Rentree (and yes there should be a ' over the 1st e)

Yeah! It is back to school time. The school supply list has been deciphered, several stores have been visited in the quest for said school supplies ("No, we don't have a 24 cm X 30 cm document protector. They don't make that size.") and it is time to relax. In fact, I think I heard a simultaneous sigh of relief go up from around the entire neighborhood as the children went off to school. This leaves the FMB (French Mommy Brigade) with time on their hands. To do what, I am still not sure and have not figured out, but whatever it is, it keeps them quite trim and relaxed looking.

I know what I am doing, and that is enjoying the quiet, that and preparing for lunch pick up. Yes, another thing that is different here. Unless you work, you must pick your children up for lunch from 11:30-1:30, breaking your day into roughly, 2.5 hour chunks before a pick up. This is actually not entirely true, as they do allow the children of the non-working parents to stay one day per week for lunch, an event known as Cantine. My girls love their Cantine day, but probably not as much as I love an entire day to do whatever I want with only the youngest duckling to hold my hand. This week, I took the baby duck to the beach, shopped for clothes, bought shoes and went to my favorite place, Carrefour (I hope by now, everyone knows my true feelings about my "favorite" place). It was amazing to have an uninterrupted block of time for me, or mostly me. I think that is the first time I have been on my own, or as on my own as I ever get, since June. It was pretty wonderful.

The best part of going back to school turns out to be the Swine Flu, or H1N1/grippe as they call it here. No, I am not looking forward to getting it, and am even quite a bit worried. What I am thrilled about is that it has lead to the demise of the "red cups of death". Last year at the twins school, they had communal drinking cups....disgusting, red, hard plastic drinking cups. These cups sat in a basket in the bathroom and as the children washed their hands, they could get a drink and then return the cup to the basket for the next child. I was appalled, this would never happen in the U.S., but as the newcomer, I was not going to be able to do anything about it. I begged the girls not to use the "cups of death", and began sending bottles of water for them. Well, the teacher would not let them drink from their own bottles and half the time the girls forgot not to use the "cups of death". It was a long year. Now, however, among the hysteria over the "grippe", the cups of death are gone. The "red cups of death" are gone and they can bring their own water bottles from home. I noticed right away, and danced a jig of happiness. Throw a little Purell their way and it might be an ok year.