Ireland and France were playing in the 6 nations tournament at the week-end. Not against each other thankfully. However I've already been reminded that they will face each other in a few weeks and that, of course, France will loose ( We'll see about that...).
On Saturday, Ireland was playing and we dressed the boys with the Irish jersey, even if we knew they wouldn't really care about the game. I didn't care about it either, I'm not a rugby fan. All of this was really to please the husband...
During the game, we tried to make our 2 and a half years old son say " Come on Ireland!", just for the laugh. He's at the age where he repeats everything we say ( which is NOT a good thing sometimes...), so it was pretty easy to make him say that. He enjoyed it so much he was shouting " Come on Ireland" all over the house.
The following day, France was playing, so of course I tried to make him say " Allez la France" (Come on France!). Would you believe he didn't want to say it !!! There I was, telling him to repeat, and all his answers were " No! Come on Ireland" or " No, no France". I was quite disappointed to say the least.
Then, it sort of hit me. I know he's only young and doesn't grasp the concept of nationality yet, but the way it's going, he will quickly become more Irish than I will ever be. After all, he goes to an Irish childminder, the TV is in English, his dad talks to him in English and I'm the only one speaking French to him. We only go to France once a year and to Mauritius (my husband's native country) every 2 or 3 years. It's not like my two boys know a lot about our home countries...
So, will my kids feel they are more Irish than French or Mauritian ? I think they will, but I also think it's our duty as parents to make them learn about their roots, so that they don't forget where they come from. They may not always be interested to learn, but hopefully, one day they will thank us (Now I sound like my mother, which is pretty weird...)
I will do it, even if it I have to repeat 20 times " Allez la France"! And I'm happy to say that after two days of trying, my little one has finally said it -well, after giving me a cheeky look and whispering " Come on Ireland" in my ears-
