Beach Day!

Little B had not behaved well. At school, he'd hit, pushed, spit on and licked other kids. Simone decided that little B would be "suspended" for the day.

They started the day at 7:50 by taking the 13 year old to school. Then little B and Simone ran a few errands before heading out to walk the dogs. Afterward, it was time for physiotherapy. They went to the library... Barely time to catch their breath and it was time for lunch.

Simone decided that the day had dragged on long enough. "Do you want to go to the beach now?"

Little B stared up at Simone, bewildered. "Really?"

"Really," Simone assured him.

And so they packed up the car with sand toys, towels, sunscreen and swimsuits. The beach was nearly deserted.

"Hi!" Shouted little B to a small group of children.

One of the children waved back at little B. Encouraged, he strutted toward the kids. Within seconds, he was splashing in the ice cold lake water with them while Simone wondered how long she might be able to stand the heat.

Two hours later, fully sunned and with slightly frozen toes, Simone and little B headed back to the car.

Sometimes a little sun and sand is just what the doctor ordered.

And little B did not hit any other kids the following day at school.

(But he did jump on one of them. Darn. That wasn't in the rules now, was it?)

Le petit B fait l’école buissonnière

Simone secoua sa tête. Le petit B avait, encore une fois, frappé un ami à l’école. Il avait craché et léché des amis dans l’autobus. Et, de mauvaise humeur une fois de retour à la maison, il avait poussé sa mère. Celle-ci décida qu’il faudrait y aller fort pour corriger le comportement du petit B.

« Pas d’école demain, » déclara-t-elle.

Le petit B ouvrit et ferma sa bouche à plusieurs reprises. « Mais, je veux aller à l’école! » Pleurnicha-t-il finalement.

« Et bien tant pis, » Simone rigolait à l’intérieur. Une journée de congé pour le petit B voulait dire qu’elle aussi aurait une journée de congé. Bon, d’accord, il faudrait faire la morale au petit B mais comme la journée suivante s’annonçait belle et chaude, il y avait une grande possibilité qu’ils atterrissent à la plage…

Scream Music

This time, the 13 year old's school held the concert. Since the ages of the students in her school went from 12 to 19, the musical selection varied immensely, from pop ballads to... scream music.

Simone and little B unwisely chose to sit in one of the empty front rows. They arrived late and the front rows were empty. That SHOULD have been a sign. But did Simone listen to that germ of doubt in her heart? Nope. Not one bit. Instead, she felt gleeful because she was in prime position to videotape the event.

The 13 year old soon came out to perform "Don't Stop Believing". Simone got excellent footage of the event. She left the stage, the band stayed on and... the noise began.

The long haired lead singer hopped up and down on the stage, his bangs falling over his face, obscuring any expression he might have had. Little B exploded into laughter and pointed with delight at the band's antics. Little B might have said, "Look at his hair!" But Simone's ears were ringing badly and she couldn't be sure.

When the lead singer bent in half and made puking noises into the microphone, little B couldn't contain himself any longer and stretched out across the bench, laughing and wriggling at the fun of it all.

As for Simone, the front row seats no longer seemed like such a boon...

Un AUTRE concert de fin d’année

La fille de 13 ans a été invitée au concert de fin d’année de son école. On lui a demandé de chanter « Don’t Stop Believing » avec un groupe mais ce qu’elle a véritablement pratiqué fut la chanson « Ensemble ».

Vous pouvez la voir pratiquer dans la voiture en suivant le lien ci-joint…


Cliquez ici pour le lien.

Loser versus Freak

Simone accompanied the 13 year old to a gLee concert. Preparations involved painting the girl's nails with various, fluorescent colours, topping each nail off with white (like a slushy) and writing the letter g L e e, one on each nail. A hand with the fingers forming the letter L graced the middle finger. The sketch of a slushy finished off the thumb nail.

The young woman drew various gLee slogans on her arms and hands, donned a t-shirt and jeans and voila! She was raring to go. Except...

"Mom!" She screeched, glaring at Simone. "What are you wearing?"

Simone was wearing bubblegum pink tights, a multicolor American Apparel dress and a hot pink jacket but since these facts seemed painfully obvious to the naked eye, she refrained from answering the question directly. She grinned at her daughter instead.

The 13 year old sighed, rolled her eyes and said, "I guess we'll have to go with you dressed like that."

