Giant Balloons
I discovered these giant balloons on My Little Day and now cannot wait for one of my kid’s birthday parties to come up. I think they are so cool. They get up to 90 cm big and still are as light as a feather — so much fun to throw around and play with!
I also love another idea the clever ladies from My Little Day have: why not fill up one of these balloons with toys and bonbons before you blow it up and use it as a piñata? The balloons do come with a good piece of advice: incredible lungs or a balloon pump are strongly recommended, if not you might get a little bit tired of blowing these things up… they need a lot of air
- Emilie
Animal Stickers by Natalie Lété
I am at the end spurt of redecorating my girls bedroom! Yey! It has been a lot of fun, as they actually have a lot of opinions about how it should look. Last time I decorated their bedroom it was totally my taste and my decisions, now I have two little headstrong assistants who veto a lot of my ideas! One decision we all agreed on were the animal stickers by Natalie Lété. They are absolutely gorgeous and really appealed to the imagination of the girls. I have actually never used wall stickers before, as I was not sure that stickers would blend in with the rest of the room, but these ones look perfect!
- Emilie
My First Autobahn
As I have two girls, I find it really hard to figure out what to give boys as presents. Do they only like swords, cars, and He-Man of the Universe toys (does He-Man still exist?). But this Autobahn tape by the great German design company Donkey Products looks fun even to me, so if a 30-something-year-old women wants to play with it, it must also appeal to young boys, no?
I think it is so clever and simple — an adhesive road tape so that you can build your own circuits and motorways wherever you want. Plus a little car to zip along the autobahn!
- Emilie
Paper City Paris
I love living in Paris — it is beautiful, full of life and love and so much fun to explore. If you don’t happen to live in Paris, have a look at the downloadable Paris Paper City, from one of my top favorite children’s craft blogs Made By Joel. Just download the PDFs and you too can start exploring Paris, even if you live on the other side of the world. Have an explore around the Eifel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and a local boulagerie. There is even the sweetest little downloadable Citroën to drive around your city.
Such a fun way to introduce the city of lights to your kids. I love the fact that Joel has, very thoughtfully, included a brief description of all the buildings onto his PDFs, so this game can be educational too.
- Emilie
Gift Ideas for Babies (and their parents)
After a long dry spell there’s now a wave of new babies being born in my circle of friends. Yey for that! I wanted to put together a little guide on baby presents, especially as we have not had any newborn posts on Babyccino for a long time.
So here goes:
1. Fold away bathtub from the Babyccino Boutique Whitestep: This is a great idea, especially if you live in a city like Paris, where space is key. I would have never thought of getting a fold away bathtub, but it works and it is so easy to put together and store away.
2. Coq en Pate soft book: babies grow up so fast and several of my friends have noticed how suddenly, one morning, their babies have started to reach out for things and are ready to explore. I love this little soft book that is full of fun shapes. It is easy to hold onto and also easy to wash if it has been chewed on a bit.
3. Phil and Ted’s portable chair: though not for newborns, this is one of my favourite presents for new parents. Again, kids grow fast and this is such a handy thing to have with you on the go. I think I had mine for my kids from 6 months onwards and it is the best, especially in France where restaurants rarely have highchairs.
4. A good maternity bag: some are gimmicky and some are really useful. Through personal experience being a mom of a new born means that often your brain is a bit fried, so having a bag ready prepared, with the right amount of space and pockets, is key. (I had this bag when my kids where younger and it rocked!)
5 – 6. And for the Mums and Dads who too often get forgotten: bath salts, body oils and a Mad Men or Downton Abbey box set, to have something good to watch during those long hours feeding!
Do you have any other gift ideas for new parents?
- Emilie x
Être et Avoir
If you have ever learned French, the conjugation of the verbs Être et Avoir must still be ingrained in your mind. They are the corner stone of the French language. This is why I love this massive room poster by the talented designers Ich&Kar. It looks so retro and great and is super practical too… in case you are ever in any doubt on how to conjugate a verb!
If you don’t speak French, I also like the multiplication poster which would be great for a kid’s room. In case of doubt your kids will just need to look up to figure out what 8×7 or 8×9 is! (Available from Smallable.)
