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So, in the beginning of February, I left Chez François and moved to another residence into a town I will call C-town, into the residence that I will refer to as Chez Franco-Amero. (Robin had a little crash course in privacy laws while she was in the United States, and will heretoforth not be using anymore real names.) Anyway, so now I live a little closer to Paris, which ain't that different, but at least I am left in a better financial situation.

Anyway, this is unfortunate for the readers, because honestly, these kids haven't done as many things to make me say "REALLY? Are you TRYING to kill yourself?" And thus far, we are in the honeymoon stage.

The children--
VH-Aged eight. Sweet and adorable but stubborn. He does pretty much everything I ask him to, just on his own time, which gets frustruating, especially today, when we were about a half hour late to golf because I tried to rush him, and he diabollically decidede to move ten times slower...He at least has a conscience, so I hope that this was an isolated occasion.*

SA-Aged eleven. She is in sixth grade and so far enjoys talking to me. She's starting to become interested in girly stuff, so thats pretty fun to talk to her about. This age can also be miserable for any adults involved, so I'm hoping that wont start until after I leave.

JR-Aged fourteen. Knows what's going on, he is actually able to direct me places relatively easily, and does a good job for showing disdain over my inability to find places. He has a sense of humor and makes jokes.

The father is French, and the mother is American. She travels a lot, so I've had more face time with him. (I should mention here that we are speaking in French, or at least he's speaking in French and I'm responding in broken French, and asking questions in English). He appears to be the more "particular" one, with specific ways that things are supposed to be, more like S in my previous household. This could be irritating, but knowing myself, I'll just get used to all these little idiosyncracies and then adopt them myself. (Side note, I caught myself making a proper lunch, setting the table, and making the boys eat with me, something I NEVER would have done, and struck me as oddwhen I first got here)

I will most likely be working way more hours than my other job, but that's okay for now. The way I'm feeling about continuing on as a fille au pair is making me wonder how much longer I will be able to handle this.

I'm still not in a big hurry to head back to the US, because, I have a new love. The French language. I'm finally hanging out with people who don't speak English, and it feels wonderful. I love the way it sounds, and I love making sentences. I can't really explain why, I never had a real desire to learn the language, but now I'm a little obsessed. Not obsessed enough to try very hard and study all the time, but obsessed enough to mull the words in my head, and occasionally run to the grammar book to see how exactly it is I'm supposed to conjugate that verb.