Le Gastro

otherwise known as the stomach flu in North America. Started Monday night with Andrew vomitting all over me, Robert and our bedsheets, and lucky me, he passed those lovely germs along to his mommy. After the whole chicken pox incident, I have decided not to even bother trying to keep Ryan at a distance from Andrew when he is sick and vice versa. No matter how hard I would try to keep hands washed, toys separated, etc., Ryan will wander into the bathroom and start sucking on Andrew's toothbrush or something! So, hopefully, Ryan will not be next in line with this bug, but I won't be shocked at all if he is. Sucks, because we have social plans all weekend long, not to mention the fact that I had full intentions of wrapping up the last few Christmas presents, purchasing the stocking stuffers, etc. today and instead I spent most of the day with unwelcome liquids coming out of both ends! Pardon the graphics...it's been a rough day! Fortunately, this particular bug that seems to be going around the schools here, is a 24 hour thingy, and I am already starting to (slowly) regain an appetite, and Andrew was pretty much back to his normal self within a day, barring his decreased appetite.
One of the first things you learn when you become a Mom is that there are no such thing as "sick days" for us. No matter how bad I feel, the kids need to be fed, changed, bathed, taken and picked up from school, etc. and although Robert would be more than willing to help out, that does me no good when he is away on business, which, it so happens is the case right now. I think back to the old days of calling in sick when my job happened to be in an office, and the freedoms I had to stay in bed all day, nursing whatever ailment had come over me, and even still, feeling sorry for myself. And nowadays, I get a chance to throw up in between feeding Andrew breakfast and changing Ryan's poopy diaper! It's funny how us moms seem to manage when we feel this bad, but we all do. Our kids (speaking for all moms) don't walk around starving or naked or whatever when we're under the weather. We somehow find strength, somewhere deep down, to take care of our kids, before we take care of ourselves. I'm not patting myself on the back so much as feeling grateful for my own mother, who managed to care for us three kids primarily on her own, and undoubtedly during times of stomach flus, severe colds, etc. And inevitably, to this day, whenever I have a stomach bug, it is my Mommy's TLC I crave the most, complete with chicken noodle soup!
So this gastro thing brings me onto another subject that Susie and I spoke about at length today. Prior to moving to France, I haven't thrown up since I was a kid. (with the sole exception of one really bad night of drinking!) And yet, I've been living in France for 3.5 years and have already had 4 separate instances involving barf! And I now wonder why. Susie says that all of her friends who have young ones have in the not so distant past, been hit by a stomach flu. So, is this normal when you have little ones? I know for sure that at least one of the four previously mentioned occurrences was food poisoning. I bought a "Kebab", which is a special sandwich on a baguette with lamb meat, and was sick withing an hour of eating it. Here in France, the standards of hygiene are not quite at par with those in North America. And I'm quite certain the Food and Drug Admin would have some serious issues with some of the conducts of business in the bakeries and grocery stores alike. For example, in the US, you will NEVER see someone handling money and food simultaneously. If they handle your food, they will wash with antibacterial soap after touching your money, or more commonly, will simply wear gloves while preparing the food. That don't happen here! The bakery ladies take your coins (which supposedly have more germs than a public toilet seat) all day long, in exchange for a freshly baked baguette on the shelves. But in addition to that, I have noticed that prepared foods, such as quiches, pizzas, cold cut sandwiches, chickens, etc. are endlessly displayed at the bakeries and supermarkets in a non-refrigerated section! Even sandwiches with chicken and MAYONNAISE seem to sit for hours on a room temperature shelf. Quite frankly, I think this is just gross. I am the type of person that usually throws out cold meat or yogourt and the like ON the expiration date. I won't eat leftovers that have been in the fridge more than two days and I certainly would throw out a quiche if it sat on my own countertop for 8 hours. And finally, the other thing I have observed is that the number of public restrooms around here that do not have any type of soap to wash your hands (let alone a sink to wash your hands in to begin with and rest assured if there is running water to wash your hands, it will be NOTHING but freezing cold water) are far more common than those with soap. "Le gastro" is quite a common thing around here. But is it common because my circle is now one of little children that pass along their germs all day long, or does it have something to do with the less stringent hygiene standards in this country?

Andrew's 4th Birthday Party!

