One woman I know left for France about 8 years ago, married a Frenchman there, and now she comes to Russia only 2-3 times a year to see family and friends. Maria has two grown children and grandchildren here who are always eagerly awaiting the arrival of French grandparents.
According to Maria, the French and Russians have different mentality. In France, the relationship between grandchildren and the older generation is completely different. Russian grandparents provide for their descendants until their very last years, this is the way we do. But there is another disadvantage. Very often, young people simply sit on their necks, and are not even in a hurry to work. And in France, every person who turns 18 becomes independent and leads an independent life. And no one is counting on parents, and even more so grandparents.
Therefore, as soon as the child becomes an adult, parents begin to equip their own lives. In Russia, a woman after 50 years often turns into a grandmother. She does housework, knits socks and scarves, sits with her grandchildren. In France, 50 years is the heyday of a second youth for a woman. There is a lot of experience behind him, and now there is more time to live for yourself.
French women start to paint, dress fashionably, go to stylists, beauticians. Their looks allow them to even take to the catwalk. Over the years, French women become like expensive wine! Such well-groomed, look expensive, gain taste, become more interesting.
Often, after fifty years, French women find their love, or they flare up feelings for their spouse even more. And no one, absolutely no one pays attention to age!
Have you ever seen an elderly couple kissing on the street in Russia? Well, tell me, this is a great rarity, isn't it? But in France there are a lot of them. Grandparents in France do not sit with their grandchildren, for this there are nannies and kindergartens, and pensioners are busy with their lives. Elderly parents will not look after their granddaughters while their children go to visit, to a friend's wedding or to the club. And no one is offended by this, because it is customary for everyone.
And in France, it is customary to call old people to warn them about a visit. With open arms, no one will wait for children and grandchildren there, bake pies and pies and set tables, knit sweaters for kids, etc. - no one will do that either. No, French retirees love their grandchildren. They will play with them, and invite / come to visit, and present gifts. But the meetings will be a maximum of 3 times a month, not more often, or even less often. And it even happens that grandparents generally start to forget about their grandchildren, because they live for themselves!
There are so many activities in France that are specially designed for a population over 50 years old. So the French lead an active lifestyle, and they just have no time to get bored. Traveling is one of the common activities for the French. As they age, they try to make up for what they missed in their youth.
Maria herself is incredibly happy that she once left to live in France. She believes that in this country, pensioners are given the chance to live life to the fullest, and not just grow old, as is the case in Russia. The only thing is that she just cannot understand why it is impossible to combine both an active lifestyle and meetings with grandchildren. After all, sometimes it is very difficult to raise children without outside help!
Russian people live for procreation. For them, children are the meaning of life. For the French, children are just the fruit of love, and then independent independent people. At a certain stage, children and parents are connected, and then their paths diverge. The French live by one principle: if you want to become happy, become independent!
Maria says, despite the fact that she rarely sees her grandchildren, there is very great love between them, they correspond online, often call each other. And her grandchildren also have a Russian grandfather - Maria's ex-husband. He somehow does not really reach out to his grandchildren, although in theory, based on the mentality, he should spend day and night with his grandchildren. But on it, apparently, the system crashed.
Why do grandchildren love Maria and her French husband more? But it's all about love and self-respect. French pensioners do not give up on themselves after 50, do not register themselves as old people. They age beautifully. They are not young, but they don’t knit socks either, they just take care of themselves, lead an active lifestyle, live enjoying themselves.
Do you think the Russians should also adopt a similar lifestyle from the French?
The original article is posted here: https://kabluk.me/poleznoe/chem-russkie-pensionery-tak-otlichajutsya-ot-francuzskih.html
