Xmas 2008

Hoping everyone had a great Xmas.... I had no illusions this year about getting a car from PY. I had actually very little material things on my (mental) list, such is the (sad?) fact that I shop quite a lot for myself and need nothing. 

Manolee had quite a long list, however. To keep her from bothering us while I help Hana do her homework, I gave her a rather thick toy catalog to look through and suggested that she circles what she wants. Well, she started out circling individual items, but after a couple of pages she realized by herself that she was circling everything on certain pages - so then she started to circle entire pages. She then said that if Santa does not get her everything she circled it's ok, because her birthday will be soon after ... sigh...

Hana had a very short list. Is it a sign of maturity? Or utter abundance that she has everything she wants already (the apple does not fall far from the tree?) - either way, the fact that she is not outwardly greedy just makes me want to kiss her. 

"Les Fetes" continues on... Here is a pic of the girls in front of their grandma's Xmas tree. 

Gripping Local Headline

Know what I mean?

Literal translation "Nantes (a city southwest of Rennes): they took coke and shit in car".

The first paragraph is funny too, it says that the police needed no help from the canine force in tracking down the offenders because the smell from the car was so strong and evident.

I wrote a while back about how the French twist perfectly good English words and impose new meanings to them. Well, apparently, I learned after being stopped in my tracks reading the papers today, "shit" means marijuana. Why, I ask. Again, nobody French has any answers.

WFT indeed.

The Baguette Mystery

The mystery for me surrounding the baguette is actually how people handle them. When you buy a baguette in France, they are handed to you, usually wrapped in a tiny piece of coarse tissue paper  or in a bag - reference pictures above.

What you may have noticed is that neither method covers the entire baguette. Which means that as you carry your baguette home, it will be exposed to the elements - and to you. The number of times my coat has been covered with flour by the time I get home - well, that I can live with. But many times I have witnessed people carrying their baguettes under their armpits. Yes, in the summertime.  Why the boulangeries do not provide COMPLETE coverage for the baguettes is just beyond me.

The French also leave baguettes out on the kitchen counter or in a bread basket. I have not seen a bread box in any of the French homes that I have visited. Is that weird or is that just me?

Things I miss about working at AXP NYC

1.  Paycheck

2.  Bottomless supply of mechanical pencils and post-its

3. "Salt water Taffys by the Printer" emails from coworkers coming back from vacations

4.  Unlimited supply of ice cubes in the pantry 

5.  View of the frozen Hudson River from my window

6. Vats of Germ Busters by the pantry (a misguided 6-sigma effort?)

Halloween in NY

To the Merlet girls, Halloween just would not be Halloween if we were not in NY. The year we had moved to London, on Halloween morning Hana got all decked out in her princess dress, which she insisted to wearing out to lunch - but then within 10 minutes of being out, she looked at me all puzzled and asked, "why are there nobody else doing Halloween?"

The French apparently got into Halloween a few years ago, but have now all but abandoned the notion and labeled it "too commercial" and "too American". This is a shame - I personally love Halloween and it must be so much fun for kids - to get to run around in some fancy dress, knock on stranger's doors and get lots and lots of candy in return  - well, I am all for it. I met an American mom here last year who was like, my kids don't know what it is and as long as they don't ask for it, I'm not telling them about it because who needs more sugar. I was like, well, I don't think we will be good friends - just such irreconciliable differences in perspectives and cultural reference points, you know?

Anyway, so this year again we schlepped the kids back to the US - thankfully no airport strikes greeted us this year and our trip to NY was uneventful. Because Halloween fell on a Friday this year, most towns organized activities the weekend before - so the morning after we landed we headed over to Short Hills, where my jetlagged kids got to participate in a Taekwondo Halloween party (what will these commerce-savvy TKD masters think of next!). Then we trick-or-treated through some of the stores and then headed over to the town's YMCA where the girls insisted on going through a haunted house (it was really well done! Manolee was genuinely scared and I think Hana was too at some points). 

