New kid on the block.

I think this image pretty much sums up my week. I have been wanting to come here every day to post about so many things I have in mind but I started my new job on Monday and have been feeling overwhelmed by the simplest adjustments to this new position. Maybe, since I only changed departments and not company, I didn't expect to have to deal with so much novelty? Or maybe it is because there has been very little space for spontaneity in my life since little big L. 's arrival that I got liking routine a little more than I should? Go figure. Most importantly, this change is what I wanted so I have to start kicking the old habits, meet new people and enjoy these rare routineless moments.

More posts (and reply to comments) soon, I promise.

À très vite! xx

{image via loverbeau}

Back to reality.

Tomorrow, it's back to the realities of daily life. As always when having fun, time flies. But it has been incredible to have two weeks off and spend time with my boys. It is not going to be easy to get back into the  métro, boulot, dodo routine, knowing that this means I go back to seeing L. only a few hours a day. The boy loved his first Christmas holidays (despite being really ill the first week) and I adored hanging out with him 24/7 again. Here's what we got up to...

...we watched it snow on Christmas eve.




...waited impatiently to open up presents.


...played a bit of piano.


...got spoilt by Father Christmas.


...met up with crawling mates.


...drove back to Paris




...read a few books.


...played with new toys.


...and made a new friend at shopping hell Ikea.


Hoping you all enjoyed the holidays as much as we did. Bon dimanche and bon courage for the week ahead! xx

Pink Panther.

   Blake Edwards 1922 - 2010
   [image]

What a week! It has been intense, but good. I am not on holiday yet, although Monday should be my last working day for 2010. There will be news in the new year on the professional front. I am probably mad to be embarking on an opportunity that will surely not help me in my search for the perfect work/life balance, but I am thrilled at the thought of my career evolving in the right direction, especially so soon after returning from a fairly long maternity leave. I did insist before accepting the offer that I would not be a workaholic as I want to continue watching my baby grow into a toddler, and into boy. He is my priority right now and I want to keep things that way, regardless of whether that means I would have to reconsider my decision in the future if things did not go to plan. But as of now, all is positive so I am looking forward to celebrating my wonderful news "en tête à tête" with my litlle man this weekend while Mr. Franglais is in Liverpool for four (long) days enjoying mince pies, cream teas and all sorts of other delicious English treats! Jealous (just a tad).

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Black Friday.

It has been one of those weeks. One of those long weeks where nothing really goes to plan. And I am ex-haus-ted.

Baby L. had been dragging on a cold for over a month and on Monday he had his very first session of kiné respiratoire (breathing physiotherapy). The "magic massage" worked wonders as he was immediately relieved from his congested nose and nasty cough but (and it is a big but) the massage was quite - what I am saying, extremely - vigorous. My friends who have kids told me that it was disturbing to watch but I didn't realise to what extent until I saw it being done. To see my little boy be "hurt" even though in the end it was for his own good, and hearing him cry out to us and not being able to help him was the worst feeling I have experienced so far as a mother.

Work has also be terrible this week, with so many things to do and so little time. Having a baby has strongly impacted on how I organise my day at the office because whatever happens, I now have to leave at 6 pm to pick up my boy. That means no more coffee breaks, hardly ever any lunch breaks (in France, you legally have to take 1 hour) and of course, no more drinks after work to drown my sorrows. Sadly, the whole networking side of my job has become almost non-existent and instead, I am sat at my desk all day long desperately typing away before the ticking time bomb goes off, telling me I have to leave. Of course, when I get home, there's a whole new job waiting for me.

Some days, keeping up with the pace of daily activities is really hard, not to say impossible.Trying to be a good mum, a good girlfriend, a good daughter, a good sister, a good friend, a good professional - at the moment, I can't keep up. I know that that I'm supposed to be a Wonder Trentenaires, that it's the weekend and that I should be happy, but I can't help it: today has been so hard, it's been my very own black Friday.

Anyone got a quick fix?

photo {via}

Working mum.