At the concert, Simone peered at the legion of females (and some guys). They all wore t-shirts and jeans.

"You know," Simone remarked to her daughter, "gLee is all about embracing your loser side, right? That's why the capital L's everywhere, right?"

The teen nodded her head, her sideways glance letting Simone know that her agreement was conditional upon the second part of Simone's argument.

"Don't you think that dressing up completely differently than everyone else would qualify me as a loser?"

They looked around at the screaming, cheering crowd. No other bubblegum pink tights in sight. The 13 year old finished off her survey by looking at her mother and sighing.

"Dressing up differently than everyone might make you a loser," she agreed, her voice reluctant. "But dressing up like you do?" The girl shook her head. "THAT makes you a freak."

Le concert

En fin de semaine, Simone est allée voir un concert avec la fille de 13 ans. Personne d’autre ne voulait l’accompagner et veut, veut pas, Simone n’allait pas laisser l’enfant aller au concert sans être accompagnée d’un adulte.

Il s’agissait de gLee. La jeune fille avait signé un contrat avec Simone afin d’obtenir les billets. Pendant plusieurs mois, elle avait galéré sur ses devoirs car il fallait à tout prix avoir de bonnes notes avant d’avoir la permission d’aller au concert. Et la jeune fille y réussi!

Donc, belle surprise pour tout le monde et en prime, les billets étaient à treize rangées de l’estrade. En supplément, certains artistes (il y en avait beaucoup) passèrent à côté de Simone et de sa fille au cours du concert. La jeune fille en est encore toute bouleversée!

A regrettable ultimatum

Simone et al stayed in a hotel Saturday night. Simone and the 13 year old were attending a concert in the downtown area and Simone thought they might as well turn the occasion into a mini-holiday.

Prior to their departure, there was some hesitation. The 4 year old had been sick. Should he stay home with Daddy? However since he showed signs of recuperation, Simone decided to bring him. The boy spent a part of the day sleeping but perked up enough in the evening to go to the play centre and generally act like a proper 4 year old.

As a result of all his naps, little B couldn't get to sleep. At 10:30 pm, Simone left him in his hotel bed and informed him she was going to sleep herself.

At midnight, the little guy was wandering around the hotel room, looking for Mom. Sighing, Simone joined him. The little guy pulled the curtains open. "It's daytime," he declared, in direct opposition to the facts.

After some yawned negotiations, Simone told the little guy, "Either you go back to bed with me and Daddy or I climb in with you but either way, I'm going to sleep."

Little B chose the "Mom goes to sleep in my bed" option. Only he does not make a good bedmate. He rolls around, talks and screams in his sleep and walloped his mother on the head more than ones as he rolled over.

Someone remind Simone NOT to use the "I'll sleep with you" option with the four year old. Because sleep is not part of that equation.

Un bain de boue

Les élèves jouaient à tether ball dans la cour de l’école. Il s’agit d’un poteau au haut duquel est attachée une corde. Au bout de la corde, il y a un ballon. Deux joueurs, un de chaque côté du poteau, frappe la balle dès que possible. Le but est que la corde s’entoure autour du poteau. Si elle s’enroule dans un sens, le joueur 1 gagne. Dans l’autre sens? C’est le joueur 2 qui remporte la partie.

Il y a d’autres règles, bien sûr, ainsi qu’un service mais l’important pour notre histoire est de comprendre que le gazon autour du poteau se fait détruire très rapidement pour être remplacé par une terre noire. Lorsqu’il pleut, le terrain se transforme en mare de boue. Ce qui n’empêche nullement les élèves de l’école de jouer à tether ball.

Donc hier, Simone faisait le tour des 4 poteaux de jeu lorsqu’elle s’aperçut que ceux qui se trouvaient entourés de garçons se vidaient de boue. Et oui! Les gars avaient trouvé un jeu bien plus passionnant que tether ball : ils avaient débuté la guerre de la boue.

Et dire que Simone se réjouissait à la fin de l’hiver parce que ça voulait dire que les boules de neige dans la cour d’école étaient terminées…

Power's out

Last night, a big storm ripped through town. The lid flew off the hot tub, all the hanging, potted plants fell off their perches and the rain drenched the land with much needed nourishment.

Also, the power went out.

