p_capucine's Profile

How old are we talking here? Some of these seem intense for my five year old, who doesn't watch much. I'm saving it and glad to have it. Feelibg like I'll have to prescreen some of these.

Pyjammy - try Tchoupi and Trotro for your children, they are lovely for the young/French learners. Check Youtube. Kiki La Sorciere is also great in French. Or leave French children's music playing in the background all day, try Laurie Prado comptines, or books on tape of Martine (from Amazon FR).

We have our second with us until he is two. His necessities are what makes our room look shared, not a special wall color or rug (or five foot giraffe). We have one of those tiny 1935 rooms where the Bed Is All There Is, we squeezed his bureau/changing table on one side and crib-turned-sidecar on the other. I like the way he slipped in like he belongs here, no you-go-here corner decorating. It's very peaceful having no thought about where he belongs, as opposed to my first who had a decorated nursery and slept in our room in an uneasy standoff I struggled to feel out her whole first year.

Now THERE is a party you don't hear about every day. Way to go on being original and kid-supporting! I confess, I don't know her music either although I know who she is, so your daughter has got me going off to find out.

What's up with only having parties between 4 and 10? I have a Christmaa child I'm still struggling to gracefully celebrate so I ask around a lot. Never heard this one. Spill it!

That room itself is just so awesome for a kid! I can feel the delight in the decorating, enjoy your little lady!

We're living close to this scenario. I've been happiest with having a Serious Art Wall, and a wall where there are some lines for clipping up recent kid art and recent photos. The art wall has only six things on it, as it is very small, but they were picked with a lot of intention and include one favorite kid piece for each child framed nicely, and the rest to please us adults. We're happiest with white walls and a white couch to keep the peace at a maximum with our belongings all right there. The couch (and wall behind) is the Adult Zone and across from it is a cabinet of toys and the line for clipping things up that is the Kid Zone. We ended up dividing the room accidentally the way the Feng Shui bagua maps the child and romance zones, maybe that is why it's been the 'keeper' arrangement of all the things we've tried! You will succeed, good luck!

My five year old would love this space. I applaud your support of your daughter's preferences, this feels like a genuine effort at pleasing her tastefully. Hope it was successful!

Oh...there is no substitute for real. We burn a hole in our United mileage card racking miles to visit every year, stay for at least a month, post photos and videos on Flickr religiously, call every Sunday morning, and mail drawings and gifts.

But a dear one fell and is in the hospital this month, and we have to face just how Not There we genuinely are. They didn't bring us food when our babies were born, we're not dropping off magazines right now.

You who consider moving far, far away, know that you will spend a ton of money and hours on making a connection that will never be as deep as being there. It cannot be done. I still would stick with our choices, but the genuine impact of the distance is visible in the twelve hours of plane flight, in my kids hiding behind my skirts around relatives we endured the airplane for... Imperfect indeed!

It's so grim. I just pray I get it first or last, because being sick at the same time...

@JasmineIsDomestic - ya know you're just cruising for a bruising with a comment like that in a post like this!

My French mother-in-law. Her art in life is her table. From her I have learned to have a core set of mastered dishes, to make recipes with few ingredients and no complex techniques, to offer a number of humble dishes in sequence at each meal, and to present each one on a beloved dish dusted with parsley bits. And to devote a morning here and there to cooking dishes for freezing - her freezer is such a source of satisfaction to her. And to seek out producers of food at their farms and figure out the best ingredients at the store; the absorbing glee she has with stocking her garage full of excellent foodstuffs is fascinating, and she's always curious about new foods and trends.

Her world war experience makes her use everything; like soup from radish leaves. It's not my favorite, but it is interesting watching the precision lines she runs her kitchen on, each foodstuff carefully used, everything carefully clean, the legacy of being young when food was sparse and there was no refrigeration.

I emulate her in my kitchen. She has far surpassed my mother on what she has taught me about cooking and attitude. I've rarely studied anyone the way I do her in the kitchen, it's one of the big gifts in my life for sure. (And now I know I'm not a natural good cook myself, no more false pride there!)

Really. Really? Ooh I want to try some! Although 'earthy' - many a disappointment has begun with that word!