Babyhood

School is going very well for both children. Kevin is a lot more chatty about his teacher and friends: Lucas is a new one we often hear about. He really enjoys his canteen lunch on Thursdays and if I ever want a whole day off, Pauline can go to lunch with Clément and his mother, so I could out out to Carrefour for example, and not be in a rush to get back

Poor Nathalie fell off a bike and broke her kneecap last August while on holiday, so I hadn’t seen her for ages because she had to spend a month or so at her parents as she was unable to walk or look after her three children. Now she’s at home again and out of plaster but has to wear a leg brace till Christmas and is not allowed to drive, although she can walk and indeed, has to go up and down the stairs several times a day. A neighbour takes Arnaud to and from school every day (she couldn’t put Gabriel in school because he’s still in nappies), and her husband takes her shopping and to her music lessons.

Last Thursday Pauline and I went to her house for lunch (I made a fab meal and took it with me), as Kevin and Arnaud had lunch at their respective canteens. We had a nice, relatively quiet time with the little ones. Baby Emma slept most of the time unfortunately, but Pauline and Gabriel played well together and really enjoyed their lunch. I gave them crêpes and ham to roll up themselves, and grapes and sweetcorn which they ate with their fingers. We had onion and egg tartelettes, crêpes with tuna and green pepper filling and hollandaise sauce, and home-made ginger ice-cream for dessert. It was delicious and Nathalie really enjoyed the home cooking.

We spent hours talking and I really got to know her a lot better. We’d like to go to London together for a weekend in a year or so, when Emma is older and leave our children with their fathers. Anyway, Emma was wearing the little red Bobux leather slippers which I bought in NZ last February. Nathalie is delighted with them and would love a bigger pair for next year. I wonder if you could try and get another pair in the medium or large size? The ones she has now are red with tartan bows, so perhaps you could get a different design, if there is another feminine style. No navy blue or brown please! The poor child wears enough boys’ hand-me-downs as it is!!

We had a rather exciting weekend as the “Moret in 1900” fair was held on Saturday. The old city was closed to traffic and there were food and souvenir stalls, the locals in period costume, horses, music and parades. A group of young drama students disguised as monsters leaped and danced among the crowds and quite alarmed Kevin and Pauline. They liked the merry-go-round, the ice-cream and the animals best, and spent ages patting a donkey.

It felt like autumn already, but luckily the rain held off until the afternoon. We met Pauline’s teacher Thérèse dressed up in a long purple dress with a crinoline and floppy hat. I held Pauline up so she could say hello but she didn’t recognise her at first and it took a few seconds, after she heard the teacher’s voice, for her to realise who it was. I was laughing out loud as I saw the look on Pauline’s face change from bewilderment to recognition, to a big smile. She said “Oh! You’ve got a dress, you look pretty!” to Thérèse, who usually wears trousers at school.

On Sunday morning P. drove us to Fonty for the Fête du Cheval which was quite spectacular. There were lots of horses, more people in costumes, a fake king, François 1er in a grand carriage, and a brass band in the parade. Even tiny children on their ponies were dressed up in lovely costumes.

Unfortunately there were frequent heavy showers, so by midday we escaped for lunch in a cafeteria, so no cooking for me. In the afternoon, between showers, I took Kevin on his bike for our almost daily ride to the Petit Chemin behind the cemetery to pick little black grapes which have grown unchecked in an old, abandoned garden. But most of the grapes will go to waste as the vines have climbed right up the apples trees and are too high to be picked. Last week I picked 3 kilos of grapes and made them into jelly. There are also apples and quinces. Kevin still has stabilisers on his little bike but as I walked behind him I could see he doesn’t really need them anymore. The problem is psychological – when we took the stabilisers off, he panicked and wouldn’t get on the bike!

Not much gardening news to report. I should get out and weed the flower beds of course, but that just doesn’t appeal with all the rain we’ve been having. My tomatoes and sweet corn are long gone and I have sown spinach in the empty beds which is supposed to act as a natural fertiliser. The theory is that it prevents the weeds coming up too fast, we can hopefully eat some of it and dig the rest directly into the soil, thus replenishing the minerals etc. ready for next spring. We shall see. I’ve only parsley and parsnips now. Kevin’s carrots are still teeny. We had some surprise raspberry canes that shot up in the far left corner by the lilac and there are a few late berries which the children will gobble up as soon as they find them.

