1) Swiss/French parenting is different in some ways to my parenting. One example is how we treat daycare. Eliza had her first official day at the garderie on Monday. Since it is still transition time, I played with her for awhile, watched her play, and then was told I could leave for an hour and see how she did. Back in MN, when we would leave Eliza, we would do the sneak away approach, distract her, and then run! Apparently, this is not okay here. I was sneaking away as I was stopped and told I had to say good-bye. Well, I knew the result would be tears, but I did it anyway. After a hug, kiss, good-bye, the tears flowed and I exited. Thinking I still had a free hour, I did what many moms would do, grocery shop! I headed to France looking forward to my kid free shopping experience. Well, twenty minutes into it, I got a call from the garderie informing me that I had to come get Eliza because she was crying. Seriously? I am paying you to play with her and watch her- whether she is happy or crying! (Don't get me wrong... I did feel bad that she was upset.) There went my alone time... I went to pick her up and she was of course done crying by the time I got there. I told the teacher that next time, I wouldn't say good-bye and just sneak away. She disagreed and told me I had to say good-bye, or Eliza would associate playing with mommy leaving. My thought is since she cried and I came, now she will associate if I cry, my mom will come back and get me. We will see how this week goes...
2) Gone are the days of having an ongoing inventory at my house. Back in MN, if I was out shopping and saw something that I liked, I would buy it knowing that I could take it home, think about it, and have the option at most stores of hassle free returns. This week I have discovered that the Swiss are not so keen on people returning items. I tried to return a table cloth I had bought, without measuring my table at home before, and discovered it was too big. I packaged it back up, but the clerk didn't think it was packaged neatly enough, so she told me I couldn't return it. I told her how it was the wrong size, and she just waved a ruler at me. Hmm, I guess I have an extra table cloth now. Lesson learned... make sure the item is exactly what I need, since chances are it will be mine to keep.
3) Traffic and parking. Living in the suburbs, I rarely had to deal with traffic, besides the occasional trips into the big city. Here, traffic is unpredictable. Adalyn's school is about 3 miles from our house, yet it takes about 20 minutes to get there, on good days. We leave our house at 7:40 each morning and her school starts at 8:30. Traffic gets backed up due to many bikers on the road because the roads are so narrow you can't pass them, and the amount of crosswalks and stopping for people to cross. Besides the traffic, the parking situation at her school is insane. They have a tiny parking lot, for many parents dropping off and picking up. Therefore, if you want a spot, you need to arrive very early. In the afternoons, Eliza and I get there by 2:30 even though Adalyn doesn't get dismissed until 3:00. In the parking lot, parents double park, so the other day we waited twenty minutes to leave until the car that double parked in front of us left. This becomes a challenge when trying to entertain a one year old! Finding parking anywhere is a challenge and complicated. The spots are marked with different colors which mean different things- sometimes you have to leave a clock on your dash to indicate what time you parked and you get so much time to come back. Some you have to get out, find a meter ticket machine, print it, and go back and place it on your dashboard. If am lucky I find a parking ramp, which is much easier! Basically, the lesson learned so far is to always allow more time than you think and to be patient when trying to find parking- a few times my road rage comes out, and unfortunately now Adalyn is picking up on it and has become my back seat driver telling me and everyone else on the road what to do!
I am sure I will continue to learn many more lessons throughout this journey. I have been reading, Bringing up Bebe, which is a book written by an American author who raised her three kids in Paris. She compares the parenting style of the French to the typical American style. It has really given me insight into the observations I have made and different situations I have encountered.
This week Adalyn really enjoyed her full days of school- she loves the food- thankfully she did not inherit my picky eating habits! Their school menu is definitely different here than in the states, some examples of her main dishes are; spinach and ricotto tortellini, moroccan lamb casserole, kebab with yogurt sauce.
On Wednesday, Adalyn has half days at school, so in the afternoon I took the girls to an indoor play area in France called, C L'Aventure. Unfortunately, Helen led us on a crazy route and an hour later we finally found the play area. The girls loved it! They had a small area for kids 0-4 and then a larger play area for older kids. They enjoyed jumping on the trampolines and riding the little scooters.
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| Eliza enjoying the moto! |
| Trampoline fun! They couldn't stop laughing- |
On Saturday, we went to Chamonix, a high-mountain town surrounded by the Alps in France, about an hour from our house. Chamonix is known for its skiing and the views of Mont Blanc. Chamonix is definitely my favorite place we have been so far. Chris and I were in Chamonix six years ago in the winter, and I think it is an amazing place no matter what season. They have tons of little shops, outdoor restaurants, and an amazing view everywhere you look (wherever you look up, you see 15,781 ft. of rock, snow, and ice). Adalyn was excited to see snow-capped mountains for the first time close up. We spent a few hours there- just window shopping and walking around. They also have a cute kid park with some rides, including a luge ride for kids, but unfortunately it didn't open until 2:00, so we will try that out next time we visit.
| The girls enjoying a picnic on the streets of Chamonix- |
| Great morning for a hot chocolate- |
| Chamonix |
Sunday, we had a relaxing day. In the afternoon, we had a "blind date!" I am starting to feel like making new friends is very similar to dating. You meet, you exchange names (half of which I can't pronounce), where you are from, kids, etc. Then, if it goes well, you exchange numbers! This afternoon we met up at a nearby park with a family we had been connected with who also have a four year old daughter and a one and a half year old boy. The kids had a great time playing and we enjoyed getting to know the parents. I think there will be a second date!
We are continuing to enjoy Geneva- especially when we see that the weather is so cold in MN already!! It is still in the mid to upper 70's here- book your flights now!
Avoir une merveilleuse semaine!
*** For some reason the program I use to include pictures is currently not working, so I tried but I don't think they all worked- hope to post more pics next week!
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