Common sense take two

I mentioned in a previous post that sometimes in my opinion the French lack common sense for certain things like picking up after their dog. Well, boy oh boy, that is not always the case! I was pleasantly surprised that at a little fete at Theo's school on Friday the head teacher popped some bubbly and cheerfully served to all interested parties. I said "voluntier, Madame!" It was just enough to savor and remind me that this, my friends, was tradition in France. It made my day seriously, maybe not the champagne itself but the fact that we could drink in this setting in moderation like responsible adults. If you tried to pull that at a day care in the states you would be sent to the slammer and outrage the community. This hypersensitivity to alcohol irks me as if we adults cannot control ourselves and need to be treated like children. Anyhoo, thank you Frenchies and your celebratory ways.

Take me to your leader, masterful tree.

We continued the weekend by decorating our little tree. Yes little because our apartment is tiny and because trees in these parts will run you the same price as an actual trip to see Santa at the North Pole. But I'm a traditional gal and there is no substitute for the real thing. I even bought ornaments to color coordinate with our rug, yet another sign of turning French, color coordinating. The other day I stepped out in a head to toe shades of brown ensemble, as opposed to my comfy black sport shoes, jeans, and patagonia. And people actually paid me some attention! Like, "your worth a glance, beige lady." Definitely no love in my jeans get up.

Saturday night was my first girls night out in Paris, WAY overdue, mama likes her cocktails and dancing. Aside from the schizophrenic DJ, going from Madonna's Holiday to a really long Indian song (interestingly the French guys seemed to like this) and then to Gypsy Kings, it was a super fantastic evening. We moms were all giddy to have the night to cut loose. I don't have any pictures because when you smile really really big you get crazy eyes and double chins and no one needs to see that. We were really frickin' psyched to be out, 'kay? Of course when I got back at 2am Theo was puking and wide awake, what a welcome home!