Alors! Bonjour! Ça fait longtemps!
Well I'm sorry for the lack of updates. It turns out that looking after children is incredibly time consuming. So is trying to adjust to a new country.
So what has happened since I last checked in?
Well, I have had to radically change my daily routine. Getting up at 7:00am may be difficult for some coming fresh out of university, but I don't mind too much. What I do find difficult is the fact that 1) the children's school (an international Spanish school) doesn't open its doors until 8:50am - much later than most of the schools 2) most au pairs, it seems, have at least one parent around to help in the morning or do not have the kids at all. For me, at 8:10 the dad leaves (the mum leaves at 7:15) leaving me to handle the teeth brushing and dressing parts of the morning. And whilst the 8 year old (N) can take care of herself, but the 4 year old (M) is not on board.
I take the children to school for 8:50. N kisses her brother and runs off to find her register line, while I take M to his class and help him take off his bag and coat. Throughout this process with M there are a lot of well meaning mothers and fathers talking to me in Spanish, who then quickly change to French at the confused look on my face and then falter entirely when I look back blankly. Don't get me wrong, I understand Spanish (much better than I understand French) but most of that comes from GCSE classes, and I only use it when watching Spanish language Cinema and during my recent binge on the Netflix series Narcos. You can imagine that this is not very useful in the pre-school chat about which teacher is nice and what the comedor will serve for lunch. If they want to talk about beating informants for information on drug cartels - that I could handle...
I usually go home and do some light cleaning, load the breakfast things into the dishwasher, and sort out the kids bedroom. Sometimes I stop by a boulangerie for the day's bread, and if the kids have been difficult in the morning and I haven't had time to eat, I grab a large pain au chocolat. Then I get the middle of the day to myself, which is quite strange. Soon this time will be spent in language classes, but now I am just enjoying wandering around the city. I haven't yet been to any museums, but I am discovering a lot of good cafes.
Then at 16:00 it's time to pick up the kids and take them home. They eat an awful lot of post-school snacks here. There is one at the gate, then another when we get home (all of 10 minutes away). Juice, compote, sandwiches, biscuits, yoghurt - I never had this much when I was at school, and I am starting to wonder about the amount of sugar they consume. After this they have free time until 17:00.
Then it is homework until 18:00 (-ish - they don't get that much), and after this they are allowed to watch TV. Usually.
N and M love TV more than anything. They ask for it constantly. But it seems that the British Au Pair and the TV are not best friends right now. I am no anti-TV evangelist, I don't think it rots brains in small doses (large ones maybe). But when I was young (oooh a long time ago now - feel my bones creaking) there were a few hours of children's programmes on the main channel before it became time for the News, or a gardening/cooking programme. We did not have 24hr a day programming for kids on demand. And at least some of it (Art Attack, How2, Wild) was educational programming - not cartoons. Even when children's channels were introduced, they did not run all day. What I find concerning is that N and M would rather sit in front of the TV (almost in a hypnotised state) than read a book or do some arts and crafts. No other form of entertainment will do.
This has one large consequence. Whenever they are naughty, which is currently quite frequently, the only punishment that has any teeth is removing the TV. This results in screaming fits, lying on the floor, and throwing of objects. I almost wish I could give in for 5 minutes peace.
This TV/No TV battle continues until 18:30 when I serve dinner. So far only 20% of my cooking is palatable to N and M - whoever said French children ate their vegetables was clearly not referring to these French children. They hate garlic, pepper, and onions. Way to buck the national stereotypes, kids.
After this, it's baths, showers, pyjamas, story. Finally the Mother is usually home by 19:00 and the Dad at 20:00. I then retire to my room and lie face down on my bed for 10 minutes, trying not to cry OR fall straight to sleep.
If I was honest, I don't think I organise my days tightly enough. I wish I had more time to do some jogging or to wander further away. Doing it all on the weekends is quite exhausting - and no-one wants to fight the crowds at The Louvre on a Saturday. I need to get some tips and tricks for time management under my belt. Especially as it has been almost 1 month of this, and soon my French classes will start!
Does anyone out there have any tips for organising yourself? Especially around kids? Or any ideas for how I can get the kids interested in anything except the TV?
Well I'm sorry for the lack of updates. It turns out that looking after children is incredibly time consuming. So is trying to adjust to a new country.