Of course the day of Halloween, we were at it again - my good friend C held a really cool Halloween party at her house, complete with Halloween-themed decorations and snacks - see pics:

Then all the trick-or-treating - - the weather was good, not too cold, and the kids had a blast. Most houses were very well decorated, with skeletons half buried in the ground, huge spiders climbing trees, coffins scattered about the front yard... The kids ran to each and every door - some people who were not home left buckets of candy outside, one house even left a basket full of quarters outside - but most people who were home came out with huge buckets full of candy and greeted the kids, commented on the costumes, and in general were so nice - how can you not love Halloween!

Meanwhile, PeeWee fell in love with the skeleton at C's house and was putting it in all kinds of places, at the dinner table, in the passenger seat of the car, etc etc, and in general was getting such a kick out of it - see below an example: 
See how Manolee is looking at the skeleton above? Well, wouldn't you know - that night, an hour or so after the kids passed out, we heard a kid screaming - I did not recognize the voice and thought it was one of my friends' kids - well, it turnd out it was Manolee screaming at the top of her lungs - she was pointing at Hana (sleeping through all the commotion) and saying that there was a skeleton next to her big sister! It was her first nightmare ever - the poor thing.... 

Despite the nightmare, a great Halloween for the kids overall. Halloween is the best! 

Why Not Just Leave it at "Au Revoir"?

A while back I wrote about how you HAVE to say 'bonjour' and 'au revoir' when you go anywhere and meet anyone with a pulse. Otherwise you are just a rude uncouth foreigner, unversed in the sophisticated French ways. What I have since learned is that it is never just an 'au revoir' to qualify for a full farewell - the French add all sorts of greetings at the end, depending on the time of the day.

If you are saying goodbye anytime before 12, it should be 'bonne journee' OR 'bonne fin de matinee'.

If you are bidding adieu some time after 12, it is 'bon apres-midi'.

If it is past, say 4, it becomes 'bonne soiree', or 'bonne fin de la journee'.

It is just exhausting to keep up to return these said greetings properly. I always struggle, is it BON or BONNE - of course, it depends on the time of the day!

Also what gets me is, when I go pick up the kids around 4:30 and I say 'bonjour' to the moms like a good adaptable foreigner, some respond with a 'bonsoir' - so I'm still not sure what the cut-off time is when the 'jour' turns into 'soir'... why so complicated!? 

Hana the Class Rep

Hana goes to tennis after school on Tuesdays and in her absence, I look through her homework notebook to see what she needs to do when she gets home. The above is a note I found, left by Hana for me to find in her absence. She was elected the class rep! She was very proud, as you can imagine, and I was even prouder, as you can imagine. She said later that almost everyone raised their hands to be elected but she had garnered the most votes. That is my girl! I'm not sure what her responsibilities are, but isn't that just great?

Rennes Roosters

Wow! Rennes made the New York Times!

Apparently Rennes is renown around the world for its roosters! Who knew! Leave it to the venerable NYT to uncover and disseminate this all-important information. According to the Times, "the black and white-streaked Coucou of Rennes (a breed of chicken)" is endangered and only France being recognized as a gastronomic heaven by the Unesco will save it from sure extinction.

OK so the Coucou of Rennes was only a tiny part of this article, but still - it is big news to me!

"Emptying Attics" - a French Pastime

It's called the "Vide-Grenier" - literally, "Empty-Attic". It's when whole neighborhoods find stuff they no longer want around the house and then lay out the wares to sell - at dirt cheap prices. Kinda like a yard sale, except it's on a much grander scale because it combines the outputs of the attics of whole neighborhoods at a time. Vide-greniers are so popular that there is even a handbook, by each regional area or department, that lists the dates and the kinds of things being sold (some are exclusively for baby-related things, some are for antiques, etc). I've seen many posters and signs since coming to France, announcing such and such street holding vide-greniers, and we even went to one in Geveze last year (we scored a much coveted stuffed Pikachu for 50 centimes!), but this is the first time we actually decided to participate. It is usually crazy teeming with people.

The night before I encouraged the girls to go through their room and come up with things they no longer play with and no longer want. They had a grand time making a big mess. The loot bag, of things to be sold, was tiny - few English books, assorted Happy Meal toys, ratty hair bands - you get the drift. I went through their things a second time and suggested things they could try to sell, like the dozen naked Barbies (awww no! I like that Barbie! I like this Barbie too! Oh but that is a special Barbie!), stuffed animals (oh no maman! I want to sleep with that tonight!),  necklaces that never see the daylight (aww but so-and-so gave it to me!) - I soon discovered that I have two rat-packs. After much urging and begging to no avail, I instilled a notion that if they get rid of toys they never  play with anymore, we would make room for new toys that they really want! This seemed to work somewhat and we were able to fill three big shopping bags with stuff to try to sell.

