A book about volcanoes

 You might not know it, unless you have been reading this blog for a while. Anyway, a long, long time ago, my brothers and me, particularly PJ, were kind of obsessed about volcanoes. Well, it seems that Wolfie is following on our footsteps: this is the book he picked up at school to read this week. I will try to pick it up and give it a read before he has to hand it back.

"Shark Bites"

Well, what do you know. I blogged about sharks about two weeks ago, I blogged about a book of sharks two days ago, so what do I spot at Wolfie's school's latest books sale? Another book about sharks. It's titled Shark Bites, it even comes with a cool shark tooth necklace. But they got me with the cover. Wolfie was not too keen on it, but since he wanted two other books and it was three for two, we got the Shark Bites one too. I can't wait to read it together. I guess he will end up with the tooth necklace, but hey.

Les longues journées d'école

Je n'envie pas Wolfie ces jours-ci. Dans les semaines d'été (parce que bon, juin c'est l'été) qui mènent aux vacances, c'est de plus en plus pénible d'aller à l'école et de devoir y passer ses journées, beau temps mauvais temps. Je me rappelle de moi à son âge, comme les vacances semblaient s'éloigner à mesure qu'on s'en rapprochait. Au moins, lorsque j'étais enfant, on terminait l'année scolaire beaucoup plus tôt, à environ un mois d'avance. Donc, je ne l'envie pas, parce que je vois comme il trouve le temps long.

"Combattre le tabagisme"

J'ai pris cette photo dans Les dires de Piloé, le livre de français de ma quatrième année. C'était le Module 25, le tout dernier de l'année. Je le relis aujourd'hui et je me réjouis du chemin parcouru et des progrès que l'on a fait en Occident contre le tabagisme. J'ai toujours détesté la cigarette. Et il n'y a pas si longtemps, les fumeurs pouvaient fumer à peu près partout, sans gêne, même dans des lieux fréquentés par des enfants. Et ça ne fait pas si longtemps que ça a changé: 2006 au Québec pour l'interdiction de fumer dans les lieux publics, 2007 en Grande Bretagne. Et ça a été des changements assez controversés. Je suis vraiment heureux que Wolfie n'a pas à grandir dans un environnement enfumé.

World Book Day (2026)

We are the first Thursday of March, so today is World Book Day. It's celebrated a lot here, at least at school, where many special activities are made. As I love reading, I try to commemorate it every year on this blog. And by trying to read more than usual AND making Wolfie read more too. He should come back home with a voucher to spend in a bookshop. A good excuse as any to visit our local one this weekend, or maybe even tomorrow afternoon. And you, what do you do for World Book Day? Anything at all?

Useful Yeti

I wanted to blog about it for a while: Wolfie has a Yeti. I am not talking about his jumper. A few months ago, before school started, my wife bought him a rubber (and by that I mean erasor) with a Yeti on its plastic cover. This Yeti (or "the Yeti", as it is labelled) looks kind of strange, he looks more like a goat than ape-like, but still, it's kind of cool that my son has such critter on his schoolbag. Moral of the story: I am easily amused.

"Dans la forêt, la nuit..."

 Quand j'étais en quatrième année, j'adorais notre livre de français, Les dires de Piloé, d'où j'ai pris cette photo. C'était l'introduction au Module 18, sur les animaux de nuit. Il faut le dire: ils saveitn créer une ambiance. J'ai toujours été fasciné par cette image et l'introduction qui va avec, j'ai toujours été déçu qu'on n'ait jamais utilisé le module 18 en classe.

Oiseau d'argile

J'ai pris cette photo lors de mon dernier séjour au Québec. Cette oeuvre est la mienne, je crois que je l'ai faite en première année. Un projet d'art plastique avec de la terre cuite. Je ne sais pas pourquoi, j'aimais dessiner des oiseaux. La fleur, je crois que c'était mon enseignante qui me l'a faite, parce que je n'avais pas les capacités pour le faire. Enfin bref, je trouve ça touchant que mes parents l'ont encore accroché sur le mur.

Solitary Gloves

 There is something about being the parent of a young child who goes to a primary school: you end up finding lots and lots of lost clothes. Recently, for some reason, it has been gloves. A friend of Wolfie gave him out of the blue a single black glove, all old and worn out, not explaining the significance of this strange gesture. We still have it, not sure what to do with it. Last week when I picked him up for school, I found another glove on the school ground, not from the same pair. Apparently, it had been lying on the ground fora while as it was soaking wet and very dirty. I handed it to the head teacher. Not sure if it will find its owner, but who knows. Anyway, I just find it funny, finding all these solitary gloves all of a sudden.

La Bouquinerie fermée

Triste nouvelle apprise de mon frère PJ et confirmée sur la page Facebook de la Bouquinerie du Plateau: elle est fermée jusqu'à nouvel ordre. Pourtant, sa page Facebook avait pris encore tout récemment les couleurs de l'automne (cette photo date du 14 septembre). Je ne sais pas ce qui se passe, mais j'espère que la durée indéterminée sera courte. Ou, au moins, que ce ne sera pas une fermeture permanente. La Bouquinerie est une institution sur le Plateau et on y trouve vraiment des trésors.

