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| Paris, Feb 2008 |
When you're naturally shy and living in a foreign country where you don't speak the language as well as you would like, it's not the easiest thing to make friends. It's even harder if you're not working and your spouse is pulling 80-hour weeks on a regular basis. Fortunately, Pegs made some very fast and enduring friendships in Paris, particularly with a group of new moms who referred to themselves as the "Wine & Whine" group for their tendency to get together to have a drink (or three) and vent about the difficulties of motherhood. In the fall of 2007, Pegs and I signed up for a birthing class set up by a fantastic expat community group called Message (a hearty welcome to the Message members who have visited our site!). It was hosted by a lovely young British couple named Stephanie and Jonny who lived in a gorgeous apartment; I don't remember how many couches they had in their living room, but I do know that it was large enough to accommodate six pregnant women, their spouses and a rather territorial cat. For some reason, the teacher was an hour late to the session, but rather than sit around twiddling our fingers, we all got to chatting and interacting, and by the time the teacher showed up, we knew that we would be meeting again. And thus was born the Wine & Whiners. The ladies met on a fairly regular basis after that and occasionally invited in additional members, but the nucleus of the group remained consistent and strong. If it weren't for them and the support of the Message community, I think that Pegs would have lost her sanity while trying to raise a newborn in Paris. If I haven't already said it enough, I really appreciate your friendship and how much it meant to Pegs. Here are just a few pictures from one of the playdates/drinking sessions that the group had; I'd love to see any more that you ladies have to share, and I hope to hear from you (and the rest of the Message community!) again soon.
1 comment:
Thank you, Lee. The Wine and Whine weekly get togethers were crucial to my learning to settle into first time mommyhood. Pegs was shy at first but her humour found her at home with us mums who prefered a bit of red or white to go with our "OMG I didn't know it was this hard!!" rather than tea or coffee.
I'll never forget the birthing and parenthood classe at the Luff's amazing apartment (and Jonny and Jonathan skipping out to catch the England rugby scores during the session).
During the class, I'm not sure whether or not you remember but you and Pegs were considering using a tennis ball and a sock for relieving back labour pain. Since I went down for the count before you had Sofia, I do recall a moment during my delivery when I screamed that if "Lee Vanderpool and his --bleeeeping--- sock came anywhere near me right now I'd hit him with it..."
Thankfully, that didn't happen!! I told Pegs this about a year or so after and we laughed and laughed.
The people we met that day were the best part of the class...I'm grateful to all of you for coming into my (our) lives that day.
We all struggled at times with being new mums but it was clear Sofia was the light of Pegs' life. She just adored her!! And how Pegs ever figured out how to use that baby carrying wrap is beyond me!! I was so confused by it! :-)
xox
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