On Family Matters

Thursdays are Home-with-Mum days and E and I had a lot of fun. Apart from a quick run down to Decathlon to find some good winter clothing we spent the day in the garden. He helped me carry wood-chips for the fireplace and I kissed the big lump on his head when he fell. Never a day without a bump somewhere! His will to get somewhere is faster than his legs. He chased the cat on the grass, walked on the crackling autumn leaves and just kept laughing, and said "Hrrrrrr Hrrrr HRRRR" when he wanted to go on the swing.

Today he also wanted me to read his books for him. Whenever he spotted his books he'd pick it up and find me. So cute. He destroyed all my wodden cube towers, played drums on all the empty milk cans and finally had a long bath with the elephant, duck and squirty crocodile. What made him laugh the most was seeing his mum doing a crazy towel chase of an enormously big fly. I hate flies and I wanted it dead and squashed under my towel. But that made E bend over laughing so I continued. Nothing is better than hearing him laugh!

The funny thing is that he now is learning to say no (which in norwegian is Nei). And after an X amount of times telling him to move away from the lamp and cables he gently stood up, looked at me and repeated after me: Ne Ne Ne and raised his index finger to prove my point. IT CRACKED ME UP!


He's learning very fast and just recently he struggled piling up the stacking rings. So he'd get frustrated and give up. He wouldn't even let you show him how to do it. Then out of the blue one day he assembled the whole thing and here he's posing for the photograph.

So I have a question for you readers, maybe you can enlighten me. If I didn't have a little creature who loves it I wouldn't care so unless you have children or just happen to know...

WHY are there NO SWINGS in french playgrounds?? Honestly. There are 3 main fun things in a playground and of which you would see kids queue up for - the swing, the slide and what's-it's-name that goes round and round. In and around Toulon, or even at day care centers there are none. WHY? Some strange safety measure? The baby seat swing was invented a looong time ago...

Then there is another issue that baffles me here. Though we rarely have frost here it gets cold. Like this morning with 10 degrees celcius and strong winds which would mean that the effective temperature would be lower. How would you dress your kid? Or wouldn't you take him out at all? I'd go for a HAT, SCARF, a good windproof JACKET, TROUSERS and (surprise?) a TIGHTS underneath for protection when he feels like inspecting some interesting object on the ground. Let alone that if the ground is wet I will put on a pair of padded waterproof trousers. Maybe I'm too Norwegian?? Honestly. If you are out having fun throwing about wet autumn leaves but suddenly start feeling a little cold then it would be less fun, right?

FACT: There are no tights for boys! I was lucky to find a light blue one and a grey one in the girl section (with the shoesize sewn in pink under the foot). When I asked the shopkeeper how you would protect a boy from the cold winds sweeping in under the trouser legs, she simply shrugged saying "Hopefully the socks alone would be enough". Bof. And if the socks are not enough??? E's socks are short and more often than not I see his bare legs when he runs around high and low.

PUZZLING STUFF so please share your thoughts.