Besties
Fancy meeting you here, Matteo. These two are becoming inseparable! So, how did they meet up twice in one day last week? Well, it’s funny…Jennifer asked what I was doing after the playdate and I said, you know the usual, feed the beast, wake the beast, play with the beast and so on. She suggested we meet up at Esselunga supermarket (my favorite place ever) and do some grocery shopping. Wait, you mean we would be running errands together? Sweet! This may seem normal to you, but really it was a first…running errands with friends here in Italy is not something people do. Well, not the people I know.
In the U.S., it was normal to call up a friend and ask if they wanted to come along to do an errand. I know, what great quality time, right? ha. But, really that was fun, spending more time with your friends even if it was just to buy new mascara at the drugstore and grabbing lunch aftewards. Here you get so used to having your own separate lives with your family or significant other that there is more distance between your friends. Or is it just the natural course of familyhood…once you’re married and have kids, you just see other people less and less? Anyone have any thoughts on that?
I am not sure what it is exactly. Maybe it’s the way Italians handle relationships? At least, I know my husband likes doing everything together as a family. I think in the states you could go to dinner alone with your sibling’s family and it would be normal – where in Italy, it would be seen as you are having marital issues because your spouse did not show up. It may seem suffocating to some, but I guess Italians have a really strong bond when it comes to their families and they place it at the top of the priority scale. My hope is this supermarket outing is proof that we can have the best of both and see friends in a more familiar setting…well, as long as the husbands aren’t around! ha. JUST KIDDING husband.
Peekaboo Matteo
It is definitely more fun for the kids to see their playmates on a regular basis!
Monkey see Monkey do
I find it hilarious how much kids want to mimic each other or people in general – if one drinks from the water bottle, the other one wants to too. 🙂 See you again soon Matteo for another grocery trip!