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…Parents, put on your own oxygen masks first.
Donnez-moi une for my baby and une more for the road
Mulled wine, sold from a crepe stand on the street. ON THE STREET.
Vive le vin chaud! Vive la France!
Now, children, tell me what you would like to order since you’re tired of ham and the cheese is stinky.
My mental space for this trip to France with my three kiddos has been broken down roughly as follows:
It might be closer to 99%
I am going to dedicate a later post to “long-plane-flight activities broken down by minutes of distraction”, but even after the plane flight was finished, I am still looking to the future at all times, figuring out – how will we get where we’re going? Bus? Is the bus going to be crowded? Will a child end up left at the bus stop? Would the Metro be better? What if I accidentally make eye contact with the wrong person on the Metro? What if a child sneezes on a diplomat? Is a cab worth it? Do you tip cab drivers? Should you tip cab drivers, just to ensure their sympathy and make up for the fact that the child who threw up on himself on the airplane is now snuggled down in the back seat of the cab? Should I take the stroller? Is using the stroller going to mean that the four-year-old doesn’t do enough walking and isn’t tired at night?
That kind of thing.
So I’m realizing I left off “Thinking About Kids’ Sleep Habits” from said graph, because that is at least 45% of my thinking. It’s kind of like being bounced right back to the early days of babydom, when the question on everyone’s mind is “will there be sleep tonight?”
We actually did pretty well for the first few nights, but then all three kids somehow got bounced into a time zone eight hours further east, or something, because they were all AWAKE AWAKE AWAKE from 1-5AM a couple of nights in a row. That was when I implemented the “bribe with electronics” system to ensure that I myself would get at least a little bit of sleep, namely: “Hey, it’s 3 AM, and this is crazy, but here’s my Kindle, and you can play with it if you’ll watch your little brother while I sleep maybe.”
I would say “but now we’re doing much better” but I don’t want to jinx it. I will allow that marching a four-year-old across Paris, complete with a nighttime trip to La Tour Eiffel, is a good way to reset his internal clock.
“MOM! YOU SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT US GLOVES!”
I feel like we traveled pretty light, given that it’s me we’re talking about. We made it with one backpack per person, one small rolling suitcase, and a big wheeled suitcase. Still, we could have left a bunch of clothes at home. My boys would each be happy wearing the same pair of pants each day – although the people of France might object for a few different reasons – and both my daughter and I could have left about 1/3 of our wardrobe back at home. I’m so glad I got her that brightly colored sweater, though, as it helps her stand out from all of the black/brown/charcoal-colored trench coats when we get separated.
I’m just not fooling with travel-size containers from Target anymore. All of them leaked. It’s going to be Nalgene from here on out, or else travel-sized versions of things like shampoo (versus the crummy bottles we bought to fill up).
Of all the little things I did stuff into that big suitcase, I’m most grateful for Moleskine. Ahhhhh…my blistered feet.
But my most-used travel accessory has probably been this sweet stroller
I think if you’re going to travel with young kids, you can either care about seeing the sights or eating the fabulous food, but not both. We have come down firmly on the side of seeing the sights, partly because I just don’t want to deal with the coaxing and bribing and challenging of my particular children to try new and exotic food. And we don’t try to pack too much into a day, because then there’s a lot of whining about “can’t we just have a day to relax and stay home?”
They have shown a remarkable willingness to experiment with various forms of chocolat, however:
Nom nom nom nom nom
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
We’re spending a few days in Lyon with a dear friend and her family, and I am so pleased to have been introduced to this city. Paris has been tremendous, of course, but Lyon is a bit more…laid-back. There’s still so much to enjoy that I am sorry we won’t be staying longer, and the highlight so far has been this place:
La bibliotheque!
Reminiscent of the great library at Alexandria, it features shelves upon shelves of…teeny, tiny little books.
This is one of what must be close to a hundred different miniature scenes we took in this afternoon at the Musée Cinéma et Miniature. I wasn’t aware of Lyon’s prominent role in cinema history; it’s where brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinematograph in the 1890s and shot the very first motion pictures. The Musée Cinéma et Miniature is a combination of movie memorabilia and intricate miniature scenes of both real locations in France and rooms conjured in the imagination of these artists. Museum curator Dan Ohlmann ‘s work as “France’s first miniaturist” led to the eventual establishment of a full collection of miniature works from around the globe, along with props from various movies and recreations of the sets of the movie “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.”
Although my youngest kept asking “when are we go to the museum?” – having connected “museum” in his head with “ride in the stroller looking at paintings” – it was most definitely an impressive collection. My daughter loved the miniature scenes, being an avid dollhouse furniture collector, and my older son was very intrigued by the variety of movie props – particularly these:
Indiana Jones’ biggest fan poses with props
We spent at least two hours exploring the multiple floors of the museum and could have stayed longer. You can peer into the workshop where Ohlmann creates his miniature masterpieces, and learn about the techniques behind special effects in movies both past and present. I was taken with a display of plaster casts of various actors made for fitting prosthetics, including this guy:
Heeeere’s Johnny!
