Brand new MN Little Italy (22)

[Francagoestohollywood]

hello, ciao, etc

Hi Sputnik,
Thanks for that.
Yep, just read last few posts on previous DD thread today! She is fine - a little homesick at times but school is good and she has made friends easily.
Will get going on some of the expat forums to try to find out if anything's going on baby-wise. At least playpark is an option for more of the year than in the UK...

Hi Bluefin, I have an English friend in Anguillara near Bracciano with 2 kids. I was up there at the weekend having breakfast by the lake, lovely! Will ask her re what to do in your neck of the woods. Agree though that park is the main place. I think because the weather is so much better here there isnt the same need for indoor activities for little ones so there arent as many activities. Her kids go swimming and horseriding now but they are 3.5 and 5. I used to go to a mums and toddlers group in the centre of Rome which is still going if you were interested. On twice a week and is a 5 min walk from Flamino metro so you could get the train from Bracciano to Valle Aurelia, then change to Flamino if you so fancied it! Let me know if you do and will get you details. They do craft and songs and play.
Sput lets stop saying we'll meet and do it! Any plans to be Rome way at any point? Or shall we set a half way point? And yes sometime I must come and sniff your wood smoke

Yes I'm here all week these days, come to think of it, now DS is at nursery til 3 a trip to the centre looks possible. Colds permitting. Are you free in the day ever?

Weekends I am fuori Roma but a bit busy for the next month as I seem to have enrolled myself in a basketry course.

I could do the morning without ds, have to be back to pick him up at 1 so we could do coffee maybe? Let me know when/where good

ooh can I meet you too? DD starts full days from next week so I can get to Termini in 45 mins, depending on times of trains of course or can drive in I suppose

Oh Sput a basketry course - can you make me a hamper for Xmas for MIL ? How do you manage to fit it in ? I am wondering how I can fit the gym in on MOn mind you if this cold doesn't go by then and my heel doesn't improve I will reconsider ! Having plumber problems at the moment the refit is waiting on him .......

I agree that there aren't many organized activities for toddlers here in Italy as there are in the UK, but they seem to be multiplying here in Milan.
Good idea to try with the expats, they are quite active here in Milan.

Bluefin, consultorio is a pubic health centre, where you can find midwives, paediatricians, breast feeding experts etc. Some consultori here in Milan (but only a few) organize "tempo per le famiglie" which is similar to a toddlers group, with more focus on helping mothers to discuss their feelings about motherhood etc, I believe. Not sure if there's anything similar whre you live?
Mind you, the govt has been cutting funding to this sort of things, so...

Oh god, I've just written pubic helath centre

public, of course!

You brightened my day with that Franca!

I could probably make a hamper Rosa, but it would probably cost around 200 euros considering how long they take to do, gathering materials (my friend gets up at 5 and drives 100km to some vallata sperduta somewhere to pick a particular kind of salice at the full moon trying to avoid the Corpo Forestale etc, surely it can't be that complicated....) etc. So I don't think it's really an economically viable proposition. The course is sunday mornings for the next month, it's literally the first time I do anything like that for years.

Delgirl yes we should organise it, will FB both of you.

Talking of cuts I have heard that they do not want to re open the sat sun paed clinic in the hosp. SO Mestre will have one and we won't we will have to call the guardia medica....I must have been 6 /7 times in the past 4 years and its a god send . DD with her broken collarbone ( but they diddn't know it at that point), Minirosa at 2 mths with febbre di 39 and it was my paed on shift. Then when the A hit last year and dd1 after clearing febbre went down with febbre again and was diagnosed with bronchitis !! Tight fisted people .....

Oh I'd love a basket too... it's the 200 euros I don't have...

Rosa, yes, it is shameful. My friend's sister is a child psychologist who also works for the ASL. She gets 2 months contracts. So, you start following a child and have to leave him after 2 months. A child in trouble can change therapist every 2 months. Awful.

