My heritage is a bit Heinz 57. I have German, Polish, American Indian, and who knows what else. While each of these have their perks, except for the Polish, which all I can tell is joke fodder (sorry Granny), what I'd like to be is Italian. At least in two aspects.
One aspect is food. Duh. Who doesn't love Italian food? Anyone who has seen Under The Tuscan Sun, or read the book which is even better, would want to be an Italian cook. And eater of Italian food. And not just pasta. Get a real Italian cookbook and read it, for FUN.
But the main reason I would like to be Italian is the way Italian mothers love. They love outrageously. Loudly. Obnoxiously. All the time, over the top, squeezing til their little heads almost pop off. But the thing is, their children never ever doubt that they are loved. I have struggled with showing physical affection to my children as they have gotten older. As babies, no problem. As teenagers, WTH?! My mother was just not that way with me, and is not now. My sister and I don't hug each other often. My grandmother was not physically demonstrative with my mom or my aunts, as far as I can remember. This was never a reflection of whether she loved them, or how much. She loved them ferociously, just as I know my mom loves us. They were just not taught to show it with hugs and kisses beyond childhood. It's not like it was forbidden or anything like that, it just wasn't done. Unless you were leaving the house.
For some reason, my kids are sort of like puppies. They want you to wrestle, and hug, and drape themselves on me like a polyester shirt. And it bothers me that that bothers me sometimes. I want to relish that physical affection and return it. And squeeze them until their little heads pop off. Just like an Italian mama would. But for now, as with many other things, I will have to settle for recognizing what in my life doesn't work the way I want it to, and fix it. So I hug my puppies and tell them I am proud of them, and when I have had enough, I grab them by the neck and put them in their kennels..... er, rooms.
