While out on a scenic walk with Smokey, we spotted this watercolor artist and his lazy hammock. But cloth swings aren't the topic of the day… sheets are! So read on….
un drap (drah)
: sheet
Audio File: Listen to Jean-Marc Download MP3 or Wave file
Plier vos draps-housses au lieu de simplement les ranger tels quels est un moyen pratique d’organiser vos draps et de garder un maximum de rangement. Folding your fitted sheets instead of simply putting them away "as is" is a practical way to organize your sheets and to save a maximum amount of space. –Comment Plier Un Drap Housse
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE… by Kristin Espinasse
Passing my daughter in the hallway, I notice she is carrying a bundled sheet. I watch her open the nearby buffet and cram it in among the stacks of bedding stored there.
"Pas si vite! No so fast!" I say, wagging my finger.
"But it's clean!" Jackie argues. She's only used the drap housse two nights–when she and her best friend took over her brother's new studio in Aix.
"Yes, it is, and you are right to put it back," I say, congratulating my teenager on her consideration. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when I would deliver a stack of freshly-washed and line-dried clothing to her room only to find it back in the laundry basket after the clean clothes ended up on the floor–mixed in with the rest!
Thankfully those days are over. Only now Jackie needs to learn how to fold a fitted sheet. "I'm going to show you an astuce!" I say, bracing for my daughter's resistence. But before she can roll her eyes, I play the sentimental card:
"…Your great-grandmother Audrey taught me this one…."
My student is now willing, if not super enthusiastic. "Here take this," I say, shaking out the bundle. "Now find one corner and poke your index finger in its seam!"
Jackie is less triumphant when she locates the stitched coin, but I won't let her boredom dampen things. "There! Now, in the same way, reach over and locate another corner seam. Then join your fingertips!"
I manage to drop the sheet during the demonstration. Reaching to pick it up, I hear my daughter rouspéter with impatience.
"Jackie, this trick will come in handy one day. Imagine two years from now when you are in college….
My girl is not sold on the homemaking tip so I add some key words.
"When you are in school in Boulder you'll have a little place rien que pour toi. Then you'll be happy to organize your living space and this tip will help." I shake out the fallen sheet, but my daughter groans. Apparently a sheet-folding demonstration is as painful as a tooth-pulling!
Normally at this point I give up and do it myself. But this time I take a good long look at my almost seventeen-year-old. Her grumblings turn to silly faces as she tries to coax me out of a serious mood.
Gripping the sheet the words pour out of me. "Jackie. LET ME BE YOUR MOM…. I have so much catching up to do. So many things to show you before you finish growing up."
My eyes begin to sting and, blinking them, I feel my daughter's arms around me. Her tender voice is a lullaby:
Maman, pleure pas….
* * *
It's a day later now and, after the tears, c'est le sourire. Do you know, dear daughter, that when your brother was little, he used to say the same thing only with difficulty?
"Peur pas!" he would say to you, his newborn soeurette. And now you are almost grown. Big enough to stay overnight in Aix at your brother's new digs! Max will be leaving home in a few weeks, taking over the apartment permanently, and I wonder how things will be then? Will we feel the void?
Peur pas! I hear Max's little voice. I remember it so well! And now I imagine his current 19-year-old voice: "Pleur pas, Maman. I'm leaving you my sister. And my laundry, weekly."
My nostalgic daydream bursts when I remember the 10-pound laundry bag delivered just this morning. Well! If he thinks I'm going to continue to be his personal laundress he's got another thing coming: Mom's Sheet-folding lessons. The full, unedited, teeth-pulling version!
French Vocabulary
une astuce = a tip, trick, trade secret
le coin = corner
rouspéter = gripe, grumble, moan
rien que pour toi = all for yourself
le sourire = smile
la soeurette = little sister
peur pas = fear not
After posting here, I love to go over to Instagram and upload the latest photos of our home and garden. You'll see Smokey, Chief Grape, the "kids", Jules, and the local environment here on a vineyard near Bandol. Click here to see the latest images.
Readers Comments
This comment from Cathy, in response to my covoiturage post, made me smile. It might encourage you to check out BlaBlaCar when next in France.
Having read concerns people have posted I have to say that what sold me originally on the service was that I was able to read reviews. Reviews of both drivers as well as of passengers. You can see how long someone has been a driver, what kind of car they drive. Drivers can check out passengers. I will always choose a veteran driver if I have a choice. I chose my first driver because he had positive reviews and one said he had transported their rabbit. Haha! That's who I wanted!! Turns out he's a Marseilles detective that lives in Perpignan do transits twice a week. So doing some research in advance and you can avoid a lot of surprises. Yes, it was a bit odd to climb into a car with three strange men at 1:30 in the morning at a parking area at a highway exit. But that miracle ride took me directly to Barcelona airport for a 6 am flight. Hip hip hooray for Blah Blah Car and the people who use it!
