7 things I brought back from France

We just came back from 10 days in France spent with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and it was absolutely amazing. Besides a full program of outings and fun activities for the children, we just enjoyed schmoozing, laughing and relaxing together…

In brief and in no particular order, here is what I took away from this trip:

1)  Family is the best! Never forget to keep your priorities straight: Your loved ones should come before anything else, and you should make it a point to spend time with them!

2) Kids are expected to misbehave sometimes… it’s okay for them to sometimes be cranky, noisy, angry and moody. Expecting those moments will help you to (relatively :) ) keep your calm and not let this ruin the outing/ activity of the day.

3) Time flies! Enjoy the moment! Kids will not be kids forever… (upon seeing how my nephews/nieces grew so much since I last saw them).

4) Kids just enjoy the simplest activity and it is not always necessary to bring them to Disneyland… (even if they did enjoy it!). Simple arts and crafts and ball games in the yard with the cousins made them perfectly happy.

5) I have to enjoy the mild winter of Athens. Paris was freezing… I had forgotten what cold means. Sometimes, you need to step away in order to enjoy the things you got used to.

6) There is nothing like mommy’s food :) . Anything cooked with love is delicious :) .

7) It’s possible to make pancakes with whole wheat and brown sugar, and even without sugar at all. But of course, you still eat them with chocolate syrup :).

That’s up for now… I will tell you our return flight adventure in the next post.