The next morning, we set up with two of our friends - and hawked our wares to passers-by. Manolee insisted on dressing up as a butterfly salesgirl (don't you love it that when you are that young, you have no self-consciousness that inhibits such desires...). The girls were really excited at first, especially when setting out prices for the goods, but soon got bored when nobody seemed to really show interest. Oh there were lots of people looking alright, but I think people are not used to seeing high prices for old Happy Meal toys. I quickly realized that we were being too greedy and made a big sign saying "SALE" and slashed all prices to either 1 euro or 2 euros. But then one of Hana's friends asked me why I was selling dirty things - oy vey, I had forgotten that SALE in French means "dirty" - that sign quickly came down.

By mid afternoon, our goods were moving - though at 1 euro each, the revenues were not much to be impressed about. I also brought out some canneles that I had baked for some friends the night before and those went for 50 centimes each.  I made Hana do all transactions, so she got to do some math throughout the day.

Our net takings for the day was some 33 euros (which Hana pocketed - good thing Manolee is still pretty oblivious to anything related to money), plus 7 euros for the canneles. After splitting the cost of the "space" with the friends (3.50 euros each), we had made a net profit!

I think the girls got a taste for making money, but also a taste of what it is like to man a retail store - often a prolonged periods of no customers (boring!) then appealing to seemingly interested customers (smile!) then pocketing the money (ka-ching!). I tried to explain that 33 euros is not 100% profit, since there was the labor costs (the three of us sitting out there from 10 to 4pm) and the cost of goods sold. But Hana was all glazed-eyes through all this capital markets explanations.... but did say that she will look carefully through her room to gather things to sell the next time! 

Back in Rennes

Coming back from the US is always hard... especially when the weather in Brittany does not cooperate - the minute we crossed into Brittany driving from Paris it started to pour - no kidding. Of course, I miss my friends back home already... they have been so good to us this summer, especially the two who are now New Jerseyans, you know who you are. I still can picture the two of my very best friends, just a few weeks back, holding a towel around Hana helping her change out of her bathing suit - such good fortune to have such good friends who take such good care of my kids! Thank you, M and C!

My mom came back with us this time, and she brought a friend too so I don't feel so stressed about having to entertain her or anything like that. She is going back to Paris shortly, she says she will be staying at some Korean Buddhist temple for free - not sure what that is all about, hopefully not a scam or anything like that.

I suppose since this marks the beginning of my second year in France, I should start to think about doing something other than, well, hang out. It's amazing that a whole year has gone by. When I was hard at work in NY and London, I would often find myself coming home and suppressing all urges to ask PeeWee, "so what did you DO today" - How have you made yourself productive, useful, exactly? I mean, what is there really to do around the house? Well, plenty, it turns out. I've loved my year "off", but I wonder if another year like that is sustainable, both financially and mentally.

OK back to real life in Rennes...

Disturbing Elevator Note

We must do something about my grandma, living all alone in an apartment building, where I found the above note in the elevator:

Hello! Do we need to explain why the said action is not condonable? I should really send in the picture to Passiveaggressivenotes.com.

Korean Entrepreneurs at their Finest!

Look at that - caught this by the Morgan Stanley building in midtown. Bulgogi and kimchi from a cart vendor! They were doing brisk business too. So, having conquered corner delis, dry cleaning, liquor stores, cell phone stores - here come the food carts! And they are on the web! Bulgogiandkimchi.com! I love it! 

In NY for the Summer!

Yes! We are here for 6 weeks. Ain't life grand?

The girls are so happy to be here, and truth be told, so am I. Despite the fact that we left PeeWee behind in France - I much prefer being in NY with the girls for the summer where I have my mom and I don't have to struggle to get simple things like grocery shopping done with the kids in tow. Yay all around. I feel sorta bad about PeeWee, but he did the same to me for years while I was working and he took the kids to France for the summer, so there you have it.

