Me, in a very hopeful tone of voice after a very long morning: "Quarta, how about a nap? Say au revoir!"
Quarta, throwing herself on the ground and kicking her feet: "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!"
Me: "Yep, I think she might be tired."
Secondo: "Mom, you DO NOT KNOW what is in her mind!"
Hi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my blog!
As for needing friends to get the box sets, it's not true (I mean, yes, it's one of my students who's been lending me Grey's Anatomy, but...); my Mad Men sets (all watched compulsively till the wee small hours) all came from Amazon, as did Glee and the whole 10 seasons of Friends (egads - that's a LOT of episodes)...
The best way to make friends in France is through kids, I've found. I got involved in the girls' PTA (it's kind of a snobby school, so I can feel like a fish out of water, but I've made friends all the same), I've met parents gradually, also through the girls' (endless) activities.
I've avoided all ex-pat community stuff and have few English-speaking friends (3, actually - one is a parent at the school, one is a blogger and one I met by chance). That's been tough, but I felt it was necessary. My English-speaking friends are in the UK, the US... and we stay in touch via Facebook.
Oh, and if you're having trouble getting kids to nap, I feel for you! Neither of my girls EVER wanted to nap; it was a struggle every.single.day, till we more or less gave up at about 18 months (I know, stupidly young, but it was just a 2-hour scream-fest so what was the point?).
Courage!
I'm sure you're right. My terrible language skills are a HUGE problem. The boulangere and the epiciere understand me, but the no-self-esteem-having part of me says that's because, well, I spend money in their shops. The school moms kind of ignore me. (And it DOES feel like being ignored. There is no expat community here and I am very, very sure that in this tiny town EVERYBODY knows the crazy American lady with the truckload of kids.) I'm not sure enough about the etiquette of meeting people/making friends to make the first move. Which sucks, because I think that meeting people and being forced to interact would do more than all the studying in the world to improve my French. Even if it was an option, I wouldn't want to go the "expat bubble" route either, but I can see why some people do.
DeleteThe nap situation is not so bad. Quarta is at Grandmere's right now for the school vacation and Grandmere? Doesn't take any crap. She'll be a good napper again (and probably potty trained) by the end of the week.
Wow, you are good! Who would have known that a screaming fussing toddler needed some rest? Ha!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great day!
m.
Hard to believe, I know!
DeleteOh this sounds like something my oldest would say. And I absolutely adore that this is filed in Tinpot Dictator. Thanks for the laugh!
ReplyDeleteYW! That particular child has been under the impression that he's been running a banana republic around here since... oh, about 2006.
DeleteKids say the darnest things. And I have had my share of issues with napping. There is an age where they just try to push your buttons even though you know they need to sleep. My grandma in Germany could also whip us into shape. It's a shame my kids couldn't get to know her better.
ReplyDeleteThat is very hard! Napping is not usually a huge problem with Quarta, but we'll see what happens when she gets back this weekend, as I took advantage of this window of opportunity to transition Quinta into her room. And we ALL know how good toddlers are at sharing, right?
DeleteI would have tossed her a pillow on the ground and said, "No nap? Okay.... then take a little rest!"
ReplyDeleteHa ha! That is totally something that I would do, and the older kids know it.
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