My Lovely Daughter
There is
a defining moment in every mother's life. It happened to me this week, when I
was wandering in Paris with my teenage daughter, making the most of a short
break. She was getting a lot of attention, and it made me feel even more invisible.
This is yet more evidence that I have passed my sell-by date. Life is tough. I
wanted to shout at passers-by that she is only 13 and, basically, just a kid, but it didn't seem to bother them. What a bunch of perverts! She was offered a
seat on a busy train, and politely declined. The young man insisted. Men were
holding doors for her, and smiling stupidly at every possible opportunity. To
be fair, it didn't seem to bother her and it looked like she didn't even notice
their pathetic efforts. It must have driven them crazy. Good girl!
I thought
that they would be discouraged when they would see her mouth full of lovely
blue braces stuck on her teeth (by the way, they are costing a fortune) but,
again, they didn't seem to care.
Don't get
me wrong, she is beautiful and I am a proud mum but, come on, French men need
to be restrained !
I also
had a couple of guys asking me out, just like that, on the street. I had
completely forgotten that French men were so warm-blooded. In fact, I am not
sure that I remember how to deal with such attitudes. I had completely
forgotten about them. The thing is, I don't believe in stereotypes and I hate
to generalise. That said, I had to admit that I was surprised (and not
necessarily in a good way) by all the attention we had.
What is
going on? It simply didn't feel right. Are French men more sexist than their
British counterparts? I really wonder. How come I didn't really notice when I
was living in Paris? Maybe we have become more British than we thought.
So, where does this leave us? Well, I
don't know. That's not entirely true. The last couple of days in Paris made me
realise that we don't belong there any more. What a difference a few years make!
Yeah maybe it was there before but you were anesthetized to it. Or maybe you've become more sensitive now because you're being mama bear to your beautiful, blooming daughter? Possible. In any case, I say just enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteoo la la.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they are exactly what you think- but you had the wedding ring in clear sight !
ReplyDeleteI think that my inner lioness is waiting for the next opportunity to have a go at one of these silly French guys!
ReplyDeleteI hope that it is only in big cities then. It really felt uncomfortable. How do you deal with it?
ReplyDeleteI have to say that such attitudes took me by surprise.
ReplyDeleteI think that I have become more British than I thought.
Indeed. That said, i didn't really enjoy the unwanted attention.
ReplyDeleteI know that it sounds nice, but believe me, it wasn't. It was just too much.
ReplyDeleteIf that is your daughter above she is truly beautiful and certainly doesn't look 13! Having a British mother and spending some time in England I do feel that British in general are more reserved and the continent less so. Around here people would be advising her dad to keep the shot gun loaded!
ReplyDeleteI ouldn't worry too much..my daughter is beautiful too, but she, like your daughter, has her head screwed on!
ReplyDeleteThank you -she is indeed very beautiful. British men are more reserved. What a blessing!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that they will stay this way!
ReplyDelete