Look-alikes

I've noticed that in many families with two children, one child often resembles the mother and the other often resembles the father. Rarely have I come across children who all look like only one parent.

'Tis the case with my two girls. Hana is definitely more PeeWee and Mano is definitely me. So it's always a pleasure when I catch them looking like one another, as in this picture below:

Both mine!

To be 7 years old...

... where life is still full of possibilities but you are starting to learn where your limits are; where you ask tons of questions all the time but don't understand all the answers (and you don't really care); where you don't worry about much beyond the composition of the next snack. I feel like this is where my Mano is these days. Want to capture this moment forever.

Coquine

The word used the most to describe Manolee by our French friends is "Coquine".

I always thought that this word meant "cute" and not thought much about it. Then one day while I was describing one of her mischievous endeavors, my MIL says, "elle est tres coquine, eh, elle est malicieuse". I stopped short in my tracks and said "malicieuse????" MALICIOUS, my little girl?

Then I started doubting my understanding of the word "coquine". Maybe it doesn't mean cute after all, and all this time when I thought people were paying my little girl a compliment, they were actually saying not such nice things.

I consulted Google.

Coquine, adjectif
Feminin
1. Tres malicieux
2. Vif d'espirit
3. Bandit

Hmmmm. 1. Very malicious. 2. Lively spirit. 3. A bandit!??

My MIL was taken aback that I took affront to the word "malicieuse" and assured me that in French, malicious does not mean a bad thing. Huh? So I had to google that in turn, and it says, "Qui a de la malice" ("One that has malice" - not much better)..... and then it helpfully provides an English definition, which is: "mischievous".

OK I can live with mischievous. That surely describes Manolee to a tee. As for Coquine, I think I will choose to live with the definition #2, Vif d'esprit, because she is that too.

However mischievous and naughty she may be, I can never stay mad at her very long - especially when she provides such lovely notes, as below:

Hana's So-Called-Life

Found this in Hana's English class notebook - they are learning to make timelines and the assignment in class was to create one marking the major events in their lives thus far (click to enlarge):

That Atlantis trip sure must have been sweet!

The Day We Had Fun with Food Coloring (otherwise known as Hanaya's birthday)

Aren't those frosting colors magnificent?

PeeWee and I discovered food coloring. I wanted to make colored frosting for some cupcakes that I was baking for Hana's birthday party and I had PeeWee help me mix the butter and sugar, since my wrist is still shot and I don't use an electric mixer (nothing philosophical about that, by the way - I just don't own one and haven't got around to buying one). Well, once PeeWee saw what I intended to do with food coloring, it got all v serious. So serious in fact that when guests started showing up we didn't even bother greeting the parents - we just stayed in the kitchen concocting different colors! PeeWee even managed what we coined a "tutti frutti" color - a beautiful swirl of bubble gum pink in a sea of lavender.

The party was quite hectic - we had way too many girls in the house. We have quite a large apartment, but once the throng spread out, it was hard to get everyone in the same room at the same time for games, for crafts, for cake, etc. It was also hard not to marvel at how much girls scream - for virtually every single thing. At times it was positively deafening to hear the girls ohh, aah, nooooo, and oh-la-la at maximum volume every few seconds.

It was fun though - the girls played Human Bingo, Ape-Man-Girl (a variation of rock-paper-scissors), Line-up (a game supposedly played in silence - but yes, here again the girls proved infinitely capable of making much noise without actual words), and decorated a wooden wall hanging thingy with glitter stickers and markers.


I don't have a picture of the birthday girl by herself (with so many girls around, an impossibility for a solo portrait) and I am wary of posting pics of other people's kids here, so I cropped this one picture as best as I can:


Happy Birthday Baby!

My Quotable Kids

Ever on the lookout for a get-rich-quick scheme, I was dumbfounded when I found a book that all moms like me would want. It's actually not even a book. It's more like a blank notebook. However, the cover says "My Quotable Kid" and every blank page features bubbles for recording cute things that your progeny has sprouted out, with smaller bubbles around the page for recording who, when, where and at what age.


What a great idea for a mom or a mom-to-be? Why didn't I think of that? As it is, I have been recording my girls' funny sayings in a dispersed and somewhat disorganized fashion, and I immediately took to this idea. I had my sister buy it for me while I was in Seattle.

And while I am recording them on this little genius of a book, I thought I may share some of the gems here - so here is one of my favorites:

Where: Restaurant in London
When: May 2007

Dessert arrived for the girls - scoops of ice cream. Manolee positively squeals in delight.