Not much planned, just a lazy summer - Hana has tennis every Saturday and is signed up for a taekwondo camp for one week with M's kid, Conner. Manolee has one week of sports camp to look forward to. Other than that, we will make day trips out of Target, Old Navy, the assorted malls, Central Park, playgrounds, etc. We hit the Times Square Toys R Us today - the girls enjoyed the ferris wheel and there was such a commotion afterwards because Miley Cyrus was on the block promoting one thing or the other. A true NY moment. Loving it!

Hana hits 8!

My Hana is 8 years old! A veritable "tween"...

She rolls her eyes when Manolee wants to watch Barbie DVDs - she prefers Hannah Montana or Cory in the House.

She sighs when I show her a new top I bought for her, then patiently explains, "mama, just because YOU like orange does not mean that I like orange too" - then walks out of the room.

She has stopped talking about or telling me about boys in her class.

She goes to the bathroom at restaurants BY HERSELF.

I look at pictures of Hana as a baby and my heart just breaks! Such a big girl now! And getting bigger by the day... and so pretty... mine is certainly not the first heart she will be breaking, that is for sure.

Happy Birthday, sweet Hanaya!

Misbehaving Manolee, Part II

Yesterday we were leaving my MIL's house - Hana was packing up her Nintendo and started to panick that she could not find her little pouch of game cartridges. We started to help her look and indeed, it was nowhere to be found. Now, this is no "little" pouch - it contained about 8 different cartridges - probably at retail value of 320 euros or so.  

PeeWee started scolding her about not taking care of her things and Hana started to cry at the gravity of the situation and I continued to turn the place upside down in search of this little pouch. We asked Manolee if she's seen it, but she said no, sat in a corner and sang to herself.

We had to leave, so we asked my MIL to continue the search and got in the car. PeeWee was now getting really upset and yelled at Hana all the way back home. Hana was now inconsolable, and I glanced back at Manolee to see how she is handling all the yelling and crying. She just looked back at me and shrugged her shoulders.

We got home and we called our friend L., who had taken Hana to McDonalds the day before - Hana took the Nintendo with her to play with her son afterwards. She said she would go back to McDonalds to check. 

Hana was teary practically the entire night as PeeWee swore never to buy her another Nintendo game.

Next morning on the way to school, Hana got all teary again and asked whether her grandma would find the pouch, or whether it would be L. who would find it at McDonalds, though she swore that she did not take the pouch out of the car when she went there. I told her not to worry during the day, we won't know till we won't know.

Before school ended, my MIL called to say she looked everywhere but it is nowhere to be found. L. also called to say that it was not in her car nor at McDonalds... she was really sympathetic to Hana's plight.

I picked up the girls from school and Manolee asked whether her grandma found Hana's pouch. I sadly shook my head. Then we went to pick up Hana and she immediately asked for an update. I said that I have bad news, that it seemed to have disappeared and we cannot find it anywhere. She started to cry again. I really felt bad for her. When we got home, Hana was practically wailing and I happened to glance over at Manolee and she had this smirk on her face. I had an 'a-ha' moment. Right there in the building lobby, I asked her - Manolee, do you know where Hana's Nintendo pouch is? She shook her head, but smiled at the corner of her lips. She has been known to hide Hana's things under the bed or under the couch in the past, so I pursued this line of questioning. She kept on denying it and proceeded to go up the stairs. Then Hana got wind of the situation and asked too, and added, if you tell me the truth I will give you ten marbles. Manolee held up her right hand with five outstretched fingers and asked, "like this many?" Hana said yes. I asked again. She denied it. I asked yet again this time really firm, "you know, when Papa comes home and finds out that grandma and L. did not find it, he's gonna really yell at Hana a lot and a lot and a lot. He's going to be so angry." She looked up at me and asked, "if I tell you, you won't get mad?" Hana and I both swore that we would not be bad. Manolee asked again, "if I tell you, you won't tell Papa?" - Hana and I both swore we would not tell PeeWee. Manolee then asked "Hanaya, you still give me this many marbles?" - Hana said she would. Manolee wanted to confirm again, "you won't be mad?" - we said we would not.

Then she spilled it out. She said she hid it at her grandma's house. We asked where. She specified, "in the basket next to the room upstairs where we keep shoes and slippers". 

We hurried upstairs, ran in the apartment and called my MIL. And what do you know - the pouch was exactly where Manolee said it was.

Because we promised, we could not get angry at Manolee.  Hana and I were both relieved to have found it anyway. But can you believe? She is only 3, but her ability to deceive and scheme - and keep her mouth shut while witnessing her big sister cry and wail for a whole day? It's quite extraordinary, no? 

Should I be worried??

Poisson d'Avril

Yup, April Fish Day - Poisson d'avril, which is French for April Fool's Day. Why Fish Day? Good question - maybe some biblical significance, but nobody around me could explain it. Anyway, here is the thing. April Fish Day is equivalent to April Fool's Day, meaning, it is for pranks and jokes and all that. However, the big difference is that in France, there is only ONE prank. THE joke to pull on others - it is limited to cutting out a paper sign in the form of a fish and putting it on others' backs. I know, knee-slapping funny, right? But I swear, as far as I can tell, this is what the French do to one another - year after year. No creative pranks allowed, as far as I can tell. Maybe it's funny that first time when you are four years old. Maybe the French like to relive that innocent funny moment - over and over again. How else to explain this strange un-innovative creativity-vacuum of a custom?

The one thing that brightened my day was seeing the countless boulangeries selling tarts and cakes and chocolates in the form of ... yes, a fish! Very cute - picture above courtesy of a blog called "les jardins d'eve".

Happy Fish Day to You! 

French Cowboys

So we went to this "Foire" in the local exposition area - it was a hybrid of a flea market/ local trade show (there is absolutely nothing to do on Sundays here and it was raining, so we were desperate for some action) - and we ran into something absolutely bizarre: a bunch of French cowboys line-dancing! I was stopped in my tracks - there was a stage set up and there were about 40 men and women, all dressed to the nines in their cowboy hats, cowboy boots, the whole ensemble, and all moving in synchronized dance - it was quite a sight, and one I never expected to find outside, say, Texas.

Apparently, the "West Country" is a huge group that organizes "Line-Dancing" events throughout France and in general celebrates what they see as the quintessential Western American culture. One flyer I picked up talk about the Harley motorcycles, horse parades, barrel racing, pole bending (?) and line dancing, as well as showcasing Indian villages, gold miner's camps and rodeo shows! According to their website (I could not resist) they organize "camps" where one can sample the Far West living - complete with re-creations of street duels (they rent you cowboy costumes, rifles and guns!)

Who knew there would be such an interest in France that organizations like this can exist and thrive? Ha, they like to look down on America as a culture vacuum on one hand, and on the other hand, line dancing and rodeos? I have to admit, the line dancing did look like a lot of fun!

Doctor in the House

PeeWee's office is officially inaugurated!

Actually he's been "official" since mid-January, but tonight was the party - lots of local doctors, lab technicians, medical sales people - in short, loads of fun.

No, really, it was great to see him with his colleagues in this esteemed profession and the kids had a good time playing with all the germ-laden toys in the waiting room while the adults mingled, gobbled up hors-d'oeuvres and champagne.

So here we are! Officially established!

Easter Bells!

I was pleasantly surprised to see in all the supermarkets that they sell chocolate eggs for Easter egg hunts. They are not very creative though - they don't sell empty plastic eggs so that you can stuff them with something other than chocolate - and thereby prevent ginormous sugar highs reminiscent of Halloween.

Anyway besides the eggs and the bunnies, all the supermarkets carried a huge selection of chocolate bells. Bells, you say? Yes, bells - les cloches. Nobody could explain to me why bells - though one friend did try, something about bells going to Rome and bringing back chocolate eggs. No, I don't think anything was lost in translation. Maybe I am provincial, growing up in mostly Jewish and Asian neighborhoods of NYC and all, but I have never heard of bells bringing Easter chocolates from Rome? (This does remind me of my freshman year at NYU when on one Spring day I kept on seeing people with ashes on their foreheads. After a while, I was convinced that a building had collapsed somewhere - only later that day did I learn that it was Ash Wednesday!)

Happy Easter!