First off, I have to say that having a birthday in December sorta sucks!!! Without doubt, he was the best Christmas present ever for me and Robert back in 2006, but now that it's time to start having real parties for him, December is just a bad month for them. People are busy. Christmas events are in full swing, shopping needs to be done on the weekends. The weather is cold and unpredictable. And with the drastic change in temperatures, it's inevitable that people get sick; myself included and fortunately I got in to my doctor the day before the party, who got me on a whack load of meds including antibiotics for my sinusitis.


All that said, I am thrilled to say that the party was a huge success! It was obvious to see that all the children were having a wonderful time, particularly birthday boy, and that totally warmed our hearts. Based on the weather forecast, we decided to change the original date, which unfortunately meant that about 10 kids who had previously RSVP'd would not be available, not to mention the fact that we had to miss a good friend's party who had planned hers for the same date and time as ours. But in the end, it was definitely the right decision as it rained all day long on the day we had originally planned. And fortunately, there were certainly enough friends there to call it a real party, and it meant the world to me that everyone who could show up, did show up, even though it was a rather chilly afternoon, and even with several newborn siblings. I was reluctant to plan the party for a Saturday originally, because that is tennis day, and Andrew is often tired after tennis and in need of a good nap. But everything fell into place perfectly, as I was able to get both of Ryan's naps in before leaving, in addition to putting Andrew down for a good hour before we had to leave. Robert's sole responsibility was creating the "Stick the Eyepatch on the Pirate" game and setting up the treasure chest pinata, but in the end, he contributed significantly, including packing up the car and setting up all the food, drinks, decorations, etc. so that all I had to do was wake up the kids, pack them up in the car and meet him there 5 minutes before the first guest arrived. Organizing a party is definitely a more difficult feat here in France for several reasons. First off, I am the first to admit that if we were in the US, I'd have given Publix a full-on order of finger foods, sandwiches, and a ready-made, beautifully decorated cake at a relatively low cost and simply picked it up the morning of the party. Here in France, that doesn't exist. And though it is probably possible to find someone who would cater things for you, it would be outrageously pricey (I saw an ad for someone who makes birthday cakes for 100 euros...forget that!!!) Pretty much like everything else here, you just gotta do it yourself. I would have been happy to attempt a fun cake myself, but even that is more difficult when you have virtually no baking appliances (we left all our kitchen appliances in the US since they don't work on these outlets here anyway) and in addition to that, I've yet to find a cake mix here in France that makes the right sort of cake to design (all the mixes I've used here yield a very gooey cake, yummy indeed but not ideal to form shapes with!), so I use the cake mixes that Robert brings from the US on his business trips, and I'm afraid to attempt my own design, as if it fails, I am left with nothing! So...I made a big batch of "pirate cupcakes" and made a regular cake and topped it with a personalized pirate icing sheet that I had to order from an ebay store in the UK!!! (if my dying computer will let me, I will eventually post some photos of the day on this site) But as I lit the candle and we all sang Happy Birthday to our little guy in two languages, all the effort was so worthwhile. I so love the fact that our boys are being exposed to such diversity in all respects (language, culture, etc.) and a multi-lingual environment is just so special, and so unique to me. In fact, at the last party we attended, we sang Happy Birthday in FOUR languages! The father is Italian, the mother is Estonian, the common language amongst the parents is English and the common language amongst the children is French. How cool is that?!!!
Ok, so I started this a week ago, and like most things I start now, I seldom get a chance to finish properly and in a timely manner, but I'll wrap it up and say that Robert and I were really happy with the way that Andrew's first real party went, and feel totally blessed for all the amazing friends that came, some of whom I now consider like family, and additionally grateful for the comments I received by email in the days after about how much fun they, and their children had, despite the c-c-c-c-cold!!! And for me, the "icing on the cake" was when I put Andrew to bed that night. Our routine after story time is bedtime prayer, in Andrew's version: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I "pair" the lord my soul to keep, may angels watch me in the night and wake me up in the morning light...AMEN", and then we briefly talk about what we are thankful for, taking turns, and we give thanks for everything from each other, to blankets and doudous and chocolate easter eggs and sunshine and water to drink and a bed to sleep in and dragons and Peter Pan movie, etc. etc. etc. Well on his birthday night, the very first thing he said was that he was thankful for his pirate party and for all his friends that came. And that made me feel, even for just an instant, that we must be doing something right!

