MN Little Italy 7

[francagoestohollywood]

Ciao, hello, welcome!

Sputnik - is there anything I can bring over for you that you can't get there?

Can't believe I missed out on the cake! That'll teach me for trying to tidy the flat!!

I have to confess I hadn't factored in 'troppo aria' for being on the bike - NOW i understand all the fuss . I am very impressed with the cycling at 20 weeks. Not sure I am independent/english enought to be seen doing that around here though. Though it would be fun just to see how quickly the gossip would spread....I'll see how I get on! It really is only 30 seconds to get to the scuola so anything other than walking/cycling would be crazy.

We are about 20 mins away from Passo Tonale - the mountains are much nicer here, maybe not so many pistes (but don't quote me on that) but much prettier. I am very sad I won't get to ski this year.

Congrats Gio on the new flat.

Bucharest - welcome

Well done Gio on new flat. If it's any consolation I've been sending DD to school in socks and sandals alla tedesca as her trainers are yellow and don't match some of her clothes. I'm now past caring and the yellow trainers are being put on with everything. OMG I've just realised I sent her without a jacket this morning. Oh well, they already think I'm weird.

Rosa, I second Maalox, it works wonders. I've never tried Gaviscon though.

Bucharest, I didn't know there was a stagione for orecchiette. I made some the other day with cime di rapa. I assumed (as an ignorant northerner and forriner) that cime di rapa being in the shops meant that orecchiette could be consumed. Is it winter food?

Delgirl - Zara also have larger sizes, they go up to XL (whatever that means) but since they sell in the US as well I should imagine it's not a 14. Ditto Mango I think. My sis buys a lot from there and she's not a 14 either.

Interesting you should find that only small sizes are left in the sales Sputnik, I find the opposite up here, my size is always sold out but there are lots of larges and XLs left, plus maybe some XS. The opposite is true in the UK, I can usually find a 10 quite easily, all the 14s and above are sold out. Maybe it's just a milanese thing, the women are thin from being neurotic and smoking too much (as described by my marchigiano friend)

Don't worry Delgirl, I have my parents over in a couple of weeks.

Tantik, whatever you do you'll be the weird englishwoman, so you may as well milk it. Do you get much snow where you are in the winter? We were in Passo Tonale in the summer, it was a very cheap holiday with loads of people from round here, everyone had a day cooking for everyone else and we stayed at a place mysteriously called "Mondo X", I think it was some kind of community.

Tantik in the mountains how lovely - they will get used to you doing thinsg a bit differently but you will be known as the mad english woman and unless you wear black stockings , a blue flowered smock and matching headscarf and walk round with one of those hay carrier things on your back - you will be different ! Lovely fresh air for your ds and future dc! I only did flat tracks at 20 weeks and slowly but I loved it !
Delgirl thanks for the offer but am getting Maalox and will give that a go.
I only tried on Zara XL on in Madrid airport it was a jacket and too narrow on the back!

Zara is always too narrow up top, tis true. Bottoms seem to be quite big though.

Lol at your image of contadina altoadesina! So what would typical Venetian feminine attire be? All I can think of are gondolieri. The Milanese I think all wore aprons and severe headscarves.

I swear I'm getting dementia, I keep putting things down in odd places and forgetting where I put them. Yesterday it was my phone recharger (work phone too), searched everywhere for it, even accused DD of having hidden it somewhere (come on, you can tell mummy where you put it...) only to find I'd inadvertedly placed it on top of a bag of DP's tools. Today I came home to find my toothbrush in the fridge. I was never this daft even when pg. What is happening????

Venetian attire mmmmm thats a hard one . I would say expression should be a grumpy one - like you must be first in the queue, get a sseat on the vaporetto, and complain if you are not.
Are you sure you are not pg ???? Symptoms sound familiar. Its lucky dd gets fed. yesterday Dh bought lots of stuff - I froze the lot only to think oh dear what shall I feed her today ? I put her clothes in my drawers then can't find them. I have a photographic memory for names, people, and things - all gone 100% !!!
Put dd on the pre list for sc materna today for next sept as the communale one is having work done and places are limited so all the private and other communale ones are likely to get full quick. It is suore but we will be applying for another communale one but very unlikely will get a place.

Nah, not pg (alas), more like old age. I used to have a photographic memory, remembered obscure formulae and telephone number from years ago, now I have to really think to remember my home number (hardly use it I suppose). I used to keep everything in my head, now I have to make lists.

I do have a couple of shrug type cardis if you're interested, one of which DD never wore. I think I also have zip up felpe which always come in handy, plus a fleece top and trousers from Zara. I'll have a look, DD was quite diddy so a lot of the winter stuff is small. Let me know and I'll email you some pix if you like.

well either MN is playing up or it's my pc, so I hope this posts.

Off to Italia in less than 2 hours, well to the airport, which is 10 minutes away and still sat here in my dressing gown!

Sputnik, looking forward to our mini meet up in the gelateria. ciao for now

Del - I do hope you are out of your dressing gown and on your way to the airport now....

Rose - very accurate description of the ladies here. I came across a photo of a party at my dh's Nonna's house - all the women were wearing aprons...in fact Nonna does have a blue floral one!

Finally got ds some new shoes - so he doesn't get wet feet when he plays outside now! Went for Geox - these were the most reasonably priced of all that we saw. I saw a lovely pair for me - small heel - perfect pg shoes - but at ?84 I really couldn't bring myself to buy them. Today I am very sad about it...I may pop back into the shop if we are passing in the next couple of weeks - just to see if they are still there you understand!

Anyway, as usual I must do quick run around the flat to tidy it up.... hope you all have good days.

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gio, congratulations on your new flat!

