Category: Life

Da Media . . . for Kidz

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Ah, da media.  (Picture saying this like Ali G.  Clip is a bit NSFW, it is Ali G after all.  Do not click if references to elephants boning on the National Geographic channel offend you.)

Like many of you probably do, I feel very conflicted about screen time for my kids.  It seems that no screen time is the ideal experience.  But I watched TV growing up, and I think I turned out OK.  I don’t remember what I was doing at age two, but a little older, my sister and I lived for Saturday morning cartoons.  There was plenty of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers in there.  And I remember occasions when we would watch a movie, rewind it, and immediately watch it again.  Of course, we did plenty of other things besides TV.  But I certainly don’t remember my mom obsessing about TV as much.  (I may have blocked it out; I do that sometimes.)

Besides thinking that surely some screen time can’t hurt, I worry that I could be missing a useful tool.  I thought of this again when reading Hanna Rosin’s piece, The Touch-Screen Generation.  The article is from last year and is pretty long, but it has some interesting thoughts, particularly on games for touch screens.  We don’t have an iPad or similar, but I think about uses for the computer.  Henry and I read books about kangaroos and we can instantly look up videos of kangaroos on YouTube.  How cool is that??  We’ve also looked at Harrier Jets, bees, frogs eating flies, and caterpillars becoming butterflies.  When I was a kid, we’d just have to wait and hope Mister Rogers covered it.

These videos are definitely the exception rather than the rule.  I try to avoid videos because Henry becomes a shrieking rage monster when he has to stop watching, and the few minutes of downtime are not worth the aftermath.  At the moment we watch one twenty-minute Winnie the Pooh episode per day and a movie on Fridays.  The Pooh is used to entice him inside from the playground for lunch (I can’t just scoop him up because I’m wearing Mac) and to allow me to feed the baby without Henry trying to tackle me.

I have no idea how this compares to most people.  Should I care?  I don’t want to, but this is an issue where it is easy to feel judged, no matter what you do.  Rosin’s article notes that experts tend to view an hour of screen time as a zero sum game, meaning one hour of TV is one hour of time not spent interacting with parents.  But that isn’t really the way the world works.  There are many hours in the day, and I know that the kids get plenty of interaction, playtime, and downtime.

But.  I’m sure I’ll always feel uneasy.  I feel like I have to justify myself, like I’m justifying to you now.  And it will only get harder as they get older.  The general approach is avoidance, but I’m hoping for memories like making popcorn and watching a movie together.  Watching football on Saturdays.  And I don’t want to just bury my head in the sand thinking about apps and games.  Sigh, one step at a time.

What’s your screen approach?  Any apps or programming you recommend? 

 

So what do you do with all that turkey . . . ?

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We had a great Thanksgiving.  I have a lot for which to be grateful.  I’m always thankful for my family and friends, here and back home.  I’m also thankful for many things in Rome.  We’ve met many wonderful people.  We are living in a great place with friendly neighbors, elevators big enough to fit the double stroller, and a playground outside the front door.  There is much to be thankful for indeed.

I’m thankful we got to share a traditional Thanksgiving meal with friends here.  And Thanksgiving meal means leftovers!  I don’t get sick of these.  Here’s what we did:

Slate recommends a Thanksgiving burrito.  We didn’t go that far, but we did start off with plain heated leftovers.  Our issue was that we ran out of turkey much earlier than I would have liked.  After some calculations, I decided that a 10-15 pound bird would be good.  I did tell James that “on the low end of that range should be enough.”  Apparently there was some miscommunication, and he came home with a 9.5 pounder.  I can only blame myself for lack of clarity.  (I mostly blame James.)

So we moved on to other things.  Behold, our french toast casserole sweet potato souffle.  For this one, I soaked leftover french bread with milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla overnight (loosely following this, but with way less milk and egg), and baked in the morning with a topping of sweet potato souffle.  Our souffle topping is very similar to the one on the french toast so it worked.  Oh, did it work.  This was a definite winner.

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We also did chili mac and cheese.   Step one: make chili.  Step two:  place it over heated macaroni and cheese casserole.  And voila!

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Even though we were working with a turkey deficit, we did make turkey soup.  Kind of followed this recipe.  (Many of these recipes are called turkey carcass soup.  I know that is exactly what it is, but I wouldn’t mind a little gloss on it.)  I browned sausage and then sauteed the veggies in the sausage grease.  As the recipe suggests, I added a dollop of leftover mashed potatoes.  Now that I’m getting sniffly, this one has been particularly awesome.

