food for thought

I have made progress with food negotiations: she'll eat what I feed her as long as I eat what she's feeding me. Which makes complete sense, in fact: if I'm already feeding her, then why would she need to be feeding herself as well?

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We're back in the land of food complexities.
Where the bread is low-carb and the ice-cream low-fat, the chocolate syrup is no-fat & no-sugar, the eggs are fake egg-whites in a carboard box, the butter a cancer-causing no-stick spray, where (low-fat) peanut butter and (low sugar) jelly is a popular choice for lunch for adults, and the soda plentiful but diet and caffeine-free.
And the mediterranean diet hailed as most healthy.

holiday surprises

Lil one was crying. It was 7 o'clock at night, and who could blame her, really?

Maybe it was waiting in the car with P as I, completely frazzled and hopeless, was manoeuvring the over sized giant WalMart in hope of diapers and formula and wipes and baby food, only to be brought to a complete stop repeatedly: "Pardon me, sir (aren't I ever the polite kind?, running on no sleep and mucho jetlag), but I don't see any carts". "Oh, well, the store is full, you know." (A giantissimo wal-mart? full?) "Mmh... baskets then". "We don't do baskets". I guess not. moving on. Only to be confused and frustrated by the assinine layout of the store).

Or maybe it had started all earlier, much earlier, at 4:30 in the morning (french time, make time 10:30pm the previous day), when we had tenderly awoken her for a quick change and a hop into the taxi.

The day was eventful: the airline had not registered her on the first flight. Why, I do not know as we had the ticket in hand. Why it mattered, I know even less, as she was sitting on my lap and did not require a seat of her own.

The second flight tested our resilience. Our cushiony B class seat, meant to rejuvenate the one not currently on lil-one-duty, was given away in front of our very own eyes in exchange for a very sizable wad of cash (which was not registered into the system but pocketed by the manager), after which we were informed that they thought we were a no-show. There was no B seat for us. P was fu-rious: they were not compensating us in any way, as they blamed it on the other airline. HELLO?!?? How is this our fault? can you spell airline co-chairs? Arg. Aaaooommmhhh -think yoga, unity, self-preservation.
Not only that, but they did not give us the bassinet we'd requested. Worst of all: they didn't give it to anyone. It sat there, unused, for the 10+ hours we were on that airplane, daunting us.

Returning to the little one: she was an angel: played with the little boy occupying the seat behind her, trying to climb her way over the top of our seats to go bearhug him. dutifully falling asleep after only about 30 back and forth pacings in the coach cabin. , but also always waking up on time to check every single movie, sitcom and commercial displayed on the few tv's in the cabin. flipping through or teething her way through every toy we'd packed so that none would be jealous. she even thought the flight would be a great time to demand that she and she only be allowed to hold the spoon to feed herself (i usually use multiple spoons to win at that game, but she would not eat from any I was proposing), so we quickly reverted back to milk.

and then we landed. you know the drill. crowd stampede to exit the airplane. cattle lines to pass through immigration. fake smiles. near comatose wait in front of the baggage carousels. 1,2,3 bags. wait in front of the oversize bags for car seat. wait, wait, wait.

3 (three, iii, trois!) hours after we landed, i left the lost luggage line. i had no car seat. i had not filled a claim form as that would have required another hour and a half wait. the kind lady in front of me thought I should jump the whole line (A was in bjorn, I was obviously beyond worn out), so I politely (no good) asked the guy in front of her, would he mind if i quickly handed my lost luggage form and address.
"Yes, I do mind." (I was going to write, "as only overly-assertive Americans do", but that's not kind. And I don't know if that's even true.)

There went my hope with humanity. System problems and obstacles and mess-ups, I could handle. But such a personal, contempt-filled remark, did it. I left the line, defeated. And tried to contain myself long enough to make it through the basics of Walmart.

But then, after 22 hours of travel, she didn't sleep that night nor the following one.

baby bonuses and Annan

Bonuses for having babies in France (though it's a bit more complicated if you work for your very own self)

Annan's 5 lessons: on Truman, American leadership, and multi-lateralism

"We all have to recognize, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please."
“The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world."
Harry Truman

The five lessons:

First, we are all responsible for each other's security.

Second, we can and must give everyone the chance to benefit from global prosperity.

Third, both security and prosperity depend on human rights and the rule of law.

Fourth, states must be accountable to each other, and to a broad range of non-state actors, in their international conduct.

My fifth and final lesson derives inescapably from those other four. We can only do all these things by working together through a multilateral system, and by making the best possible use of the unique instrument bequeathed to us by Harry Truman and his contemporaries, namely the United Nations.