- Emilie
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Cute Party Invites from Little Baby Company• Dallas Clayton’s Top Ten List
Please, do call me Mademoiselle
When I was younger and a bit more feisty, I was vehemently against being called Mademoiselle. Why should men only have one description while women are categorised by being married or not? But now, though I still agree with this sentiment in principle, I secretly love it when a shopkeeper adresses me as Mademoiselle, mostly accompanied by a wink. Makes me feel young and sexy!
You see, in France we still address each other with Madame, Monsieur and Mademoiselle — the equivalent of Sir, Madam and Miss. These terms, as far as I can tell, have completely dissapeared out of the English/American vocabulary. I really like this politeness. When I walk into a bakery I greet everyone in there with a general “Bonjour Monsieur/Dames” and when it is my turn I get told “A vous, Madame”.
There is a campaign in France to get rid of the Mademoiselle, which makes total sense. My grandmother’s two best friends, 90 and 92 respectively, are still known as Mademoiselle as they never got married. I address them as Mademoiselle, whilst they call me Madame, and there is not a lot of logic in that. I do hope the shopkeepers will continue to call me Mademoiselle though (and not forget the wink)!
What about in your country, are women still being addressed as Senorita, Senorina or Fräulein?
- Emilie x
The illustration is of Coco Chanel, one of France’s most famous Mademoiselles, by Adrian Tomine for the New Yorker.
Autolib’ – An urban revolution
There has been an exciting development over here in Paris. Our mayor, Bertand Delanoë (who might possibly be my favourite politician at the moment), has introduced a new scheme that could revolutionise the way we live in this city. After the Velib’, we now have the Autolib’, an electrical car which, just like a Velib, you pick up on the street and drop off when you arrive at your destination.
I love using the Velib’, but cycling around a city with kids in tow is just not possible. The arrival of the Autolib’ was announced months ago and I have been peeking down my road, to see if there were going to be any cars parked close to me. And suddenly there were 4 neatly lined up electrical cars right across the road!
I now just walk a few meters, swipe my card, unplug the car from its power socket and off I go. It’s brilliant and has already taken me all around Paris. There are not yet that many parking stations, but new ones are opening every day. For the kids, I just bring along booster seats, which are easy enough to carry.
-Emilie
P.S. Have you ever driven an electrical car? It is soo quiet!
Paper Wonderland
The temperatures over here have dropped into the -0°celsius level, which is a rare occurence. When it does happen, the whole of Paris seems to go off to hiberate in their homes. Which is where you’ll find us, snuggled up in our house! Time for some crafting…
We were recently given the Paper Wonderland book and we are officially obsessed. With some scissors and some tape, you get to put together some of the coolest creatures and little projects I have seen. Some are more complicated than others (great when you have kids of different ages) but the end result is super cute and great to play with, so the enjoyment goes beyond just crafting. I highly recommend it!
- Emilie
Soeur
I am what is described as petite, and now that I have accepted the fact that I will very likely never, ever be a super model (just accepted that one!), I do think being small has some big advantages. I can wear terribly high heels, fit into small spaces and I can often buy clothes in the kid’s department. You can by some seriously nice children’s clothes and they are often half the price of the adult’s version. Check out the great label Soeur. The clothes are fabulous: easy going jumpers, jeans and dresses (and the sale is on at the moment). I fully take advantage of the fact that apparently I am the same height as an average 14-year-old girl!
The only time this has not worked out for me, is the other day when I was picking up my girls from school. I suddenly realised, watching the kids pour out of the school, that every boy between 5-15 was wearing the exact same coat as me, which I had picked up at GAP Kids in the boys department! Obviously their mothers and I have the same taste…
- Emilie
Pippi Longstocking
Do you remember reading Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren when you were a child? It was my absolute favourite. Pippi was our superhero: an orphan with bright red hair and incredible stories to tell, who lives on her own with a horse and a monkey and does not conform to anything.
