Saturday, September 11, 1999
Pauline’s First Day At Maternelle
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.
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.
# posted by Antipodeesse @ 12:59 pm 
