I loved the French language so much in high school that I had every intention of making it a permanent part of my life and my career.
Obviously, it worked out, cuz … I blog so French-ish-ly.
Anyhow, when I was schoolin’ myself with all the oui’s and non’s, I took a little trip over to Paris with about a dozen other girls and one chaperone, the French teacher.
Pretty sure that a 1:12 chaperone ratio wouldn’t fly by today’s standards all the way to Europe!
What the flying Frenchmen were my parents thinking? Because look at me! I was like a stupid baby standing outside Maxim’s in Paris.
Paris!!!! As in France!
At age not-old-enough!
I mean come on mom and dad, there were strange foreign men hitting on everyone but me because I was an infant us as we dined at outdoor cafes.
One thing I definitely wasn’t prepared for though was how to manage money. Let’s be honest, I wasn’t prepared stateside either, but in France I was a mess.
Because I got suckered into stupid street market purchases that robbed my French francs before their time, and I ended up eating soup broth for most of the trip while the other girls were dining on fancy this and thats and wine. Lotta wine.
By our last dinner, I didn’t even have enough to pay for my gruel.
Why do I bring this up? Because my parents never realized how important it was to teach me how to save, spend, and earn money responsibly, and I entered my adulthood completely ignorant of those important skills.
The result was that I didn’t know I should have insurance or an emergency savings fund, and I quickly fell into enormous debt from which it took half of my adult life to emerge.
As a recently divorced woman, my financial future rests solely on my own shoulders, and I take it extremely seriously, so I’m extraordinarily grateful for the financial advice and resources Genworth provides for women like myself, married couples, retired folks, and even young adults starting out.
Please, please teach your kids how to manage their money wisely. They will thank you for it later, I promise you, because my kids have already thanked me.
And…about that France trip… I have to admit that it was pretty freakin’ cool to see everything we saw. (Even as a penniless baby.)
Le Fin
This Parisian bit of history was inspired by a campaign with Brandfluential for GENWORTH.
You look so young! I was in a French speaking place (Switzerland) at that age. I loved it.
Awww…Paris is still one of my favorite places of all time!