I had totally forgotten about this book (It made me a bit sad that something that had been so special to me, had slipped out of my memory), until I stumbled over a copy of it today in a bookshop. And the copy I stumbled over is pretty special. The story of Pippi, which must have been written more than 50 years ago, has been given a face lift with illustrations by Lauren Child, famous from the UK TV show, Charlie and Lola. The illustrations are super charming and work beautifully with this story. I cannot wait to read this book to my kids. Coco, who is now 6 will be captivated by the story and 3-year-old Violette will love the pictures!
- Emilie
Adding and subtracting with the Abacus
Calculators have been around at least since the ancient Greeks… in the form of a nifty invention: the Abacus. Imagine being the person came up with the idea of the Abacus — they must have been pretty chuffed with themselves…
As Coco is now navigating her way through the first year of French education, I thought that an Abacus would be actually a useful tool for her to get used to the idea of adding and subtracting. I had been given an Abacus from Ikea ages ago and it had only ever been used as a toy. It now has a proud place on Coco’s little desk, and it is really interesting how much she is enjoying adding beads together, taking some away and seeing how it all works out.
P.S. Interestingly the children here in France are discouraged to use their fingers to add and substract. I guess it is so that they learn to visualise the numbers. Is it the same in your country?
- Emilie
Buttonbag Craft Kits
Something seems to have happend to Coco since she turned 6. It seems like she woke up one morning and her hand coordination and patience had suddenly increased. I guess she is not a little girl anymore! She cannot wait to use these new found skills and now there is a serious demand for arts and craft sessions in our house. I do try to come up with my own projects, but there are times when a craft kit is a life saver! A great example are the Buttonbag Craft Kits, which are perfectly catered toward eager 6-year-olds. The projects are simple and the results impressive. I particularly like the Winter Birds Kit and the Peg Doll Kits.
- Emilie
Pinatas
Seriously, is there anything better in the world than beating on a massive ball with a stick and, when you finally smash it open, being showered in bonbons? It’s no wonder kids go crazy for piñatas.
Piñatas had not really crossed my radar until I went on holiday to Mexico last year. But now we can’t possibly consider a birthday party complete without a good piñata bashing! Here in Paris I pick our piñatas up from a lovely shop called La Pinata, which is along the Canal St Martin (the photo above is of a pinata I picked up for Coco’s birthday last week). I have also found a ton of piñata DIY posts online, like these by the lovely Oh Happy Day blog, just in case you do not have a handy piñata shop around the corner!
By the way, it is hilarious watching the way kids react when they are picking the bonbons out of the broken pinata. Some just go crazy and try to grab whatever they can, others stand back observe and hone in for the choice pickings!
- Emilie
Birthday Party Paper Cut-Out
My children’s birthday parties must be the most exciting day of their lives. However, I am much more hesitant. I have no problems baking the cakes, decorating the room and getting the party favours ready. It is entertaining all the children that scares me! They are a tough audience, these 6-year-olds, so the pressure is on.
It was Coco’s birthday party this weekend, and I needed to come up with some games to play inside on a cold, winter day in a small flat in Paris! One of most successful games was a whole body paper cut-out, and hilariously enough, was also the simplest to organise. We got the kids to lie down on a big piece of paper and drew the outline of their body. We then drew on some accessories and the kids finished them off. After they were done, we cut out the faces and held the piece of paper up so that the kids could stick their face through it. (Apparently this was one of the funniest thing ever!)
After that we got them to dance, cracked open a pinata, ate cake, dressed up and suddenly it was time for all these little people to go home again, tired and happy! Phew, another birthday party successfully navigated!
- Emilie
Rien à Cirer
I have just had my entire flat repainted. My favourite part of having builders in is certainly not living on a building site, but spending countless hours daydreaming about how to decorate the rooms. So much fun, even if only 10% of my ideas actually ever see the light of the day! I am a big fan of old stuff; I like things that are not too perfect and which look like they have been around for a while.
Rien à Cirer is a super cute little company I discovered at the Mini Vintage Fair last month. I love the way they use old furniture and give it a new life with beautiful colours and little touches, while keeping the vintage feel alive. It really feels very French to me, but with a nice twist! I picked up a little unit similar to this one to hang up in my bathroom. And how cool would this type of dresser look in a children’s room?
