The Chooch
Steve and I often get asked what it is like running a business in Italy as opposed to running a business in the US. Since we never owned a business in the US I never feel qualified to answer that question although I am 99.9% sure that it is much, much easier! The same goes for children - our daughters were born here and they have only spent holidays in the US so I have no idea what it is like to raise children in the US, but let me say that life in Rome with children is no cake walk.
One thing I have noticed before and saw today while Giulia was doing yoga at our favorite bookshop was the prevalence of what I call the chooch or ciucio as they call it in Italian and what in the US is called a pacifier and in England a dummy. Ciucio is derived from ciucciare which means to suckle. The Anglo equivalent - in its definition - to pacify or "dumb down" the child by sticking a fake nipple in his/her mouth rather than the real thing.
I am certainly used to a comforting "habit". All of my children have nursed long term - it was still of some nutritional value, but not an absolute necessity. Giulia was 19 months old when she weaned from the breast. Paloma went for it - she was just shy of her 3 year birthday when she gave it up. Viola, at 20 months, is still going strong. In fact, she appears to nurse more now than when she was an infant. Yet who can blame them really? Soft, warm, nurturing - human contact and love. Who wants to give that up?
Here in Italy, I see many, many older children with pacifiers. Children that are 4+ years old. Since I don't know what the equivalent is in the US, I wonder - do children there or in the UK suck on pacifiers at such a late age too? I'll have to take note when we are back in Colorado this winter.
posted by lomalinda at
14:34
1 Comments:
Yes, they do, although most parents try to "wean" them by age two or three because they are afraid that it will damage their teeth. They don't seem to worry about that as much, here.
In France, children tend to have a "lovey" more often than a pacifier, which they keep until 4 or 5 years of age. I think this is a lot more attractive than a pacifier in the mouth. Also, unlike with the lovey or the thumb, a child can suck on a pacifier and still have both hands free, thereby allowing him to play with paci in mouth. So of course, they get used to it stuck in their mouths all day.
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