Little Italy 24

[BananaGio]

Ciao tutte!

Wooden toys - When dd1 was given Thomas the tank engine that was so electronic it had no fun except Dh and I spending min 30 mins to put it together . ILs thought I was cuckoo when I bought the Ikea wooden train , that is still played with by both. Some of the Plan toys I love and we have a lovely wooden dolls house ( amazon) . I haven't given this xmas a thought as yet apart from dd1 wants a hula hoop !!! Get minirosas birthday done first then think ahead...
I know it will sneak up on me ! Things just seem to be getting busier and I only work 2 ams a week . I must be more organised ( repeat 99 times)

Rosa, yes, things get busier here too... I am pretty sure Christmas will be here any minute now, without me having done ANYTHING about it...

Minerva, yes, I can't stand those dictatorial electronic toys that give you the illusion that your children are learning (things like leap pads or talking bruchi arturi that just do your head in...)... give me dolls, lego or wooden bricks anytime!
Ds has the wooden thomas train set, the one that is compatible with Brio I think. He loved it when he was younger, but they still play with it occasionally.
I am also stuck as to what to give them for Christmas... dd would like a bike. Ds would love a nintendo ds, but I think I may be able to keep delaying its arrival in our family. I am sure he'll be as happy with some Pokemon cards (evil mother [hgrin])

Wow I am impressed by yours and your dh's job.

I'm impressed too Minerva! Biotech, fractals theory... cool! (I'm just a boring old translator :) )

impressed too! Anyone who has progressed past long division impresses me maths wise. Am hoping against hope that ds is maths and science inclined as me and dp are most definitely not.

battery dolls would drive me mad Rosa I feel your pain. DS had a Thomas which played the theme tune and that was very nearly chucked from the balcony on many occasions. The wooden Ikea track and his Thomas trains have been so loved and played with they were worth every penny. He has a been given a Scooby haunted house piece of plastic by Nonno for his birthday which he loves. I had to buy it for him as Nonno was ill -65 euros! Ridiculous! And then on the box it said that the figures werent included. So thought well if I get him the house and he has no Scooby figures to put in that will be a disaster. The only figures Toys Center had were a pack of 10 for 30 euros. So I got those from us which annoyed me as had already sorted his present. Oh plus the slime for the house at 8 euros as that was also not included. So over 100 euros for a piece of plastic that is marked as 65 euros which ds had only become fixated on because of the advert after advert brainwashing. And then when he opened it there were 2 figures in it despite the disclaimer on the box! Bloody ladri!! I sound like Scrooge dont I. But the principle really annoyed me.

Honestly - our jobs are really not exciting at all - they are really office jobs at the end of the day, and most of our time is spent in front of a computer of some sort. DH's job however is a really good occupation for maths/physics/stats graduates (the geekier the better). And guess what - both in Italy and the UK companies struggle to hire graduates to train them up: in the UK they recruit heavily from Aus/NZ/South Africa, and in Trieste they hire Slovenian graduates! Madness.

Gio, there is definitely hope for a mathmo DS. Everyone in DH's family is either a translator/languages person (or not academic at all), and he is maths-further maths-physics-chem type of guy (mind you, totally useless at humanities... i am trying to convince him to the importance of studying Latin but I have got some way to go).

And lol at the Scooby Doo saga. DD watches no telly (DVDs only) so I hope to postpone the whole advert madness somewhat. I am normally a libertarian but I really would like to see TV advertising aimed at children banned. I hate it - it's so tacky!

Well, as far as Xmas is concerned I am getting organised (determined emoticon): this weekend I am baking Xmas pudding and Xmas cake, and hopefully research some pressies ideas for DD...

lets hope thats the case Minerva re ds. Enjoy your baking. I am renouncing xmas baking this year as we are in the uk. DS's birthday party today - cake baked and just need to ice. Will be glad when its over! Given in this year and gone for animatori. Just hope people will be able to get there with the manifestazione going on in centro today

We should be in the UK as well so hopefully I will be able to resist temptation here until we get to the UK ( hmmmmm) Auguri for the festa Gio I hope it all goes well and ds has fun.
Dilema - we have decided Tenerife for hols. Now we can go 7-21st Feb thus missing the entire Carnival - as you know here it is a bit of a big thing and the dds really do enjoy it. or 14/02-28 Thus getting a bit of Carnival in but its that bit later and normally it starts to riscaldare at the start of March so is it worth it ? WHo knows what the weather will be as if its pissing down its not worth being here anyway.....DH is not really bothered either way. I would have liked to do a via di mezzo in the middle but the airfares go from about Eu900 for 4 to !,500 and its a big difference ???? WHat would you do just out of interest?