And I couldn’t believe the intricacy of the series of miniature silhouettes on display – I didn’t catch the name of the artist, unfortunately, but I just don’t understand how you cut things this tiny. I don’t think I could achieve this precision if I were cutting out life-size drawings:
This image is about 3″ square on display
This was an excellent change of pace from our church/museum/baguette circuit so far and I know the kids will consider it a high point of the trip. Plus, they each got to spend some of their money at the gift shop on non-junky souvenirs – always the best part of any tourist experience when you’re under 12 with Euros to burn.
Dan Ohlmann is very proficient in creating new scenes to display and collecting new movie memorabilia, so I have no doubt it would be a different experience if we were to go back in a couple of years, which…could happen. You never know.
And if I may be so pedestrian, I would also like to salute this museum for offering restrooms on several floors, which makes it all the more family-friendly.
Here’s a little gallery of some of the other scenes we enjoyed at the museum (this gallery thing is a new gadget I’m trying out so if you’re reading this in a feed reader and you don’t see the images…click here to view the post itself.)
It was a happy accident that we had recently watched Hugo, based on the story of another famous French filmmaker, Georges Méliès. There’s actually a rather significant miniature prop from the movie displayed in the museum:
Miniature from the movie Hugo
I wasn’t going to do 7 Quick Takes this week; I told my husband, “I am not staying up late, and I mean it this time.” And then, as I was shutting down my computer, I remembered this bumper sticker I saw today:
What are these symbols? Other than the Keys of Peter, I don’t recognize any of them, because I guess I’m culturally illiterate like that. Is this like a Catholic version of the popular bumper sticker which many people have strong opinions about and this is not really a post about that other bumper sticker? Or is this just a different set of symbols?
UPDATE: Ha! I was WAY off – see the comments…
I’ve been using Google Plus for sharing photos for several months now instead of Flickr. Nobody in my extended family ever really “got” Flickr and Google Plus seems to work pretty well for the relatives who have Gmail accounts. But for those who don’t, it’s been pretty confusing. So now I’m thinking of switching back to Flickr. Anyone want to have a Google Plus vs. Flickr gang fight? Flickr is old-school so you best watch yourself.
This year, my two older kids go to a fine arts immersion program one day a week and it is seriously saving my sanity, homeschooling-wise. They really enjoy it, it’s not stressful in terms of requiring a bunch of outside commitments, and I have a day with my youngest, which is kind of fun. It also makes us more productive the other four days of the week because I know we need to squeeze everything into four days instead of five.
Having said that, all is not wine and roses around the homeschool shelf-and-rooms-into-which-books-spill, as one individual in particular rants about how much he hates school right up until the moment when he grasps the latest concept in long division, at which point he bursts into song. I tell myself this would all happen later in the day re: homework if they were in traditional school
I have spent WAY TOO MUCH MENTAL ENERGY pondering the Ideal Travel Journal. I actually know a guy with a cool print shop and I may or may not have commissioned journals for my kiddos, depending upon whether or not that was a special favor he is doing for me because we had him over for dinner and made steaks. He also has this zombie novel you may have heard of.
Anyway, tonight I spent a good 45 minutes in the sketchbook aisle at Michael’s. I am eschewing the need for vegan leather hand-sewn-by-monks blank paper books in favor of a $10 mixed media sketchbook that costs $15 at Amazon for some reason
I also think the plainness of the cover will help me overcome my terminal case of Journal Paralysis, where nothing I could write or draw could ever be worthy of the beautimousness of the blank book in which I am scrawling. This book has no expectations of me. I am free to be ridiculous and/or bad at drawing. Perfect for traveling.
My newest laundry-folding show on Netflix is Warehouse 13. Have you seen it? It’s fun, lightweight sci-fi, about a mysterious warehouse of artifacts from the past that have special – usually destructive – powers, and the team of agents who retrieve stolen or newly discovered artifacts. Each episode involves an item that belonged to a Famous Historical Person and is imbued with powers associated with that person – so, for example, Mata Hari’s stockings enable the wearer to become a perfect seductress, and Edgar Allan Poe’s pen…does weird stuff that I don’t remember because I was trying to match a whole household’s worth of mateless socks and wasn’t paying too close attention.
There’s appointment television, and then there’s chore television.
And then there are virtuous people who eschew Netflix so that they can devote themselves to inner contemplation. Those people probably write in really nice blank books, too.
The journal thing is related to our upcoming trip to France, for which I am trying to not overpack. My kids really like to draw, and so do I, and so I am hereby giving myself permission to do terrible drawings of France, because hey, it’s just a $10 notebook.
I recently happened upon a box of unopened artist pencils, graphite, erasers, and other supplies. When my dad was at home, receiving hospice care, he really liked looking out the window at the various birds that would come to our birdfeeder. He loved to doodle and would send me cards with clever, minimalist sketches from time to time. I bought him the art supplies thinking he could draw from his bedside, but his condition soon deteriorated and he never used them.
I haven’t wanted to open up the pencils, even though it’s been ten years since he passed away, but now, I showed them to my kids and explained that we will get to use them on our big trip. Feels like an okay reason to not let them sit unused any longer.
