Babyhood

It's now Friday and it's been the most miserable and lonely holiday I think we've ever had. Poor Kevin is naturally very frustrated. We did let him walk around a bit yesterday because he seemed so much better, but by afternoon he was limping and crying again, so now he's firmly back in the wheelchair. If we take him to the beach, he can only stand in the shallow waves or sit in the sand digging, and sadly watching all the other children splashing and having great fun.

Luckily P. had enrolled Pauline in a kind of "Yachting for babies" class with the local yacht club. A young woman called Coralie puts life-jackets on Pauline and four other small children and takes them out on her boat for two hours every morning! She absolutely loves it, as they catch fish and crabs and do a nature study class on the water. I felt quite nervous about the idea of my wee girl going off in a small sailboat like that, but the weather conditions have been very calm, and she's enjoying it so much. I mustn't be a wet blanket! Also, the instructor is properly trained in boat safety, of course.

Otherwise, I spend most of the day trying to entertain Kevin in non-physical ways. There is an internet club here, with six computers, so he has spent an hour every morning playing very basic educational games. There is no television or video, unfortunately, but there is a library, so we read a lot. I've just about exhausted the stock of books and games I had packed for wet days. He is really good at Snap, dominoes and Memory now! I feel like screaming with boredom though and wish we were at home where at least we would have more toys and all our friends to entertain us. Since we have had the wheelchair I have been able to take him out on long walks, but it's very hilly here! Still, the village and scenery are really beautiful, with dark pink granite boulders, grey stone houses and beautiful hydrangeas and hollyhocks, menhirs and dolmens, just like in Asterix & Obelix, everywhere. I've noticed many plants and flowers similar to New Zealand coastal varieties, but I can't think of their names. We are right on the port, so there are plenty of boats to look at, and even a small roundabout/carousel thingy for Kevin to ride on. It is costing me a fortune, more than the wheelchair, but at least he gets more fun out of it.

The mishaps and accidents continue...

- Kevin's glasses broke and of course I didn't have a copy of his prescription in our luggage (will remember next year though!). So after only five or six attempts to phone our ophthalmologue at home, I finally got through to his secretary who promised to post it to us here, but that was four days ago and we're still waiting...

- P. has developed a revolting, tubercular cough, which should arouse my compassion, but only drives me mad ...

- Imagine my shock when idly flicking through the English newspapers the other day, to learn of the Concorde crash near Paris. It is a strange coincidence that every time my parents come to Europe, something frightening happens just days before or after their arrival (for example the IRA bomb scare in our London hotel 1978, actual bomb explosion in Paris metro 1996, bomb threat in London last week)...

- In our hotel rooms the windows are extremely wide and when they are open we are constantly bashing our heads on the sharp pointy frames...

- I have lost the lovely watch I bought myself in New Zealand last year as a treat for having worn cheap and nasty watches for so long (I'm really upset about this)...

- There's a Mickey Mouse children's club on the beach with trampolines, swings, games and supervised activities etc, where we were thinking of leaving the children for an hour or two next week, if Kevin's leg gets better in time. But just yesterday I happened to be walking past and saw an ambulance arrive to treat a little girl who was lying on the ground with eyes closed and covered with a survival blanket... I don't know what happened to her, hope she's all right now...

I just want to go home! Have been dreaming of my new job, miss the office and my brand new clients terribly!

Now for some more cheerful news: there are no mosquitoes here! And tomorrow P. has promised to take us to an Ornithological centre, and perhaps an aquarium, so that should put some pep in Kevin's day.. Cross your fingers for us!

Our holiday got off to a rather strange start: we had only just driven past Fontainebleau when we witnessed a young man crashing his motorbike on the N6, just a couple of cars in front of us. We saw a lot of smoke and his big BMW bike in bits on the side of the road. Amazingly, he jumped up and was talking and gesticulating energetically to the three other drivers who had already stopped to help him. P. stopped the car and I was fumbling for the mobile phone to call an ambulance, when we realised someone else was already doing the same, so we rather guiltily drove on again, as the road was getting blocked with stopped cars. The children sensed the drama of the situation, but I'm not sure just how much they saw. I felt quite ill and trembly for an hour or so and kept wondering just how hurt the young man was. He looked unhurt, but must have been in shock and possibly didn't feel any pain from the burns that P. said he must have suffered from being dragged along the ground. Anyway, we knew he was being looked after, but it put a real damper on our holiday mood. How I wish people would be more careful!

We covered the 600 km distance from home to Brittany in very good time. The weather was fine and the children were so good in the car. I shouldn't say such sexist things, but here goes anyway: before setting off, I told the children to pack a little back pack each with plenty of toys to keep them occupied in the car. Kevin took one back pack with four robust, utilitarian toys in it, and Pauline took three back packs, one hand bag and a shoe box absolutely crammed full of little teeny-tiny, itty-bitty fragile toys, jewellery, dolls' accessories, trinkets and stale bread for feeding starving pigeons!

... Where was I? Oh yes, they were so well-behaved that we only stopped once, at lunchtime for a picnic in a little village called Vignoc. We discovered a lovely park with picnic tables in the shade and a trout pond. The children ran round and round the pond, throwing bread to the fish and trying the catch the dainty dragonflies with dazzling turquoise bodies that hovered everywhere. I can't think of the name of those insects that skate along the surface of the water, but Kevin and Pauline thought they were little crabs!

We arrived at the 'village de vacances' holiday centre in the afternoon and noticed that Kevin was limping slightly as he got out of the car. He said he had a sore knee, but we didn't think much of it, as we were preoccupied with checking in and getting the bags and boxes up to our room. Then we wanted to walk around the village and take the children on the beach for a paddle before dinner time. Kevin's limp got progressively worse and by evening he was crying with the pain and couldn't walk at all. We had to carry him to the dining room and back. I gave him paracetamol and had to get up a couple of times in the night to comfort him.