McDonald's

As much as I try not to bitch about the comparisons between France and home, which I learned quite quickly upon arrival here...Andrew's pediatrician snapped back at me quite directly, "this is not the United States", when I advised him about something they do different back there, anyway, I gotta say, the McDonald's here just blow me (and Robert) away. Ok, so it's certainly not my favourite place to frequent to begin with, but unfortunately, there just aren't a ton of things to do with kids here on rainy days, so McDonald's ends up getting our business more often than I would like to think. We've had a lot of rain here lately and as I type this, there is a rather brutal thunderstorm out my window, even I am a little scared, (fortunately the boys seems to be sleeping right through it) and on a side note, I'm thinking that if it's like this tomorrow a.m. and I am left to take Andrew to school with Ryan in tow, there's a good chance we'll be calling in sick! (it's a bit of a hike from the car to the school, not to mention a gazillions steps and I just ain't getting all three of us soaking wet for a day at nursery school!) Hopefully the rain will ease up by morning. Anyway back to my original train of thought, it rained all day Saturday, therefore no tennis lessons for Andrew and nothing to do...and we had to go out to get my new cellphone anyway, so we ended up at McDonald's for lunch and playtime. Now, McDonald's in France on a rainy day is a bit of a nightmare to begin with since every other family in the city and surrounding cities has the same idea as us...unlike in North America where you can pretty much find a fast food restaurant with a jungle gym on every other street corner, there are TWO that service about a million people in Antibes. And one of those two is 3 levels high, without an elevator, is always crowded, and I just strongly prefer to stay clear of it. So, we ordered our food and, as required, surrendered our photo identification to get a high chair! Imagine that! You have to give up your driver's license in exchange for the use of a high chair. Yes, of course you get it back, but come on...do they really think we're gonna walk out of the restaurant with the high chair (it's pretty crappy anyway, and of course doesn't contain a seat belt to fasten your child in)???? And quite honestly even if someone did steal a high chair, they must certainly be able to afford a new one as their prices are rather exorbitant, certainly in comparison to what you'd pay to feed a family of 4 in the US and although there is probably not nearly the amount of crap in the food here than there is in the US (which by the way, is the only explanation I have for the fact that I now weigh less than I did in Junior High - since I eat at least the same amount if not more food here in general, it is surely the lack of crap that is in the food that has me weighing so much less), but it tastes much worse here, (even the fries, which is surprising cuz in a country where they most definitely produce THE best French Fries in the world, those at McDonald's totally SUCK)....the place is always packed, so with the prices and the volume they sell, they must be raking it in. At least in the US, I kinda admit that I like the taste while I eat it, but don't exactly care for the way I feel AFTER I eat it. It tastes bad here AND you feel gross...and now I'm really beginning to wonder why the hell I go there?!!!!! Well back to submitting our driver's license for a chair, to make matters worse, all of the high chairs were in use. So Robert then went wandering around the restaurant in the hopes of finding a child who was almost done. There were THREE highchairs in total!!!! A "family" restaurant, that services a gazillion people, has THREE high chairs. Ok, so we put Ryan on a bench in a booth, he made one hell of a mess, but none of us really cared. We got through our meal and were heading over to the jungle gym area so the boys could have a play when Andrew advises us that he has to go pee pee. And of course this means that he has to go NOW! Robert volunteered to take him, and knowing from past experience, I said, "make sure you get the code first". He looked at me like I had 10 eyeballs. "What do you mean, the code????" Yes, that's right, the McDonald's in the heart of town, requires a code to open the bathroom door, obviously so that non-patrons off the street don't get a free use of the facilities. What actually made things even worse is that the code that Robert was given didn't work, and he had to wait even longer for an employee to open it for him. I seriously think he was ready to pack up his bags as soon as we exited that place. There are certain things we will just never get. These such are among them. But my point of comparison is that with which I am completely used to and in North America, the bathrooms are free to use to anybody who walks into the place, customer or not, and there are a ton of high chairs available for use that sit in the open lobby, waiting for the next customer in need. I know the French don't bat an eye at these such inconveniences in McDonald's...to them, it's completely normal that there are only 3 high chairs, which you can access by surrendering your passport, and that you need a code to use the bloody toilet. But like the Doctor said, "this is not the United States", so just cope Karen.

