When the boys are away

My husband and son are out of town for a soccer tournament, and my 10 year-old daughter and I are having a girls’ weekend while they’re away. We are celebrating our together time with bad pop music, potato chips, dinner at Tropical Smoothie, and Cajun French fries while we watch Cupcake Wars.

My daughter and I are spending the weekend laughing, singing, and smacking gum when we get in the car and listen to K92 radio (All The Hits!).

My favorite part, besides the together time with her, is that I got hooked on Duolingo this week. It’s an app that helps you learn languages. For free. I’m freshening up my Spanish for a trip to Mexico in March, and I’m also dipping my toes in Portuguese since three of my teammates and one of my closest friends at work are Brazilian.

I’ve been playing with languages every day, and yesterday, as I practiced “I am a woman” in both Spanish (Yo soy una mujer) and Portuguese (Eu sou uma mulher), it occurred to me how much our daughter loves to learn and to push herself. I told her about Duolingo, thinking she might find it fun.

Now, she is snuggled under a blanket on the couch, with kitties in her lap, and as I write this, she is learning Italian. Every few minutes I hear her speak Italian into her iPod — “Sono una regazza” — and then trumpets blare as she earns points.

“Mom, I’m 2% fluent in Italian now!”

That’s my girl.