- Emilie
Weekend Getaway: Munich
Courtney and I spent a hilarious weekend seven years ago (pre-children) at the October Fest in Munich. It was great fun: there was a lot of beer, schnapps, bretzels, German sausages, sleeping and card playing involved. I don’t think we had ever seen so many people our age in lederhosen and dirndls. It was definitely not the kind of weekend you would have with kids.
I am pretty sure that a weekend in Munich now would be very, very different, but potentially as much fun — it is a beautiful city, very traditional but also very happening. For some local insight on what Munich has to offer for kids, Mitali, a stay-at-home mom living in Munich, has very kindly given us her tips and recommendations on what to do in the capital of Bavaria. She is a mother of two (son Nilay 6 years, daughter Nalini 7 months) and the proud owner of a crazy dog, Greta. She loves travelling and has lived all around the world, but, in the end, has always enjoyed coming home to Munich. She has some great ideas of what to do in Munich! (more…)
Bringing up bilingual
A friend of mine recently referred to the way my 3-year-old daughter speaks as Creole. It a great way of describing it: she speaks an absolute mixture of French and English. Phrases like “Can you s’il te please tirer my culotte” (please pull up my undies) are very normal in our household and it is so cute I don’t want it to change! But it won’t last; she is quickly learning to differentiate her two languages.
In our household I try to only speak English at home and the children are exposed to French at school and with their friends. I myself grew up with a French mother, and an Irish father but spent my childhood in Germany, so I grew up speaking English, French and German. I actually now have a bit of an accent in every language I speak! As a child I really did not enjoy coming from a multi-lingual family as I felt I was different from my friends. My girls have the great advantage of going to an inner-city Paris school where a huge amount of the kids speak at least two languages, if not more.
So now that I am trying to bring up my kids bi-lingually myself, I have done a bit of research. I am not an expect in anyway, but here are some of the facts I thought were interesting:
- Being bi-lingual or tri-lingual has nothing to do with intelligence, people of different levels of intelligence are multi-lingual.
- Children start differentiating between languages around the ages of 2-3.
- Bi-lingual children do not usually learn to speak later because of learning different languages, as previously thought.
- One of the simplest approaches towards having bilingual children seems to be the one-parent/one-language approach. It is easier for a child to differentiate a language if one person speaks one language consistently to them.
Voila! I am really interested to hear if anyone else has tips and ideas on how to bring up kids with several languages!
- Emilie
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Win! Broer&Zus outfit of choice!• Julia Eccleshare’s top ten book list
• Top Ten Book Lists
Famille Summerbelle Wallpaper
I have been a bit interior-decor obsessed lately, as I have been redoing my flat. We have been living in a building site with dust everywhere! Coco managed to lean against a freshly painted white wall: the result was a white line all down her back from her hair to her jeans, just like a skunk. But, slowly, the result is showing: pulling up the old carpet has revealed a beautiful oak parquet and I have spent several evenings obsessing over the different shades of grey Farrow and Ball paints have to offer. There are worse things to do in life. (On a side note: it has been a very different cultural experience having builders in between France and the UK. In France, the builders were totally nonplussed by my offer of tea and biscuits — I was almost offended!).
Now that the perfect grey has been chosen, the next project is the girls’ room. I have been thinking of putting up wallpaper on at least some of the walls! How lovely is this Famille Summerbelle wallpaper? It is appropriately called: Un dimanche à Paris (A Sunday in Paris). Is it a bit exagerated to have a Paris-themed wallpaper when you live in Paris? I am not sure!
- Emilie
Nils and Happy to see you Star Dress
I have been given some very firm instructions regarding Christmas presents, as there isn’t anything my kids like to do more than dress up and develop some very, very complex story lines for hours and hours. (I guess it could be worse — they could be demanding to watch TV all day!) Anyway, with these firm instructions in hand, I fell upon the magical Pluies d’Étoiles (star rain) dress by Nils and Happy to see you. This dress is actually so beautifully simple, it doesn’t really classify as a dress-up dress… but more of a party dress that is dreamy enough for a little girl to feel like a princess in.
Nils and Happy to see you is a quintessential French label which always stikes the right note between what moms want to see their daughter wearing and what kids want to wear themselves.
- Emilie