First thing on the Monday morning I called the local doctor who said she could come over by lunchtime. After she'd seen him she wrote a prescription and said we must go immediately to the hospital in Lannion, 10 kilometres away, for x-rays. She suspected it might be an 'apophyte', which is a condition of the hip joint, not unusual in children of his age, where there is either a fracture or fissuring of the bone, which just mysteriously occurs, without necessarily being the result of a fall or a violent blow. We were quite stunned, naturally, especially when she warned us the treatment would be a minimum of three weeks in traction.

We spent the rest of the day in the emergency room at the hospital, the doctors and nurses were so lovely and very kind to Kevin. He wasn't actually in any pain when he stayed still, so he managed to joke and laugh with them. They put anaesthetizing patches on each of his inner elbows and left them for an hour before taking a blood test. The nurses were so skilled, that not only did Kevin not feel the needle going in, but he didn't even see what was happening! Before that though, he was wheeled off for x-rays. I had a big lump in my throat and felt like crying when I saw him go off on the stretcher, all covered in a white sheet.

We were there for many long, boring hours, trying to keep both kiddies amused with the few hospital toys on offer. Luckily I had thought to shove water, biscuits and story books in my bag before leaving. Finally the doctor came back to tell us all was well, the x-rays revealed no fractures and the blood tests ruled out any infection, so in fact he diagnosed an inflammation of the cartilage in Kevin's hip socket. The only treatment is painkillers and rest i.e. no walking, swimming, jumping, running and normal holiday activities... We felt unbelievably gloomy. By Tuesday morning our backs were hurting from carrying him everywhere, so I had the brainwave of phoning a pharmacy to enquire about hiring a wheelchair. It costs surprisingly little (107 francs for one week and hopefully we won't need it for longer than that).

So, at last I actually put my bum on the chair and write again! Can you guess what this month's lateness excuse is? No, I haven't been entertaining guests; the school fair and baking frenzy was over quite a while ago; no illness or act of God has prevented me from sharing the most scintillating details of my star-studded life with you. Quite simply, it has been extremely hot in the last few weeks, and as my computer is in a tiny room just under the roof, every time I came upstairs to check my e-mails I could only bear stay for five minutes until the sweat started pouring off me. Then had to run back down and put my head in a bucket of cold water! However the temperature has dropped to a pleasant 24°C today, which is much more bearable.

Now for some really big news... I'm going back to work in ten days time! I'm half-delighted and half-terrified. I've been offered the position of marketing manager (well, trainee, at first!) in a very small research company. There are only 4 others in the company and they publish a monthly report in French and English for the international cereal and grain industry. I was shocked they were willing to take on someone with absolutely no marketing experience, but they really need a native English speaker and my German will be useful too. Also, they will send me to Paris for a training course in marketing. I will have to spend a lot of time researching potential clients in the US, UK, and all over Europe and contacting them by phone. This will be a real challenge and a complete change of career for me, so I'm really excited about it.

The children don't seem to realise yet what it will mean for them, but hopefully it won't disrupt their little lives too much, as I will be working just four eight-hour days every week, and will be at home with them on Wednesdays when there is no school. I am going to work just two weeks in July, to learn about the company, while the office will be fairly quiet. P. and his parents will take turns to look after the children.

Then we leave for our two-week family holiday in Brittany. In August I'll go back to work, Pauline will go to a child-minder for four days a week, and Kevin is enrolled in a holiday sports and activities programme. Also, my father is coming to visit us for two weeks in August, so I'm really in for an exciting summer! I hadn't really intended go back to work until Pauline starts primary school in two years' time, but this was too good an opportunity to refuse. The main attraction of the job, apart from the salary of course, is that the office is very close to our house, so on fine days I will be able to bike or walk there. Also, the hours are very flexible, so I can still take the children to school in the mornings, and their daily routine won't be changing very much at all. At lunchtimes Pauline will go to her childminder's house and Kevin will eat at the school canteen. I have signed up for a three-month trial period, so if it doesn't work out, if the children are unhappy, I can easily quit. But I'm feeling very optimistic... I haven't told P. yet that he will be in charge of all the housework and cooking from now on!!

The children and I had a lovely, relaxing break in the Dordogne last month. They really enjoyed the six-hour train trip. On the way there our carriage was full of lively and noisy teenagers, so my two were able to jump about, talk and laugh, without disturbing anyone. Pauline chatted to lots of people and collected sweets and games for herself and Kevin!

The weather was beautifully hot and sunny for the whole five days, we were so lucky. The highlight of the trip for me were the restaurant meals and shopping trips. For the children it must have been the hours spent in the garden catching tadpoles and newts in the old-fashioned stone laundry tub which has a stream running through it. They also loved picking (and eating!) lettuces, radishes and carrots from the garden. Why won't they eat supermarket carrots at home?!

School ended on an emotional note last Friday. Kevin has completed his three years of nursery school, and was kissed and hugged by his lovely teacher Geneviève. She really brought him out of his shell over the months, and he progressed in writing, drawing and games. It is a joy to see him gaining in confidence. Although he is still very reserved with adults and strangers, he doesn't seem as frightened of them as he used to be.

Pauline is more outgoing and chatty, also very independent. She's playing in another room as I type this, and she just doesn't seem to need my constant presence anymore. She had a little friend to play yesterday and they spent the whole time in the garden as far away from me as possible! Often the children play in the bedroom with the door shut and tell me I'm not allowed in. That's fine by me!