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What about you?  What have you been eating?  Any exotic leftover traditions?

The height of fanciness . . . let’s talk utility vests

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Once upon a time when talking about Roman fashion, I promised you more on what you really wanted.  You’ve been patient.  And now the wait is over, my friends.  That’s right, it is time to talk utility vests, the wardrobe essential for Roman men of a certain age.  Or any age really.  Because when asking yourself whether your outfit would be better if you added a utility vest, I hope the answer is always a resounding heck YES.

James collected all of these photos on a single commute.  Not a to-the-office-and-back-commute.  Just on a one way trip.  Granted, the photography leaves something to be desired, but when you are asking your husband to pap random Italian dudes with a cellphone, you take what you can get.  (Thank you, James.  Mmmmwah!)

So let’s get to it.  But why the birds you ask?  Or you will ask once you see these amazeballs utility-vests-in-the-wild photos.  I put a bird on it to protect the fabulous.  #putabirdonit  (I admit that pixelated faces would have been way cooler, but my photo editing skillz are only so advanced.)

Exhibit A.  Here, we have a pretty standard example of the utility vest.  Sleeveless.  Many pockets.  Probably for handkerchiefs and Parmesan.  Or whatever it is Italian dudes carry around with them.

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Exhibit B.  Did I make you look twice?  Yes, that is a different dude.  But don’t think that all utility vests have to be dark.  You can have fun with color!

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Like sand!

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Or even red!  This is actually the only red vest I’ve ever seen.  Maybe because this gent is of a much younger demographic than most utility vest wearers.  At age 40, you probably have to hand in all of your brightly colored vests.

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Here’s another youngin.  As you can see, it is never too early to vest up.

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I adore the quilting on this one.  (This is 100% not sarcastic.  I’ve been seeing some really cool quilted puffer coats as well.)  So it is good to know that you have both everyday vest and dressy vest options.  #dressyvest

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I only barely edited this photo.  That dude is killing it from a street style perspective.

And thus concludes this utility vest roundup.  The next time you’re in Rome, don’t be surprised that many of the men look like they are about to go fishing.  I’m dying to know how this became a fashion staple.  Where do they find them?  I’ve never actually seen one in stores.  And do you have one vest or a whole closet of vests for all occasions?  Inquiring minds need to know!!

#vestupson #vestlife #vestsFTW

Lessons from a (failed) NaNoWriMo

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At the start of November, I proudly announced that I would be participating in National Novel Writing Month, a project where you endeavor to write 50,000 words in a month.

And like the last time I announced a goal to all of you, I failed.  I blew it.  Instead of 50K, I clocked in at just over 10,000 words.

So why did this happen?  Why can’t I carry through?  I promise, I’m not usually like this.  Get off my back, internets!!  Sorry, sorry, just feeling a little defensive.  But I do have some thoughts and things to try differently next time.

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail

Without heeding my boy, Benjamin Franklin, I did not put together a writing schedule.  The first day (a weekend), I cranked out more than 2000 words.  This will be easy, I thought!  Look at me go!  I’ll just spend a little less time surfing the internet each day, and I’ll be fine, teehee!

Well.  It got harder.  The words did not just magically flow from my fingers.  And I realized that (hopefully) two hours of nap was not enough time for me to eat lunch, respond to a few emails, draft a blog post, and write 1700 words.

So to make it work I would have to (A) cut back on my blog posting, something I did not want to do, or (B) carve out time in the morning or evening to write.  Option B should have been palatable, but I just couldn’t stomach it.  I realized . . .

I’m still fighting feeling too scheduled

I wrote before that my favorite thing about being SAH is the breathing room.  I don’t feel rushed all the time.  Before, it was get Henry up at this time, feed him and dress him and spend time for X minutes, and get him out the door or James would get stuck in traffic.

Now I enjoy the flexibility.  I like feeding Mac and knowing we can just stare at each other.  Granted, there are other interruptions *cough* Henry *cough* but the time just feels different to me.

I absolutely could have made time in the morning or evening and still had plenty of time to stare at Mac.  I just didn’t want to.  I’m rebelling against schedules.  The pendulum was very far in the scheduled direction previously and now I am enjoying being way in the other direction.  I’ll get back to the middle eventually.

Mornings with Mac are still unpredictable, but they are getting better.  In the not too distant future, I’d like to have mornings where I get up, exercise, and spend some time writing before the kids get up.  And when I do, I’d like to . . .

