The other night I purchased a book on my kindle about a girl who was an Au Pair in the Loire Valley in the late 1970s. It is a true story and its hard to put the book down! It made me realize that I need to keep better track of my daily life and not just the days when I visit a new place or do something out of the ordinary. Maybe someday I will write a book of my own (haha), so I need to remember as much as possible about this adventure. So, I thought I would write a post telling you all about my daily life.
In general, on Mondays I work from 7am-4:30pm. I give the kids their bottles for breakfast, we watch a few cartoons, I get them dressed, then we pile into my Ford and take Vicki to Nounou for the day. When Auggie and I come back home we do a number of activities such as coloring, play dough, puzzles, etc. I prepare his lunch, which is usually a meat, a carb, and veggies, and he has a yogurt for dessert. After lunch we read a story and then he takes a nap. While he is napping I usually iron and tidy up from play time, and then I usually have time to read, study my french, or update my blog. Depending on how long he naps and if the weather is decent, we sometimes take a walk up to the chateau or to the stables to watch the jumping students train. Guillaume is usually home between 4-4:15 and I am free to do whatever I choose. I usually help prepare dinner around 6 because Emily is usually home by 7.
On Tuesdays, I have French class in Annemasse until noon, and then I come home and have lunch with Guillaume and Auggie, and as Guillaume leaves for work I read Auggie a story and then he takes a nap. Like today, I usually have some down time and then do some light chores around the house. Last week I peeled a HUGE bag of apples from Nounou's tree and made apple sauce. Today, as I stated above, I will make compote, which is a variety of fruits (usually apples, pears, and banana) that are cooked and mashed in the Thermomixer and I freeze them for Auggie to have as a snack after nap time. I work until 6:30pm on Tuesdays so I usually start bath time for the kids around 5 and go ahead and get dinner started.
Wednesday is my favorite day with the kids! The morning starts the same as Monday, but after we drop Vicki at Nounou, Auggie and I go to Bonneville for his baby music class. He loves music class. Afterwards we have lunch and then I take him up to the chateau for baby gym class, which he also loves. We are done with classes and home by 2pm and I put him down for a nap. I am usually free after that because he sleeps until Guillaume comes home. I always help with dinner on Wednesday because Emilie has yoga class after work and isn't home until around 8pm. Lately, Guillaume has had Volley games to attend so I put the kids to bed by myself.
On Thursdays I have French class until noon and then I am free for the rest of the day. I usually run errands, clean my room, or take a nap. Haha. On Friday mornings I only work from 7-9am to get the kids fed and ready and I take Vicki to Nounou and Auggie to day care, however, this Friday I will work until 2pm because it is a bank holiday so Nounou is off and daycare is closed. I have the weekends off except some Saturday mornings when I take Auggie to the indoor pool in Annemasse. Its not my favorite activity because the chemicals really bother my skin and sinuses, but I guess we all have things we don't like about out job.
Some days can feel very mundane and tiresome, but I do my best to create new, fun activities to brighten the environment. For example, I try to find recipes that would be fun and "easy" to let Auggie help me with, such as dog cookies or pretzels. I also try to come up with learning games for Auggie to teach him numbers, colors, and of course, letters! His English is getting much better but he can be rather stubborn about it sometimes so I try to make it fun. Yesterday I started teaching him to make his own bed and pick up his own mess/toys. We have been working on potty training for a couple of months now and he is finally progressing, but I think part of that is because he gets un bonbon for every poop on the potty. Haha!
So, there you have it. My daily life as of late. Christmas is quickly approached and I cannot wait! I am already planning gifts and recipes and sneaking in some holiday tunes on my spotify when no one is around to judge. Haha. I plan to enjoy European Christmas to the fullest extent. Starting...now.
Until next time,
Alli
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