L'odeur du papier, des crayons, etc.

L'école recommence dans une semaine environ. Un peu plus d'une semaine en fait. Même si je ne suis plus aux études, il reste que depuis que Wolfie va à l'école, c'est redevenu une étape importante de nos vies de parents. Et j'ai toujours en tête les rituels de mon enfance, devenus nos rituels de famille, lors qu'arrive ce temps de l'année. C'est le temps des achats de fourniture scolaire: les cahiers, le papier, les crayons, les effaces, la colle etc. Ce temps-ci de l'année, la vie a des parfums de papier, de crayons, de colle, etc.

Half a day of school/half a day of holiday

As I mentioned in my previous post in French, today is Wolfie's last day of shcool before the holidays. His last day in Year 3. I say last day, but it is only the morning that he will be at school. He will be on holiday right after lunch. So it means today is also the beginning of his holiday. But while I welcome the extra time spent wiht my son and the holidays from the school runs, I can't help but think that time is going far too quickly for my taste.

La vieille école (encore)

Dernier jour d'école cette année pour petit loup. En fait, ce n'est qu'une demi journée. Le temps passe vraiment trop vite. Depuis hier, j'ai en tête cette chanson de Gilles Vigneault. Je l'ai partagée en 2021 déjà, alors que petit loup allait commencer la maternelle. La petite école où il va, elle deviendra un jour la vieille école de son enfance. Le temps passe trop vite...

 

Mafalda siempre!

Nouveau gag pris de la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda. Je l'avais oublié et je le redécouvre. Ce que j'aime chez Mafalda, c'est souvent son irrévérence.

World Book Day, 2025

Today is World Book Day, something I try to comment on every year on this blog. It's held the first Thursday of March. If you have a child of school age in England, you must know World Book Day is a big deal here, because it promotes literacy and education. Pupils go to school wearing disguises of characters, special activitiesare organised by libraries and bookshops, etc. I hope Wolfie comes back from school with a voucher, that would be a good excuse to visit the local bookshop at some point this weekend. Not that I need an excuse, mind you, but it's nice to have an extra motivation. In any case, happy World Book Day everyone and tell me how you celebrate it.

The Student ("How it works")

 Sometimes I stop at the local bookshop and I don't buy much, but I do buy something to stimulate local economy. And also because I find it wrong not to buy a book when you stop in a bookshop. So I went there a few weeks ago and bought a Ladybird Book, The Student. Which tells you everything you need to know about, well, uni students. As one who spent a decade in universities, I can relate and found it surprisingly accurate. Reading this, reminiscing about my time there, I cringed and laughed at the same time.

"Wolfie, my man..."

 My wife went to volunteer at Wolfie's school recently, to help children read. I envy her for having that extra time with him, and in his every day environment. But anyway, the kids were supposed to read a bit of a book, then pass on to the next kid so he would read the next few pages, etc. And whoever read the pages chose who was supposed to read next. So one of Wolfie's friends, when he had read his bit, said: "Now I will pass it on to Wolfie, my man!" I find it cute, and that's it really.

PTO: please turn over

I feel terribly silly. My wife was helping Wolfie to do his homework last Sunday and, as there was no more room on the page he was writing on, she told him to write more on the other side. Shethen told him to write PTO, for "please turn over", so the teacher would know there was more written. And that's why I feel silly. Because I didn't know. I mean, I heard it, I had seen it, but I never pay attention to what PTO meant in that context. So yeah, anyway, PTO is the word (abbreviation?) of the day.

100 Autumn Leaves

 Last week, Wolfie received a special math homework: bring to school something to represent a hundred. I suggested to bring this book, or to print a Snakes and Ladders board. But no, Wolfie had another idea already: to pick up... a hundred autumn leaves. And he was adamant this was the project he wanted to do. So last Sunday afternoon, right after lunch, Wolfie and I picked up a bag and we went on a walk through the neighbourhood to pick up the leaves that had fallen on the ground. On our street at first, but since we are still early autumn, there weren't many good ones (I mean good looking ones, because of course you need pretty leaves), we went to the streets nearby. It didn't take us that long to fill the bag with leaves. And a nice variety of them. I had brought the Woodland Trust's swatch book so we could identify the trees, for further educational purpose. I wasn't very good at it, but it was fun. In the end, it was an excuse to be outside and to have an autumnal walk. And Wolfie is now the proud owner of a hundred autumn leaves.

"Welcome to Year 3"

Last week, we received a letter when Wolfie came back to school. Nothing bad, just a introductory letter welcoming him to year three. Written on top of it, just beneath the expected (but still dreaded) "Back to SCHOOL!" (ouch!) was "Welcome to Year 3". Now, it was a very sweet letter, with useful instructions and info about what to expect for this coming school year. The problem is, school is not over yet. Wolfie will be on holiday tomorrow in the afternoon. he is welcoming this break as much as I do. So this letter, however kind and useful it is, comes way too early for my taste. I will repeat what I said before: school ends way too late in the year in this country, holidays are too short and it times goes way too fast. Wolfie already in year 3 this September! I did not want to be reminded of that.