Babyhood

Sunday evening: I've just watched the All Blacks’ defeat at Twickenham. Like everyone else, I was sure New Zealand would win and I felt really disappointed by the outcome, especially as they played so well in the first half. But the emotions of the French players and commentators are quite infectious and I’m reminded of the euphoria of the world cup soccer final. I’m all on my own because P. took the children out this afternoon, so I appreciated being able to watch the match in peace. However it’s now past dinnertime and they are still not home, so I guess P. took them out for dinner and hope they got some nice Hallowe’en treats. It’s become incredibly commercial here. I carved a fantastic jack o’lantern from a huge pumpkin, not a scary face, but a smiley one with one tooth, like a baby. I prepared lots of little packets of home-baked cookies and truffles for the trick or treaters.

Tuesday: In fact P. kept the children out very late, he wanted to tire them out because Kevin has been waking up too damned early every day for the last week or so. It didn’t work, they woke up at 6 am again! So yesterday afternoon he took Pauline to his parents’ place a day earlier than planned, he felt he wouldn’t have the energy to do the long drive this evening after a day at work. Kevin, although excited about going to St Brieuc tomorrow was jealous of Pauline going to Mémée and Pépé, so we had quite a grumpy day. What’s more, I had strict instructions to keep him up very late last night and I read him stories for an hour at 9 pm even though his eyes were glazed and half closed! It worked though, he slept till seven this morning, which is much more reasonable.

So today we’ve had a busy day packing our bags and cleaning out the fridge so P. can stock up on ready-cooked meals. I’m cross with him because Kevin and I went to the market in the rain especially to buy a rosbif for lunch. Then he rang to say he wasn’t coming home! I cooked it anyway, but normally I just do sandwiches when the man of the house isn’t home.