Brand new MN Little Italy (22)

[Francagoestohollywood]

hello, ciao, etc

ciao!

Marking place.

Ciao! Sorry I've been awol - totally lost my MN mojo - though I would've loved loved loved to talk to you all face-to-face; just couldn't summon the energy or commitment to type... Does that sound weird? Anyway, new thread, new resolution, new me, etc... I've missed you all - as I said, could've done with a proper natter round real coffee, or something.

So, been busy at work, v. stressed out, too much to do, feeling inadequate. Now it's the "vacation", and I should be working/researching, but nanny has taken (fully legitimate) holiday, and DH has been in hospital, and is now recuperating, so have no time... DD had rotavirus (yuck), then an ear infection. So it's been germ-central round here. I fear I may be next; with what? The plague?

Phew, so, how is everyone? Hello new people! Sorry to see that some people have joined our lovely thread with sad stories.

Did you have fun in the UK, franca? Really sorry not to have been able to see you.

Yo Penthe! Helloooo , so good to see ya .

Yes, I see what you mean. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all meet over a nice cuppa?

Sorry to hear you've been plagued by germs. Small children tend to attract germs and then bounce them back to their parents. I hope there was nothing too serious with dh.

Yes, we had a great time in London, children loved it and behaved like seasoned travelers. I've decided we should go more often to London... so many things to do (so many shops to visit, but for that I'd need you... the rest of the family could wait for me in some museum )

Awwww penthe, please don't feel inadequate. You can do it, and you are great, you know that.

here have a

at Raimondo Vianello. Very, very sad, i grew up with him and Sandra. Is she still alive? she must be so sad- i always got the feeling they really loved each otehr.

Penthe, hello! Know what you mean about MN mojo going AWOL. I have lost it too, a bit, other than for the bonkers twilight thread that just keeps going with rising levels of insanity, and LI of course.

Penthe- don't feel down. Or rather- feel down, go all the way down, scrape the bottom, then pick yourself up- life is already hard enoguh without feeling inadequate about it (i know, the queen of platitudes and all that).

Samoa, welcome!

Hello girls hope you all had a great Easter. Welcome to all those new names. I am italian living in the UK with an english DH.
Oh Penthe hope things improve. I have been AWOL too, same here about the MN mojo... sometimes RL gets in the way and tiping is not quite the same than a good old meeting up. That's why I was very sad of not making to meeting up with GIO . We were so close. Despite that we had a lovely time in Rome and at home. Lots of time with kids, dh and friends - very little time if none changing nappies and caring for the children thanks to super DNonna! Very upset to come back to those winter temp WTF!!!

Sad about Vianello yes.

per Vianello, I used to watch him and his wife on a Saturday afternoon.
I've been on the hunt for a wardrobe today for DS's room, went to Ikea, choose one then went to get it from self service bit was told it was nolonger available in Beech .
Right off to get DH from station, then feed kids (pasta with fresh pest, yum), then off to my first antenatal swimming class !
A Dopo xx

thanks for the welcome TheMysticMasseuse!

Marking -been up to eyeballs....

BLimey giveitago that sounds like pure hell. ALso your dh saying to your ds that you are difficult that is not nice.
Samoa even your MIl sounds bad especially as you have married her son so therefore you are already 10 poinst behind and ragazza del paese.
Mind you mine sounds like sheer paradise really and she can do / say some very daft things at times. Mind you she will not help out with the dds unless in extreme circumstances and she will not have them alone at her house or babysit etc.
Feel free to come and shinge here no prob at all.
Re clothes Oviesse vests I find are rubbish - but with M&S online I am happy ! I have just done an order and 3 items were for DH so he is converting as well......

Hi, I'm watching a gripping episode of Anno Zero. So, apart from the times misled reports, what has been said in the UK of the 3 italian doctors of Emergency arrested in Afghanistan?

Pippi, glad you had lovely Easter holidays

Giveitago what a nightmare situation! I dont know how I would deal with the fact DH sides with MIL like that.My FIL is PITA but at least DP knows he is a loon!
Cheap clothes DS lives in the Oviesse shorts and vest T shirt €7 sets in the summer! Crap quality but great for playing in. Apart from that H&M for him and I stock up in George etc whenever go back to UK. Not a big believer in spending on kids clothes as you can see. Oh and my lovely friend passes her DS clothes to us which are a lot posher so I also do the non Italian thing of hand me downs (carrying on a Gio family tradition where I spent my childhood dressed as a boy because my Mum didnt want to waste hand me downs from my 2 male cousins )
My friend and her DH were due to come over yesterday from UK and have had to cancel due to
Volcano. Am gutted! Had planned lovely meals out, cocktails in sun blah blah.
Penthe welcome back! Nice to see you. And Pippi, so sorry we didnt meet up but glad you enjoyed Rome.
Samoa have you tried the Ladybirds playgroup just off Via del Corso?

What a casino with these volcano ashes . Sorry to hear your friends can't fly over Gio, che peccato.

I must admit that, despite buying mainly from H&M, Decathlon and Du Pareil Au Meme, I occasionally succumb to Bonpoint, Petit Bateau and Quincy, but in the sales!

I have to say, that there is a frantic giro of handmedowns among my italian friends... but I missed it, as when the dc were little we were in the UK... and now I pass on stuff to friends with smaller children.

H&M, Gap (sadly none in CH!) and Benetton for me. Whenever I go to Rome i spend a good couple of hours in oviesse hunting for nice things, and my mum gets lots of things for the girls in UPIM.

DH is in Vienna, I called him this morning to ask him if his flight was going to be disrupted, he was like "volcano? What volcano?"

He seems fine for now, but who knows.

