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Memories coming thick and fast now. Did any of you get garlic rubbed on the soles of your feet when you so much as sneezed or complained about a sore throat? I still do that. My husband has got used to the smell over the years
And another thing - did your parents/grandparents laugh at totally inappropriate moments during films? My Dad finds the christening scene in the Godfather, where Michael is renouncing satan while his men are off brutally disposing of his enemies hysterically funny. Bits other people find moving - like when the Titanic sank - have my Dad rolling about on the floor Maybe its just him.
How many of you got it with the wooden spoon or had a slipper thrown at you? How many got chased with the broom by Nonna?
I used to throw a slipper at my oldest son outside every summer for fun to see how far he could run..it was a hoot. All the Italians would laugh because they knew it was in fun and the kids used to get a kick out of it. Then one year a Canadian woman told me she thought some would consider it a form of child abuse. Of course, her husband was one of those whose parents locked the liquor cabinet and has been in rehab 3 times..good upbringing for her kids to see him smashed nightly and being escorted away in handcuffs.
Actually, if my son was here right now I throw a shoe at him instead of a slipper...he just called to say he lost his cell phone! I can hit him right..as long as I don't leave any marks?
I STILL laugh at inappropriate moments.....so do all of my children....my husband will just look at me with this puzzled expression........I don't know if we have a sarcastic sense of humor or a sic sense of humor.....
wldspirit
Oh - this is bringing back gleeful memories of being chased by my Dad with his slipper in hand. He never actually hit me with it - as you say it was mostly in fun. It usually meant plenty of chasing about and screaming! Dads slippers were disreputable objects at the best of times. I didn't want them anywhere near me
Sick - definitely sick! I am the same myself. The biggest laugh I had in ages was watching the face of a Glasgow 'hard man' sitting next to me on an aeroplane who was suddenly silenced when my son chose to throw up. I was crying with laughter for the rest of the flight. God only knows what everyone on the plane thought I was on!!!
Ya know, I never got spankings.....just threatened alot....but then we knew where the line was drawn in the sand.......and you NEVER thought about crossing it!!!!!!! Well, at least not until teenage rebellion kicked in.......
wldspirit
I didn't get spankings...I got hit! Sometimes with the belt! Dad was very old school and you knew what he meant when he looked at you....no words needed. I could drink in front of him but never would I be allowed to swear or smoke or kiss a boy!
When I gave birth to my oldest, it was on my 28th bithday...I had been in labour for 48 hours which ended with an emergency c-section. All my family and friends showed up with a cake and back then you could smoke in the waiting room..if looks could kill I would have never left that hospital.
This happened again 2 years ago when my second son had his first communion. I had it at a hall and after dinner we all stepped out for a cigarette. He marched out there and yelled at me in front of all my guests. It was truly the most embarrassing moment of my life! And to think, he used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day! Of course, when my brother began smoking, he didn't say a word, even though he's several years younger than me.
But like you said, you know when you crossed the line, and for the most part, I still respect my father, even when he comes into my house. I still am a little girl and listen to all his "advise".
I can remember being 22 years old, and wearing a skirt that stopped at my knee when I was going out with a boy (the one I am now married to). My father was waiting at the door for me, and told me to tell 'that boy' that he could look - but NOT touch!!! He never let us wear trousers either - especially not jeans. And we couldn't cut our hair! Now I wouldn't have it any other way!
Advice???? I am very nearly 38 - and my father still asks if I have been to the toilet before we go anywhere
I could wear mini skirts or halters and couldn't cut my hair either. So one day I gave myself a haircut..what a mess. I tied it up and on the second day he pulled the elastic out of my hair and did I get it.
Mom used to call me every night after I first got married and asked if I had made the next day's lunch for my husband. It became a real pain. One Sunday I called her and told her I had made lunch for the whole week and she needn't worry. That was the end of that...although she did tell me off first and didn't speak to me for 2 days....
Before going out with your Dad, tell him you'll e a minute, that you have to go to the bathroom first. Or ask him if he's gone before he asks you...
Every year granny Campone would visit us in Birmingham from Scotland. As children we used to look forward to her visit because she would make us "real" Italian spaghetti bringing all the ingredients.
I can remember one year she was making the spaghetti and looking for the parmasan cheese. My mother who was scottish but not of Italian heritage owned up to throwing it out because she said it was hard!!!
Mother did eventually learn to make a good spaghetti!
Talking of spaghetti - there was another thing about being Italian. Enough salt in your food to cause a stroke just by looking at it. It tasted great though.....
Hello all you young things!
I have thrown the slipper too simply because I couldn't run fast enough to catch them but I've been reminded my aim was never good!
Have any of you had verocal (dont know the italian spelling but it sounds like that) My father-in-law used to go and ask the farmers if he could go and pick the green tops off the turnips after the first frost. At first they thought he was a wee bit odd asking to do this- He came home with huge bags of the turnip tops and they were spread out to stop them fermenting. They were washed and boiled then fried in oil with garlic Delicious with chips(french fries) and a fried egg. My mouth is watering at the thought. Can't do this now because the farmers let the sheep loose in the turnip fields.
Let me tell you something else! Put all this in print and you would have a Best Seller!
Emmy
The name Italia, probably a Graecized form of Italic Vitelia (='calf land'), was originally restricted to the southern half of the 'toe' but was gradually extended. By 450 B.C. It meant the region subsequently inhabited by the Bruttii; by 400 it embraced Lucania as well. Campania was included after ...
Maybe its just him.