Operation Looming

Manolee for some time has had trouble breathing through her nose - she has been breathing through her mouth so loud at times that she is at a severe disadvantage when playing hide and seek - her breathing immediately gives her away!

The ENT we saw today took one look in her nose and then another brief look into her mouth and declared that she needed to get her "amygdales" removed.  I had never heard the term before so I was alarmed - I mean, not that I am medically trained or anything but most words I can trace back to some sort of English words or a familiar root - but amygdales just stumped me and convinced me that he was proposing some very rare and complicated operation (I asked PeeWee in the consultation room but he just dismissed me as he continued his doctor talk with the ENT guy and said, oh I'll draw you a picture later - I know, helpful, right?)

I took her back to school and announced gravely to the teacher that she needed her amygdales removed. The teacher did not look alarmed, no gasps, no oh-la-la's, so it calmed me down somewhat. Then I got home and googled the term - ok so it's a tonsilitis. Tonsilitis are quite common, right? I remember when Marcia Brady got them and that was like in the 70s, and even then she came home just fine and ate lots of ice cream and anyway medical technology must have advanced quite a bit by now, right?

She will be going under general anesthesia and that part is somewhat nerve-wrecking... but hopefully this will put an end to her labored breathing/ disturbed sleeping/ coughing-till-throwing-up/ waking up grouchiness/ etc and etc.

Manolee has no idea what is to come... but we told Hana and she is not one to hold her tongue, so I guess I have to think up a toddler-appropriate explanation soon!

Celebrating Birthdays - French Style

This entry is not meant as a slight to any French parent, but rather observations gleamed from the past few months.

In a nutshell, what I am finding is that kids' birthday parties are not taken that seriously in France. I'm not being judgmental here - in many ways, I like and admire that lackadaisical casual attitude that most parents seem to adopt in celebrating their kids' birthdays here. But it is a sure departure from what we've known in NYC and London.

First of all, 99% of the parties are held in people's homes - contrast that with parties in NY and London where I would say 90% of parties are held somewhere else - OK apartments and houses tend to be smaller in NY and London, but still.

Secondly, everyone here bakes their own birthday cakes. Quite casually, I would say. No frosting, no icing, just a simple chocolate cake. I think back to the humoungous (and expensive) Barbie cake we had ordered for Hana's 7th birthday in London, and I feel quite sheepish.

Thirdly, party favors are almost unheard of. Hana attended three parties last month and only got favors at one - and it was loose gummy bears and one of those ballpoint pens they give out at conferences (with the name of a pharmaceutical company on it, no less), all in a plastic shopping bag. In another party, Hana came home with a few candy pieces in one of those white disposable cups. Manolee came home from a party with a book (nice!) but it was wrapped in leftover Xmas wrapping paper (the party was in March). Most moms do not prepare any favors whatsoever. Again, this is nice! One less thing to stress over, and again, quite unlike in NY and London. 

Fourth - there is just not a whole lot of advance notice on the parties. On a Monday, I would get an invitation for that following Wednesday. On Friday I would get an invitation for that Sunday. I do not know if the parents are just really disorganized or it is a clever ploy to limit the number of kids from coming.

Fifth - invitations are almost always handwritten, longhand. As in, "I invite you to my birthday party on Saturday etc etc. Please call my mom and let her know quickly whether you can come!". No cutting to the chase with only the must-know info, the when and where.

Lastly, moms can be quite strict at the parties. Hana told me that at one party she did not get any cake because she had not finished some snacks on her plate that were handed out beforehand. Can you imagine withholding birthday cake from a guest!? Well, again, it's quite liberating to know that you can discipline  or threaten another person's kid into behaving the way you them to.

Well, I'm not sure I am quite brave enough to adopt all these local customs, but it's nice to know that I can now set the bar a bit lower! Vive la France!

Merlet Girls in Paris

Just spent a few days in Paris with the girls. I tried to pack light and therefore left the stroller behind - I was quite apprehensive about roaming through Paris without a stroller but surprisingly Manolee was quite the trooper, walking everywhere and in general faring well without napping at all.

We took a boat ride through the Seine geared for kids called La Croisiere Enchantee (the Enchanted Cruise) with entertainment provided by two elves who recited the history of the city and the buildings on the riverbanks through song and dance. The girls loved it!