Sorry to hear your friends can't make it Gio, what a shame.
I am a total saddo regarding kids clothes, I really enjoy choosing them. I was even drooling over scandinavian t-shirts at £23 a pop the other day. I didn't actually buy them though as I'm skint. Anyway if I'm not buying online it's H&M and DPAM for me too, plus Zara sometimes, Decathlon for coats and most footwear, Franca our kids are probably dressed the same. Benetton I think is not as good as it was.

I have never even gone into a Prenatal or Chicco, I don't think actual parents buy there, just people looking for presents. I am always amazed at kid's parties here when 50% of the presents are clothes, I mean why would an 8 year old boy care about new clothes fgs.

CRikey reading my last post it really doesn't make sense probably as I was in a rush ! Sorry all but Things have been manic. Think we might have fround the chap though he is an engineer but also does progetti for houses. He was very in the know re regulations what we can do what we can't more than the 2 architects so now we wait to see how much !
ALso I forgot to say Hi to Penthe and Pippi so all we need now is McNulty to pop in and maybe Brange and thats everybody accounted for then !
My sister is in Spain due to return on Sat so I guess she will be delayed . Sorry about your firends Gio mind you they should be able either to rebook or geta full refund. I did eventually get my money back from Christmas. My father flew the plane in to collect all the passengers from the 747 that had all 4 engines fail I think it was Jakata all those years ago. They had 1 engine fail as they came into land as for the people that are whinging its like the snow episode all over again - WTF do you want people to do ?
I went into Prenatal yesterday and bought a simple white polo for EU7.90 When I looked I thought it said 17.90 so was going to put it down ....

Well I'm gonna just buy stuff in UK then as Italy is now out of my price range.

I used to get my glasses done and it was cheaper to buy glasses with prescription in Italy than just buying a pair of frames here. No longer. Oh bugger.

Who is this person you are talkinb about?

We had dinner party last night - I was holed up in kitchen cleaning - was happy too as they were a) talking in dialect b) I need to have clean home aswe're full on at the moment with things to do for ds c) the dad who came is an arse and was just telling me how he doesn't let his kids go to parties as he doesn't want his kids mixing with english children.

Yep - so don't send them to english school then I suppose. He's got lovely kids though -I think of them as my family and they are G.R.E.A.T with ds which is fab.

DH gone for a sulk and got all nasty as my mum is coming in about 5 mins! She's coming to help me do a car boot sale to sell all ds baby stuff - dh said I'm a lazy cow and wouldn't support me - so I need this money (given most of ds baby stuff bought by me and my famuly). Lovely man - perhaps I should do this with mil - as she's an A1 trouble maker. Might try this to see how THEY like it.

Agh - mum has just turned up - better separate dh and my mum before they kill one another.

Raimondo Vianello was a lovely man - a presenter on TV IMO far better than Mike Bongiorno .
Good Luck with your boot sale.

Damn you shot my theory down there Rosa!
Kid's clothes definitely cheaper in the UK, no VAT for one thing.

Oh that's where I went wrong!

Won't bother in future unless I see a fab bargain or unless the pound rises (lol - it won't for a long time).

Well we have italian tv in my home and I'm mourning that bloke who's brother is a actor who looks like clive owen. Is it fiorello? Think he's a radio dj too- I LOVE 'IM.

Just packing the cars for tomorrow.

DH seems to have cheered up for 5 mins - so make hay while the sun shines and all that.

Plan is we go to mil's first week of summer holiday 0- then I've said the minute we're back I go to my mum's. DH very happy with this but it could mean that he'll still try to bring mil back and send her off to my mum's and he stay in London with home to himself while me/mum struggle with mil for 5 weeks. It will not happen. We have a counter plan -my mum and her dp are taking me and ds on holiday so mil cannot come.

Sput - I know I went in as I have been looking for polos in DD age and just can't find them. I can find them for minirosa but now dd is 4 we seem to have gone all super trendy stuff rather than sensible practical stuff ! THey only had white and bright yellow in plain colours or I would have bought more !
Giveitago why not get your dh to say in Italy with your MIL then she can have her son all to herself ??!!!!
I really should do something practical- have 2 sets of tours to do , English to prepare they sprung on me that the End of year party is Mid May I should do a minirecap on what they have learnt plus do a few phrases etc this means i have about 3 lessons with them to get it all sorted ...erm help !

Thing is he's middle aged and will not get a job in Italy now.

Sometimes I think dh would be better of beack home. He comes from a small village and now lives in London which must be hard for him.

Mil just phoned in hysterics re volcanic dust over UK - yes there is - it's fine -ds still alive but all my friends on great holiday's in the middle east cannot get back as planes don't fly in this dust.

Mum here - cars packed all ds's baby stuff!- two cars worth- and now I'll make some decend cash to clothe my middle aged body in larger sized clothes.

Anyhow - his gran is now here so he's occupied and I can get on with sale and hopefully with the cash I'll get new clothes to fit me and we'll ds room redecorated and get a new storage bed so we can get back to normal.

I've been assertive- I've told dh that I have no intention of going back to work full time as dh relies on my salary to get a house ( to house mil in ti) and no banks are lending - so what's the point - I'm going to get a tiny little part time job so I can spend time with ds and dh will have to rise to the challenge to get us a big house if he needs it.

Oh jeez - ds wears specs and I noticed white marks on his face- shite - what he's got a suntan even in the shite UK winter and spring - so I've just gone out to buy him proper sunblock- a joke in UK march/april but he clearly needs. We're going to mil's in July and he needs sun big old sun protection.

Our friends go to Italian school - cool - they already speak the language and this will consolidate it - ds speaks no Italian and I've instructed dh that ds won't be going to Italian school until he has a good basic grounding - do he MUST speak to ds in Italian or I'll throw dh out. I'm getting tough and now before it's too late.