Can't we get along?
Giulia's best friend is Margherita Sica. Ever since the two of them were little Red Dragons, they have been inseparable. Giulia was 3 years old and Margherita 4 years old when Margherita laid eyes on Giulia and decided, "you will be my best friend". Thank goodness, we get along very well with her parents and have all become good friends.
On Friday night, the Sicas invited us to their family home in Gaeta which is right on the beach. I had wanted to continue with a yoga workshop I had started on Friday with Amy Ippoliti, but the call of the sun and surf with Steve and the girls was too strong as opposed to staying in Rome and stressing during the workshop with self-imposed guilt of leaving him home alone with all three girls. So off we went.
The beaches in Gaeta are quite nice - soft, clean, non-sticky sand and clear, clean water - and the weather was amazing! Warm enough for bathing suits and nude seabathing for Viola, but not the blazing heat of July and August. At night we had our hoodies on, but still able to dine outside and devour the tastiest mozzarella di buffala I have ever had the good fortune to eat. It was a quick visit, we left on Sunday around 3pm to avoid the Sunday evening traffic crunch which was made even easier with the Telepass stuck to our windshield - Steve's Valentine's day present - which gets us through the toll gates with ease. However, it wasn't the sun, the sand or the sea or that made an impression with me this weekend, but instead all I could think about was the constant bickering that took place between me and my children.
I don't know when it started, but I have been butting heads with them for years now and especially with Giulia. Is it astrological - the head strong Lion not wanting to give into the dictates of the authoritarian Scorpion? Is it hereditary - what worked for my mother should work for me? Is it developmental - Giulia and Paloma just testing the boundaries, striving for independence? They both stay true to their personalities when behaving in a way that makes it impossible to talk to them - Giulia with her flare for outbursts of dramatics and hysterics and Paloma clamming up, with a faceful of emotion, eyes full of tears and hiding under a table. And through this all I can think about is - the worst is yet to come - what about when they are in teenagers?
All I know is this isn't the kind of long term relationship I want with my daughters. I don't want to be the "crazy mom" and I don't want them to be crazy kids. Yoga, buddhism, meditation - these are all interests that have transpired in me for a desire, a need to be a more stable person for my children, and hopefully, some of it will rub off.
On Friday night, the Sicas invited us to their family home in Gaeta which is right on the beach. I had wanted to continue with a yoga workshop I had started on Friday with Amy Ippoliti, but the call of the sun and surf with Steve and the girls was too strong as opposed to staying in Rome and stressing during the workshop with self-imposed guilt of leaving him home alone with all three girls. So off we went.
The beaches in Gaeta are quite nice - soft, clean, non-sticky sand and clear, clean water - and the weather was amazing! Warm enough for bathing suits and nude seabathing for Viola, but not the blazing heat of July and August. At night we had our hoodies on, but still able to dine outside and devour the tastiest mozzarella di buffala I have ever had the good fortune to eat. It was a quick visit, we left on Sunday around 3pm to avoid the Sunday evening traffic crunch which was made even easier with the Telepass stuck to our windshield - Steve's Valentine's day present - which gets us through the toll gates with ease. However, it wasn't the sun, the sand or the sea or that made an impression with me this weekend, but instead all I could think about was the constant bickering that took place between me and my children.
I don't know when it started, but I have been butting heads with them for years now and especially with Giulia. Is it astrological - the head strong Lion not wanting to give into the dictates of the authoritarian Scorpion? Is it hereditary - what worked for my mother should work for me? Is it developmental - Giulia and Paloma just testing the boundaries, striving for independence? They both stay true to their personalities when behaving in a way that makes it impossible to talk to them - Giulia with her flare for outbursts of dramatics and hysterics and Paloma clamming up, with a faceful of emotion, eyes full of tears and hiding under a table. And through this all I can think about is - the worst is yet to come - what about when they are in teenagers?
All I know is this isn't the kind of long term relationship I want with my daughters. I don't want to be the "crazy mom" and I don't want them to be crazy kids. Yoga, buddhism, meditation - these are all interests that have transpired in me for a desire, a need to be a more stable person for my children, and hopefully, some of it will rub off.
posted by lomalinda at
16:42
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