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Coming soon to a blog near you: actual posting. Right now, I’m totally swamped in ways mostly good.
I am taking my three children to France in about a week and a half – ages 10, 8, and 4. The 4-year-old is the wild card, airplane-wise.
I haven’t flown with my kids in a few years, which is probably why I’m currently feeling relatively sanguine about this whole adventure. I’m trying to think of what will need to go with me on the plane. I may be lugging along my laptop, so I’m looking at getting a laptop backpack that will have extra room for other stuff. My two older kids will each have a backpack, too, and can be forced to carry things. Because if I’m going to work my tail off to fund a trip to France, Sir and Madam, you can carry my toothbrush in your backpack. Ahem.
Important piece of information: Mr. Speed will not be going with us, due to a knee injury that precludes walking around France and the lack of vacation time. So it will just be me and the Speedlets. But don’t panic, Future Me! SERIOUSLY DON’T PANIC
When you fly with children, what are the essentials that you have in your carry-on? So far, I’m thinking I will have the aforementioned backpack, possibly containing the aforementioned laptop, and a cross-body bag with several pockets.
Bag: Passports, cash, credit cards, plane tickets, basic cosmetics/toiletries, medicine, sunglasses, very basic first aid stuff, maybe my journal (which is a biggish sketchbook and the topic of another post), French phrasebook, map, sign that reads “I’M REAL SORRY I DON’T SPEAK FRENCH THAT GOOD BUT HERE ARE SOME EUROS”
Backpack: Snacks for self and for kids, maybe some simple and small activities for kids, camera, the two old handed-down-by-grandparents iPhones we’re taking so that the kids can have cameras (they also have games, etc., for desperate times/desperate measures), possibly a travel blanket for me and one for my youngest because I’m making some cute travel blankets that are thin flannel. Each of my two older kids will have a backpack so they can each carry their own travel blanket. And maybe mine.
What I was going to do, actually, was make a travel blanket and a small “pillowcase” with a zipper for each of us that can contain a change of underwear/shirt/socks in case we’re stranded without our luggage – so it will do double-duty, or something. I really just want to make some blankets. I am also hoping that the “look! It’s your SPECIAL BLANKET” thing will cause each child to instantaneously drift off to sleep for nine hours across the Atlantic.
It could happen.
Anyway – this is what’s been on my mind lately, along with about 100 other things, including “if I blog about my France trip are all my friends going to write me off as the one percent who wear gold-plated diapers, even my friends who themselves wear gold-plated diapers?” You know who you are.
Well, thanks to savvy commenter Dawn from SillyDoodah, I’ve got my curriculum picked out for teaching the children French in preparation for our trip this fall:
The idea of traveling to France equipped solely with the vocabulary from “Foux du FaFa” brings me endless amusement, but I think I may want to supplement it a bit.
I’d assumed I would go with Rosetta Stone, because it’s the one I’ve always thought of as the “gold standard” for learning a language, but then I asked a few friends who have actually used it – and read some reviews – and now I’m pretty sure it would be completely useless for us.
I’ve heard better things about Pimsleur but I’m still not sure I want to invest that much in a program that may end up never really being used. One friend mentioned having gotten the discs off of Craigslist, which had never occurred to me, and that seems like a great way to try it out without spending big bucks. Since our other homeschool curriculum is basically “the library,” we do have funds we could invest in a pricey program, but again – it’s all about the return on the investment.
So, for now, I picked up a CD of children’s songs and a French dictionary at Half Price Books. The dictionary actually stressed my oldest out, because “I don’t know how to SAY any of these words!” He does have a point. I think I visualized him curling up with some Victor Hugo and the dictionary, working it out on his own, but this may be slightly unrealistic. My mom also tracked down some free French video lessons for kids and I’m looking forward to introducing those to my children.
Any suggestions? I’m inclined to not worry about it that much since I know they’ll only really start to pick up stuff once we’re actually there, but I think for the kids’ own stress levels it would help if they felt like they knew some basic communication skills.
I'm a Southern Catholic teachermom,
now homeschooling in Texas.
Here you can read about teaching, family, teaching one's own family, and culture - high and low. I promise to never intimidate you with immaculate housekeeping, to make you feel better about your own organizational skills, and to support your decision to replace the carpet with hard flooring.
Thanks for stopping by!
{ I'm impressed by three things: 1. Your dapper children 2. Your sewing skills 3. Your use of Pinterest (that's where I had to draw the... } – May 21, 7:57 AM
{ This is great...my adventure was going to be trying to curl my utterly flat hair! By the time I could get one of my kids... } – May 14, 8:45 PM
{ Oh man I would be terrified to cut my own hair! I do my bangs, but anything beyond that freaks me out... My hair started... } – May 14, 6:54 PM
{ I like it! I also cut hair using a Pin- and it turned out pretty good. I wasn't brave enough to do it to myself,... } – May 14, 1:35 PM
{ There's not brushing, and there's not brushing. I never touch my hair with a brush while it's dry, or madness ensues. But you can brush... } – May 14, 1:20 PM
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