Arrividerchi, Baby!

After months of planning, 3 checklists, 4 large suitcases and 2 carry ons, 21 shopping trips, checking and rechecking the passports, "Italy Day" has finally arrived. At 2:30 this afternoon, the car will come pick us up and begin the adventure that we have all been waiting for since May.

Maybe I'm crazy, but the idea of taking my 6 and 12 year old to Italy for a 16 night visit is the most exciting thing in the world to me right now. Seeing Europe for the first time again through T's eyes, watching both kids see the world from a very different perspective than their own ("Mom? Why don't they have Cartoon Network in Italy?") and just generally being away from our everyday lives is over-the-top great to me. Yeah, I know. Spoken as a woman who hasn't even finished packing yet.....

So wish us luck, as we venture out into the big world. Wish us sanity as we endure an 8 hour red-eye from Boston to Rome. With MotorMan. Wish me patience when my 12 year old (who's looking 16 lately) meets her first European boy. And mostly that when we get back we're all a little more grown up, a little wiser and maybe just a tad more worldly than today.

Ciao!

On Raising a Geek

There's an article in the Wall Street Journal this week that surely everyone will be talking about. It discusses the "upside" to raising a geek. You know the the kind of kid who will get good grades in school, get into a prestigious college and eventually -- one assumes -- buy his/her beloved parents a retirement condo in Hawaii.

I found it to be interesting, because many of the things the author uses to describe the "geek" kid fits my tween. But then, so do many of the things used to describe the "non-geek, too-worried-about-being-cool kid" ALSO fit my eldest.

Interestingly enough, the comments mostly derride the author of the article and the book discussed as being out of touch. Or just plain wrong. Oddly, it seems that many of the commenters say, "gee. how about a lot of things in moderation?" or "Maybe if you pay attention to your kid rather than try to mold them into a small adult, you'll do okay".

So what does that mean? Should I rush to the bookstore to buy this book about raising a geek so I can get it RIGHT? Or should I relax, listen to my kids when they talk, allow them privileges such as video games (in moderation - the little guy would play for 6 days straight if we let him!), IM on the computer with friends (with supervision of who's on the list and a frank discussion about weirdos in the world) and other things that will engage them in the current culture of the world?

The man I married and made children with says that having children is the ultimate act of ego. Perhaps, but the to raise them in a way that serves the parents agenda seems just, well, sick.

So what do you think?