PeeWee: (leaning over) "yummm"
Manolee: (snatches the cup away from his face): "no daddy, I no share with you"
PW: (burying his face in his hands) "boo hoo.." (pretends to cry)
M: (after looking around the table, assessing the situation) "Daddy, daddy, daddy"
PW: (looks up hopefully): "yes?"
M: (all sweet smiles) "Hanaya will share with you"

Me in the Eyes of My Kids

Tagged for this on Facebook - usually I don't do these but this one sounded fun. Though I conducted the interviews separately, it is telling how similar the answers are from Hana (H) and Mano (M):

1. What is something mom always says to you? H: "did you wash your hands?" M: "Good night"

2. What makes mom happy? H: "when I am nice with my sister" M: "Be nice with my big sister"

3. What makes mom sad? H: "When Manolee cries without stopping" M: "When I make a face at my big sister"

4 What does your mom do to make you laugh? H: "Tickles me" M: "Says Boo"

5. What did your mom like to do when she was a child? H: "Do silly things, like not wearing her glasses in class" M: "ride her scooter"

6. How old is your mom? H: "37" M: "18"

7. How tall is your mom? H: "199cm" M: "like this"

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? H: "cooking shows" M: "News"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? H: "cleans up" M: "clean up"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? H: "Baking" M: "Cooking very well"

11. What is your mom really good at? H: "Baking" M:"doing the cake"

12. What is your mom not very good at? H: "Opening hot things" M:"Opening things with sauce in them"

13. What did your mom do for her job? H: "Work at American Express" M: "Work at a hotel"

14. What is your mom's favorite food? H: "Ddukbokki" M:" pasta"

15. What makes you proud of your mom? H: "That she does not yell that much" M: "you buy something for me"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? H: "Velma" M: "Tinkerbell"

17. What do you and your mom do together? H: "Shopping" M: "go take a walk"

18. How are you and your mom the same? H: "We both have the same thoughts" M: "we have the same t-shirt, but yours is bigger"

19. How are you and your mom different? H: "you like to clean up and I don't" M: "you have earrings"

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "H: "because she hugs me" M: "because I always do drawing for her"

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? H: "He's nice" M: "I don't know why"

22: What does your mom like the least about your dad? H: "He plays video games so much and when he comes late and he eats in front of the computer and he always plays dofus and one day in the shower he left me all by myself and then went to play dofus on the computer" M: "when he lifts me up by my feet"

23. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? H: "Belasie (asian supermarket)" M: "to the restaurant"

Loving Girls

I spent the last three weeks pretty much knee-deep in around-the-clock parenting - Manolee was sick and out of school for an entire week, then the girls both had two weeks off from school. We spent some cold but fun times at Disney Paris, then 4 days in Paris itself with my good friend M., then a week here in Rennes with M. and her baby daughter M2. Hectic but fun time among the girls.

Have to say, of all the picture from the last two weeks, the one below really makes me smile - look how cute they look...! 

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. 

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! 

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?

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??

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!

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!

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!!

Loving Lunchtime Sans Kids

Here in France, elementary schools run 4 days a week - meaning, on Wednesdays the kids have the day off - so two days on, two days off. Though I like to joke that this arrangement is to prepare the kids for the 35-hour working week, it does make sense to me  to give the parents and the kids a break from the morning rush in the middle of the week. Of course, it's not an ideal situation for dual-working parents, but something tells me that it is assumed that the mother stays home...

Because the other thing about elementary schools here is that the kids have a choice of staying to eat at the school cafeteria or to eat at home. And to me, it appears that most kids do actually go home for lunch - I live across the street from school, and every school day at 11:30, there is a throng of moms and grandparents lining up to get into the school gates. Then again at 1:30 when the kids are brought back. This is sheer madness to me. 

Hana has already asked me a number of times if she can eat at home and my answer is invariably a firm "no". I cannot imagine, with all the "stuff" I have to do, to also worry about what to feed the kids that they would actually eat, and go back and forth to the school, all smack in the middle of the day! Granted, we live so close, but still, is it bad of me to see it as an intrusion on my me-time? Schools are supposed to feed them a nutritious balanced meal, right? Probably better than what I can prepare - though I like to cook nutritious meals, it is another thing altogether to ensure that they actually eat them, and I think ensuring that would be too stressful at lunch. Cute as they are (see picture above), I can quite do without them for one meal a day (no hysterics over who gets the pink cup, Manolee fingering all of Hana's food, drinks spilled, sleeves sullied, etc etc). So I feel quite justified in maintaining that firm "no".

So why is it that - whenever a mom asks me whether the kids lunch at home, my answer is habitually, "no, not today" - giving the somewhat misleading impression that they do sometimes... I feel somewhat sheepish, that it is something that I should be doing, a maternal duty that I am neglecting... Sigh. Supermom I am not, that is for sure.