Excerpts:

(N)o nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others. We all share responsibility for each other's security, and only by working to make each other secure can we hope to achieve lasting security for ourselves. And I would add that this responsibility is not simply a matter of states being ready to come to each other's aid when attacked – important though that is. It also includes our shared responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity – a responsibility solemnly accepted by all nations at last year's UN summit . That means that respect for national sovereignty can no longer be used as a shield by governments intent on massacring their own people, or as an excuse for the rest of us to do nothing when such heinous crimes are committed......

And states need to play by the rules towards each other, as well as towards their own citizens. That can sometimes be inconvenient, but ultimately what matters is not convenience. It is doing the right thing. No state can make its own actions legitimate in the eyes of others. When power, especially military force, is used, the world will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose – for broadly shared aims – in accordance with broadly accepted norms......

Accountability between states is highly skewed. Poor and weak states are easily held to account, because they need foreign assistance. But large and powerful states, whose actions have the greatest impact on others, can be constrained only by their own people, working through their domestic institutions. That gives the people and institutions of such powerful states a special responsibility to take account of global views and interests, as well as national ones.......

I have continued to press for Security Council reform. But reform involves two separate issues. One is that new members should be added, on a permanent or long-term basis, to give greater representation to parts of the world which have limited voice today. The other, perhaps even more important, is that all Council members, and especially the major powers who are permanent members, must accept the special responsibility that comes with their privilege. The Security Council is not just another stage on which to act out national interests. It is the management committee, if you will, of our fledgling collective security system.

As President Truman said, “the responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world." He showed what can be achieved when the US assumes that responsibility. And still today, none of our global institutions can accomplish much when the US remains aloof. But when it is fully engaged, the sky's the limit.......

You Americans did so much, in the last century, to build an effective multilateral system, with the United Nations at its heart. Do you need it less today, and does it need you less, than 60 years ago?

Surely not. More than ever today Americans, like the rest of humanity, need a functioning global system through which the world's peoples can face global challenges together. And in order to function, the system still cries out for far-sighted American leadership, in the Truman tradition.

Relocation

Our house got relocated over the last 12 months. A year ago, when we moved in fresh from our 9 months in Cambridge (England), we found ourselves in a lovely, warm and sunny place. Fast-forward a year (of riviera weather), and we're now finding ourselves living in a cold, damp, and dark cave, which could desperately use some Southern exposure.
Of course we haven't moved at all. It's amazing what context/perspective (the weather of the previous few months) can do to one's perception.

A kind soul suggested my blues from the past post were probably caused by the weather, but I do doubt it: it's mostly gorgeous here this time of year with beautiful, awe-striking colors. Do come in the winter or spring if you ever want to visit...

... Not that I would know if we'd still be here or not. The vulnerability I mentioned in the past post is simply living on the razor-thin edge where to the left, ladies and gentlemen, is routine in this neck of the woods with predictable daycare and mommy+me and yoga; and if you look over to your right is the green pastures (or abyss?) of relocating completely again to a whole new place. If you would like to suggest that for my sanity a decision rather a razor-thin edge of indecision would be preferable, you do not need to bother, but thanks for the suggestion.

Nothing like a post on weight issues to attract no comments at all!

The little one is cracking me up. She climbs up the tiles on the side of our bathtub to get to the soapdish (carved into the wall), using only a fraction of her tiny toes on the smallest of reliefs on tiles and grouting for adherence. We catch her lugging around her diaper bag (bigger than her, same weight as her), her lego truck (on wheels, but definitely bigger), full-size chairs, or doing side bicep curls with her child-size chair. I may have to break it to her that miss Universe does not allow contestants below 1 year of age, and that her extra girth at the waist-line wouldn't fare too well anyway.

She's got her own dance steps, bending at the knees with butt nicely sticking out. She hikes up the stairs with the gait of a soldier in some totalitarian army (you know the look: leg straight up, foot at hip-height). She talks up a storm, especially with other kids. She would eat all the christmas decorations, but especially the glittery christmas balls and lights, if we let her. She's decided mashed up food is for babies and is much more interested in chunks of bread/pasta/fruit/veggie. And I've given in to the national obsession with sturdy ankle-bracing shoes: (US advocate soft-soled shoes, France goes for clunky heavy hard-soled ankle-covering ugly boots), simply because she walks better with those. For now at least.

This week will be one of packing for the trip. I have sneakily purchased a new toy (something I thought I'd never do), a bubbles container, and (holy moly) a little spinny thing like they sell at fairs (where you blow air and the thing spins; there must be a better name for this). She's captivated by the spinning vent in our kitchen, and I'm hoping between those three and my usual bag of tricks that the two of us (and our 150 fellow passengers) will survive the trip in economy class on our single seat while P lives it up in b class! Spare us a thought next weekend.

Thinking of you, friends, around the world. The world always seems a smaller place to me this time of year.