To read the covoiturage post, click here.
Discover more from French Word-A-Day
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I had 5 children with 20 yrs between the first and last (last was an added delight) and when the last left I was completely bereft for quite awhile (being menopausal didn’t help !) So , reading this brought it all back …and with tears . Fear not though !! The grandchildren will not be far away !!
I had 5 children with 20 yrs between the first and last (last was an added delight) and when the last left I was completely bereft for quite awhile (being menopausal didn’t help !) So , reading this brought it all back …and with tears . Fear not though !! The grandchildren will not be far away !!
I think we need a video of the fitted sheet folding technique!! Thanks for your momento’s of life in France I enjoy them from Australia!
I think we need a video of the fitted sheet folding technique!! Thanks for your momento’s of life in France I enjoy them from Australia!
Your stories always share such a sweet personal snapshot … a very special talent. Is that beautiful Port d’Alon in the photo? More sweet memories.
Your stories always share such a sweet personal snapshot … a very special talent. Is that beautiful Port d’Alon in the photo? More sweet memories.
Kristen,
I love your stories and love your photos – but I think I love your ‘original photos’ the ‘mostest’ – I think Instagram super saturates the color so they don’t seem ‘real’ to me… but, with that said, I totally know the fascination — I am so hooked on Pinterest, it’s ridiculous – I can’t seem to stop! And, now I’m also changing a bunch of my own photos using Waterlogue and Brushstroke.. so playing is always fun! Please continue to share a couple of iPhone or camera pics in your stories AND have loads of fun on Instagram – we want it all!!! Especially, your fabulous stories, your writing is so wonderful!
Kristen,
I love your stories and love your photos – but I think I love your ‘original photos’ the ‘mostest’ – I think Instagram super saturates the color so they don’t seem ‘real’ to me… but, with that said, I totally know the fascination — I am so hooked on Pinterest, it’s ridiculous – I can’t seem to stop! And, now I’m also changing a bunch of my own photos using Waterlogue and Brushstroke.. so playing is always fun! Please continue to share a couple of iPhone or camera pics in your stories AND have loads of fun on Instagram – we want it all!!! Especially, your fabulous stories, your writing is so wonderful!
Janet, I think *thing* is correct. (I keep rereading the sentence, wondering if I am not seeing the mistake… 🙂
Did anyone catch any other errors? Thanks for reporting them!
Janet, I think *thing* is correct. (I keep rereading the sentence, wondering if I am not seeing the mistake… 🙂
Did anyone catch any other errors? Thanks for reporting them!
Our dear Kristi,
You brought tears to my eyes today.
This is exquisitely written and makes us ,your extended FWAD family,again know how privileged we are to share in your life.
THANK YOU for wrapping us all in hugs.
Love
Natalia XO
Our dear Kristi,
You brought tears to my eyes today.
This is exquisitely written and makes us ,your extended FWAD family,again know how privileged we are to share in your life.
THANK YOU for wrapping us all in hugs.
Love
Natalia XO
Patricia, you guessed it: the photo was taken in Port dAlon!
Judi, Love your suggestion to continue with the natural photos… and let loose over at instagram with all the filters. Will work on this.
Natalia, as always, Your words wrap me in hugs (to borrow your expression)
Thank you for taking the time to respond to this post!
Patricia, you guessed it: the photo was taken in Port dAlon!
Judi, Love your suggestion to continue with the natural photos… and let loose over at instagram with all the filters. Will work on this.
Natalia, as always, Your words wrap me in hugs (to borrow your expression)
Thank you for taking the time to respond to this post!
Kristen, it is hard to imagine that Max is 19 and moving out. It seems like only a short time ago you were telling us of your young son’s mischievous antics. How long have you been writing Word-a-Day?
By the way, I smiled when I read “another thing coming”‘ too. I had always heard it as “another think”, as in he’d better “think again.”
Love your wonderful stories, as I have for years. Please keep them coming.
Mary B, Tucson, AZ
Kristen, it is hard to imagine that Max is 19 and moving out. It seems like only a short time ago you were telling us of your young son’s mischievous antics. How long have you been writing Word-a-Day?
By the way, I smiled when I read “another thing coming”‘ too. I had always heard it as “another think”, as in he’d better “think again.”