Focus on writing time and not word count

NaNoWriMo picks 50,000 words as “a difficult but doable goal, even for people with full-time jobs and children.”  The idea is that you write words without focusing on your inner critic.  A crappy first draft is better than no first draft.

And I get that.  I agree that there is value in silencing your inner critic.  But I felt like I was writing just to get words out.  Flinging them onto the page to meet a tally.  I’d like to spend a little more time.

The word count also made me discouraged.  Once I got behind, it started to feel impossible to catch up.  I’d like to try more of the Jerry Seinfeld approach on motivation.  Don’t break the chain.   Eventually, I’d like to have a daily writing goal, even if it is just for 15 minutes.  That doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up to more than 90 hours a year.

So we’ll see.  I’m not there yet.  Maybe I’ll try NaNoWriMo again.  Maybe not.  I didn’t get into the Berlin marathon like I hoped (sad face), but at least you guys won’t have to hear about failed running goals anytime soon.  Right now I’m going to just keep trying to blog every weekday.  This seems to be a good goal for me for now.

Did you NaNoWriMo?  How’d it go? 

 

It’s practically Pinterest up in here, ya’ll!

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You guys may not know this, but I’m super crafty.  SNORT.  I can’t even type that with a straight face.  I admire those who knit, can, or garden, but that is not me.

Don’t believe me?  Behold!  Some of my recent “projects.”

This one I am actually kind of proud of.  (Sad, I know.)  Here’s a DIY paper towel holder.  Ooo, and look, it’s even festively colored.

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Wanna see our state-of-the-art booster seat?

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And here is our perfectly organized and alphabetized bookcase cum pantry.

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#Nailedit

Now you can go forth and feel better about literally anything in your house.  You’re welcome.  Be sure to check back for more seasonal tablescapes and holiday crafts!  Bwahaha, I crack myself up.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

Are things different? Glad you asked: Starting Solids Edition

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As I mentioned recently, we just started solid foods with Mac.  I forgot how much of a pain solids are.  Yeah, it is awesome seeing your kid doing a new thing.  Yeah, they look really adorable.  But, man, it is messy.  Now I get spit up and random bits of food.  Cleaning the giant high chair tray in the not-quite- big-enough sink is a pain.  And then you have to remember to bring food for them when you go out.  And spoons.  And bibs.  And even more wipes than usual.  Luckily, we haven’t reached that point because we’re just dabbling with one meal (or so) a day, but it is coming.  And soon.

As many things, Italians have a different approach on starting solids.  Our pediatrician is supportive of us doing it “the American way,” aka rice cereal with milk or formula, but wanted us to know about “the Italian way.”  (She is also supportive of our current approach for Mac, “the what worked for Henry way,” aka bypassing rice cereal and jumping into veggies and fruits.  Henry is a pretty great eater; I’d like to replicate as much as possible.  If only I could remember what we did!)

Here is a snippet of the instructions she provided:

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Making your own broth for cereal?  Cool, sounds good to me.  What cracks me up is that the Italian approach adds Parmesan cheese and olive oil right away.  Priorities!  What cracks me up even more is that an “espresso size spoon” is used for measurement.  Because, of course it is.

After the cereal, babies work on veggies and fruits.  And eventually work their way up to:

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Yes, rabbit and veal.  It is safe to say that baby food looks a little different here.  No judgment.  I just have to laugh that they put the most adorable magician’s- hat, want-to-be-your-pet, snowy rabbit on the packaging.

So far Mac has done carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, banana, apple, and pears.  He was tentative for anything non-sweet at first, but now is pretty enthusiastic about whatever we throw his way.

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We have plans to start with the white meats on Thanksgiving.  Still working up to rabbit . . .

What was your approach on solids?  Did it include cereal?  Veal?  Espresso?  🙂

Want more differences?  Differences around the house here.  Differences on lifestyle here.

Mac is 6 months

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Dear Mac,

You are really killing it right now as a baby.  You just make this look easy.  You are teething so hard, but you’d hardly know it other than the drool and chewing on your fingers.  Every day I keep expecting those teeth to pop out, but they remain elusive.

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You’ve really stepped up your sitting game.  You can go for minutes at a time unassisted, and you love to sit in the boppy.  This is sort of your rotation.  Absolutely engrossed with your toys sitting in the boppy.  Absolutely engrossed with your toys in the Exersaucer.  Pissed off about tummy time.  Repeat.  You are so consumed by what you are doing that sometimes you barely notice your brother and me.  Except when we are singing and having dance parties.  That you really love to watch.  It makes me smile that you seem to like my singing.