Oooh -saw the word mbts - I am the world's expert on them. They ARE good.Much better than fitflops. Won't get you losing weight exactly but certainly give you a workout when walking IF you walk like a masai - ie small steps and like a stalk (!)

I actually exercised for the first time in 5 years last night- a ZUMBA class. I was so nervous but it was fine and I could keep up. What do you guys think of zumba?

Thanks for the explanation re schools. It's what I though - uk start earlier (shame) and I think we start learning to read earlier solely because english isn't phonetical and it's a complete bugger to read/write so takes ages. They want to start literacy later - but tbh I was reading and writing at 4 (my generation) and I'm no genius so it can be done. Our policy makers have a habit of comparing the UK to countries that have languages that are entirely phonetical and I don't suppose that's helpful.

Glad the los are settling in. I guess it takes time. DS, too, finds school very different from nursery (attached to the school). He's not crying but he loathes his teachers and is subdued. It's a good school so he's going to have to fall into line. The silence at home when he's not here is deafening. Very odd to be with dh alone at home.

I've sent dh on a mission to really get to know ds's teaching assistant (she of dh's village and school-mate of mil). I really rate her and I think she could be the key to him settling in.

Minerv - bilingualism - ha ha.DON'T ASK ME. I want to ask you guys. We are doing zero that helps.

Basically I have a good friend who's multilingual in bizzare languages. His wife is from overseas and their kids multilingual using one parent one language. I trust him. He IS an expert (he's on tv quite a bit). His kids had delayed speech but they got there in the end.

Sadly dh hasn't really spoken to ds in Italian. I'm fuming and time is marching on . dh has problems understanding ds (ds articulate for his age but with minor speech issues) and he will not speak to nonna on the phone.

Sad thing is that my dm comes over sometimes and ds understands gujarati. It's soo silly that he spends less time with my family yet can pick up the language and spends loads of time with dh's crew and cannot communicate. Shows he can do it - so dh needs to do the necessary. Frustrating as it's compromised ds's relationship with dh and his family already.

What are you guys all doing about language and can I ask who's Italian/English speaker and who's married to Italian or English speaker.

Can I also give a big 'yeah' to marble tops? We have a very old flat so when renovating we had our window ledge in the bathroom changed to marble - fabulous as it's watertight. 6 years on as good as new. Love granite too.

Giveitago, does your DH have Italian friends? What are they doing re language? Could you get someone else to talk to him about it? I don't think the bilingualism for it's own sake is necessarily as important as the fact that your DH risks compromising his (and his side of the family's) relationship with your DS if they don't have a shared language.

And what is Zumba?

Zumba, I think is an aerobic/dance class? I've no idea really!

Not sure... Imho it takes ages to learn how to read and write in the Uk because it's started too early. I'd say that at 6 the rate of children who are ready to learn is higher than at 4, but that's my continental frame of mind .

I agree with Sputnik that bilingualism is not important per se, but only if your ds's lack of Italian is compromising his relationship with his father and his father's family.
Your dh should stick to speaking Italian. Your ds will probably keep responding in English, as that's what happens when the other language is the "minor" language.

Me and dh are both Italian and Italian was spoken at home when we lived in the UK. But our children started attending nursery at about 12 months old. Italian has always been their main language, but because we lived in the UK their English was very good and they switched from one language to the other without problems.

apologies for bursting onto the thread yesterday without saying ciao , the connection is very slow at times and will not upload what i've written like yesterday, I wrote another post after but it wouldn't upload despite my best efforts. Anyway, blah blah blah. Hope you are all well in this beautiful country . Off to the lake today if the weather holds.

Sputnik - I met Sue yesterday, she seems really nice

hope this uploads, fingers crossed x

Giveitago I am English and DP Italian. We are (mainly) doing one parent one language and ds is bilingual albeit with delayed speech in both languages. It's hardgoing at times but we keep going mainly motivated by the fact that it would break my heart if ds had no relationship with the British side due to language issues. How long have you been over for now delgirl?