Love your wonderful stories, as I have for years. Please keep them coming.
Mary B, Tucson, AZ
If that is what you think, you’ve got another think coming — a phrase that is over 100 years old in the US
The little debate here got me looking it up, as I always it heard it said — another think. But the first part of the sentence was there, too, so it was clearer. Intentionally ungrammatical, but clear.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_another_think_coming
and
http://grammarist.com/usage/another-think-coming/
The second source says thing is replacing think — I suppose from people not saying the first part of the phrase, so it all makes sense.
I did not figure out how to fold fitted sheets until I was living on my own, so your daughter ought to feel lucky to be shown how to do it, and in a lesson from her great grandmother! That is rare.
If that is what you think, you’ve got another think coming — a phrase that is over 100 years old in the US
The little debate here got me looking it up, as I always it heard it said — another think. But the first part of the sentence was there, too, so it was clearer. Intentionally ungrammatical, but clear.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_another_think_coming
and
http://grammarist.com/usage/another-think-coming/
The second source says thing is replacing think — I suppose from people not saying the first part of the phrase, so it all makes sense.
I did not figure out how to fold fitted sheets until I was living on my own, so your daughter ought to feel lucky to be shown how to do it, and in a lesson from her great grandmother! That is rare.
Kristin, that photo is mesmerizing. It looks like a painting of the painter and his setup. Like you, I also wouldn’t have a problem re-using (on my bed, not for our guests) sheets that have only been used for two nights. I love reading your nostalgic stories of your life when your children were little. As a mom of two very rambunctious young boys, the days can seem to drag on forever as I try to ‘get things right.’ Yet, reading your stories, I’m reminded about how fast time truly flies, and that we should make the most of these precious days, with all their soft and not-so-sweet episodes. Thank you!
Kristin, that photo is mesmerizing. It looks like a painting of the painter and his setup. Like you, I also wouldn’t have a problem re-using (on my bed, not for our guests) sheets that have only been used for two nights. I love reading your nostalgic stories of your life when your children were little. As a mom of two very rambunctious young boys, the days can seem to drag on forever as I try to ‘get things right.’ Yet, reading your stories, I’m reminded about how fast time truly flies, and that we should make the most of these precious days, with all their soft and not-so-sweet episodes. Thank you!
Enjoyed your lesson on folding un drap as the lesson unfolded. Comme toujours! Fred
Enjoyed your lesson on folding un drap as the lesson unfolded. Comme toujours! Fred
Teach them! Everything you know even if it is a tough lesson. They will be thankful that you did. Freshman year at the dorm I was doing my laundry in the coin operated machines. In came a girl with a sheet full of dirty clothes – almost everything she owned. She was very shy and embarrassed to have to ask me to teach her how to do her laundry. But she did and I was thankful that my mother had taught me. Dirty clothes like teeth are a fact of life and we all need to be taught how to deal with them. You are doing a great job. This site teaches them about creativity, patience, completions and beginnings, successes and failures. You are doing a great job.
Teach them! Everything you know even if it is a tough lesson. They will be thankful that you did. Freshman year at the dorm I was doing my laundry in the coin operated machines. In came a girl with a sheet full of dirty clothes – almost everything she owned. She was very shy and embarrassed to have to ask me to teach her how to do her laundry. But she did and I was thankful that my mother had taught me. Dirty clothes like teeth are a fact of life and we all need to be taught how to deal with them. You are doing a great job. This site teaches them about creativity, patience, completions and beginnings, successes and failures. You are doing a great job.
Peur pas! Thank you for teaching me that.
Peur pas! Thank you for teaching me that.
I love your posts and your photos! Makes me miss France so much! For those who wished for a video showing how to fold a fitted sheet, there are several on YouTube. 😊
I love your posts and your photos! Makes me miss France so much! For those who wished for a video showing how to fold a fitted sheet, there are several on YouTube. 😊
Had to smile: Kristi, you’ve been in France too long!! You didn’t “cross” your daughter in the hall, you “bumped into” her……lol…….
Lovely anecdote….the pre-emtpy-nest syndrome slotting in…… So tender and touching. LOVE it.
Had to smile: Kristi, you’ve been in France too long!! You didn’t “cross” your daughter in the hall, you “bumped into” her……lol…….
Lovely anecdote….the pre-emtpy-nest syndrome slotting in…… So tender and touching. LOVE it.
Thanks for catching that, Maureen. So helpful. And funny to think of the influence France has had on my speech!
Thanks for catching that, Maureen. So helpful. And funny to think of the influence France has had on my speech!