast milk, even thought he’s almost a year and a half old, he still nurses. He wasn’t at all interested in the bottle, and no matter how hard I tried to get him to take it, he cried for mommy and still wanted to nurse. Célia also takes bottles with organic cow’s milk. In those respects I thought it was interesting how much they’re treated like small babies; American babies would usually stop nursing at a much younger age than Lucas, and certainly most American three-year-olds wouldn’t be given a bottle. However, there are other aspects in which they are treated much more maturely than American children. For example, Célia is starting school this September. To me that seems much to early to start school, and I would think that would be an incredibly long and tiring day for a little girl. Her mom says she’ll start out just going in the morning and we’ll see how she does before sending her for a full day. It actually sounds more like a preschool, except that she’ll be in the same school with children much older than her.
    Lunchtime was another event in which they are expected to act more mature. They are expected to eat everything they’re given (even thought Célia rarely eats everything, and wants to be spoon fed like her baby brother) which is normal, almost adult size portions of some mild food like soup or veggies. Everything is prepared without salt and nearly everything is organic. After the battle over anything green, they are both given a piece of fruit or a yogurt for desert, something an American child would probably protest. Then at 13:00 it’s time for everyone to take a nap. Célia takes her naps and sleeps at night with a diaper instead of the panties she normally wears during the day. I found their naps to be unusually long: they were expected to stay in their rooms and sleep from 13:00 to 15:00-17:00. They’re never woken up early, like many mothers would do in the US for fear that if they nap too long they won’t be able to sleep that night. Their mom says if they’ll sleep a long time, let them. But I find that it makes going to bed at night much more of an ordeal for them. For example, Célia napped yesterday from 13:20 until 17:30. That’s over 4 hours. Come bedtime she was merciless, and cried from her room for almost an hour, which is much longer than normal. However it’s true that little kids need lots of sleep, and it’s interesting to see the different cultural methods, tactics, or beliefs behind the “best” way of doing things.
    After their naps it’s time for a big bottle for them both and then c'est l'heure de “goûter.” Goûter is a sweet snack eaten between the hours of 4 and 6pm. It is always something sweet, and for the kids it usually comprised of compote (like applesauce made with various kinds of fruit) and a cookie. After goûter we play for a couple of hours (playtime doesn’t differ much from typical American playtime) and then it to the table for dinner. Again, the kids are expected to eat well because if they don’t, there won’t another chance for the rest of the day. Eating is a ritual that is done only at the table and has a definite start and a definite finish, and everything in between is done in a certain order. So when they’re told they’ll go to bed hungry if they don’t eat at the table, they know that’s true. Dinner might be soup or vegetable or a little bit of meat, like lunch, but they get a piece of cheese if they eat well and also a little desert of compote or yogurt.