acquiescence

A: Maman, mon bottom il est itchy.
Me: Ton derrière te gratte, ma puce.

I paraphrase A's sentences back to her in French. The intent of course is to help with her French vocab, reinforce that this is the language I speak, and encourage her to use it too.

My mom used to do the same with the deaf children she worked with years ago, as I saw when I got to join them on field trips. Any means to encourage them to communicate was good.

Same method I used with the latino immigrants who were learning English with me: paraphrase it back in correct English to gently model the right sentence language without stopping the flow of conversation.

And the same method we use with toddlers when they start talking.

But last night I wondered if I would be less tuned into A if I didn't make a conscious effort to listen and mirror back accurately - still, now that she's 4. If that tuning into, and speaking it as if it were my own, didn't influence me a little to agree with her more than I otherwise would (the above example notwithstanding).

The parenting pendulum seems to have swung so far from distanced parenting into all-wrapped up parenting that I also wonder whether it's time to make sure I inject a little distance to let her come into her own more. She already is so sensitive to all the feelings around her, and I don't wish her soaking up all any more neurotic angst than is necessary.