Hmm I would go for the second set of dates, weather is still usually pretty bad beginning of march.
Re battery toys, my MIL usually buys from Chinese ambulanti, you can imagine! However, I have to admit that one she got with penguins going up some stairs and down a slide turned out to be the key incentive for getting DS to toilet train, so I forgive her.

Rosa, yes, I agree with Sput, I'd choose the second set of dates.

Gio, how did the party go? And what's the feeling in Rome about the rioting? How depressing. And che stronzi.

I have the mother of all colds, che palle. I should go to the supermarket, but really, I'd prefer spending the day on the sofa under a blanket, reading my Caitlin Moran book.

Franca is colds like that that you wish for Sainsburys online !!!!
Taking online Next have free delivery to Italy no idea how long it lasts for but I did purchase a few things.
I love that penguin thing and am sorely tempted to get it for minirosa ( or me). Just like the ball that has the duck on water inside and you can't sink it ...they fascinated me and so I had to make sure my dds had one !
Thanks for suggerimenti I think we will go for that one then so the dds can do costume for the first weekend and then we go.I also get my birthday abroad so that's a good excuse not to have to buy a pizza for all the family. Then when we get back it will be dd1s birthday so no time etc etc .......
Must go and do something..... as for Riots in Rome is a bit like what happened in London police caught unaware all rather bad and nasty people .

Franca, let me know what you think about the CM book - I am in two minds about it (too "commercial"?). Although I do like to read her articles.

And by the way, I am also speechless at what happened in Rome as well - particularly when I saw the head of police in Rome on saturday pm on the telly saying that "everything is under control".

We had a demonstration in town too; it looked very half-hearted though and with very very young people in it (suspect a "sciopero" in the local secondaries...).

Rosa, I would definitely go forthe second lot: people still go skiing in the first half of MArch, and even if it's not cold it's most likely to be rainy. Am tempted to come to Venice for the Carnival this year... I have alsways been scared off by the crowds and general chaos...

I am still here, I am waiting for my mother as we usually go together to the supermarket... (it's our bonding time, and then we usually go to see my grandmother afterwards, though I think I'll skip this today asn I don't want to pass my germs to a 96 yrs old!)

I can shop on Esselunga online, but this time I need to go there as I also have to collect some prints I ordered 2 weeks ago.

Those black blocs are evil and I am anti any form of violence. But I do believe that not only the police wasn't prepared, but that there is a perverse design to allow these forms of violence to happen, iyswim, to undermine the protest itself.
Having said that, che schifo

Ah Minerva, the CM book. I am enjoying reading it as she is funny and I love all the references to British life (which I miss). I think that yes the book is a bit commerciale and superficial in ways, but I think she knows that.

And I so agree with her stance against Brazilian waxing

Yes I suspect that about the roits too Franca.
I must admit the penguins now have a special place in my heart, and DS's too obv!

at penguins.

How are the dc doing at school Sput?

party was great thanks . perfect day and the only sign of the riots we saw were the helicopters overhead. We got in a cab at the end to transport the entire contents of Toys Center DS received (remote controlled car anyone?? We have a few to spare...) and the taxi driver told us all hell had broken loose. My friend who lives in the area affected couldnt get back until late at night and was worried sick about her shop and whether it would have been vandalised. It wasnt luckily. Had our lovely, mild mannered handyman guy yesterday to sort some shelves for me and he was saying why attack the shops and cars of hardworking people. Why not chuck a bomb or 2 inside parliament....
I agree that the violence was probably allowed to escalate and feel sorry for all those people who went and travelled to Rome to protest peacefully as their message was lost. Anyway they have got it wrong as we should obviously just be revolting against the left wing judiciary eh Berlusca? Che tristezza ragazze!!

Gio, glad that the party went well, I saw the pics on fb, seems like you all had a lovely time

Totally agree with you re the rioting. I am angry that the message of the peaceful protesters has been lost.

Rosa (and bakers in general!) I am making a yogurt cake, do you think I can swap the olio di semi (I don't have it and don't want to leave the house as still feeling crappola) with melted butter?

Hello!

Franca, I probably would not use butter - I am afraid it would turn out a bit greasy (but then I do not make yoghurt cake very often, we are more of a banana cake household). And thanks for your support in the food thread! I am still shocked at the low expectations are for school/children's food.

Reeeally bored at work today. I hate this time of the year (budget time!).

Hi Minerva, I eventually went to the supermarket and bought the oil. So there is a nice fluffy yogurt cake in the kitchen, waiting for the children to come home from school (I am having other 2 children here today, actually dh will, as I have 2 riunioni di classe this afternoon)...

