Day 14

When your alarm clock one morning is a fire alarm test, that doesn't really make for a good start to the day. The father of the family came by the apartment as soon as it started to let me know what was going on, so that calmed my fears. I was just glad that the building wasn't burning down, or something like that.

After I had collected myself & had breakfast, the former au pair for the family (the Canadian) invited me to have lunch at her place since our first attempt at lunch didn't work out very well. I took the approximately 20 minute walk to her apartment, and she prepared a nice lunch of sauteed carrots & zucchini, fish, and a wild rice pilaf. After the meal, there was cheese & crackers, then an apple, and then coffee. I wish we could've talked longer, but she had to go to work, so I came back to the apartment & took a nap, which I hardly ever do.

I woke up in time to have a cup of tea before I picked up the kids from school. There's another au pair girl who picks up her kids from the same school as mine, and she's from Louisiana. As usual, I got Youngest first, we waited for Eldest, came by the apartment, dropped off his lunchbag & bookbag, and then headed to the park. Cue meltdown.

I've mentioned that Eldest is into Pokemon cards. We were already on our way to the park, when he decided that it was a huge deal that he bring his cards with him. I said no, because we were already out of the apartment, and at first he just pouted. Then, when he realized that I had said no, he returned inside, though just in the entryway of the building. He kept asking, I kept saying no (deciding to stick to my guns). His father was passing through on church business, & Eldest tried to convince his father to let him go get his cards. Thankfully, the father asked me what I had said, and again, he backed me up, agreeing with how I responded. The father went back upstairs, and then soon, Eldest went upstairs as well, and sat crying at the doorstep. He finally came downstairs with me (the kind secretary offered to keep an eye on Youngest while I went to sort things out w/ Eldest), and we all went to the park, though he was crying all the way.

Once we got to the park, he was still angry, but did get up & move around. Several times, he tried to snatch a snack from the bag I take to the park, but I wasn't about to let that happen. Manners always come first. That's how I was raised, and I'm not about to let up on that. The third time he approached, I think he realized why he didn't get a snack before, and asked politely, though still mad. After that, his evening got much better, and everything went pretty smoothly.

Dinner for the kids was ham tortellini, salad, tomato slices, & yogurt. I just had a salad, but that was because I attended the young adult pizza night that the American Church hosts every other Tuesday. I'm glad I went, because I met two students (one from Illinois, one from Hong Kong/London) who were in the small group I joined, and who happen to live nearby. I got to pizza night late, but it was still a pleasant time, and I'm looking forward to the next one in two weeks.

After pizza night was finished, my two new friends & I walked to the nearby metro stop. Before we parted ways, the one from Illinois mentioned something about the "nuit blanche," which is evidently an all-night art/museum crawl around Paris the first Saturday of October. We all agreed to meet at Les Invalides, and then see what the night has in store. So the Illinoisian (?) hopped on the metro, and Asian/British girl & I walked on, and we eventually both wound up back in our respective apartments.