Hi Delgirl, it looks like you are settling in nicely

Slow morning here... the children are playing together... but I will have to summon my energies to force them on the bloody homewworks, as we have a busy weekend ahead (and us, the parents, even have a party at friends' tonight, hurrah!) and the wisest thing to do is to get rid of them asap...

give me strength!

get rid of the compiti, not the children of course!

Ah - thanks for that - I agree with one language one parent thingy. Even better if you're both speaking one language at home and they can pick up the second in the country they're living in. Delayed speech is ess. Alot of ds's more bilingual pals have limited language atm but sure that will change in time.

Dh's friends' kids don't speak Italian either! Many of them are married to people of Italian origin and who speak Italian but their kids just don't. They kids are sent to Italian evening school but it's more about community stuff than language proficiency. Oh I totally agree about bilingualism but it's a wasted opportunity and is causing communication problems.

Have a great weekend. Just spotted some rare sun so dragging ds out for a bit.

Oh zumba is that dance exerciseou (look at it on you tube). I was a bit dubious as I managed to keep up but I'm aching now so it must be doing something so I'll keep at it until christmas with the aim of shifting 3 kilos through exercise alone. You'd love this exercise if you like latin american dancing (I can't dance).

Hello!

Apologies for disappearing but I was away on business for a couple of days...

Give, I am Italian and DH is British, living in Italy. We do the "minority language at home" system, as DD would not hear English the required 30% of the time as DH works away 2 days a week and is really only home in the evening. She now also goes to English speaking school between 8:30-15:30, although childcare time on top of that is Italian-speaking. Our additional twist is that my parents/sister/immediate family speak Friulian to each other, so that has an impact as well.

Her "spoken" Italian (she is 2) is still a lot better than her English, although her understanding is probably equal between the two languages. Friulian is understood Ok as well, although she only speaks a few words here and there. To top it all she is prem and has had (minor) delays in most aspects of development so there is no way to tell what is due to what.

For us bilingualism is a must, as the two families do not have a language in common... I will keep you posted...

Plumbers , baths and Italian tempi di consegna ...driving me mad ....... a dopo

I'm afraid plumbers are late pretty much everywhere

Depressingly wet and grey and autumny.

The dc are doing English with their new english teacher, as the lovely lady who used to come until last June has moved

This one seems excellent, lets hope ds doesn't play up. I'll probably have to start bribing him

I know this plumber has the gift of the gab and he is faffing too much for my liking. Anyway I found an effin bath in the end but we have to wait 15 days to get it. It was so frustrating as the manufacturers were saying you have to go through the suppliers - the suppliers were saying 1 mth delivery without contacting the manufacturers who had them in stock. Nobody keeps much stock for vasche angolare anyway . The most helpful of all in the end was actually LeroyMerlin / Castorama ! I diddnt buy through them as they don't deliver and as big as the car is I don't think a vasca angolare would fit in it !
Franca I hope the english teacher works out ok. I have had so many requests its amazing but I am tied into school times and people want lessons out of hours !
Tonight I am going to a 'walking' (Try looking on you Tube and have a laugh ....) class at the gym. Thing is I am already shattered and I am thinking I am mad signing up for something in the evening. PLus everybody who has done it says it is exhausting .....Anyway I can't pull out tonight as its full and my name is down there ! Plus I am in decathlon gear ( mmmmmmm not very gucci gym wear me thinks !)

How did the class go rosa?
I'm in the same predicament, as I'd like to to Ashtanga yoga, but beginners class is in the late afternoon... , worst timing ever!

What was the class like Rosa? I always think I'd like to start classes but I know in reality would end up not going. Must start running again though. Stopped for the summer because of the heat much to dps disgust. Ah well if he wants to waste his holiday running down the beach every evening that was his look out! I had books to read!
Franca am sending you a message on fb re whether you might know anyone in Milan for a job a friend of mine is looking to fill.