At nearly 7 pm, the skies were dark. Simone's hubby hurried to finish his work on his laptop. "Only 8% of battery power left," he announced as Simone lit some candles. She placed the candles next hubby so he could see what he was typing.

"Can I blow them out?" Asked little B.

Simone lit a candle just for little B to blow out. She repeated this procedure several times.

"Only 3% left," hubby called out. And the lights showed no inclination of turning back on. "Done!" He said. "Oops! I can't print this," he realized.

Simone hustled little B upstairs for a bath, since television and internet were temorarily out of the question. Hubby relaxed on the bed during this time and fell promptly asleep shortly before the little guy climbed out of the tub.

To while away the time before sleep, Simone and little B played a memory game then headed to her office where little B showed Simone the miniature treasure chest she keeps there. "Can we open it?" He asked hopefully.

Simone smiled. She couldn't remember what she'd put in the locked box and knew that she'd love opening it.

Every day brings unexpected joys...

How to ruin someone's day...

Simone had to travel to the big city for an eye appointment. Her eyes were infected for the zillionth time. So much so that she looked somewhat like a demon, what with her red-rimmed eyes.

Hubby, who had left for work in the big city, told her he'd meet her for lunch so Simone, excited at the idea, dressed in a somewhat daring manner: tight dress, high heels and make up.

Simone went to her appointment and was informed that, simply enough, stopping the Visine and using Real Tears would solve the problem.

She then got on the subway to go meet her husband.

A woman sniffed as Simone sat down. "I don't know why you even bothered to put on clothes," she said.

Ugh.

Maybe Simone should have stayed home...

Une nouvelle aventure

La fille de 17 ans vient d’obtenir son permis de conduire G2 et samedi, son papa lui a offert, en récompense… une mini Cooper.

Depuis, la jeune femme est au septième ciel. Il y a de quoi! Elle a sa propre auto. Papa s’occupe de payer pour la voiture. Maman se charge des assurances. Et la jeune femme n’aura qu’à faire le plein régulièrement.

Pas mal, hein?

Teacher's baaaaack!

For a period of over three weeks, the JK teacher was absent. You see, she is pregnant and several children came down with hand, foot and mouth disease. While the disease is not dangerous to adults, it can be extremely harmful and even fatal to infants and developing embryos. So the JK teacher took a leave of absence from the classroom in order to ride out the germfest in a safe environment.

During that absence, the children "changed". Some of the quiet ones grew boisterous. Some of the noisy ones quieted down a little (or perhaps they appeared less so because their peers had become more outgoing...). In any case, the noise level had become something to behold.

But yesterday, the JK teacher returned. Simone knew it even before she entered the classroom. How?

It was QUIET! Unbelievably quiet in the classroom. The teacher divided the kids into groups of two and sent them off on missions around the classroom and they did it. All the woman needed was a magic wand to give credence to the idea that magic really does exist! Because those kids who'd been seemingly impossible to control were now doing precisely what she told them to do.

Totally inspiring. Totally.

Mais qui a allumé la clim?

Après quelques journées d’une chaleur quasi infernale, voilà que la température a chuté. Mais pas un tout petit peu. É-nor-mé-MENT!

D’un jour à l’autre, nous sommes passés de 39 degrés Celsius à 8! Bon, d’accord, cela donne à Simone l’occasion de porter un de ses petits vestons hyper mignon mais tout de même… La clim, c’est réservé pour l’intérieur. Qu’on le sache : on ne l’allume pas à l’extérieur. Surtout pendant les mois de juin, juillet et aout. Et ajoutons mai et septembre à la zone interdite, histoire de se réchauffer un peu.

Réchauffement de serre. Bah.

Heeeeeaaaaat

Simone held off turning the air conditioning on. Then the temperature went from 15 degrees Celsius to 25. Okay, so she could sleep with the window open.

She went to bed at 8:30 pm. Hubby was already snoring by then, his earplugs firmly inserted. Simone fell fast asleep but was woken up by an urgent need to use the facilities that left a mess. She cleaned up the mess and went back to sleep.

At 11 pm, she woke up, heart pounding as she stood next to her bed. She could hear a little boy screaming in pain. Not little B, thank goodness but the next door neighbour's squeals had woken her up nonetheless. She tried hard to go back to sleep and finally succeeded some time before midnight.

At midnight, a group of people decided to take their party outside their house. They laughed, argued, shouted for the next two hours as Simone prayed for them to please go to bed. Please.