So what has happened since I last checked in?
 |
| Well, I've stepped on this about 100 times for a start.... |
Well, I have had to radically change my daily routine. Getting up at 7:00am may be difficult for some coming fresh out of university, but I don't mind too much. What I do find difficult is the fact that 1) the children's school (an international Spanish school) doesn't open its doors until 8:50am - much later than most of the schools 2) most au pairs, it seems, have at least one parent around to help in the morning or do not have the kids at all. For me, at 8:10 the dad leaves (the mum leaves at 7:15) leaving me to handle the teeth brushing and dressing parts of the morning. And whilst the 8 year old (N) can take care of herself, but the 4 year old (M) is not on board.
I take the children to school for 8:50. N kisses her brother and runs off to find her register line, while I take M to his class and help him take off his bag and coat. Throughout this process with M there are a lot of well meaning mothers and fathers talking to me in Spanish, who then quickly change to French at the confused look on my face and then falter entirely when I look back blankly. Don't get me wrong, I understand Spanish (much better than I understand French) but most of that comes from GCSE classes, and I only use it when watching Spanish language Cinema and during my recent binge on the Netflix series Narcos. You can imagine that this is not very useful in the pre-school chat about which teacher is nice and what the comedor will serve for lunch. If they want to talk about beating informants for information on drug cartels - that I could handle...
I usually go home and do some light cleaning, load the breakfast things into the dishwasher, and sort out the kids bedroom. Sometimes I stop by a boulangerie for the day's bread, and if the kids have been difficult in the morning and I haven't had time to eat, I grab a large pain au chocolat. Then I get the middle of the day to myself, which is quite strange. Soon this time will be spent in language classes, but now I am just enjoying wandering around the city. I haven't yet been to any museums, but I am discovering a lot of good cafes.
Then at 16:00 it's time to pick up the kids and take them home. They eat an awful lot of post-school snacks here. There is one at the gate, then another when we get home (all of 10 minutes away). Juice, compote, sandwiches, biscuits, yoghurt - I never had this much when I was at school, and I am starting to wonder about the amount of sugar they consume. After this they have free time until 17:00.
Then it is homework until 18:00 (-ish - they don't get that much), and after this they are allowed to watch TV. Usually.
N and M love TV more than anything. They ask for it constantly. But it seems that the British Au Pair and the TV are not best friends right now. I am no anti-TV evangelist, I don't think it rots brains in small doses (large ones maybe). But when I was young (oooh a long time ago now - feel my bones creaking) there were a few hours of children's programmes on the main channel before it became time for the News, or a gardening/cooking programme. We did not have 24hr a day programming for kids on demand. And at least some of it (Art Attack, How2, Wild) was educational programming - not cartoons. Even when children's channels were introduced, they did not run all day. What I find concerning is that N and M would rather sit in front of the TV (almost in a hypnotised state) than read a book or do some arts and crafts. No other form of entertainment will do.
This has one large consequence. Whenever they are naughty, which is currently quite frequently, the only punishment that has any teeth is removing the TV. This results in screaming fits, lying on the floor, and throwing of objects. I almost wish I could give in for 5 minutes peace.
This TV/No TV battle continues until 18:30 when I serve dinner. So far only 20% of my cooking is palatable to N and M - whoever said French children ate their vegetables was clearly not referring to these French children. They hate garlic, pepper, and onions. Way to buck the national stereotypes, kids.
After this, it's baths, showers, pyjamas, story. Finally the Mother is usually home by 19:00 and the Dad at 20:00. I then retire to my room and lie face down on my bed for 10 minutes, trying not to cry OR fall straight to sleep.
If I was honest, I don't think I organise my days tightly enough. I wish I had more time to do some jogging or to wander further away. Doing it all on the weekends is quite exhausting - and no-one wants to fight the crowds at The Louvre on a Saturday. I need to get some tips and tricks for time management under my belt. Especially as it has been almost 1 month of this, and soon my French classes will start!
Does anyone out there have any tips for organising yourself? Especially around kids? Or any ideas for how I can get the kids interested in anything except the TV?
1 comment:
I don't have any suggestions around children as mine are all 18+ and I have forgotten what I knew. Have a look at the principles around 'Getting Things Done (GTD)' it helps you define the small steps (e.g. learn 10 nouns related to schooling) that help you along the path to the overall goal (e.g. French fluency) and by picking small things and doing them gives you a sense of fulfilment...
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