This week was a spectacular one.
My host parents were out of town for the second half of the week so I spent 72 straight hours with my kiddos. And on top of that, my oldest kid S got out of school last week so she was completely free all day every day. Most au pairs would shudder at the thought but I actually had a blast. So, let’s start off with our first day together.
Wednesday, A and his best friend and I went to the Lego expo, which I’d been wanting to go to for weeks. We get there and the boys run in and start running around looking for the “kid” stuff. I say this because the entire expo was artwork formed out of Legos – pretty intense and beautiful stuff but the boys were not having any of it. They wanted to just play with the Legos. They had no idea that it was just artwork. Running through everything to the gift shop at the end, they were finally happy. They spent 15 minutes perusing all that the gift shop had to offer and decided on a Lego shaped box full of Legos to take home. I pay and we leave. Then, we get outside and open the box.. Turns out it’s just a box for the Legos you already have at home! The boys were so bummed. I personally thought it was quite funny..
Later that night I made some homemade chorizo pizza and A loved it. He ate half of the whole thing and then was upset when he couldn’t eat anymore. Absolutely made my day hearing him so excited about my food. I love to cook.
Then Thursday, S and I went to the Paris Aquarium and I got to see the sharks again! They were just as cool the second time around. Then, A had a school concert at night for all the parents and I got to go. All the kids sang their hearts out and had such a blast doing it, I loved it. After, there was candy and cotton candy and drinks and all other kinds of goodies that the kids went crazy on – A shared his cotton candy with me and S because he’s such a sweet little kid.
I then made the mistake of Americanizing my meal Thursday night and in addition to pizza, I made pizza breadsticks. The kids barely touched them. So guess what I had for breakfast the next day? Yup, pizza breadsticks. So good cold.
And finally yesterday we went to the cat and dog expo. It was actually quite entertaining and I learned lots. There were dog/cat games of Guess Who? and a quiz to play with friends on a big screen and a Where’s Waldo? and all other kinds of fun, informative things to do. It was better than I expected.
After returning home and eating dinner, the kids and I snuggled up on the couch and watched The Lord of the Rings together until my host parents came home. We then had a couple of drinks with the movie on and I tried my best to stall because I knew that once I left, I’d never see S again. Since she’s out of school, she’s going to her grandma’s this weekend and not coming back until after I leave Paris. So I was trying my hardest to stay longer until A announced that he was going to bed and I realized that I should probably skedaddle. I got up and hugged S for a long time and neither of us could let go. My host parents told me how much fun she had with me this year and I hugged her one more time and walked out the door. Overcome with sadness, I realized just how quickly this year has truly gone by and how soon I’m leaving..
But I refuse to think more on the subject right now because I still have 9 days left in Paris. So, I’ll just leave this here where it is.
The Wandering Sunflower 