The Blog of Peg Perego » survive motherhood http://blog.pegperego.com/en Si vede che vale Wed, 19 Jun 2019 06:51:11 +0000 en-UK hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8 Bilingual advice http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2013/03/bilingual-advice/ http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2013/03/bilingual-advice/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:28:51 +0000 http://blog.pegperego.com/en/?p=2771 Letizia Quaranta described her personal experience on the Internet and transformed it into a project everybody can try. The BilinguePerGioco (Bilingual Playing) is a project designed to teach parents (mother tongue and not) the most amusing way to introduce their children to languages. The advice she decided to give us clearly reveals how this project is her dream, her daily life, her vision.

1. Do not underestimate: Children’s skills. They may all seem geniuses to us (raise your hand if you have never thought it) but we are, unavoidably, not very objective and we do tend to underestimate them. In a certain way, children are geniuses. The speed at which they learn and the complexity of what they learn is stunning – after all, learning to speak, make sounds, understand meanings and syntax from the noise they hear from morning till night are amazing achievements.

2. Do not overestimate: Your skills. On maternity leave I will do this, and that, and start this... and finish that... all while baby sleeps. We all thought this, myself included, and even second and third-time mums do… you end up doing nothing you had planned, partly because babies do not sleep all the time and there are hundreds of things to do when they are asleep, and mostly because new mums are not office machines. They are hormone bombs that can spend hours cuddling a sleeping baby. I am no exception to the rule. I did almost nothing I had planned during my maternity leave, but I did start something I had not - consciously at least - planned to do. I introduced my child to a second language.

3. If you need help: Ask for it. There usually are plenty of people prepared to help mothers. Often they would do anything to give a hand with the baby, cuddle and play with it. Asking for help means admitting you cannot manage to do everything yourself, as well as loosing some control over the baby. It needs to be done. Giving birth to children and raising them is not something you should do on your own. Women have always helped each other out with children since the beginning of time and recently some men (fathers, grandfathers) have started to help. Expecting to manage everything by yourself means not understanding the problem… You are human, after all. Welcome to the club!

4. You won’t manage without: Singing. You will sing your child to sleep or wake him up with a song. You will sing as you change him and feed him, as you try to distract him and stop him from crying, as you try to get through a long car journey. You will sing for fun, to dance and to make him laugh. And you will sing to teach him another language as well…

5. My motto for when you are desperate: C’est la vie. Nobody said having children was easy - lovely, yes, easy, no. Pull yourself together – tomorrow morning, when your little one snuggles up to you in bed, you will forget that this evening you are tired and have had enough.

]]> http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2013/03/bilingual-advice/feed/ 0 If a witch says so… http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/if-a-witch-says-so%e2%80%a6/ http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/if-a-witch-says-so%e2%80%a6/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2012 05:41:16 +0000 http://blog.pegperego.com/en/?p=2808 We all loved the stories of Samantha the witch, married to Darrin Stephens, an ordinary mortal, and the mother of the adorable Tabitha. More than one generation was Bewitched by that TV series, in which a bit of nose twitching solved almost any problem.
Is that why Elisabetta, the mother of three boys, found her so inspiring for her blog?

After all, was there ever a mother who didn’t wish she had a magic wand? Elisabetta describes herself as a “semi-witch, a journalist, an enthusiastic cinema fan, a cyclist braving the streets of Milan." One thing's for sure - she gets straight to the point.

1. Do not underestimate: Relatives barging in…

2. Do not overestimate: How much you can cope. You need to rest if you are breastfeeding. Ask someone (your mother, partner/husband, neighbour, friend, anybody!) to help you.

3. If you need help: Everything you need is online

4. You won’t manage without: Having some way of letting off steam! Make sure you have hobbies and interests, other than your children and housework.

5. My motto for when you are desperate: ADELANTE!

Bewitched

]]> http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/if-a-witch-says-so%e2%80%a6/feed/ 0 For Elise… http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/for-elise%e2%80%a6/ http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/for-elise%e2%80%a6/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:28:21 +0000 http://blog.pegperego.com/en/?p=2804 This mother of two, who describes herself as a ‘vintage mum’ , works on the Web and loves designing, reading and cooking.
She admits that sometimes she gets lost, but always finds her way back, probably because she is such a practical person, as you can tell by her advice. It’s all for you – make it work for you

1. Do not underestimate: Yourself when you think about labour and birth. It will naturally bring out the best in you.

2. Do not overestimate: The accuracy of your due date! You could be one or two weeks early or late, so try not to pack your hospital bag and prepare the baby’s room between contractions. If you are overdue, be patient, smile and wait!

3. If you need help: Say so! Do not deny it - we have all been through it and we can all help. Speak to your neighbour, the shop-assistant, another new mum you have not spoken to for some time…

4. You won’t manage without: A good stroller you and your baby can explore the world with.

5. My motto for when you are desperate: “Relax and enjoy your child… Your baby was born to be a reasonable, friendly – though occasionally demanding – human being,” said Benjamin Spock. He also said we should not be afraid to love them and enjoy them - babies need smiles, words, games and cuddles as much as they need vitamins and calories.

Littleelo

]]> http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/for-elise%e2%80%a6/feed/ 0 ItMom’s advice http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/itmom%e2%80%99s-advice/ http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/itmom%e2%80%99s-advice/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:55:40 +0000 http://blog.pegperego.com/en/?p=2798 The subtitle of her blog is a legend for Italian mothers surfing the Net (Better a blog today than a prozac tomorrow). Costanza (ItMom) started her blog in June 2007, when she was up to her neck in the delights and challenges of babyhood and early childhood. Now her experience on the Net has changed, but she still is a beacon of light for the rest of us. Here is her advice.

1. Do not underestimate: The importance of friends who are mothers too – they are the only ones who really understand you and can give useful advice.

2. Do not overestimate: Your strength. You’ll feel on top of the world during pregnancy, but tiredness will hit you after childbirth. Admit it, you are knackered. Try to rest.

3. If you need help: Do not be ashamed to ask for it. Ask anyone, even your mother-in-law or your nosy parker neighbour.

4. You won’t manage without: Stopping and thinking. If you are normally always on the go, children will force you to slow down and stop.

5. My motto for when you are desperate: “Fortunately, they do grow up.”

ItMom

]]> http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/itmom%e2%80%99s-advice/feed/ 0 From one mother to another http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/from-one-mother-to-another/ http://blog.pegperego.com/en/2012/10/from-one-mother-to-another/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:41:44 +0000 http://blog.pegperego.com/en/?p=2787 When a child is born a mother is born too. What a pity that, despite hundreds of very useful books, babies don’t come with a set of instructions (and probably won’t in the future, either). We asked mothers, bloggers and friends to give us some ‘emotional’ tips instead of practical tips (‘better go for bodies that do up at the bottom’ and the like were not what you wanted to hear…). We hope you will find them useful!

I will play host this week, so here we go. Here are my five essential tips on how to survive motherhood.

1. Do not underestimate: childbirth is not everything – once that is over, you have a child for life

2. Do not overestimate: The advice of people with lots of kids – just because they have more than you do, their children are not necessarily like yours.

3. If you need help: Google a specific problem online. If you need other human beings, go to a children’s centre, there are opening all over the place.

4. You won’t manage without: scores of rain covers, you will be loosing them all the time.

5. My motto for when you are desperate: Keep calm and carry on.

Smamma.net

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