JFP Blog

I am so excited!  My own personal copy of my current favorite book came last week and it has been a total lifesaver on these crabby, gray, rainy, cabin-fever days!  I came by this book by pure luck….my sister randomly found it at the library and brought it on our girls’ weekend last year.  She let me read it on the plane and, as I was actually laughing outloud, the poor lady next to me finally had to ask what I was reading….and my sister and mom (sitting in front of me) kept turning around to see which part I was reading.  Now, you don’t have to be a "chick lit" fan to enjoy this one, it might help, but it’s a great "mom" book with a definite British flair (which I always love!)…think Bridget Jones meets motherhood.  It is called "And God Created the Au Pair" and it is written by two sisters (Benedicte Newland and Pascale Smets) basically e-mailing back and forth.  It is out of print so you’ll have to look a little harder to find it (try here)…but it’s worth it.  The cover review comment says, "WARNING:  This book is hysterically funny.  Avoid reading it in public if you don’t want to be seen snorting with laughter."  (Sorry, I know this is a long winded one for me, but hang in there, it will be worth it (I hope!)….& I will be tying this in with a photo soon…..)

Now for one of my favorite little parts, which has become a running joke around our house….mostly because my child could give hers a run for her money in the "world’s weepiest" child category….so I have been working on the suggested technique!!  Remember, it’s in e-mail format between 2 sisters…..

"From:  Charlotte Bailey

To:  Nell Fenton

….Maddie’s start to nursery school not so auspicious.  In fact, I could say ghastly.  I had secretly harbored insane notion that world’s weepiest child MIGHT go in without crying.  Needless to say it turned out I had been wildly optimistic.  Resolved to harden my heart against squirty & copious tears (so squirty & copious actually left a wet patch on my trousers), naturally failed miserably and had to bolt to the car.

From:  Nell Fenton

To Charlotte Bailey

Your problem is you’re too good-humoured and your children grow attached to you.  If you were a ratbag like me you’d find your children parted from you quite cheerfully."

Me (Judith) here again….  Isn’t that hilarious??  So now you can totally understand my new "ratbag" approach to parenting!  (I’m hoping that you are all "getting" the humor/sarcasm in this post!)  Here’s a little proof that I am really trying harder to be more ratty…..

Anyway, not much photo activity this week (sorry!) because I’ve been working on some other stuff that I can’t wait to show you all….hopefully sooner than later….but I have lots of fun stuff planned for the next few weeks, so keep checking back!  Happy Thursday and if you live in our neck of the woods….try to stay dry today!