Gruel-ing

I was awoken by the sounds of multiple choppers whizzing by overhead. They continued to come in waves and every once in a while, it sounded as if one were landing down the street. It was very Apocalypse Now. Then I remembered that today is the day of the big Formula One race in Monza, which is the next town over. Yesterday we could hear the vrooooooom vrooooooom of the time trials from our balcony. Today is going to be crazy with all of the helicopters taking the various VIP spectators and journalists back and forth from Monza to wherever they came from. I guess the traffic is so bad, they have to resort to air travel.

I got up and made oatmeal with the real oats I brought back from the U.S. I have been on Cristiano about what our child will and will not eat for breakfast ever since I watched all of the Italian kids load up on brioches, cakes, cookies and Nutella this summer at the hotel breakfast buffet when we were at the beach. I don't understand how people who eat so well for lunch and dinner can feed their children such horrible, sugary breakfasts and actually say things like "Kids need sugar for energy in the morning." Yes, energy that will have them bouncing off the walls for an hour until they crash and burn and slump over at their desks at school. I'm equally stymied by those pre-packaged snacks given to the kids at 4 p.m. for merendine. I don't get it. You'd think mamme and nonne who spend hours cooking lunch and dinner could take the time to chop up some celery or carrot sticks - or something, anything healthier than a Little Debbie-style snack cake or bag of potato chips.

My mom's mantra after school was "Have an apple or an orange" and my brother and I used to stomp our feet and slam the refrigerator door whining "There's nothing to eat in here!" We really didn't have a lot of soda or junk food in the house until my younger brother became old (and shrewd) enough to start going to the grocery store with my mom and slipping snack-y things into the cart. Sometimes I walk by the local scuola as the mothers are waiting for their children to come out and they are often standing their with pre-packaged snack and juice box in hand. It's so weird. Is my kid going to feel like a dork if I show up with carrot and celery sticks in a Ziploc baggie with some organic peanut butter? Probably.

Unfortunately, my oatmeal turned out very porridge-like. Even with some brown sugar and cinammon, it tasted like gruel. I think if my kid had to eat that while all the other kids were eating Nutella, he'd feel like Oliver Twist.