OUR KIDS LIFE IN FRANCE, AND OURS - home from school

It was strange not having the kids home, but I wasn't complaining. The day whizzed by and we were able to accomplish far more without them here biting at our ankles. The upstairs bedrooms were almost habitable now and just needed some decorating, so we would soon be able to move in. Where we were sleeping downstairs were 2 separate rooms which we intended to knock through and turn into a lounge with log burner. We already had a living/dining room, a kitchen, bathroom and separate loo on the ground floor. We planned to take out the bathroom, take down the wall from dining to kitchen room and incorporate all 3 rooms together into a large kitchen/living area, but that was for later on.

I went up to the school a little early, just in case they came out early. I later found out that they are never early as the teacher/multi-tasker wears hearing aids in both ears and doesn't hear the bell, (good job with my three!!). I managed to introduce myself to several other mothers, who were all very friendly, but also seemed to know me already. That's small villages for you! The children came out looking exhausted, but happy and showing off all their new friends. As we walked home they were all absolutely busting to tell me about their day; the teacher talks very fast, the teacher can't hear anything, they had all made lots of friends, lunch was very good, work was hard, they had lots of homework and they needed to take a toothbrush and goblet tomorrow......."A TOOTHBRUSH & GOBLET???" I queried. A good idea, but I had never heard of it in school before, they had to brush their teeth at each break, after snack, and at lunch time after eating. I would have to go out and buy some more toothbrushes, generally we only have one each.

At home they did their homework with no fuss, that was a first, and sat down to watch TV. I started dinner a while later and something seemed odd.....Apart from the TV I couldn't hear anything, no arguing, no fighting, no shouting, not even any playing. I went in to see what was going on and there they were, all three of them curled up on the sofa fast asleep. It must have been a very big day!!