The latest advance on the “where do babies come from?” front is that Kevin, after having looked at friend Mallorie’s big tummy for a long time, finally asked how the baby is going to get out! I’m delighted he asked such a logical question! Which reminds me, I may have to take a crash course in midwifery pretty soon, as her policeman husband is on a training course in Fonty at the moment and the baby is due any time but depending on the time of day he may not be able to accompany Mallorie to the hospital. Being a policeman is like being in the armed forces, they can be very strict and harsh about taking leave. She doesn’t have many friends in the region and apart from me, none who have already had babies. So I told her to ring me if she’s on her own when she goes into labour, even if it’s the middle of the night. Of course I hope Patrick can get away, but I’d be honoured to be present at the birth, it would be very exciting.

Both children are at 'maternelle' or nursery school now, four days a week, and it’s going very well for both of them. Kevin is a lot more chatty about his teacher and friends. Pauline enjoyed it all right from the start, was excited to be going and didn’t mind not being with Kevin. She loves to hang her cardigan up on her peg in the cloakroom and even though it’s only marked with her name and no picture, she can identify the letter P by herself, much to her teacher’s surprise. At lunch time on the first day she told us all about it: they held hands and stood in a big circle, they played The Little Train, she had a biscuit and some juice, there was music and the teacher was nice. I went to the first parent-teacher meeting on Saturday morning, we heard about each school day in great detail and the trips and parties planned for the year. Each day is highly structured and I think it’s a very good discipline, especially for Pauline, who is a bit of a monster at home at the moment. She’s sleeping better at night now, but still getting up at between 5 and 6 am every day, which is just too early for me! She really fights me over getting dressed and brushing teeth, finishing meals, etc. But once she’s at school she’s a little angel! Kevin will have swimming lessons with his whole class in January and I will probably be asked to go and help the children get dressed. They need one mum for every five children and the classes are big this year (24 or 25 children in each).

I’ve been doing a bit more housework with my new-found freedom, but sport is my priority. I’ve had some lovely bike rides along the canal in between rain showers. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning I go for a brisk (i.e. exhausting) walk with friend Patricia and her huge dog. She has taken me to parts of the region, past fields and lakes that I’ve never seen before. Then I rush to get lunch ready and pick up the kids from school. Then have to take them back at 1 pm and pick them up again at 4 pm. Of course I walk to and from school four times a day, but take the bus with the children. By evening I’m exhausted, but am sleeping soundly!

Last week I took the kids to the "beach" at Varennes sur Seine, i.e. a big lake with a small artificial beach (real sand though!). It was so nice, because there were enough trees and grass close to the water's edge so that I could be in the shade and watch the kids playing in the water. They really turn heads in their New Zealand anti-skin cancer swimsuits!

We had a delicious picnic and then I lay back and dozed. I was happy and they were happy so it was a perfect afternoon. However Pauline kept interrupting my doze - every now and then she found a pickled onion floating in the water, so she came running to show me! I pointed out a rubbish bin and she proudly ran over to throw it in! This happened about four times, I was laughing my head off. Talk about weird, someone must have lost their lunch literally!

On the weekend I took the children for a walk near the railway embankment and we came across some plum trees that didn't seem to belong to anybody and lots of wild blackberries, so we spent a happy morning picking fruit. It always tastes better when it's free! Later I made a gorgeous pie, wish you could taste it.

Last Wednesday was very hot and sunny again, we’re having a lovely Indian summer. We went fruit-picking (apples, plums, yellow raspberries) with Sarah and her sister visiting from Australia and of course Nina and Flynn. I prepared a fabulous picnic – the children had sausage sandwiches, chippies and nectarines, even after stuffing themselves with apples and raspberries before hand.

And we adults had courgette quiche, ham sandwiches with my red pepper and onion chutney, and for dessert, rich chocolate cake with bits of candied orange peel. It was divine! We even remembered to bring thermoses of hot water and cold milk for tea and coffee.

We stayed all afternoon at our little lake with the ducks and fish, but sadly the black swan has died. We saw it lying on the bank at the far side of the lake and a council man came and buried it under the fascinated gaze of the four children. Pauline and Kevin told me the swan was dead, but didn’t seem sad about it. They asked me why it had to stay underground!