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You are still huge.  Your recent doctor’s visit had you at 18 lbs 5 oz (a full pound and a third more than your brother).  Now that you are six months, we are starting to play with solids.  At the doctor’s suggestion, you did some grated apple.  You had the most priceless “bitter beer” face at first, but you seem to be getting the hang of it.  (If I’m being honest, your first food was technically gelato when you attacked your dad’s spoon.  You also enjoyed some ice cream cone after Henry stared wistfully at the gelato place and the gelato lady brought him an empty cone and then gave you one because she didn’t want you to be left out.  I think you gummed half of it down before I turned around to take it from you.)  You have also had banana, but that is because you were sitting in my lap and pretty much took down the banana I was eating.  We tried some zucchini.  You weren’t feeling it, but in your defense, it looked pretty gross.  I promise to step up my baby food prep game.  You have tried carrots and sweet potatoes, but you only have a taste for the sweet stuff.  We’ll see what comes next.  You like to drink out of cups.  Like a lot.

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I will admit that things are different with you than they were for your brother.  With Henry, I think we had pictures and videos for most new foods tried.  For you, we do have a video with your first food (not the gelato, the other first food).  But your typical experience is eating banana that I mushed with my fingers while sitting in my lap so I can’t take a picture.  (I can’t put you in your highchair because Henry’s baby is in there and he will freak if I move it.)

Even though everything isn’t documented, you do have something your brother didn’t, which is the constant source of encouragement and entertainment that is Henry.  You never get tired of watching him.  And most of the time, he’s your biggest fan.  You guys are so fun to watch together.  I hope you will be tight.

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Brothers don’t shake hands . . . brothers gotta hug

You have more hair than I think your brother grew in over a year, but that isn’t say much for either of you.  You have this one extra long hair right above your forehead that sometimes sticks straight up and I will be so sad when it falls out.  I call it your unicorn horn.

We had a breakthrough on sleeping very recently.  You’ve been consistently getting up once a night.  It was at 4, then at 2:30, then at 2:00.  The night you got up at 12:30, I put my foot down and we put in the work of helping you sooth yourself.  It took an hour and half before you settled, but every night since then you’ve been sleeping straight on through.  It’s amazing and wonderful and I’m scared to even type it here to jinx it, but you’ve been going strong for over a week now and I hope it is the new normal.

I still usually come in and creepily stare at you sleeping before I go to bed.  You look even more like your brother when asleep.  And you look younger.  And you look huge.  Sigh, it does go so fast.

Love, Mom

James will revoke my computer privileges if I don’t close some tabs*

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So I’m sharing them with you.  🙂

Yup.  Comcast is the worst.

Super looking forward to this.

Nothing against Italian fall flavors, but I’ve been eying this pumpkin white bean chili for a cozy dinner.

YA’LL, did you know that The Limited has a Scandal collection?

Trying to decide whether to put this shirt on my Christmas list.

Definitely putting this on the list:

stella & dot sutton necklace

Not a link, but when searching for my mom’s sweet potato souffle recipe in Google Drive, I came across my shopping list for our whole30 last year.  (The successful one, unlike this one.)  It was titled “Groceries for End of Days.”  I am hilarious.

Ok, James, that is as much as I can close.  Back soon with more on our Tuscan adventure.  Have you seen any good internet lately?  Sigh, you probably shouldn’t tell me.  It will just generate more tabs.

*Obviously,  James could not stop me from using the computer, but he could nicely suggest that I stop using his computer aka the nicer, newer (heh, four year old) computer that is hooked up with the nice, big monitor.

I need to step it up

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Helpme host you.ANYTIPS

I need to step up.  Not in an angsty dancy way.  I’m talking about my hosting game.  I need to kick it up a notch.  (BAM.)

Last weekend we received an invitation for an impromptu get-together.  Sure, I like people.  Less cooking.  Wins all around.  We had a fantastic time.  I couldn’t help but be impressed by their effortless hosting.  Would you like some fresh-squeezed juice in your prosecco?  How about some freshly-baked cookies?  Care to sample one of these delicious cheeses?  (This is not blogging hyperbole.  All of that happened.)  It was pretty awesome.

