Today my French family returned from Tunisia (sans father, who is, I believe, in China). I managed to overhaul Stella’s room in their absence (as requested) and filled about 4 Hefty-sized trashbags with empty boxes, dried up markers, junky toys and all sorts of detritus that she won’t miss. When I started the project last week, I first cleared off all the surfaces of the furniture along the perimeter of the room to make a semblance of order. The mountain of excess that formed in the center of the room was a bit daunting, and after I had sorted and arranged all the (probably 200+) books in the various shelving units, I had to abandon the project for a few days. Sabine, Stella’s mother, had pretty much given me free rein to toss out broken toys and anything that didn’t belong, but apart from the books, coloring implements, and blocks, I wanted to toss everything! I needed a few days to regroup.

Finally, on the 5th day of their vacation, I took up the albatross and whittled away at the pile of confusion. I sorted Hello Kitty hair accessories and Disney princess jewelry; play kitchen utensils, fruit and fried eggs; Hot Wheels cars and race tracks; various incarnations of the Disney and Sanrio pantheon, plush and plastic; stickers and old school projects; puzzles, card games and souvenirs… along with heaps of unidentifiable trinkets, mementos and unpaired Barbie shoes. Thankfully nothing was sticky or crumbly or food-related (except for some sugar-water in a spray bottle marketed as candy and some Hello Kitty candy necklaces). It’s amazing what a four-year-old can amass!

It was a very happy reunion when they arrived home this evening; I helped them bring in their luggage from the street and both Julien and Stella seemed in excellent moods. Things went from good to better when Julien realized his Nike ID shoes had arrived by mail and when I presented the pumpkin I’d purchased and my homemade oatmeal cookies. They were excited by my surprises, but luckily still pretty subdued, which was a nice change from the norm. They all liked my cookies, even though Stella wanted hers with some Nutella on top.

While the kids had the cookies, Sabine had me talk to Inah over the phone to see what groceries and household items she needed to buy. (Nothing a simple scan of the scene couldn’t do, but why bother?) I wrote the dictated list and Sabine got to work ordering everything online. It was mainly things like milk, butter, cheese, eggs, bread (pan de mie, which is white bread with the crusts pre-removed!), tomatoes, bell peppers, turnips, toilet paper, and bottled water (Evian and 2 others, ‘to diversify minerals’, I was told upon inquiry). Then she asked me if I needed anything special and I requested flocons d’avoine, which is oatmeal. Can’t live without it, I’ve learned! I had already bought some for myself with the money her husband had left for me to buy food with, but my baking episode had somewhat depleted my stores.

As she continued the online ordering process, I joined the children in the kitchen, where Julien had already started drawing the Jack’o'Lantern’s features. Halloween is not really celebrated in France, but the kids knew enough about it to want to partake, even though Halloween was two days ago. Julien carved with my assistance, and I emptied the guts. He was shocked when I put my hand in to gather the pulp and seeds. He and Stella were a bit too squeamish to do it themselves. When Julien had finished his design, Stella took over, and made her own contributions in ballpoint pen, scrawling her little grotesques near where the ears would have been. I, meanwhile, baked the pumpkin seeds and contemplated the fact that a child with various devices of amusement spent the better part of the afternoon drawing on a vegetable.

Oh, and the family had some surprises for me, as well: a cute little music-maker keychain with a camel on it and a curious package of candy resembling Turkish Delight called “Loukoum Hazem”…I think. It is gelatinous fruit-flavored cubes dusted in a heavy layer of powdered sugar. Pretty tasty!

By the way… when I was streamlining Stella’s room, I kept the bags of “trash” in a holding period before tossing them. Luckily I retrieved some things before the final heave-ho… because those items were what Stella wanted to play with once she tired of the pumpkin! We ended up playing “Câche-Câche” (Hide and Seek) with this walkie-talkie like Mickey Mouse where you hide the stuffed Mickey doll and then the other person uses the walkie to determine whether they are “hot” or “cold” when trying to find it. After that, we played a modified form of shuffleboard – three of us tossing hand-held gnomes across the hallway. Who needs pre-packaged games?!