Oh yes, funny thread. There is this expectation that children will only like crap food or "children's food" that is quite odd, no? On the other hand I can't see anything wrong with jam sandwiches... All these people getting their knickers in a twist about bread, after centuries of bread eating! As if children had to be on perpetual protein diet

Agree. Although spaghetti hoops? I can only imagine the outrage of the parents at my asilo if that appeared on the menu. Apparently last year some parents raised the issue of the quality of the tap water served, as we are in a very hard water area [hhmm] . That is why I am not a rappresentante di classe - I would just tell everyone to get a life...

As I said in the other thread, spaghetti hoops are worth fighting against. Not only are they vile, but they look artificial, not made with real food, iyswim!

Oh yes, I don't think I am patient enough to be a rappresentante di classe! Yesterday we had a meeting and the election of the rappresentanti in the dc's school.

Well, apparently this year the children won't do any extra curricular activity (like choir, the "laboratorio di lettura" etc etc etc) which are usually paid with money raised by the "contributo volontario" of parents because this year we collected even less money than last year.

And this means that many parents either don't have the money (but the asked sum is 35 euros, so not extreme plus the school is in a very MC area) or don't understand how important this is for ALL the pupils. Which I think is the main problem, as the average parent doesn't have a clue about the financial problems of our school (and all the schools in Milan and Italy I suppose)

That's sad to hear Franca, 35 euros is not much.
I will take a radio controlled car off your hands Gio, well DS would! Speaking of whom, he has settled in well at school, I accompanied his class on a trip last friday and he is good with following the teachers and joining in etc

I am a rapp di classe !!!!! We ask Eu20 for tt anno. It is Eu10 for materiale x school - like for the easter egg hunt, biscotti for san Martino / caramelle etc. Then the rest goes on regali di natale x maestri and fine anno. However we also do fund raising events during the year .
Glad the torta worked I have both the dds at home this pm so I think we might do some cooking as its a bit grey and dull. Minirosa is in crisi totale with materna ..It had to happen. She says she want to to go but at the moment di consegna it is tears all round. It still wrenches my heart but thankfully the teachers are good at giving cuddles and getting her distracted.
DD1 is tired plus her fist tooth came out this morning so we have to prepare for the formica and the fattina .... Well the formica is doing the Italian bit and leaving a monetina DH says ?0.10 ( Tarma) and so the
tooth fairy is leaving a small gift . Its no good loose teeth still turn my stomach so thankfully her teacher did the final tug and it came out with no bleeding so it was ready!

eeew I have a problem with teeth too, Rosa! I could have easily been a doctor, but a dentist..... Brrr I cannot even think about it. Sorry re: Minirosa. My DD had the opposite at the pre-materna: she would kick a fuss at home, but then go with the maestre happily as soon as she got to school - which made it a bit easier to deal with. No problems so far this year, but it's early days (I expect a crisis in springtime).

I did not know about the voluntary contributions in Italy - I thought they were only for gite and regali, not for extra curricular stuff! However, there was an article on the guardian today saying that schools are struggling in some areas of the UK becasue they collected a lot less money than normal this year.

Oooh poor minirosa! What do the teachers say, what is she like during the day, once she's settled? They tend to have a delayed period of being unsettled again during their first year at materna.
Hopefully it won't last long, and the most important thing is to know how is she once you've left, if she joins in when they play, if she is smiley etc etc.

Minerva, yes, the amount of voluntary contributions has increased in the last few yrs, as a consequence of cuts etc.
For instance in my dc extra money (ah, the school is in credit with the ministero dell'istruzione for about 350.000 euros!) is collected in 3 ways:

• money to the rappresentante di classe: this covers the needs of each class like gite, photocopies (this year the teachers haven't been given their allowance for photocopies), toner, art material etc and if there's money left a present for the teachers.
• funding (mostly via school fetes) raised for the Comitato genitori. The Comitato Genitori at my dc school in recent years has bought new loo seats (indeed), kitted a music room, opened a school library (where I volunteer once a week)
• contributo volontario, which should cover any extra activity done during school hrs, like choir, special sports, various "laboratori" etc. But the school is struggling to pay last year's specialisti, so now we know that the children will do only free stuff, like mini basket.

Am not happy. And to be honest I am more and more impressed by the good will of many teachers who are doing their best with so little resources (and my dc school lacks the problems of many schools that are more in periferia, which would need more money for the integration of children who don't speak italian etc and don't have it!)

It is very sad. Sorry for ranting!