Fête de Noël à l'École

Plain Hot Chocolate sticks decorated
with marshmallows to look like snow

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate Sticks

This week was also the School Christmas Fair (Friday evening from 4:30-6:30pm, I think).

Fran has spent months thinking about crafty ideas of things that her and the rest of the parent committee can make and sell to raise money for the school.

She did some sewing of little christmas bunting, and then we also made these hot chocolate sticks which you just stir and melt into hot milk.

They're really easy to make - we literally just melted dark chocolate, added some vanilla and sugar and a little milk and then poured into silicon moulds with the stick and left to harden, then they got decorated with cinnamon or marshmallows.

I sat and wrapped them all up in cellophane squares (which conveniently needed to be the exact same size and shape as a square of kitchen towel so that made measuring much easier!) and tied pretty gift ribbons around them.

I think they were sold at 1€ each and we made close to 100 of them - so a good fundraiser - not bad for a few bars of chocolate, a pot of cinnamon and a bag of mini marshmallows anyway!

I didn't actually go to the School Fair in the end. The weather was miserable and I wasn't feeling too great - plus I have no money! Slightly regretting not going now as Fran came back with loads of stuff (including some amazing cake), but never mind.

A Cinnamon Hot Chocolate Stick

A marshmallow snow-topped one
Wrapped in Cellophane
and tied with gift ribbon

The Hot Chocolate Sticks

Mes Raisons De Ne Pas Avoir Des Enfants

I like to think of myself as someone who is good with kids (I decided to be an Au Pair for a year didn't I?!) but there are just some things that make me think/say/wish/scream 'I am never having kids. Ever.'

So, if you're feeling broody, just read my helpful top (was just 5, but quickly expanding) reasons why you may want to reconsider going down that road right now. I'm sure it's more effective than all other contraceptives combined...

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6. Your body. 
Not only does childbirth destroy the body, but the human spawn gets bigger and stronger, and proceeds to continue hurting you too. They're not even mine and I'm covered in bruises from having toy cars smashed into me or being kicked or punched for asking for something as simple as 'please put your coat on' or 'let's eat lunch'. Oh and then there's all the scratches and bruises I've received from Aurianne when she's climbing on me or when I'm trying to wrestle her into tights. Ouch.
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5. Mealtimes
Why are they so hard? Why does it take someone so small who is eating half of what an adult is eating, take 3 times as long to do it? I'm 90% sure that the average length of a mealtime is 1 hour. And that is just eating. Simple main course and fruit/yogurt for dessert. With no breaks in between. Not even intellectual conversation.

Not only that, but it looks as though everything supposedly eaten during the aforementioned meal has been splattered across the floor, table, chairs, children, clothes and me. I do so much more laundry than I ever did before for this main reason. The other reasons are slightly higher on my list because they are just a little bit more gross than regurgitated banana. Who knew.
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4. Lack of sleep. 
This could probably have come under 'my body', but it's so extreme I think it deserves its whole own heading. Why, children? Why will you no sleep at night?! This week I think I've been woken up an average of 3 times per night, every night. And I'm not even the one that has to get up and deal with it! There's mid-night toilet trips, coughing fits, earache, 'I can't/don't want to sleep', feeding time and nappy changes. Oh, and then they wanna get up at 6am?! Not cool.
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3. Creatures.
See my post about 'Worms, Headlice and other human parasites'. Need I say more. This is another reason for dramatically increased laundry...
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2. Poo and other bodily excretions.
(Here's the final laundry reason). Only three times today have I changed a pooey nappy and had it smeared across my hands. I have also endured wiping a 3 year old's poo smeared bum, and poo being picked up out of a potty and thrown on the floor (that was last week. Fingers crossed for never again). And there's wee too. Marc thought it was hilarious to stand up in the bath and wee 'at me', while Aurianne has been perfecting the skill of mid-nappy change wees lately.

There's also a crazy amount of snot and dribble that come out of those little bundles of joy. So much of it seems to end up on my jeans/jumpers etc. it's unreal.
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1. Three year olds.
To enlighten you about the joys of 3 yr olds, here are just some of the charming things Marc has said to me today....

'Why?'
'I don't want to eat dinner'
'I'm going to throw the broccoli in the bin'
'I'm going to stab you because you're naughty'
'I'm going to throw you in the bin because you're not nice'
'AHHHHHHH'
'Why?'
'Nooo, I won't'
'I think you're mean'
'I'm going to spill this yoghurt on the table'
'Bam bam. I'm bashing you with my car'
'I'm going to throw peas at you'
'WOOOOOO, I'm scaring you because I'm cross'
'I'm not hungry so I'm not eating anything for my dinner' (closely followed by...)'I want stroopwafels'
'I'm going to break you'.

We've also had several tantrums for what I can only describe as the most ridiculous of things over the past few days. One of which involved screaming and running into the middle of the road after the request that we walked a little bit faster (a 10 minute walk home from school had taken over 30 mins and we weren't even half way home yet...), another involved collapsing on the playground in a fit of rage and despair and refusing to get up for 10 mins after I told him I had Prince chocolate biscuits for an after-school snack and not the dinosaur biscuits he wanted.

I googled 'dealing with a 3 year old' and this absolute genius of an article was the first hit. I think it sums it all up pretty accurately!
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Oh, and before people start trying to tell me 'but you're just an Au Pair! Kids are great!'... Yeah, I'm sooo sure it's completely different when they're your own. It's probably 10 times worse because you're the one that actually has to deal with it all 24/7 (unless you have an au pair, that is....!)

Rant. Over.

Ma Première Semaine à Cherbourg

My first week here in Cherbourg has been really good. Marc started school for the first time this week, and I spent lots of time walking around, getting to know the routes to school and garderie (nursery), and to the shopping centre. I've just about learnt the route to school and town, and I think I know how to get to garderie too just about.

Marc has struggled with school this week. He's only 3 so starting school at 8:30am and finishing at 4:30pm is a long day, made longer by the 20 minute walk there and back, and also coming home at 11:30am for an hour and half lunch (not quite an hour at home).  As a child in 'Petite Section' he also has a scheduled nap time - which they call 'dark school' - for an hour when he returns after lunch. This involves taking a blanket, pillow and teddy to school, then taking off shoes and lying on a little bed in the semi-dark. He hates this as he doesn't usually have a nap, and although he is allowed to read books, it's not really that fun to have quiet time when you'd rather be learning/playing! On Thursday, he got sent home as he didn't want to lie down quietly in the dark and I think Fran & Charly have a meeting with the headteacher at some point about getting him out of 'dark school'.

Marc's school is a private catholic school. Private schools in France are apparently not very expensive. I think Fran said they only pay something like €11 a month, although in France, private apparently doesn't always mean better education. Private schools are also allowed to include religious aspects, such as in religious assemblies and prayer/hymns, whereas State schools are not. They are also allowed to adapt the curriculum slightly to suit them (provided they are still achieving results in the government regulated exams), and can have the Wednesday off without making up time on Saturdays - I think the state schools have to do standard Monday-Friday in most places now. Private schools can also have extra days holidays (though I think there's a limit) provided they give a clear reason for why - this means religious schools often have extra days off for religious holidays.

This week I have also been knitting again. Although I brought all of my needles and hooks, I didn't bring very much wool so was a bit annoyed because I don't have the colours I wanted. Fran is an avid knitter/crocheter however and offered me pretty much full rein of her wool supplies! (I'll just bring a load of mine back next time I'm home and let her use what she fancies to repay the favour). She's got some really nice DK wools and lambswools so I spent a long time trying to decide which to use! Fran also has a large collection of knitting magazines and one evening I sat and flicked through them all. I've been having a lovely time!

I've been eating much healthier, though still not back down to my happy size 8 (darn it). They eat well here. It's muesli and fruit/yoghurt for breakfast. Occasionally there's Croissants or Pain au Chocolat but only once or twice a week. Lunch tends to be either a soup (Fran made a lovely courgette soup the other day), or baguettes with ham/cheese/salad, or just salad. Today it was a really nice grilled chicken and mozzarella salad.

Carpaccio (raw beef) with four cheese Ravioli
and mixed Veg. Very tasty!

Most nights the kids will eat at around 6:30pm and then Charly with bath Aurianne while Fran reads Marc a story (in English), then they swap and Charly reads Marc a story (in french) while Fran gets Aurianne ready for bed, gives her milk and then tries to put her to sleep. I tend to stay out of the way of this as it's a pretty good routine, and so clear up the destruction that has befallen on the dining room table.

Charly, Fran and I tend to eat after the kids are asleep - often around 8:30pm, or sometimes later. This week we've had Thai/Asian takeout, homemade burgers, risotto, carpaccio with ravioli and veg, roast chicken and some pasta ready meals.

I'm also very pleased that my energy is finally starting to increase. I think that's a mixture between more sleep, being able to get up whenever I'm ready, rather than forcing myself up (Fran doesn't usually need me in the mornings - lunch times, afternoons, after school and dinner mainly), eating better and getting out more. I might even consider joining a gym or doing some other kind of regular sporting activity!

I'm also looking into doing an Open University degree - possibly English Literature and Language. I've got 5 more days til the deadline for this year's entry and am very tempted. They even have the option to do a French module which would be pretty handy given that I need to learn French! I think I'll make some enquiries on Monday!

I'm really pleased I'm enjoying my new life in Cherbourg. Life with Helene was so awful and I was really worried that I wouldn't get on well here either.