Are French kids brought up differently to kids in England or were these just some super kids we met on holiday?

I often think on summer holidays “European” kids are generally better at swimming than those at home. Equally, I find that, by and large, they’re all far ruder to people and I’m often surprised by the complete lack of manners.

is a wee bit regional able? if my kid jamp in any of the (fuckin millionty availble)options,burns streams lochs ...is it even se(scotland)hed die. end of.theres no freedom in that.its fuckin freezing
also if my kid ate a sea urchin...i would fuckin boke,vomit sick in my mouth am not even google sea potato.queasy has over ruled
also.do you speak their language? "aw haaw he hw-lets go kamakazee of the cliff to prove they dont love us"(wow i am a BITCH today.
they led their lives.is fuquin fantastique your teen acknowledged/noticed.theres yer lesson learnt.keep it real

Ooooh you’ll be flamed for daring to suggest that some “sen” children are actually just very naughty NT kids 😂

yes, this is the same all over the Continent. This is how I was raised also in a country which no one thinks much of.

Not true. Actually the opposite. French families do supervise and do teach manners.

Having children like that isn't accident. It means the parents modelled to them that it was fun and that they were capable of diving into the water etc. If parents communicate fear, anxiety and a can't do attitude, then kids will follow their example and hang back, believing it is better not to join in. I would imagine you get both types everywhere.

I havent seen so many smacking episodes, but they do it and use the method or the thread that they will do it. Yes, also, French mothers do not accept nonsense from a young child and nip any such attemtp at the bud, by showing the amount of displeasure that will put off the kid from trying it again.

Our family live in France, and we have a few neices and nephews on that side that are being/were raised in France - so my experience is very limited and could be due to family personalities as opposed to a general French approach to parenting (before I get flamed!)

I agree they are tough kids. Will throw themselves into anything, very adventurous and never seem to fear much. They are also less likely to whinge..... however, I think its partly due to their parents' hands-off approach. They are far more laid back parents than we are (and we're certainly not typical MN helicopter parents and quite lax about some things!) and rarely ever intervene with their kids when, for example, a game they're playing is too rough or dangerous. I would say their kids are independent and there is a general expectation that the kids will figure it out themselves if they get into any bother. As a result, our nieces and nephews are pretty confident kids.

However..... the lack of adult supervision and intervention means they can be pretty rude at times! They aren't generally corrected for lack of manners and they can be quite nasty to each other during games (which my sensitive DS finds a bit alarming!)

Oh they exist. I knew many family of French SEN kids, they lack awareness and education in France. We are much further ahead and better at recognising it in the UK. The waiting lists to see ASD/ADHD specialists run into years.

Why would the need two hours?
My British kid ,s are happy to have a much shorter lunch break and therefor finish earlier .

I lived in both France and here now. These are two completely different worlds.
When was auparing in France, la vielle madame next door babysat sometimes a two year old and told him if he does not listen, you know what.

I have never met also special needs kids. When came here, all the kids are special needs.

Except the French adults I've met aren't all that, so not sure how those kids will turn out.
I au paired for a French family in Corsica (normal home Paris). I didn't find them tough or particularly adventurous. They did have a wider diet - which my kids do too as I rarely did the 'nuggets and chips' type meal so many of my friends fell back on. My kids were happy to try frog legs and snails at ages 7 and 9 (age when travelling in Belgium). Exotic to us but not the Belgians/French.
Our old neighbours were French. Four kids. They did have high academic expectations and were strict about the amount of food they were allowed to eat (the kids were always hungry when they came over). The one in my son's class was a bit of a tornado (every time he came over he broke something), bit the teacher the first day of reception. Another French family's kids would bully that family in French at school. The parents were very demanding and were eventually asked to leave (not my neighbours, and it was a private school).

Just spent a week away with lots of french holidaymakers. Observations were that French parents are very strict (mums particularly, lots of scolding). Saw at least 5 smacking episodes. Nearly all the young kids I saw had armbands on. Parents generally seemed quite stressy (mums and dads bickering with each other around the pool and in restaurants etc). Didn’t see many older French kids though, only young ones under 10 so parents generally quite young. I was a bit surprised tbh, I thought French parents would be quite relaxed but none of the ones we saw were, at all. Not much smiling going on at all.

You are correct. We visit France twice a year & French kids are much better at adapting to "adult" situations, don't expect kids menu etc..

I think French parents are big on extracurriculars & education. School is much more academic from an early age & French kids are expected to work very hard.

This. You should read the books, it's all very true!

On the eating side, that is definitely true. French kids are used to eating proper food, not 'kids food', and are not pandered to.
I am more surprised by the physicality side, which is not always typical. France seems to have extremes (either hyper sporty and go rock climbing every weekend, or the kids are not sporty at all). I think like others have said, they may live near the coasts or have very sporty parents.

AND THEY DRINK WINE

A (very drunk) French man in a restaurant in Montpellier once started crying because my (English) DCs were so wonderfully behaved and we were such a 'beautiful family'.

On this basis, I'm going to conclude they represent all UK children.

Just remembered the local school has a 2 hour lunch. The kids leave school and walk over to the town hall dining area where it's freshly served.

Yes, princess Charlotte has a running commentary of stuff that Louis should be doing every time you see them in public.

In other news, and in my experience Swiss kids are little shits and their parents are weak. Discipline is saying their name (which always ends in a vowel unless it’s Liam) in an exasperated voice.

indeed. And that ridiculous thread in Style and Beauty about dressing like a Parisienne. My eyes could not roll further back after reading that nonsense.

I take varying teas over to France - special brews from a place in Kensington as as well as more mainstream brands - they know they don't know how to make tea!
Apart from India - UK is the only country where you can get a decent tea as standard in my opinion.
In Turkey I was given apple tea with milk!

Italian kids live on processed junk as supermarket food is rubbish there. It’s why Childhood obesity in Italy is higher than the UK and why schools focus so much on food in school.

They’re all being good so when they grow up Papa will buy them a Renault Clio, just like he did for Nicole

These threads make me howl. I met two English/French/German children (insert nationality) and now think all children from that country are the same. WTF?