Other friends here are equally generous.  One of my friends makes kick ass frappuccinos every time I come over.  And offers us homemade baked goods.  Another friend opens 15 euro bottles of wine when we come over.  “Are you sure you want to waste the good wine on us?” I always think.  We did a potluck lunch at a friend’s.  I had a sorry-looking apple, cheese, and meat tray.  Others brought scrumptious quiches with made-from-scratch crusts and fresh-from-the-oven bread.  Why can’t I get my act together?

I actually adore hosting.  The proximity of people here lends itself to more casual popping-by opportunities.  But if you stopped by now, I could offer you one of the three bottles of wine in the house (not always the case), stale cookies, or a cut-up apple.  The hands-down best food I make is popcorn, but this is not great for dates with small kids.  I do have Halloween candy in the house, but that is not usually the case.  I may have a secret bag of potato chips still.  But I have no delicious cheeses.  I didn’t even bring the juicer with us.

So what is holding me back from being the hostess with the mostest?  Part of it is the difficulty of acquiring enough food just to feed the fam.  We make a few trips a week to the grocery store or market for food.  I can only bring home as much as I can carry and cram under the stroller.  I did make a solo trip to the store on a recent evening after James got home.  It was a delightfully calm experience.  I may have to do more of this.

Another issue is my proclivity to eat any treats that are lying around.  I can usually be trusted for a day.  Maybe a few days.  But then something happens and I EAT EVERYTHING.  This is a big reason I don’t bake.  Besides my dislike for measuring ingredients (a crucial piece of baking, James keeps reminding me), I don’t need to polish off a tray of cookies in one sitting.  I will engage in twisted logic like, well, I should eat all of them now so they won’t be around tempting me later.  Better to get them out of the way.  I know.  I’m not proud to tell you that there is hidden chocolate in our house right now.  It’s not hiding from the kids.  James hid it from me.  In his defense I asked him to.  When we got the nice chocolate, I didn’t want to gobble it all up in a day.  Having him put it out of my reach seemed like a good solution.  It is working.  So far.  (WHY CAN’T I FIND IT??  Our place is NOT that big!!)

Also, I don’t like extra stuff around.  It just gets in the way, and you have to clean it and take care of it.  BUT hosting requires a certain amount of stuff.  Enough glassware for the group.  Serving dishes.  Things like that.  I did have some of this stuff back home.  Probably not enough, but I had some.  Some of it is not here by design, like the china and crystal.  Some of it I thought was coming, but it apparently did not.  My favorite trays apparently were sent to storage instead of coming here.  (I hope storage anyway.)  Either way, I’m a little understaffed now.

And.  But.  And.  I hate to admit this.  I really hate that I feel this way.  But there is that teeny tiny part of me that sometimes–just sometimes–wants to hoard the good stuff.  This is usually not an issue.  I promise.  I really do want to share.  But if I have the super special chocolate, my first thought is probably to tuck it away instead of offering it up.  This is the reason I have decorative stickers from my childhood that were never used and unopened shower gel that was thrown away after a decade or so.  Which is dumb.  No way to live really.  My takeaway from those unused special things is to carpe diem.  Seize and share the good chocolate!  Bring out the good wine!  I swear.  But old habits die hard, and just every now and then I don’t want to share.  You guys never feel like this?  Ok, never mind, I’m a terrible person, carry on.

I’m hoping to have many happy get-togethers with many people over the next three years.  Here is my three-point attack plan.

  1. Assess the serving ware situation and buy more of anything that is needed.  When we came here with less, we planned on having a settling up account if you will.  We figured we could always buy something if we decided we needed it.  I need to decide I need these things.
  2. Stock a special shelf or drawer or something with snacks for guests.  I can’t stockpile nice cheeses, but I can tuck away some good chips, crackers, or sweets.  “But you say you can’t be trusted,” you protest.  I know, I know.  I will just have to try.  I want to be a good hostess more than I want to snack.  Most of the time.
  3. Develop some signature dishes–other than popcorn–that I can put together.  They may not be baked, although I do want to do more baking with Henry.  They may not be fancy.  I don’t know what they are, but this is a goal.

Some people put together amazing Pinterest-worthy parties.  Katie Bower recently put together a gorgeous Seuss-themed vacation planning party.  I very sincerely say good for her.  If I get invited to any parties like that, I’ll just focus on enjoying it.  That’s not the level I’m going for here though.  I just want my guests to enjoy themselves.

Internets, can you offer me any guidance?  Any hosting tips?  Any idiot-proof dishes I can make with two kids underfoot?  Please, internets, help me!