22.2.07


We are planning to go to Paris for the weekend, and today I bought tickets for the train.

I was going to drive, but it is 4.5 hours in the car, including the inevitable 1.5 hours of driving-aimlessly-while-lost-and-yelling-with-frustration-at-my-kids-in-the-back-seat-while-I-desperately-try-to-figure-out-which-way-to-go as opposed to a calm 1 hour 50 minutes on the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse) or high speed train gliding rapidly and silently over steel rails, peacefully past farmers fields and quaint villages while we eat-croissants-sip-hot-chocolate-and-eat-thick-creamy-yoghurt-out-of-little-terra-cotta-pots-while-I-play-scrabble-with-R-and-read-to L-while-giving-myself-a-manicure…

The choice was easy… No?

My son has been giving me the gears something severe this week. I think he misses his Dad and feels my stress. As is with most kids (and indeed adults) he is unable to ask for what he needs and instead when he is feeling needy he acts out. Big time.

It is only recently that I have realized that it is when I am under stress and less available to him that this happens and of course usually I am too wrapped up in whatever is going on with me (single-parenting-way-too-much-of-the-time-and-strep-throat-since-christmas-and-flying-to-Chicago-way-too-often-and-where-the-h*ll-will-we-be-living-and-when-the-h*ll-will-we-move-so-not-really-much-of-anything-at-all) to be able to stand back and see what is going on clearly. It just drives me crazy.

Usually by the time I figure it out I am able to take a big breath and be more there for him and then the situation improves, but not before I have done WAY more yelling than I would like. Plus he is bossing his little sister around something severe…aghh!! I do not physically discipline my children but I do use my voice and now they do it to each other and OMG it makes me CRINGE and just want to hide!!!
Ah *c’est la vie* No??

I have always found that a change of environment helps, both me and him, and since we have always done lots of educational things together it is real quality time for my kids. So I have found an awesome map of Paris with all the museums downtown, so we (I) am looking forward to getting sore feet and traipsing ALL over. See ya next week!!

(plus I'll bring my camera..!!)
Gosh I really AM a Nomad…

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have a great time!

I am off to New York City for a girls weekend - Yippee!

Beth said...

Enjoy Paris! Enjoy those kids!
Leave the stress beind.

Missy said...

Oooh, I want to see Paris.

Not the skanky Paris...the nice Paris! :)

oreneta said...

That is such a brilliant idea...

Anonymous said...

Oh hon...I don't know how you do it?! All that traveling and moving...

As for kids...change of scenery is good. How old is R now? 6? 7? I think that's when I started experiencing mother/son issues. They just soooo want to establish themselves as...something, I don't know what. Seperate? This is when A was in Kindergarten and he was something ornery.

We're kind of going through that again at 17. GAAAA!

Hang in there it gets better.

Unknown said...

This is probably too late, but ... BUY ME A T-SHIRT!!! It can say: "My Blogger Friend went to Paris and all I got was this dumb T-Shirt."

Snapshot

My photo
Paris, France
A Canadian expatriate living and exploring first France now Germany, then BACK to FRANCE (!!!) with her family; former fashion designer, turned unexpected UNLIKELY NOMAD, raising two children, writing, photographing, painting, playing piano (who knew!!) and blogging - and now... full time student at ART SCHOOL!! (I MUST be crazy!!)