We also took in a magic show, again geared for kids, at a cafe in the Marais called Le Double Fond (the Double Bottom?) - again, the kids loved it, though it was really not to be called entertainment for the accompanying adults. Most of the kids got to participate in at least one trick - except for Manolee, who was the youngest kid there. She kinda felt left out because she asked me why the magician did not ask her to come help out. It was cute but I kinda felt for her because she feels that she needs to do everything that her big sister does... Hana was participating quite actively in the show -kept on interrupting the magician, like "oh that's so easy" or "oh that is not funny" - I was mortified but the other kids loved that. We met up with some friends from London that were visiting Paris - it was great for the girls to see their old friends again.

Then there was the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, lots of cafes for hot chocolates, the Korean grocery store... but I must end this entry with an anecdote that shows how eerily cunning the little Manolee is:

On our last morning in Paris, I blew up at Manolee because I wanted to run out alone to the train station to exchange our tickets to a later time and Manolee didn't want to stay with Mitzi. So I had a few harsh words with her and she cried and cried until I agreed to take her with me.

Once back home in Rennes, this is the conversation between Manolee and PeeWee that I overheard:

Manolee: You know, papa, maman was really mean to me this morning, she yelled at me a lot. Can you yell at her please?

Papa: She yelled at you?

M: Yes, a lot and a lot, so please can you yell at her?

P:  If she yelled at you, maybe there was a reason

M: She yelled at me a lot and a lot and so I want you to yell at her

P: I can't yell at maman

M: Oh please papa, she yelled at me a lot and a lot, you have to yell at her

Rae: (showing herself from behind the door): What are you saying, Manolee?

M: (with no hesitation, without missing a beat, breaking out the sweetest smile): I love you, Maman!

Talkie-Walkies

When Hana asked me the other day where her talkie-walkies were, I thought to myself, gee, we gotta step up her English maintenance. Boy, was I in for it - flipping through a catalog later  I learned that here in France, walkie-talkies are actually called talkie-walkies. Yes! Why, you ask? Why, I've asked. Nobody seems to know. It's like the French REALLY did not want to take the English word for it but could not get around to inventing a French word for it, so they just reversed the order - to show the anglophones just who gets the last word when it comes to languages!

Sometimes the French not only just reverse the word order, they also use English words but in quite different meanings. The other day I read an article in a magazine about "relooking". Hmmmm - doing double takes? Meticulously checking oneself out in the mirror? No, "relooking" apparently means makeovers, as in before-afters. Why "relooking"? Why indeed? Why not "new looking" while you are at it? 

Another French-cized word that always makes me laugh is "footing". When you hear a French person say "je vais faire du footing" (which, admittedly, is not often), he is not trying to tell you that he is trying to maybe get a foot in the door somewhere, or to maintain his balance or to try to find himself even. No, it means that he is going for a jog. Now why turn a perfectly good word like jogging into footing? Yes, the French pronounce the "j" differently but why bother creating a new word that would confuse everyone that is not French?

Response from PeeWee: Because we are French and because we can. So there.

Manolee hits 3!

Yesterday was Manolee's birthday party. We had invited 9 kids and all but one came. Surprisingly only three moms stayed - I had expected everyone to stay actually - I mean the kids are only 3 and some are barely toilet-trained!

Anyway the kids had a great time. I had bought a carton castle in the US - for the kids to play in and color in. I took our babysitter a full hour to put it together - not sure if I could have done better - but the kids absolutely loved it.

The girls made foam valentine frames and the boys just made a mess. One boy in particular made a fine mess in the bathroom - details withheld out of courtesy.

Everyone loved the cupcakes (I made the 7-minute frosting - it was delish!), the canneles, my MIL's tiramisu, edamames and other assorted goodies.

And the French kids were introduced to the joy of "Pin the tail on the Donkey!" - apparently, this old-time kids' party favorite never made it to France...? Such depravity, I tell you.

All in all, a great fun day. Manolee was spolied with all kinds of gifts - before her birthday, on her birthday, and even today presents just keep on arriving, prompting mild jealousy from her now-very-mature big sister. Thanks everyone for your generous gifts, and for making her feel so special on her 3rd birthday!!