When we first moved to France, I expected a few things: better bread, more vacations, and mandatory scarves. What I didn’t expect was how different the children would be.
Not different in a bad way. Just…less cool, I guess?
And I mean that in the most wonderful sense.
French kids, by and large, seem to maintain their innocence longer than their American counterparts. There’s less swagger and sass, fewer TikTok catchphrases. You’ll find more slightly-too-short jeans, more big round glasses, more quiet kids whispering about Harry Potter and obscure Pokémon evolutions.
At first, I’ll admit, I worried. Would my children turn out…uncool?
After all, being American comes with a certain cultural gravity. The world eats up our slang, our YouTube trends, our graphic tees and overpriced sneakers. French teens idolize U.S. pop stars. There’s a sense here that American childhood is one part musical, one part marketing campaign. Confident. Shiny. Branded.
But over time, something shifted.
I started to love the unpolished awkwardness. The nerdiness. The sweet enthusiasm for magical books, vintage toy collections, and playground games with too many rules and zero winners. Kids here don’t rush to grow up. They still hold their parents’ hands. They bring their stuffed animals with them to kindergarten. They get excited about school plays. They don’t try to walk like twenty-somethings when they’re eight.
And I realized: cool is overrated.
Cool is often just early self-consciousness. And the moment a child becomes self-conscious, a piece of wonder quietly slips out the back door.
That makes France a surprisingly good place to raise children. Because in our small village, the pressure to be cool isn’t just lower - it’s almost nonexistent. Fashion-wise, it’s less ‘mini influencer’ and more ‘whatever was clean and didn’t itch.’ And honestly? It’s perfect. It’s perhaps how the French developed their effortlessly chic fashion reputation.
There’s something oddly liberating about raising kids in a culture that isn’t in a rush to age them up. Where being earnest and imaginative isn’t something they’re expected to shed by third grade.
And what about my kids?
They’re thriving. They still love stories and art and make-believe. They draw castles and dragons. They narrate everything. They take magical hypotheticals very seriously. (I once heard a ten-minute argument about whether you’d be allowed to bring a pet dragon to Hogwarts)
And I’m not pushing them toward polish. I want them to live in this world - of wonder, of questions, of slightly-too-short jeans - for as long as they can.
Because there’s time for cool later.
For now? I’ll take the awkward. I’ll take the quirks. I’ll take the Harry Potter obsession, the weird French comics, and the sweet way they wave to their teacher every morning.
It’s not just cute.
It’s magic.
This is Part 1 of a new 4-part series: Raising Kids the French Way.
Over four posts, I’ll explore what it’s really like to raise kids in rural France - from bedtime culture and birthday parties to freedom, food, and friendships. The second half of the series will be available for paid subscribers.
Up next in Part 2:
(and what I learned from the French art of letting kids have a flexible sleeping schedule)
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Author’s Note: This post may be slightly controversial. If you disagree, don’t worry. Your kids are definitely cooler than mine. 😉
Late comment, but this just popped up in my scrolling (watching a movie with a sick kid). I don’t have a ton of research, but my American cousin and her French husband live in the countryside outside of Bordeaux. Her daughter who is nine still loves to play and has a great imagination, but they struggle that many of her French friends already have phones and are online quite a bit. I’m curious to see if I notice anything one way or another one we visit next summer.
Love this post and perspective! It's what childhood should be—lighthearted play, magical tales, creative imaginations.
And I think pet dragons are a no-no at Hogwarts. Ask Hagrid. :)