Half term holiday

The girls have been off school this week and instead of dreading it as I have in the past, I actually looked forward to it - the possibility of home educating them in the future has made it so that we look at these school breaks now as - "so this is what it could be like" moments.

This week I tried to do things differently. Instead of attempting to get any work done, I decided to just do what little I could in the morning and then spend the rest of the day with the girls. Monday, Steve and I played hooky and took Giulia (Paloma and Viola weren't interested) up to Viterbo for VitArte - a large, up and coming modern and contemporary art exhibition that is attempting to rival the colossal Arte Fiera in Bologna. It was the last day of the exhibit and being a Monday was completely empty of people so we got to take our time without fighting crowds. The highlighted artist of the exhibit was Alessandro Kokocinski - an amazing artist whom we actually have ties with in a roundabout way. One of The Beehive's shared apartmentss, Millefiori, was destined to be his studio, but then he decided to move to Tuscania, a small town north of Rome, instead. It's still his apartment, which he rented at a very low rate to his friend Paolo who is our good friend. We've never met Kokocinski, but it was exciting to see his work in person.

This week we also spent time at The Beehive hanging out with guests and eating yummy food in our cafe and Giulia and Paloma have been working on different projects together. Whether it's been constructing a cardboard and papier mâché dollhouse with their father, figuring out how to wrap a turban, Sikh-style or creating invitations for their "Annie" screening at our house this next week - they've been letting their own creativity take over and enjoying themselves. Yesterday, we headed over to Art Studio Cafe in Prati where having the studio to themselves and the full attention of the teacher, they made these beautiful flowers.

For littler kids the options are much slimmer here. This week I attempted a toddler activity group with Viola - the leader being described as a Montessori educator. I guess what I wasn't expecting and what we got was an "animatore" - those dreadful hosts of many Italian children's birthday parties. He just ended up creeping me out and boring Viola who after a while of hiding her face just wanted to breastfeed, so we left. On the way home, I attempted a walking meditation. HA! I think even Thich Nhat Hanh would have trouble doing one in Rome especially while pushing a stroller. On a side note - he is doing one in Naples (oh boy!) - I would give anything to be there for that, but we'll be in Paris.