At two fifteen, the alarm rang.

Sigh.

(By 3 am, the air conditioning had been turned on and the windows had all be firmly shut...)

Il fait chaud!

Histoire de ne pas s’habituer à quoi que ce soit, la température venait de sauter, du jour au lendemain, de 12 degrés Celsius à 26 Celsius. Du coup, à l’école, on trouvait de tout : des élèves en t-shirts et en short alors que d’autres portaient encore des chandails avec des pantalons. Inutile de dire que certains de ces élèves avaient très, très chaud.

Simone, pour sa part, avait enfilé une paire de shorts avec un t-shirt. Très bien, elle avait remarqué le changement de température. Moins bien, elle n’a pas porté d’écran solaire donc paf! Coup de soleil.

Et dire que demain il doit faire 39 degrés! Autant espérer que la récréation aura lieu à l’intérieur. Et que les parents des élèves feront la police vestimentaire toute la semaine : il ne fera pas plus chaud que 16 degrés Celsius pour le reste de la semaine…

Visiting the neighbours

Little B was beside himself: little M next door had invited him over to play t-ball in his backyard.

"Mom! Mom! Can I go?" He asked repeatedly.

Simone had a million things to do. "You have to eat your dinner first," she said at last.

Little B made a face but complied. "I feel sick," he informed Simone near the end of his meal.

"If you feel sick, you can't go play with little M," Simone pointed out reasonably.

Little B made another face but finished his meal in silence. He dutifully cleared his plate from the table without being asked and turned to his mother. "Now can I go?"

"Yes," Simone agreed. "You can go." She walked little B over to the neighbour's and went home to finish her chores.

She'd just sat down to dinner when the doorbell rang repeatedly. "I guess he's done," Simone muttered. She headed toward the door, a little surprised that little B would only want to play for twenty minutes.

Little M's older sister, little K, stood alone at the door. "Hurry! Little B threw up three times! He's really sick but he doesn't want to go home!"

Simone dutifully hurried over. The poor little guy sat, surrounded by a BIG mess. "I don't want to go home!"

Little M chimed him. "I don't want him to go home." He reconsidered. "Can I go home with little B?"

Simone shook her head. After some intense negotiations, it was agreed that the boys could play the following day, provided everyone was healthy. Then Simone bundled little B off to take a bath.

"Race you to the top of the stairs?" Little B suggested. Maybe it was just the excitement of visiting a friend that tossed his stomach...

Les chiots : 10 points

Le coussin du fauteuil extérieur? 0 points.

Simone avait mille et une chose à faire : la vaisselle, passer le balai puis ensuite la vadrouille, se laver le visage, se brosser les dents… Entretemps, les chiots étaient dehors, histoire qu’ils se défoulent un peu. Après tout, il pleuvait des cordes depuis le matin et ils avaient passé la journée à l'intérieur.

Sauf que trois quart d’heure plus tard, lorsque Simone alla les chercher, les chiots se défoulaient un peu trop. En effet, ils s’attaquaient furieusement à un coussin du fauteuil extérieur. Ils déchiquetaient la mousse en petit morceaux et l’éparpillait partout dans la cour. Sans ajouter qu’ils avaient fait leurs besoins sur la terrasse.

Inutile de préciser que Simone n’était pas du tout contente…

Gas

No, not the intestinal kind of gas...

This morning, Simone heard the dogs barking in their cage. She let them outside so they could do their business then turned the stove on to heat up her kettle. A few minutes later, it was time to let the dogs back inside.

Simone dutifully let them in, bending down for the usual meet and greet, then led them back to their cage where she told them to go back to sleep after they ate their treat. After all, it was merely 4 in the morning - definitely not time to get out and play.

Only the puppies did not go back to sleep, as was their custom. In fact, they yipped and whined and scratched at their cage. Simone sighed and let them go outside again.

But when the dogs were in their cage again, the infernal racket began anew.

Simone paused to blow her nose for the zillionth time that morning - dang cold had her sinuses all stuffed up! - before she remembered her kettle. Only the kettle was not boiling. Not at all. But the element on the stove was releasing all kinds of gas that Simone was only beginning to smell now that she stood close to the appliance.

As soon as Simone turned off the element and opened the window to clear the air in the house, the puppies settled down to their nap. Just goes to show that the puppies sometimes do know best...