Update

Well...since my last post was entitled "Halloween" and I'm making a diligent effort at keeping this thing somewhat current (though still haven't gone back to blog about the Canada trips...one day!), I just thought I'd write an update on the latest in our lives.

We've all been recently hit with a bit of a cold/cough which of course is quite typical for this time of year, when the temps take some serious downturns and rains and winds set in. Robert and Ryan got it the worst, while Andrew and I escaped with just an endless cough.

We have booked another ski vacation, at an all-inclusive ski resort called Les Villages Club du Soleil, in the Hautes Alpes. Since we've already booked with this resort before (at a different location), we know not to expect 5-star service, or ultra luxury accommodations. However, what it does include, and for what you get for what you pay, well, you just CANNOT go wrong. I am most looking forward to: 7 days of meals that I don't have to cook or clean up after, in addition to 6 days of absolutely incredible skiing, exposing Andrew to skiing for the first time (he will have a one-hour lesson each day), kids camps for the boys that are open from 8:30am til 9pm at night (sorry Ryan, you'll be stuck in camp, but we promise we'll get you on the slopes when you're bigger too!), playing in the snow with the kids, and chilling out in our cozy little ski cabin at night with a good book in hand.

Many of you have asked how my mom is, and for those I haven't yet had a chance to email/call, she is doing fine...as I would expect the strongest woman I know to be. She has now undergone the first of 4 chemo treatments, and although she was hit hard for about 5 days with pain, nausea, weakness, mouth sores, etc. etc., she's now feeling significantly better and confident, though not keen obviously, on the prospect of 3 more rounds of treatment. She had her entire head shaved off before treatment began, as they suggest it can be less emotional to do it that way, than to find chunks of hair in your pillow, etc. Mom of course got a wig, and I nearly died when I found out how expensive they are, but even Susie says she can't tell it's not my mom's real hair. Susie also says that Mom makes a fantastic Sinead O'Connor, and I've asked to be sent some photos so that I can post them on my blog, on my facebook account and everywhere else I know, but for some reason, they haven't sent me any yet! I think the biggest source of comfort for my mom, throughout all this, has been Baby Haley's visits, and I'm eternally grateful for that.
We've been busy socializing lately, picnics, brunches, dinner parties, birthday parties, girls nights, etc. and I'm feeling way more back in the swing of loving life in France again than I was just a few weeks ago. We will be celebrating American Thanksgiving with our American friends again, and even though Robert is not a huge fan of turkey, I CANNOT wait to sink my teeth into the yummy bird!
Ryan remains an angel. He had a couple bad nights when he wasn't feeling so well, but now that he's on the mend again, he's his happy little monkey self. He is actually even starting to cooperate in diaper changes, and I was shocked the other day when he lifted his legs for me when I went to put on his pants. That said, he has taken to throwing absolutely anything and everything in the garbage or toilet, or even worse, pulling things out of said fixtures! Last weekend, I lost my favourite blush and foundation when he decided to empty the contents of my cosmetic bag in the toilet. Things keep mysteriously disappearing too, like all of a sudden there are only 3 plastic cereal bowls when there used to be 4, and now that he can push the stool to the counter, and then subsequently reach pretty much everything on the counter, I have a pretty strong suspicion that bowl is now sitting in a landfill site!

