Spotting Mark at the playground is easy: he is the only kid who shouts “Oh, my GOD!” when he is annoyed, and “Oh, my GOODNESS!” when he is amazed. Yes, at 3.5 years old, Mark is breaking the French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols. Désolée. Fortunately, he has yet to learn the French translation, “oh mon Dieu!”, which is used by virtually no one in France because it’s old-fashioned—French are more likely to shout “merde,” “zut” or “putain.”
Mark didn’t learn the phrase from me (I’m a “putain” or “fuck” person), he probably pick it up at daycare. I find it kind of cute, and considering Mark’s love for churches, angels, and various saints, it fit just fine.
But these days, Mark isn’t so much into churches anymore. He’d rather go to the manège (carousel), the playground, and supermarkets (as long as he gets to buy a cake or juice). If anything, his church addiction turned into a museum addiction: he remembers the location of the various museums we visited in Nantes and begs us to “go check them out” every time we walk by. Gosh, I hope he isn’t into modern art. Visiting all these churches as an atheist was hard enough, if now I have to explain to him art I don’t get in the first place…
The end of the church addiction became clear when we visited the Parc des Oblates, an unexpected green oasis hidden in Sainte-Anne, close to the city centre. It is actually a former Sisters’ convent’s garden. For years, the nuns were self-sufficient: cows, sheep, and poultry were raised on the small farm and they also grew fruits and vegetables.
There are still 45 Sisters living in the building atop the hill, but a few years ago, they sold the land to the city. It was turned into a public park with a community garden and it’s open to the public.
Despite the church-like building, the Nuns’ cemetery and a few religious statues, Mark didn’t even utter the word “church”. Instead, he chased monsters with a stick, ran after butterflies and insisted on taking pictures of “so cute!” flowers.
Sorry God, I’m afraid this one will be an atheist too…
Mark!! That is v cute. I always correct my children at school with an ‘oh my goodness’ or an ‘oh my gosh’ and tell them, they may not believe in God and that is fine but we don’t say things in public that might offend others. As a result, over time, I never say it myself – it is like a weird habit or something.
Did you do that in the UK or Canada? I find that in Canada, “Oh, my God” is a super common thing to say, even I could say it. There are so many God-related expressions in English! I do find it cool you corrected the kids, though 🙂
How cute that he i obsessed with museum after churches. Shows how cultured he is already 😉
Could be worse, he could be obsessed with spiders or something 😉
Nope, just monsters! And yet he tells me I shouldn’t be too scared, because obviously he protects me 😆
Hi Zhu! As a Catholic (you know), I always find your way of referring to your atheism just lovely 🙂
And Mark is cuter than ever!
Greetings from Italy!
Hello! I was thinking of you after the earthquake, I hope your loved ones are safe. This is so sad…
My brother took a trip to Italy (close to Bologna), he absolutely loved it. Thank you for this awesome country on his behalf! 😉