Christmas #1: in the Village

As happens every year, the village "comité des fêtes" threw a Christmas party for the kids and the elderly of our village. 

We suddenly knew a lot more people this year than in years past, thanks to the boys going to school. That made things much more comfortable. 

The kids got a giant plate of snacks and a drink, the adults got coffee and pastries or clementines, and the elderly guests got champagne with their snacks. 

Then on to the skit. This year it was about a little girl whose mother didn't have time to sing Christmas carols with her, so the audience helped her out with the words (and we discovered why French people are so enthralled to hear our church sing a cappella... confidently and in tune), and with the help of a little elf, she gave her mother a magical gift that made her realize she should spend more time with her daughter. The kids sang Jingle Bells ("Vive le Vent") with her at the end, very à propos since Benjamin had just had to learn it for school that week. 

But then.... the moment they had all been waiting for... the arrival of the Père Noël!

Benjamin got a new Meccano set. 

 And Noah got a box of games. 

 Both were pleased with their presents (at least, they were once we explained to Benjamin that you can't have too many Meccano sets; the more you have, the bigger things you can build, right?!) - and we were pleased that we had some semblance of conversations with other people instead of sitting around like pieces of furniture like we usually do!

The Circus

So right about now I'm eating my words about not going to the circus again, because we went last weekend. It was, as last time we went, part of Air France's Christmas present to the kids. This was a different circus than last time, though, and we had a much better time. Parking was not as nightmarish as the other one, and we were in front of the circle, but the performers did a better job remembering they were performing in a circle, too, and didn't exclude the audience on the sides.

I think European clowns look quite a bit different than American clowns.

I did not know they still did human cannonballs, but they do.

We told the boys that if they continued in gymnastics, they could do this some day. (He was going up and down the stairs on his hands.) They said, "No."

They both enjoyed it, though even the circus was not enough to keep Noah entranced. Benjamin wasn't scared of the camels this time.

How will his teacher like this one?

First graders do a lot of poetry memorization here. Every week or two, Benjamin comes home with a new poem he has to learn and then recite in class. This week, in the spirit of Christmas, he brought home a poem about Santa Claus.

It was supposed to start something like this:

"If I were Santa Claus,
And if I were tired,
I would like to rest in a big stork's nest (nid de cigogne)."

But when Benjamin recites it, he says this:

"If I were Santa Claus,
And if I were tired,
I would like to rest in a big bed of cigars (lit de cigares)."

Personally, I think his way is much funnier.

 

Too Old for Jet Lag

Yes, I am. Or too Work-at-Home, perhaps. This is day seven, and I am still exhausted. The boys have school, so they're adjusting more easily, and Frédéric basically lives in permanent jet lag because of his work schedule, so it's not really any different for him. 

It could be because I keep giving in to the extraordinarily strong gravitational pull of my bed, and napping when I'm "not supposed to." Or because my dear, sweet husband gets up and gets the kids off to school and lets me sleep in til 11 am (!! have not done that since... high school? college?). 

Either way... today, I stand victorious, having arisen at 9 am, and not having napped all day long. Well, stand may not be quite the right word, I'm a little drowsy here at 7:40 pm. More like I slump victorious over my desk. 

Slump might be optimistic, though; sort of gives the impression I might be able to perk up. I think if I'm awake enough to drag myself off to my bed before too long, I'll be doing well. 

Maybe it is not the work-at-homeness, though, maybe it is the having-to-deal-with-kids-while-utterly-jet-lagged. Maybe I should declare a moratorium on overseas travel until I can come home to a nanny who can take over until I am fully recovered. 

At any rate... hoping today's triumph over The Nap is leading me in the right direction, and that in a few days I'll feel slightly more normal again... (just in time for the kids' Christmas break, right... oh dear.)

All good things come to an end

As did our trip home. Fortunately, the good things lasted a little bit longer thanks to the absolutely marvelous Delta gate agent in Detroit who wangled an upgrade for us for our trip home, so we had more room than we would have had in coach. My favorite part - no one's head leaning back in front of my face for me to dry shampoo or pick nits out of, thanks to the hard shell seats in Premium Voyageur class.

Noah even slept for almost the entire flight!


We haven't had to fly coach internationally for the last four years... we are going to weep the day we have to travel back with the commoners again! In the meantime, if any airline representatives are reading this... THIS is what coach SHOULD be like! Maybe I should appeal to PETA, they are against caged animals, right? What is worse than 300+ humans caged-up for 7+ hours?