tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post2690561953733709287..comments2023-08-24T13:02:58.128-04:00Comments on Italian Moments: Mamma Mia!Nataliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14119053515951615279noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-11475878082501771072008-05-16T09:44:00.000-04:002008-05-16T09:44:00.000-04:00Wow: Italian mammas and Japanese mamas have a lot...Wow: Italian mammas and Japanese mamas have a lot in common! Undershirts are de rigeur in Japan and all good mothers have a change of clothes on them in case their kids fall into a lake or something -- I kid you not. I could not count how many times someone gave me the evil eye as I accompanied one of my grimy kids home on the train. And every good Japanese mama knows that a child not offered nutrition every three hours might faint dead away.<BR/><BR/>Do make your kids do their own laundry: it can be done. I stopped doing my 16-year-olds when I saw that she was changing her clothes up to three times a day, casually flinging the discarded outfits into the laundry basket. Must have been her Japanese upbringing that made her so cavalier -- all those changes of undershirts.Mary Witzlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06458299046574564155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-65255580952737534432007-06-01T10:07:00.000-04:002007-06-01T10:07:00.000-04:00Ciao Patrizia!I definitely miss the ice in drinks,...Ciao Patrizia!<BR/><BR/>I definitely miss the ice in drinks, too. Italians say that cold drinks "block your digestion," whatever that means! :-)<BR/><BR/>Ciao Marinella's kid,<BR/>What a nice post! Was your father an American soldier stationed here? I'm glad you're enjoying the blog, and let me know when you're here next fall!Nataliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14119053515951615279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-34186042117918307892007-05-30T20:30:00.000-04:002007-05-30T20:30:00.000-04:00I am going to send my sister to this blog b/c this...I am going to send my sister to this blog b/c this post finally explains our mother! She passed away almost 2 years ago, having never returned to Trieste after she married and came to the U.S. in '52 w/our dad. We grew up knowing that some of her practices were just weird ... you've explained it all! We hope to visit Trieste w/our dad in the fall ... I'll keep reading your blog in the meantime!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-66136407115189036152007-05-24T09:08:00.000-04:002007-05-24T09:08:00.000-04:00Woops! signed that last comment with my pen name.S...Woops! signed that last comment with my pen name.<BR/><BR/>Scusami!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-76453611278451721302007-05-24T09:07:00.000-04:002007-05-24T09:07:00.000-04:00I'm catching up and totally laughing here. I remem...I'm catching up and totally laughing here. I remember when I went to Italy when I was twelve and mio zio, really my great uncle, kept telling me to put on a sweater (we're talking Milano in July) and I wasn't supposed to put ice in my drinks because I'd get a stomachache. I have to say that's where I stop being Italian. What is it with Europeans and lukewarm drinks? LOL!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-84811300798074668292007-05-21T02:29:00.000-04:002007-05-21T02:29:00.000-04:00Hi Sharon!Yes, the cross breeze here also = instan...Hi Sharon!<BR/><BR/>Yes, the cross breeze here also = instant pneumonia...especially if the breeze blows across your neck and/or back. My mother-in-law has been horrified to see my children playing in a room with a cross breeze. At least I dress them in undershirts when she's around. ;-)<BR/><BR/>Rilla, <BR/>Thanks for weighing in on the undershirt phenonmenon...are you sure you aren't a teensy bit Italian?? Or maybe it has something to do with countries beginning with the letter I...<BR/>:-)Nataliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14119053515951615279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-79980651467741068492007-05-20T01:38:00.000-04:002007-05-20T01:38:00.000-04:00Hey Natalie,Had to weigh in on the undershirts. I...Hey Natalie,<BR/>Had to weigh in on the undershirts. I grew up in India which I would imagine is way hotter than Northern Italy. We always wore undershirts. To protect your pants you wore underpants and to protect your shirt you wore an undershirt! Quite simple really. And it sure did keep our starched white school uniform blouses from getting large sweat stains from a full day at school. No one ever gets pneumonia in India...so it must work ;)rilla jaggiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17259015787424108654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-57478580312421071342007-05-16T20:55:00.000-04:002007-05-16T20:55:00.000-04:00Hi Natalie,I love reading your blog! You forgot to...Hi Natalie,<BR/><BR/>I love reading your blog! You forgot to tell everyone about the fear of cross-breezes. I always open up my house to get a nice cross-breeze; but I don't live in Italy. :-)<BR/><BR/>SharonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-88459585394459528192007-05-16T16:22:00.000-04:002007-05-16T16:22:00.000-04:00Hey Karen!I never knew Sally was an undershirt kin...Hey Karen!<BR/><BR/>I never knew Sally was an undershirt kind of gal. But I guess I can understand the undershirt obsession from grandmothers...but Italian moms my age act this way! Maybe it's just me? I promise not to pack a single undershirt when we come this summer. :-)<BR/><BR/>Ha, Debi! To that, I say: Don't let the laundry ride the bus! ;-)Nataliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14119053515951615279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-48993091869911531722007-05-16T15:16:00.000-04:002007-05-16T15:16:00.000-04:00Do their own laundry? Um, yeah . . . right. Better...Do their own laundry? Um, yeah . . . right. <BR/><BR/>Better get the bus schedules from all the surrounding towns now.<BR/><BR/>;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36505236.post-32594929862769683662007-05-15T18:21:00.000-04:002007-05-15T18:21:00.000-04:00HI Natalie- This one had me cracking up! I have ...HI Natalie- This one had me cracking up! I have to tell you that my mom (as you know, she is a born and bred American) gives me a hard time when Erin and Garrett aren't in undershirts. She has even been know to buy a couple. Of course, this happened during an east coast winter not 75 degrees ! ;)<BR/><BR/>My mom also likes to tell of how when Eli was a baby, she refused to keep socks on him. When her grandmother would visit, the grandmother would hold Eli's feet in hers hands- maybe another way to ward off pneumonia?<BR/><BR/>Talk to you soon!<BR/>KarenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com