Yesterday Maxime and I had one of what my Dad calls “Naughty Saturdays”. We headed off to the stables relatively early; in fact he had woken up at the crack of dawn exclaiming that the sun was no longer sleeping and that he was a “happy boy”, so that obviously meant it was time for action. On our way there Maxime was easily placated with his little Makka soft toy (http://www.flickr.com/photos/techstyle/1151945401/ for the uninitiated) and a large plastic plane. Makka was carefully stuffed into the plane with one arm popping out of one window and a leg squeezing out of another on the opposite side, so I naturally asked Maxime where he was headed. I thought maybe Paris, Zurich, London or Barcelona – some of Papa’s regular destinations. The answer was no, although there was a resounding “oooooooooui!” from the back of the car when I asked whether or not Makka was going to Bangalore. I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew then that I would be left in peace for the next 8 hours and 45 minutes.
On our way back from the stables we stopped at McDonalds. It was there that I realised both that Maxime is a true O’Brien, and that I am getting a bit cannier with him. After he had successfully polished off 6 chicken nuggets (Happy Meals only provide 4 so he naturally had to have 2 of mine), I asked him for a chip. He made a conscious effort to find the smallest chip in the packet....and then broke it in half. It became quite clear that young Maxime will never die of hunger. My revenge was sweet however because like a shamed celebrity with a blanket over their head, I managed to whisk him out the back door of the establishment and into the car so he didn’t see the soft play area. The only difference was that rather than a blanket, I used some stewed apples to convince him that he wasn’t being duped in any way.
On our return to Biarritz I picked up my new Clark Kent Superman like glasses which Maxime found a bit funny but Sandie seemed to like (after a couple of servings of Martini). Unfortunately the glasses did not convey the super powers I needed to remain calm when at 5PM, only 2 hours before we had 20 people turning up at the house for a dinner party, Maxime decided to spill a tin of white paint just outside the front door. He was duly dispatched to his Mamie’s house where he was quickly exchanged for a bottle of white spirit. I then spent the next hour scrubbing concrete with a wire brush. Thankfully everything ended well and we managed to get everything done in time and Maxime was even dressed up in his knight’s amour and sword to greet everyone with a welcoming prod.
Today Sandie is currently having some girlie time with a friend whilst I try and manage the three at home. Maxime has just decided to take off his trousers and nappy so I’d best go and deal with that before we end up with a mucky Sunday as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment