Little Italy 23

[BananaGio]

Siamo qua!

Well done rosa! I'm still in alto mare.
Ds has been tantruming for 1 hr, I CAN'T STAND him aaaaaaaarjkhiuuu hodfhdfjhdfzjihdzjiry

Well dh let minirosa sleep for 20 mins this morning so as a result she has not slept this pm - she will be a complete screaming pain from about5pm onwards. She will be coming to the party ( dh said just don't take her) and dh will NOt be going out with his mates until Minirosa is asleep ...... I have my hard rock cafe outing next week with the girls so he is making the most of it ....

I remember the stage when they get grumpy if they don't nap with pain

Ds has apologized (and reluctantly tidied up his bedroom) and has been allowed to go to his football match.

I have to take dd and her friend to a children's party that will later morph into an aperitivo for the parents, but I'm in a bad mood.

Well we made it and dd1 had a great time. Minirosa wasn't too bad but Dh kept running off to take phone calls so I diddn't hae time to chat properly to anyone. I am obviously hassled or stressed - think its all inside as when the little boy who I made the cake for gave me a big hug and kiss to say thanks - I almost broke down in tears! I just think its lots to do and I am feeling not enough time. Plus I got a phone call from SIl that next week we are tutto a pranzo with cugini which is fine with me but I have been elected to do dolce ( I think thats ok ) and verdure ??* In my house verdure are boiled or crude and pretty boring so any suggestions please .....

Oh Rosa, bless you! I think it is easy to well up at a little child being kind and grateful. Plus, renovating and moving to a new place is an extremely emotional time, no wonder you must feel a bit stressed and tired!

As for verdure... let me think... You can go for a plateau of "crudite'" (carrots, peppers, fennel, artichokes) all nicely cut with various dips, which is usually a firm favourite.
Or you could bang in the oven all sorts of veggies with garlic and red onion, and 5 minutes before serving you can grate some feta on top.

Thanks for that Franca but I have to take the vege to Murano so I can't roast and then re heat as they will all go soggy. The vege are for a secondo as another cugino got antipasti !!!!
In my only English cook book written by an Italiano ( Aldo Zilli) he doesn't really do anything special . I have never made Melazane ( parmigiana ) but that is more of a main course. Mixed salad anybody????
Still feeling a bit wierd the dds are grating on me as well and they haven't been that bad either......

Oh Rosa
Hope you are better. This time of year does seem get the best of all of us.

I think Franca's idea of roasting some veggies in the oven is good. My only Italian cookbook is cucchiaio d'a argento. It only has some simple veggie stuff like , Piselli alla pancetta or the one i hae tried and liked is Mellanzane della Nonna. It's basically aubergines and cooked in olive oil and garlic then add tomatoes and olives.

hope you're OK Rosa. It is a stressful time of year plus you have the house move which has been a long time happening so must be a huge stress accumulator. And its very easy for our nearest and dearest to take us Mums for granted so I can totally appreciate why that child's gratitude would have set you off!!
Veggies-how about a load of cicoria you can do ripassata in padella when you are there? Or some patate al forno you can reheat there?
We have just watched The Christmas Carol DVD with Jim Carrey- ds was scared but me and dp loved it
Franca how was the kids party?

Mixed salad is a fav of mine, and you have some amazing radicchio there!

If you find nice artichokes you can make a "carpaccio", slice them very thinly, dress them with salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, slices of parmigiano and sesame seeds.

Or you can cut artichokes and them gently roast them in a pan with garlic, olive oil, adding a bit of lemon juice and parsley at the end.

Or what about peperonata?

Gio, the party went very well, and my mood was def uplifted (by copious quantities of wine). It was a party of one of dd's mate from scuola materna, so all the children in her yr (about 10) were invited. And the children have always been very closed, so they played for hrs. The parents are all very nice. We stayed until 10 !

Close, not closed, of course!

Today me and dh tried went in centro, but it was the worst idea ever as it was packed beyond belief. We didn't manage to buy anything, apart from a few books. And it took us ages to find a place where we could eat as they were all overcrowded.
I wanted to take the dc (who were at my parents) to see Rapunzel, but got put off by the casino.

Thanks guys - I love Christmas and the build up its just everything else as well and no spare time. Back to doc this am minirosa has the thumbs up but dd chesty cough hasn't cleared its been over 3 weeks now and all teh Grintuss, Stodal and Bisolvon hasn't shifted it - she isn't sleeping properly either so doc gave a dose of mild antibiotics ...
I thought pomodori ripeni- anybody any good suggestions for them ( mine are very boring ) and then maybe a melanzane, peperonata kind of thing as easy to reheat. Then might make a few peas for the dcs. Dolce I have a few ideas but will see how much time I will have at the end of the week !

Are you planning pomodori ripieni al forno or raw? I love raw tomatoes filled with tuna and mayo, egg and mayo or insalata russa!

!!![fanfare]!!! I have finished my xmas shopping!
Very happy as I found the playmobil thing DD wanted 1/2 price, having decided not to get it. Now it all just has to get delivered. And we have to get there, I'm a bit worried it'll snow again!

Ahhhahahah Sputnik, brava! I suck, I can't seem able to get anything done. Mind you, I've just had 1 hr and a half of yoga

That's impressive.
Actually my xmas shopping was not really a great feat, my family is tiny and it was done entirely online from people's wish lists, plus some fridge magnets from snapfish, I am so original!

bought my last thing yesterday as well-how I love internet shopping!
So Berlusca has got the vote of confidence I see. Non ci sono parole....

See, I still insist on the shops, but public transport has been shite lately and I have so many things I need to do that I manage 1 thing a day

Mmmmmm Berlusconi is still among us, yes. Mind you, I wasn't optimistic. Plus, I don't trust Fini.

Fini vs Belusca -- ladro vs ladro ...one is the same as the other.......

Non ci posso credere! Only in Italy! How can he still be in government. Well Money is power.

Continuing on with the foul mood i'm in. Teacher now thinks DS is Dyslexic. I asked that question before and was told no, he's just being difficult or lazy or he needs his mummy.

I have no idea on how to go about this in the Italian system and where to go for help. Do you guys know anything?

Will come back with a more cheary conversation later!

Ec Sputnik might beb abale to help you a bit as in which direction to turn as she has been though a few problems with her DS.
I am just disgusted to be honest by the whole thing and seriously do wonder about bribes...Nobody can be that stupid ....or maybe they really are stupid....But all of them who voted.....Just don't get it.

Eurocommuter, is your ds in prima or is he older? Is the teacher taking into consideration that ds is bilingual and therefore might have some initial difficulties that monolingual children don't have?
If the teacher suspects dyslexia, she should be able to point you to a logopedista (speech therapist). Or you might want to have a chat with the pediatra if you have one.
The importance of having a diagnosis is that of course you might get more help from the school, which is nowadays more and more difficult to get, given that schools don't have enough money to fund the TAs so desperately needed. Thank you Gelmini (and some of her predecessors)

He's in Prima.
We will start with the Pediatra. But ours isn't so great but we will start with him and if he doesn't handle it properly like his other things in the past we will go somehwere else.

i feel like i'm relieved there is a reason for his behouviour but really worried about him being labled dumb.

As far as I know they usually make a diagnosis in seconda, but I might be wrong. Do you know if the school is geared up for working with children with dyslexia?
I really hope your school can help! And also, try to stay positive. I'm not sure I asked already, have you checked ds eyesight?

I wouldn't think a logopedista would deal with dyslexia, but it may be different here. Hope you get some joy from the pediatra, did the school offer no suggestions?

Our neigbour's son I grew up with was dyslexic, he is now a highly paid/sucessful something or other in banking. He wasn't diagnosed til secondary, but got good help after that.