Olivia Braheem

Well, she did it! Olivia can now ride a bike without training wheels! It simply took her building up the guts to go faster and she was off to the races! There have been many opportunities for me to help Trey in sports, which naturally leads to achievement and parental pride, so I very much wanted to be actively involved in helping Livy learn to ride a bike. When she finally figured it out and rode without my help (Albeit for thirty or forty yards) and turned and gave me a high five with a huge smile on her face, all I could think of was “I am so glad that I didn’t miss this moment. This is why I took a year off work”. She was so afraid for so long and it was so nice to see her confront her fear and the smile said it all when she finally figured it out.

School continues to be extremely enjoyable for Olivia, where she has several friends and is advancing rapidly in her reading skills. She did have a little incident occur in late November, when she came down with a case of lice! This kept her out of school for a couple of days until things cleared up, but I think that she actually preferred being home with mom and dad as she had us all to herself!

There have been some moments of late when Olivia has become very sad and has asked to go “Home Home” as she calls it. Seeing her grandparents aided in this as she misses the four of them dearly. She seems to go back and forth on this issue quite a bit. At times we are a bit confused as to whether its best for both of the kids to be reminded of home because it makes them sad at times. This is something as parents that Anna and I struggle with from time to time (What is best). The fact is that they are in a difficult spot as children. They know that this journey has an end to it and for this reason they cling to the things that they have at home. The other children that they go to school with are here preeminently for the most part which allows them to live more in the moment than the past at times. On the other hand, Olivia and I were talking in the car the other day on the way back from school and she brought up several things that she was going to miss about Italy when we go home. At the top of her list is her teacher Ms. Benadetti who she loves very much. Rather than speak for them, we will examine this in their individual interviews this month (See below).

From an activity perspective, Livy continues to go to swim class twice a week and also has become active at school. In early December her class had a two hour “Camp Fire” exercise after school where all the kids sat around a little fire with their teacher and told stories about their lives. This was an extremely enjoyable day for her. ISF has some very strong attributes as a school that I think that American schools should adopt. The kids are given many activities to participate in, which they enjoy very much. In early December, the parents were invited to attend a holiday recital at a local church where the entire student body sang songs for us. It was quite special. The kids practiced hard for this event for nearly a month and learned ten different songs (Some in English and some in Italian) and were very proud to sing them to us.

Livy also attended a two day field trip with her class where they went to a toy factory and learned how toys were made! The second day included them making their own toys (Hand puppets), which she was very proud of. I think that its fair to say that Hidron (The water park from last summer) is still Olivia’s (And Trey’s) favorite place to go in Florence. We visited there again this past month and even mom went down the water slides with the kids (This is like seeing a lunar eclipse “Anna in a pool” :>)

An interview with Olivia:

Q1 – What will you miss the most about Italy when you go home for two weeks?
OA – “I don’t know, but I think that I will miss school. I will miss my teacher and my friends. I will miss playing with them.”

Q2 – Why do you like your teacher Ms Benedetti so much, what makes her a good teacher?
OA – “She’s sweet and she is really nice to me. She makes us learn a lot and she is smart.”

Q3 – Since Santa is coming soon, what did you ask for for Christmas?
OA – “Well Daddy, my list is really a secret, but I will tell you one thing. I want a toy monkey.”

Q4 – How did it feel to learn to ride a bike without training wheels?
OA – “It feels good and cool. Now if I really practice, I can ride a bike like Trey. I was excited when I did it. I’m happy that I have learned to ride a bike.”

Q5 – How did it feel to see your Grandma Gina when she came to visit?
OA – “Happy, happy and more happy. She surprised me when I came home from school.”