The Coin des petits

And it began with a visit to the Coin des petits. The regular coordinator was going away and had asked Simone to step in for her. Little B was delighted to revisit his old haunt, as was Simone: the centre provides a safe play environment for the little ones and adult conversation for the big ones. Plus they serve fresh, hot coffee. What's not to like? Except that when Simone and little B got there, the coffee wasn't ready. Simone had to make it. And the instructions were noticeably absent. First try? The coffee was a slightly tinted version of water with very little flavour. Second try? Too strong. WAY too strong. Third try? There wasn't a third try. After all, the centre is a non-profit outfit and coffee money doesn't grow on trees so Simone settled for a cup of tea. The kettle, a plug in version, was easy to use as were the tea bags. The beverage making experiment took up the better part of an hour and, fortunately or not depending on the point of view, nobody had dropped in to the centre. Little B had the run of the toys and crafts and Simone? Well, Simone was sorely regretting the lack of adult reading material in the centre. Conversation between adults usually necessitates more than one adult... In the end, she got down on all fours and played cars and trucks with the little guy, gave out a snack at snack time, built a tower with the large foam blocks, read a book to little B, had a mock picnic with the play food and finished off with circle time and songs. At 11:25, a harried looking mother dropped in with her three kids. "Um, did you know that we close at 11:30?" Simone asked, aware that, clearly, the woman would not know that since she'd dropped in so close to closing time. "Well, what time is it now?" The woman snapped. "William, do not hit your little brother!" Simone pointed eloquently at the clock on the back wall. The woman stared at the clock for a few moments, as the seconds hand ticked around the face. "Fine," she growled. "Fine. William, Eliot and James. Do NOT roll on the floor like that. You are not dusters. No, do not go in there. The lady says that the place is closed now." Three little boys stared longingly at Simone. A fourth one, little B, joined in a heartbeat later. Sigh. Maybe we can close a little later today. "What do you say we stay open for another twenty minutes?"