on paris

this is andoni. and although andoni is made by fournier in bolivia, he is desperate to go to paris. poor poor andoni.

but it happens that i know someone else who longs to go to paris, and that is my mother.

what can i say about that woman who gave birth to me? if it were possible to hang a banner across the eiffel tower that read YOU ARE AWESOME! i would. except that she wouldn’t see it because she is not in paris. but she should be. i could list the reasons for her known attraction to the city (glamour, cuisine, culture, architecture) but that’s not what this post is about.

my last post was about walking to starbucks with my children and telling stories. it was just a glimpse of what life with kids #1, 2, and 3 is like. when i re-read it the next day i realized that while what i had written was both funny and utterly true (and featured a great product) it was also a little love letter to my children. in its true form it read “you are ridiculous and you annoy me but i will always put your priorities ahead of my mine because i love you so”.

so this paris themed post will be a little love letter to my mom who always put me first even when i didn’t realize or appreciate it at the time. and i have more than a sneaking suspicion that she hasn’t yet gotten to paris because she’s been too occupied with being there for everyone else. but we dream of paris for her and one day we will take her there. but until then, let’s play pretend!

as an adult it is not fun to pretend things. it is not fun to pretend you’ve just won the lottery when there is a stack of bills on the counter. it is not fun to pretend that your dishwasher is going to fix itself when clearly it’s not. it is not fun to pretend that you might actually get to sleep in. being an adult is not awesome sometimes. 

but when you’re a kid the whole world could be right here if you want it to be. whenever you want it to be. for instance, kid #1 spends his time creating new series for lego. also he lives in a video game and is a super qualified sniper. kid #2 lives for birthday parties. for her last birthday we got her melissa & doug‘s birthday party cake set. and now it is always my birthday. or her birthday. or her brother’s birthday. whatever. the point is that if by the end of the day my kids can say they’ve killed enemies while being employed by lego and attended numerous birthday parties then why can’t they have traveled to paris?

actually in their favor they do know quite a lot about the city of lights. they’ve grown up on madeline, and kid #1 can school anyone about paris’ most notable artists. but what’s absolutely needed is a copy of miroslav sasek‘s ‘this is paris’.

this incredibly beautiful book is a kid-friendly introduction to the travel guide and features watercolour paintings of beloved parisian landscapes. there’s the notre dame, pont de neuf, the louvre, and of course the eiffel tower. the book also teaches kids some basic historical facts about the city as well as displays what everyday life might look like there.  and what would a book on paris for kids be without people walking with baguettes and french poodles?

the ‘this is’ series is available featuring many other cities and countries as well as the moon! i want them all.

so now we’ve got our guide book. but what else…?

in this house we are well prepared for many pretend culinary delights. we have sets of cookies, all manner of slice-able fruits and vegetables, and wooden representations of just about any basic grocery item anywhere. a pretend bottle of olive oil? done. cheese crackers? try me.  ice cubes? right again. we even have a small grocery cart. but what we don’t have is a grocery cart full of french fare.

aha! but with the purchase of moulin roty‘s beautifully designed french groceries, we have all we need!

here’s monday’s version,

i don’t actually understand the english tea but we’ll just set that one aside and use it on the day we decide we take a pretend jaunt to london to visit prince george.

and this is friday’s version

#2 will want to dress up for the affair because everything in #2’s life is a dress-up event. even when we bake she must wear her ‘cooking hat’. wings to the beach. a butterfly costume to watch tv. her cinderella dress everywhere. she considers herself extremely fancy. obviously, her paris trip will involve this outfit

my day in paris has seriously exhausted me. how about a non-pretend glass of wine?

and one day we’ll take you there mom. i promise.