Exeter was lovely, but, as expected, my local topshop didn't stock the shoes I wanted... . Nevertheless, I spent lots of time in Boots, Waterstone and Woolies (bought lots of stickers book for the children)

Lol at the scarpe nationalism. I didn't like buying children shoes in the UK, though once I got dd a pair of overpriced Oililly shoes. Pippi, kickers shoes, which I love, are actually cheaper in the UK.
This year I decided I wouldn't buy boots, as it doesn't really get that cold in Milan, so I bought dd a pair of mary jane con la para. They are Spanish and very pretty (50 euros though). I'll buy her the decathlon trainers for 7 euros.

Bucharest, where do you live?

Tantik, I think I know the area you live, I used to go skying both in Tonale and Folgarida. It's a fantastic area.
I would have also thought they were quite eco friendly around your area, have heard there is a train service from trento to val di sole (it I remember well) that you can board with your bike, etc.

I haven't driven for more than 10 yrs.

Welcome back Franca - yep, I'm right there near to Folgarida. Beautiful area (but I still miss Rome!). They do try to be eco - lots of eco initiatives (including train right to the slopes) but people don't seem to leave their cars at home! It does make me laugh especially when the scuola only serves two very small villages - so at most it must be a 10 minute walk for the person who lives furthest away from the school! Sorry you didn't get the shoes you wanted - do they sell them online too?

I think I just about got away with a visit from a cousin - lots of papers on my table, but otherwise the flat was tidy. I still had my dh saying - hope you didn't make a brutta figura! Considering I've spent all morning on the internet - I didn't think the place was too bad!! lol.

Welcome back Franca

Ok Tantik, here's the deal. I'll reopen the pasticceria if you'll send be some of those 5000 calories-a-plate Pizzocheri.

Tantik , at least the comune is wise enough to try those eco initiatives... I wonder if perseverance will at some point convince the vast majority of people. Have my doubts . Mind you, the rate of people cycling in Milan has increased in the last few years ... which means that the cyclers have invaded the pavements... so there is now a war between pedestrians and cyclers... while the SUVs are free to roam the streets.

Yes, the shoes are on sale on the website, but I'm trying to resist (frugal emoticon)

Hello Sputnik , send some pizzoccheri here as well... hang on, aren't pizzoccheri from valtellina? I think in Trentino they have those - even fatter - canederli ........

Welcome back Franca - glad you managed to fill the case even without the shoes !
Tantik I spent a fair amount of time in the mountains and the ladies were all the same.
Ok guys - experience needed. In the new group - they are doing inserimento now is a VERY violent girl . She is 18 mths and bites , scratches, throws things - she threw a chair in the changing area hitting a mother ! Her mother says she is cosi and doesn't seem to do anything ( ok that bit is heresay)- her gruppo are already saying they are not happy as one kid has a bruise from her bite.
So have been asked by other mamme what we should do as the school says they will put 1 teacher to supervise her - but thus removing 1 active teacher from the rest. I am inclined to say let the teachers who have exp of this do their stuff for a trial period and see if she improves - however dd is not violent ( caprici si) and I don't want her getting any or learning from it - she does pick things up as they all do from other children -e mio quello - snatch toy etc what I would call normal learning !!!!
Any advice ?

I agree with you rosa, the teachers should be able to deal with this kind of behaviour (which is quite common among 18 months old... ).
As for your dd picking it up... we've all been through this kind of worry, I suspect... children do copy each other, but it is not necessarily true. Especially if she sees the teachers not accepting the violent behaviour.

Has your dd noticed this little girl's behaviour already? Have you talked about it together?

Hello again all.....just been losing myself in other threads....

I'm in Puglia....haven't seen any rape in the shops yet....I love the stuff I have to say and eat it 4 or 5 times a week during the winter!

Are you all "foreigners" in Italy, or some Italians as well?

No not as yet as this girl is still in the inserimento its only day 4 so they are still playing in the group of 6 and getting used to being without parents. Next week they have 30 mins with the rest of the children to see how they fit in and then it gets increased daily.
I think it was also the incident in the changing area when her mum just diddn't do anything to either stop or reprimand her daughter when she threw the chair - they are the small chairs that children can easily lift.

Puglia, yes, I remember now. btw. All those lovely cozze con il riso....
Bucharest, I'm Italian. We lived in Devon until ten months ago and have now moved back to Milan. I lived in the UK for 8 yrs, dh for nearly 14. We have a ds (6) and a dd (4 and a half).

Rosa, I think that if your dd has never been a violent child, she won't become one, just to follow the example of this little girl. Especially if the teachers have rules.

I know how you feel, as I worried about the same thing when ds started nursery. In the meantime I've become quite fatalist . Mind you, there is nothing worse than being told by the teacher that your child has actually bitten another child. I was mortified, as ds had never done so at home (but then there weren't other children around, just obliging parents ).

lol- have freezer full of sepie at the moment- we go to fish market on a Saturday and the man just gives us what he wants us to have- last week being sepie, calamari, orate and a huge crab thingummy. These days it's the only thing that's cheap down here though, so lucky that we all love it all.

I worked briefly in Exmouth, Devon. Very nice area.

Starting nursery is a big step isn't it? Sometimes more for us than them I feel!

mmm seppie, delicious. My mother makes an excellent seppie coi piselli, which I'm not able to replicate, for some reasons.
We were in Exeter.

Yes, I remember the apprehension of the children's first days at nursery.

What brings you to Puglia then? Love or seafood?

Rosa there was a girl like that at DD's nido, literally the moment the teachers turned their back she would be hitting someone. She drove them crazy but they did eventually modify her behaviour with naughty-step style techniques. I think the teachers will know what to do and I think it's really worthwhile for them to invest time in her from the beginning.

Not much you can do, I think the other kids realise perfectly well when there's someone like that and distance themselves.