All hail 'La cheffe de nettoyage'

The honorable title 'chief of cleanliness' aka 'le maître de nettoyage' has been hereby designated to Lil Miss N.

Lil Miss N recently came home with a necklace made out of twine and a pendant which features a picture of a girl in the process of cleaning up. I promptly asked her where on earth did you get that from.. She proudly responded 'Mum I have been assigned the role of chef de nettoyage by my teacher.' Lil Miss N could not contain her excitement and pride at having been awarded such a responsibility.

Following from and capping off this self-satisfaction and pride I have decided together with Shrek to exploit this and assign her le titre de la petite cheffe de nettoyage et pliage des habilles...with the hope that she will continue and be our vacuum cleaner operator and floor cleaner.

All I ever hope for in my kids is for them to be independent and to assist me a bit with everyday household chores so as to alleviate my load somewhat.

Requiem for a fallen helper

Our beloved Sibir Super Silencieux has fallen and kicked the bucket so to speak. She is no longer functioning and will be kicked to the curb with some regret and a tear shred by me.

It is also fitting that she went out in style and aplomb and will be replaced in the New Year with our new maid Miele.

Goodbye old friend ! You who have served us well for the past eight years with gusto and unfailing fidelity. It is now your time to rest in the used and beyond repair cemetary for broken warriors aka household appliances encompassing washing machines, dishwashers, dryers and so forth. May you have lasting peace in your merited rest.

Award scheme

The stickers for good behaviour is all swell but there is an incentive that even a 6 and a half and a 5 year old cannot pass up: it is tadatada what else but money. The seeming preoccupation with monetary gain starts as young as when they realise that everything has a price but that the most important things in life are priceless : love and personal pride.


At this age though thankfully they do not know the difference between 5 cents and different monetary units or loose change as yet. The differentiation and distinction/ ability to distinguish values will come soon enough and I will as a result have to devise a proper reward scheme which might goes something like
1 Franc or Dollar (depends on where I live by then) for each household chore
1 or 2 Francs for a good mark and more for a good report card (carnet)