Andrew has achieved another milestone. He can swim now! To be honest, I'm still a little reluctant to not be right by his side in the water, but today at the pool, he swam away from me, not toward the side of the pool or to Robert, but to the middle of the pool, then turned around himself and came back. A first! Now that Halloween is over, the obsession about Christmas has begun for Andrew. A lot of stores have the decorations up already, the lights have been put up in the city (though not yet turned on), and the tv commercials are already advertising the Christmas sales...enough to get Andrew completely fascinated and obsessing over how many days til Christmas Eve. I'm so mad that I forgot to tell Robert to pick up Christmas pyjamas for the boys while he was in the States cuz it's officially now a tradition that we all wear Christmas pyjamas throughout the month of December and I'm not sure how easy it will be to find a nice, cute pair here for each of the boys, when Old Navy/Gap, etc. always have such adorable, cheap Christmas-themed pjs every year. Andrew is also excited for his Pirate birthday party, but most excited about the fact that there will be a Treasure Chest pinata to bash, just like at Karl's party. I hope he lets the other kids have a go at it! We decided to have it in a park/playground as we just wanted to do something simple for his first real party in France but I wanted to include lots of friends and since our backyard is a total state of mud all winter long and our place is just not very big, we opted for the playground. But since weather is very unpredictable at this time of year, it is highly possible there will be one or more postponement. Fingers crossed.
So that about does it. One day soon, I hope to get around to calling or at least email those I feel like I've been neglecting forever! I just find it so hard to make a lengthy phone call these days, as the best time for me is in the morning after Andrew goes to school and Ryan goes down for his morning nap, and of course that is around 3am in the morning Eastern time...and as much as I know you would just love to hear from me, there's something telling me you wouldn't be all that thrilled waking up in the middle of the night for a chat with me! And trying to carry on a conversation with one or both of the boys at home and awake totally does my head in; either Ryan is very grumpy that I haven't given him the phone I am holding and carrying on endlessly over it (despite the million toy phones he owns) or Andrew decides the minute I get on the phone that he's hungry, or wants to know whether a giant dragon is bigger than the beast from the beauty and the beast, or whatever!

Halloween

Ok, so although our intention was to go celebrate Halloween in the large anglo-community village of Valbonne with friends, the torrential downpour of the entire day prevented us from leaving the house. So in the afternoon, Robert and I decided to set up a trick-or-treating event at home. Robert really embraced the idea...he drew a picture of a witch, a ghost, a pirate and a pumpkin...and taped the pictures to the door of each house, i.e. bedroom. With only flashlights in hand, we knocked on the first door (the witch house), and Robert, disguised as a witch, answered the door. The plan was to of course say, "trick-or-trick" and collect our candies. But instead, Andrew clung to me, not recognizing Daddy, and forced me to hold out his candy bag for him to collect his treats! This continued on for the ghost house, whereby Robert was covered in a white blanket, answering the knock with a "whooooooooo is it"?...at which point Andrew ran off in tears and refused to go back into the hallway! Even after explaining that it was just Daddy under the blanket and witch costume, he refused to take one step out of the living room, so we turned on all the lights and I went back to make sure the pirate's house was a funny pirate, not a scary pirate, after some coaxing, he allowed me to carry him back to the pirate's house and since he was still scared, we never made it to the pumpkin's house! The poor thing had nightmares all night long...and decided that he is "not a fan of trick-or treating"!!!!! I REALLY hope that he will get to experience the real fun of real trick-or-treating in the coming years, while he's still young. I was envious listening to my friends' stories of how much fun their kids had trick-or-treating this year. Unfortunately the concept of trick-or-treating still doesn't exist here, so I may just have to plan for a trip home around Halloween...which doesn't sound so bad after all, as what a treat it would be to go trick-or-treating with cousin Haley.

Without a doubt, the highlight of Halloween for Andrew was pumpkin carving. Andrew was excited from the moment we selected the biggest pumpkin in the store, and talked non-stop about carving it, until the moment finally arrived. I, of course, roasted the yummy seeds as always, but learned the hard way, that if you eat too many, you will definitely get a tummy ache!

How to terrorize your 3-year old on Halloween

Step 1: dress up each family member in costume

Step 2: turn out all lights, leaving only the glow of the scary jack-o-lantern on

Step 3: go trick-or-treating in the bedrooms, with Daddy disguised in a different costume in each "house"/bedroom

More pics to follow

"Why he's all black like that?"

Despite our relative proximity to Africa, there does not seem to be a large population of blacks in the Antibes area. So, when we approached a coloured man in the produce aisle of the grocery store two days ago, this was the question that came from Andrew's mouth, in his "every day volume" which is pretty much at the top of his lungs. Not making a big deal of it, I just explained that lots of people have different coloured skin, some are light brown, some are very fare, and some are black, just like how he has red hair, Daddy has black hair and Mommy has blond hair...and of course we love everybody just the same! I must say, I felt a little on the embarrassed side, but fortunately for both of us, I strongly suspected this man did not speak English, as he seemed to make no notice of Andrew's question.
Perhaps this will be a chosen theme to one of the new books.