Keeping Kids Busy

Looking back at Year One, I realize how often I was required to dig deep and "keep my kids busy".  Spare time is different here.  There aren't libraries for story times, activities, book check out, and plain 'ole browsing and passing an hour.  You can't find community play groups, seasonal fun, or the dozens of other places/groups/activities that are perfect for kids aged "baby to five".  There is free time, but not a ton of "English friendly" ways to fill it.  So, what does a mom like me do?  Create my own time fillers.  Not always easy to do with a four year old, one year old, and a newborn, but we did our best.  Here are some of the things that made us smile at home during Year One...

Playing with fake snow

Printing Disney images and creating cards

Watercolor painting

Soft and silky "sand"

Playdoh

Observing the fizz of colored vinegar and baking soda

Alphabet practice

Matching upper case and lower case letters

Completed!

Sometimes a break is needed!

Putting odds and ends into and out of a wipes box

Feeling, sorting, and dropping random bits into a box

Scooping and stirring in a dry pasta sensory bin

Creating dry pasta masterpieces

More vinegar fun!

Emptying cartons of art supplies when Mama isn't looking!

Mosaics

Playing with puff balls

And just being silly together!

Here's to Year Two filled with more exploring, more creating, more learning, and more fun at home together!

Places I Love - Part 1

There are three places where I love to spend our free time – each one offers something a little different from the others, but it all boils down to roughly the same things:  family, low key, easy, comfortable, enjoyment for all.

Place #1 is the place I’ve known the longest here…in fact, we first met while house hunting.  Kevin and I strolled upon it by chance and it has since become a standing favorite of “places to kill time”.  Caffe Nazionale.  It’s within walking distance from our house – although, often, we choose to drive.  It’s big enough to accommodate our family…and our double stroller…and almost weekly, the Guscotts too.  It is family-owned and (we think!) the family enjoys seeing us when we enter – although their “hellos” and “good mornings” and “how are you’s” and “beautiful kids” could easily be cover-ups for “Here they are again…those Americans.”  (cue eye rolling)  But, we choose to believe that in some small way, we make them smile.

For me, Caffe Nazionale stands for family time.  Whether is just me and one or all of the girls, our entire family of five, or The Stones and The Guscotts, it represents a place where we sit and connect.  We talk.  We draw.  We sip coffee and juice and nibble on a brioche (or salami sandwich).  We look out the window and watch people passing by.  We make plans and discuss meeting up at the grocery store to shop together.  We corral kids.  We watch as they play imaginatively with one another.  We swap kids, laps, snacks, and “parenting duties”.  We are quiet.  We are loud.  And we are never there for less than an hour. 

In summer, Kevin and I love to get the kids out on a Saturday or Sunday  morning and walk to the café.  Zoey usually rides her bike or her scooter, the babies are pushed in the double stroller.

When the weather is a bit chillier, we either bundle up with blankets and warm coats to walk – or we resort to driving because we know walking will lead to whining and complaining.

On Zoey’s “weekly day off from school”, we frequently end up at Caffe Nazionale just doing what we do best – being together.  Amazingly, everyone is content, and so we linger.  With some paper and markers, we can easily sit for a couple hours…odd, since we can’t seem to do that anywhere else! 

In any case, Caffe Nazionale is one of the places I love here in Italy.  And when we leave, it will be missed.