communicazioni

I struggle with what to put on the blog. We think of you all so often and would love to share everything with you, but things slip by so fast... we have a long list of 'blog topics' we want to come back to, and then a bunch of new stuff comes up.
Then, in the last week, we've gotten two emails (yay! keep them coming!) mentioning that our lives here sound idyllic. And yes, we are having a great time, but I feel compelled to correct this impression- it's not fun like a lazy day at the beach, more like a roller coaster ride- thrilling but scary, sometimes you're not sure you'll make it. The analogy isn't perfect because I don't recall being regularly embarrassed on a roller coaster and that happens all the time here.
With this analogy in mind, the last few days have been some of the most intense yet, starting with a few notes from Gus' teachers and leading up to conferences at school. To prepare for the meeting I've had to write notes planning what I need to say, look up key words, ask for diplomatic advice from Italian moms, cold call a stranger and ask if she might be willing to do some Italian tutoring, and then Gibbs and I had to sit down across a table from a row of four teachers and discuss the skills, motivations, discipline, impulses and interests of an 8 year old boy who is not (and may never be) a teacher-pleaser.
Well, we did all survive. And in the process Gus came up with two strategies for resisting the urge to poke his classmate with a pen (namely, imagining this particular classmate in his underwear when he tries to tease Gus, or treating him with kindness and consideration, because, as Gus' favorite bumper sticker says- your enemies HATE that).
Thank goodness we have each other, a few kind and interested Italian friends to counsel and support us, and a nice glass of red wine at the end of the day.