10 more days in France ;(

It's coming to an end and it's real bittersweet. 

I've finally established a relationship with ma petite fille, Louise. We've gone from her being infatuated with me because I was someone new in her life, completely different from anyone she's ever seen or met and someone she wanted to know all about and be next to all the time. Then, we were through a long, difficult and trying time of her rolling her eyes at me, giving me attitude, being annoyed with my lack of French and incorrect pronunciation and finally, her wanting to learn English on her schedule and her terms - no one elses'.

Now, we've become friends ;D Louise is receptive to my teaching, she's even teaching me more French and is much more patient with me. We read together every night during the week, play, swim, choreograph dances and even performed a synchronized swimming routine we choreographed together for her family. We've discussed how we felt when we lost someone we loved. I told her about an altar my family made for my grandfather and mother, and one day she asked me to help her make an altar for her grandmother. We work together now as a team in all that we do. I've taught her what the word, "attitude" means. She seldom rolls her eyes at me now, or when she starts to I catch her and call her on it because I won't put up with it any longer. Don't get me wrong, everything is not entirely peaches and cremé now, we have our hiccups here and there - every relationship does. When I give her a task or ask for her help and she doesn't want to abide, I look her in the eyes (so she won't roll them) and talk to her about the issue. I ask if there's a problem, and we work it out, together. I even had my first motherly instinct with her yesterday. When we were getting ready for our nage synchronisée performance, she was crying because the make-up wasn't turning out how she liked it. She kept repeating, "I'm not beautiful, it's not symmetric (she's a perfectionist, just like I was, haha ;).) So I turned her away from the mirror, told her to calm down, blew air into her wet eyes, fixed her make-up and we were off to the pool. I was surprised I turned her attitude around from wanting to give up on our performance to going out and presenting a flawless spectacle! It has taken precious time for her to gain my trust, but yesterday was the breaking point. We've had one helluva rocky relationship, but I'm glad we've grown fond of each other and can now call each other, "friend".

Dress rehearsal for our nage synchronisée.

Teaching Louise the body parts in English.

She taught me how to beat a game on her Nintendo DS and I totally ROCKED it! ;D

Louise's fashion creation ;p

Louise is the sweetest girl, with so much love to give, she's so energetic, creative and bright. I'm really going miss my little girl ;)

Louise was my taxi driver at Nigloland.

But just because I'm leaving doesn't mean I'm going to stop being a positive influence or role model in her life. I'm determined to continue our relationship and teach her as much as I possibly can. She's always going to be my little sister and I'll always look out for her. She asked the other day if we could Skype with each other when I leave and if I could help her finish The Hunger Games. I was delighted, grinned and said enthusiastically, "Yes, of course!" Today, we had our second conversation about her coming to stay with me in the US next summer. I hope by next year all will fall into place for that to happen because I think it'd be a great experience for her. I love hosting and giving tours, it's so exciting to be able to share something of your own with another! We'll see what happens...all I know is, Louise has gained a friend for life ;D

Playing with Photobooth - Take 1

Blowing kisses at Photobooth ;) - Take 2

I'm grateful I took on the opportunity to be an Au Pair (I almost gave up the job) and more specifically, Louise's Au Pair. I've gained so much in such a short period of time, it's incredible! My eyes are wide open now. I've grown into a bigger, better Arikka, and am thrilled to continue on this path of evolution!