Misbehaving Manolee, Part I

After breakfast this morning, Manolee "takes me" to the bathroom. While I am holding onto her on the toilet, I let out a big yawn. She looks up and speaks:

Manolee: Maman, why you so tired?

Rae: Because you came into my bed last night

M: Yeah?

R: And when you come into my bed, I sleep v badly. Why did you come into my bed?

M: Because I woke up and I thought I was going to cry and cry and cry. (Giving me at this point a challenging, order-defying look). Why, is that a PROBLEM? 

Parent-Teacher Conference

So the Maternelle (nursery) part of the school held its first parent-teacher night today. PY and I were model parents, showing up on time and sitting close to front, me with my notebook and pen in hand, ready for some all-important information about what and how our baby daughter is doing at school. She is in Toute Petite Section (for 2-1/2 year and 3 year olds)

Here is what we learned of what she is doing:

8:30 - 8:45 Settling in

8:45 - 9:15 Free play

9:15 - 9:30 Toilet time

9:30 - 9:40 Table activity (stickering, drawing, etc)

9:40 - 10:00 Story time

10:00 - 10:10 Travel up to the English room

10:10 - 10:30 English song and dance and rhymes

10:30 - 10:50 Free play

10:50 - 11:20 Recess (not sure how this differs with Free play)

11:20 Lunch

1:20 - 1:30 Toilet time

1:30 - 3:00 Nap time

3:00 - 3:50 Free play and clean-up

3:50 - 4:20 Recess

4:20 Get ready for "mamans"

4:30 Pick up

Nice life! Not sure why kids cling to their parents at drop-off. I would love a day like this, no?

As to HOW Manolee is doing - well, apparently pretty good for a girl who still mixes English and French. Apparently she is great in the English session, always the first to answer the teacher right away, and apparently, the teacher sees this as providing the other children something to aspire to! Go Baby!

The First Day of School (in France)!

The kids were both fairly excited about starting school. The night before, Hana was practically bouncing off the walls, declaring how excited she was.

It was a fresh morning and still foggy and dark when we took off in the morning. Once we arrived, we saw that the school principal was already calling out the names of the students for each class. It was crowded and the mike was working poorly, so we strained to hear Hana's name to be called. We consulted a bulletin board and saw that she was in class CE1(2). When the teachers were introduced, I could tell that Hana was relieved to see that she had a young, pleasant-looking woman. Hana stepped up like a big girl as her name was called, looked back at us, smiled and off she went. I was so proud of her.

Of course at this point, Manolee starts having a conniption. She thought that she should be with Hana and did not understand why her big sister was stepping ahead alone. Aye - I saw with hindsight that I had prepared Manolee all wrong - I had told her all summer how she will be going to school with her big sister for the first time! I did not think to elaborate that the same school does not mean same class... thereby setting up false expectations...

We managed to extract Manolee's eyes from Hana and went downstairs to the Maternelle sections (nursery). In France, kids start school at 2-1/2 years old and it's called Petite Section. We met her teacher, Anne-Marie, who was very nice and heartily greeted us. Manolee was v happy to see the set-up of the classroom and went straight to play with the various things laid out. We explained to Anne-Maried that Manolee speaks mostly English, that she was going to a full time nursery in England, and the all-important blankie situation - then we said goodbye - me, very reluctantly, Manolee, smiling and waving us away. I thought she would cry, but she was happy to sit by herself at one of the tables and draw. Most kids were howling by then, but she just looked around and waved at us again.

We retreated to the courtyard and peeked at her through the window - we were hiding a bit but then she saw us - I thought she would cry, but she just smiled big, waved, blew kisses and went back to drawing - I was relieved - but also kinda sad!

So we went back to the rear courtyard and lo and behold, the older kids were having recess already! We saw Hana all on her own, just walking around aimlessly looking at the ground, flinching with shoulders hunched whenever someone ran past her - my heart just broke! It was so disheartening to see her alone and seemingly sad to be alone - my Hana, who is usually so outgoing and smiling! PeeWee called her out, and she was happy to see us - she didn't cry or anything, so I think all in all she was okay.... oh but it broke my heart.

So while I was more worried about Manolee before, at this point I am more worried about Hana.

Pickup time - the Maternelle classroom door opened, I saw Manolee sitting there with her backpack on, and as soon as she saw me she started to cry! The teacher said that she had a wonderful day, slept well and ate well. She said she cried only during lunch and didn't know why. We then picked up Hana, who said that she already made one friend and was all pleased with herself. She then explained that she saw Manolee through the window at lunchtime, and upon seeing her big sister, Manolee started to cry....

Well - so there you have it, their first day at a new school in France... so far okay... we shall see how this unfolds.