PLUS EST EN VOUS

Seriously, there are some days things get incredibly pear-shaped. Like having your computer fried on a Friday. Which means you'll have to pay one euro for an hour of each weekend day while waiting for Monday and access to university computers. (At least mum and I will both spend the weekend bonding together, neither one of us being glued to a screen, and at least I borrowed a friend's computer for half an hour each weekend day).

It also means I had at first to post my Mother's Day post a couple of days in advance.

A daughter is a gift of love.

Anonymous

Human Affection

Mother, I love you so.
Said the child, I love you more than I know.
She laid her head on her mother’s arm,
and the love between them kept them warm.

STEVIE SMITH, British poet.

This weekend, she will receive a box of chocolates. Sounds too clichéd, right?
Well, wait until you see the heartwarming messages and kawaii illustrations that make the papers worth keeping:



Cosas que me ha enseñado mamá - Things that mum has taught me

• A no rendirme nunca / sol decidido - To never give up / confident sun
• Que no hay mal que cien años dure / nubarrón de lluvia sonriente - That no sorrow lasts forever / smiling dark rain cloud
• Que si eres mayorcita para trasnochar, también lo eres para madrugar / despertador sonámbulo - That, if you are old enough to stay up late, you are (old enough) to wake up early too / sleepwalking alarm clock
• A llevar siempre un jersey por si refresca - muñeco de nieve con jersey / To always wear a jumper should it get cold - snowman in jumper
• Que los desengaños amorosos siempre acaban pasando - corazón con tirita / That heartbreaks in love always go away at the end of the day - heart with band-aid
• Que el zumo lleva muchas vitaminas - naranja sonriente / That juice carries a lot of vitamins - smiling orange
• Que con una sonrisa se llega a todas partes - maleta sonriente / That a smile will carry you anywhere - smiling suitcase
• Que los sueños se cumplen - estrella volando con supercapa / That dreams come true - star flying with a supercape
• Que el buen humor mueve montañas - montaña moviéndose / That a good mood moves mountains - mountain moving
• A querer sin pedir nada a cambio - luna acariciándose el pecho / To love without asking for anything in exchange - moon caressing her own chest
• Que los abrazos curan más que las medicinas - dos dónuts abrazándose /  That hugs heal more than medicines - two donuts embracing one another
• Que detrás de una gran familia siempre hay una gran madre - mamá galleta María con su galletita / That, behind every great family, there is always a great mother - Mary biscuit mum with her little biscuit child

Another treat I loved we got for this weekend, and one that is warmer than chocolates, is Queen Arianna's talk with her daughter Rapunzel, the only child she barely got to know and vice versa (because of Gothel's interference); now the two of them are having some well-deserved quality time in the new Tangled animated film... and then Arianna produced two diaries and began to read one of them with her daughter. We find out that, before marrying King Frederick, Rapunzel's mum had had quite an adventurous maiden life, helping to rebuild villages devastated by war, partaking in Arctic expeditions... like mother, like daughter; one can see that Rapunzel's sensation-seeking and kind-heartedness are clearly in the blood.

The second diary, a blank one, is a gift from Arianna to her daughter, meant for Rapunzel to keep records of everything exciting that happens to her. And what is most heartwarming is the dédicace the Queen has written for her girl on the front page, a French motto to keep enshrined within our hearts:

Plus est en vous.

There's nothing left to be explained.

Lisant un conte, Jacques-Joseph Tissot


Mère et fille sur la plage, Ernest-Ange Duez