Three generations of Marchisio - seven months later

Seven months from the first meeting (i figli crescono, i padri imbiancano…)

Nonni & bisnonni

Bisnonni

Nonni

La grande famille

Let’s conclude the reportage of our third and last leg of our vacation with this family picture.

À l’année prochaine!

TV: curse or blessing?

Since we have started living together, Mathilde and I have never had a TV, and, honestly, never missed it.

But, surprisingly perhaps, whether our children should have been granted the permission to watch TV has always been a very sensitive topic in our conversations - even much much before that Leo was born, when, as an entertainment, we did speculate on how we would have liked to educate our children...

Mathilde, ‘frau’ Mathilde, believed that TV makes babies stupid, and therefore, no, we should have not allowed our children to watch TV. And anyway, we didn’t even have a television, so why bother?

My position has always been more open, as I believe that TV is just a tool, neither good nor bad in itself. What makes TV good or bad was in my opinion the use of it, and therefore which programs we select, and how much TV we allow our children to watch per day.

And precisely the ‘how much TV per day’ had become the main issue in our conversations. And so, when, in response to Mathilde who was repeatedly asking ‘so, what would be in your opinion the right amount of TV per day for a baby’ I absently responded ‘I don’t know… 2 hours?’ - that answer closed that topic of conversation forever…

But perhaps the fact that we recently experienced the benefits of TV, i.e. the fact that we had thirty minutes to enjoy a quiet dinner, would make this topic newly open for discussion…

Swing, swing, swing...

Leo et ses cousinettes (3)

As for i cuginetti, Leo has a mix of curiosity and reverence towards ses cousinettes.

In the absence of a little brother or a little sister (yet), and while waiting to go to the childcare (in September) it is encouraging to observe how Leo interacts with the other babies...

Los tres caballeros

Distrust the originals…

One, two... and three!!!

Cuginetti (2)

One of the most pleasent experiences of this vacation has been to observe the interactions between Leo and his cousins, Davide and Andrea.

Leo, a rather extrovert personality, fell completely mesmerized in the presence of them - something between admiration and reverence. And Davide and Andrea as well, often compared to the Huns when they move together, were on the contrary attentive, caring, and protective towards Leo.

And I try to imagine them in a few years - Davide and Andrea wearing Adidas clothes and with their Milanese accent, and behind Leo, Petit Bateau and a funny Roman accent with a French ‘r’, searching for adventures in the woods…

Cuginetti

Taking advantage of our invitation, Silvia, Davidino and Andreone came to Lido degli Estensi to visit us over the week-end.

As it doesn’t happen often to have the three cousins together, we tried to take advantage of the event to take a picture of the three.

We spent the whole day running after them. This was the only moment in which we managed to have them close to each other without moving…

Fragments de Paris - La salle de jeux

Un grand merci à Victoire et Hortense pour avoir partagé leurs jeux.

Fragments de Paris - La Crêperie des Pêcheurs

Vă prezentăm Claudia (intrducing Claudia)

This is a long due post. Ladies and gentlemen, we have the pleasure of introducing you a person that since November can be considered a full member of our family in all respects: Claudia, Leo’s nanny.

Do you think I am exaggerating? Ok, let me give you an example in support of my statement.

I had returned from a mission during which Leo hadn’t seen me for about ten/eleven days, and I was very happy and very proud to experience the warm welcome he gave me: he did not only not forget my face, but he seemed truly excited to see me again. But when the day after I observed that the excitement he expressed to me the previous evening was only half (or a third) of the excitement he expressed to Claudia when she arrived the following morning for her daily duty, I understood which place Claudia takes in Leo’s affective hierarchies.

So, if in addition to Italian, French, and hopefully English, Leo will at one point be fluent in Romanian as well, don’t be surprised!

La Madrina (The Godmother)

Leo will be baptized at the end of the month.

According to the tradition, Leo’ spiritual growth would need to be supported by two reference figures: a godfather and a godmother. And according to the tradition, each branch of the family should provide one of these figures.

Having already a Saint in their family, the choice for the Iweins has been relatively easy, and fell on (Saint) Jean-Marc.

But for the Marchisios the choice has been much harder, as no one in the family really fulfilled the minimum requirements for the appointment.

The choice fell on Chiara eventually, selected for her uprightness and unquestioned moral qualities.

Or not?...

Au revoir, Macha

Merci d’être venue à nous voir, et à bien tôt…

È arrivata zzzia

A darci man forte per il week-end...

Arrivano i nostri!

Mathilde had not yet taken off from Fiumicino Airport, that Nonna Rita had already arrived at Termini Railway Station - to rescue me…

And since you may become 'nonna', but you don't forget you are a 'mamma' as well - between changing a diaper, washing a bottom, and feeding a hungry stomach, she managed (in the spare time) to cook for me for the entire week, so that I can focus on Leo and don’t have to bother about myself in the next days.

Grandmas: what a great invention! But mums: if they didn’t exist they should invent them…

(But now that Nonna Rita has left, who will come to rescue me during the week???)

Leo in Paris

Frau Constance

I remember I was once flying from Africa to Europe, and I ended up in a flight with about thirty African kids, between four and eight year sold.

‘Oh my God - I thought - this is going to be a long flight…’

I couldn’t be more wrong. During the eight hour flight I could not hear a pin drop. All the kids have been quiet at their seats for the entire duration of the flight, sleeping, playing with a toy, or reading something. Not a scream, a moan, or a complaint.

Since then I have become a profound admirer of the African educational system. To the extent that I promised myself that whenever I had had a child, I would have sent him or her every year for a few months in a Masai camp, so that he or she could learn behaving.

But once again I was wrong. I recently discovered it is actually not necessary to send our child to Africa to teach him to behave. It is sufficient to send him for a few days to Paris at Constance’s.

Leonardo just came back from Paris a few days ago, and while before leaving he was somehow naughty, often whimpering when we put him to bed or waking up during night, since he came back he seems another baby: he goes straight to bed at 9 pm without complaining or opposing resistance, he does sleep soundly the whole night, he eats everything we give him. In sum, as good as an African kid.

We don’t know what Constance did to him during his stay in Paris, but whatever you did, thank you Frau Constance - German discipline in a French cover...

Three generations of Marchisio

Blue eyes: courtesy of the Iweins...