Last Sunday, on 10.10.10, I had to travel to Brussels for work. It was the first time since baby L. was born that I left him for more than 24hrs. My spirits were so low that weekend at the thought of leaving him; and for having to do it for the first time by obligation, not by choice. But in the end, the two and a half days away from him were not as hard as I imagined. In fact, I found my old self again and it felt good. Not that I had any time to catch up on things, but to simply have no obligations other than work for a couple of days was pleasant. Still, by the time my meeting ended, I was oh so ready to leave the business world behind and return home to my loving boys who were waiting for me. As I walked through the door, L. looked at me in disbelief and took half a second to grasp his mummy was back. When he realised it was me, he grinned from ear to ear and started energetically bouncing in his high chair with his arms wide open. I picked him up and he threw his arms around my neck, squeezed me tightly and 'kissed' me over and over. It was magically wonderful and I would go on that business trip again (by choice) just to relive that moment.

TGIF.

It is 9:45 p.m and I have just got back from work. I have no words to describe how relieved I am it is the weekend. Finally.  

And while I was at the office, here's what baby L. had for dinner. Clearly, it was time I came home. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. Mine is going to be a short one as I am travelling for work on Sunday already. Huh.

ps: thank you for all your lovely comments yesterday. I will have to put my hands on that rocking horse. 

Timeless photo booth.

I am so busy at work this week - and for obvious reasons, even busier when I come - that I've had no time for blogging. Let's face it, I hardly even have time to sleep these days. Today was baby L.'s first full-time day with the child minder: nine hours in total. It makes me sad to have to leave him with a "stranger" for so many long hours and nostalgic about my days on maternity leave when the two of us would hang out together all day long. Anyway, I came here to say I will not be able to keep my promise and post about all his wonderful prezzies this week. I will do so the next instead. In the meantime, I leave you with our fun photobooth pics taken on Tuesday. Bye for now x

Monday morning at work.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Where did the week go?

First post this week. Clearly I have lots to learn when it comes to time management with a baby on board. This first week back at work was much easier than expected. It was great to see all my colleagues again and work-wise, it felt like I had never left. The hard part is to get this killer look from my son when I leave in the morning which makes me feel so guilty and then again when I leave work, I feel the guilt when I see my boss' what-you-are-leaving-already face. At the end of the day, by the time I get to sit down and relax I am so tired I start nodding off on the couch like an old lady. Which explains my absent posts this week! I will try to be more organised in the future though posting may still be light in the coming weeks as baby L. will be staying with his grandparents outside the city, meaning that we will have to commute two hours every day to get into work. Oh joy! Re-experiencing the métro during rush hour this week has been everything but enjoyable and reminded me why I bought a scooter in the first place: I did not adhere to getting so near to another traveller that you are making awkwardly close body contact (or better yet, have their armpit in your face). Uh! I guess it's time for me to stop procrastinating and get my Vespa fixed asap.

Retour au bureau.

This time next week I will be back in the office sitting in front of my computer screen for eight hours a day (huh!). Although part of me is happy to be returning to work because I have missed my job and my colleagues, it is nothing compared to how much I will miss my little monkey. I knew my maternity leave couldn't last forever but the thought of seeing baby L. for only three hours a day when I have spent almost 24/7 with him for the past four months is so heartbreaking. Then again, after a few weeks adaptation, I know I will be happy to be working again. It is important that my social life continues as it was and that baby L. starts one of his own. After all, isn't part of parenthood learning how to let go?

Oh, and I hope I will still have time for blogging...!

Up the duff at 30.

...is what my plan was and had always been. But as life would have it, I'd beat the stats by having a bun fresh from the oven at 28.

According to an article in today's Le Monde, the average age of French women at first childbirth in 2009 has symbolically crossed the 30 year threshold. As more and more women our generation feel the need as much as men to have a career and a good work/life balance, they are postponing having children until after their studies, once they have secured a job, a place to live and are in a stable relationship. Still, this does not mean that French women are having fewer children, quite the contrary. We are the country in Europe with the highest birth rate.

My little beanie came to this world by accident. If I were to have planned it, I'd also probably still be waiting for the right job, the right flat, the right city, the right moment and the right guy. Because regardless of how much societies have changed, there is still a moment in a women's life when she'll think twice about having children for fear their job might consequently be at stake. Priorities do drastically shift as you enter motherhood, but as much as being a mum can be fulfilling, many women also find work extremely rewarding. So why not be able to have the best of both worlds?

You can read the full article here (in French).

photo ©LaFranglaise