With all the pregnant friends we have around at the moment I am preparing myself to answer the question “Where do babies come from?”, but so far they haven’t asked. They do like to pretend they have a baby in their tummy though, and often remind me that they were once in my tummy. Well, Pauline likes to say that she was in my tummy when she was a baby, but that Kevin was not!

Last Monday was actually an extraordinary day, quite apart from the emotions of starting school. The night before, P. and I had watched a silly sci-fi movie called Starship Troopers, featuring some giant killer insects on another planet. Well at 3 am after I’d got up for Pauline, I went for a drink of water in the kitchen and found a huge spider in the kitchen sink. It was definitely too large to be dealt with all by myself, so I left it for Pépé!

During the day P. was on the roof replacing the old crumbly tiles and a particularly brittle one snapped in his hands and sent a piece into his eye. As I wasn’t there to help, he threw a glass of water in his face and managed to get it out without causing any damage.

After school the kids and I were watering the vegie garden and I got stung on the hand by a bee or a wasp. I startled the neighbours with my screams because it’s the first time it’s happened to me and I would never have believed that it could hurt so much. My hand swelled up to an amazing size and is still sore a week later.

When the kids were in bed I went to take a shower and found a centipede in the bath. As I was brushing my teeth I heard an urgent whisper from P. “Psst! Come downstairs quickly!” I thought “Oh my God, what now?” and was afraid he was hurt in some way. I ran downstairs with my heart pounding, to find P. looking at a large toad in the basement! I told him to deal with it and went to bed! What an unforgettable day!

The week that Kevin was away staying with Méemée and Pépé was very hard on Pauline: she was waking several times every night and P. and I were exhausted. The worst night she got up six times – every two hours. Of course she was horrible during the day too, but would not or could not sleep. She didn’t seem unhappy but wouldn’t talk about Kevin, so was obviously unable to express that she missed him in any other way. So when Méemée and Pépé brought him home on the Sunday afternoon (and stayed the night) it was quite a relief.

She only (!) woke up twice that night, so I sent her to school on the Monday morning anyway. I didn’t want her to miss the first day and she seemed bouncy enough. It was a very exciting day, as you can imagine. Kevin is in the Grande Section this year of course and his teacher is Geneviève. Unfortunately Clément is not in his class this year but some of his other friends are.

Pauline is in the Petite-Moyenne Section because there are 28 children even younger than she in the Petite Section. She has a male teacher (le maître) called Pierre, who seems very nice, and I’ve heard lots of good reports about him from other mothers. He looks to be in his forties and is obviously very experienced, as he trains teachers at a training college in Melun on Thursdays and Fridays. So Pauline has a young woman maîtresse called Sandrine on those days. Then there are the auxiliaires Thérèse, who’s in Kevin’s first year school photo, and Danielle, who take the children to the loo, give them their snack, put them to bed for the afternoon nap etc.

Pauline enjoyed it all right from the start! She was excited to be going and didn’t mind not being with Kevin. She loves to hang her cardigan up on her peg in the cloakroom and even though it’s only marked with her name and no picture, she can identify the letter P all by herself, much to Pierre’s surprise. At lunch time she told us all about it: they held hands and stood in a big circle, they played “The Little Train”, she had a biscuit and some juice, there was music and the maîtresse was “gentille”.

Of course poor Kevin remains completely reticent about his experiences, not surprising with his father and French grandparents firing questions at him: Who’s in your class? What’s the maîtresse’ name? What did you do today? etc., etc. He just looked at his plate and would say nothing. I felt very smug later that evening when he was alone with me and told me quite spontaneously that he had had a nice biscuit, his maîtresse is called Geneviève and there are some boys in his class! Pauline was keen to go back for the afternoon session, and I agreed, because I was desperate for a nap! She had to lie down on a mattress like all the others, but we could tell she hadn’t slept because she was as grumpy as hell after school. However, the auxiliaire told me she slept very well on Thursday and Friday.

I’m sure you’re thinking I’m loving the free time, but it’s not quite as satisfying as it will be because P. has taken two weeks holiday to get DIY things done at home, so I haven’t got the house to myself. But it’s lovely to be able to walk home at my own speed and to prepare lunch and do the shopping without the children under my feet. I’ve got a long list of jobs to do, so I’m a bit giddy with the freedom and keep starting but not finishing various tasks! I hope to get into a proper routine when P. is back at work.