This morning Josh dropped me off at the gym, then I had my legs waxed, and hit the grocery store before returning home for lunch.
This afternoon, Josh and I headed over to RIS for Charlotte's parent-teacher conferences. We met with four teachers in succession: Mr. Anstis her homeroom and English teacher; Mr. Murray for Math; Mr. Powell for History and Geography, and for Music; and Ms. Smriti for Science. No surprises, they had all given Charlotte "A's" and said they enjoyed having her in class. A couple of the teachers mentioned she had a lull a couple of months ago when she seemed a bit disinterested, but that it righted itself. She was also accused of being a bit too chatty from time to time, but she clearly has a command over the material. In fact, we asked her English teacher to recommend some books since she could be reading more at home. Sadly, in this course, they read books together in class because some of the Italian students would have too many questions otherwise. Her math teacher offered to give her additional coursework that might help her be better prepared for 8th grade back in the States. Lastly, we asked the Science teacher (who Charlotte dislikes) if she thinks Charlotte could be bored? Most interestingly though, we asked Mr. Powell about Charlotte's "C" grade in music. It was the only non "A" she received on her report card, and it was confusing because the comments written by him for music were all positive. Mr. Powell said that it must have been an error. He said there were some problems with the computer program -- how Italian is that!! -- and that her grade should've been a "B+" Funny, asking him about it was almost an afterthought, yet it turned out to be a very useful question.
After school, Charlotte went home with her friend Valentina. Avery had a appointment, at the salon where I had been earlier in the day, for a haircut. His first in Rome. So we all went together. I thought it might inspire Olivia to get hers cut but we agreed that she would go next week. Avery did a great job of sitting still in the chair, and we can once again see his shining face.
When we came home, it was still so nice outside that Josh hit whiffle balls in the garden with Olivia and Avery while Morris cooked up some dinner. Then Josh and I took the opportunity to visit friends of ours for a cocktail. We caught up on our respective ski vacations and talked about the merits of living in Rome versus living back in the States. Truthfully, there is so much to see and do here that I wonder why we are rushing back. On the other hand, all of the history and art is more meaningful to us than to the kids. At the same time, I'm certain there are aspects of living here that Avery will never forget: the "trippy" fountain chief among them. And, he can't wait to get back to St. Peter's and climb to the top again. When we drive by various sites in the centro, Avery will call out "we went there." He has an incredible memory. Charlotte too is having a great time living here. She has embraced the culture, the language and has made great friends. I think Olivia misses Chicago most of the five of us. She is the most reluctant to speak Italian. She does enjoying visiting places of artistic and historic significance -- especially in limited doses. But, she does not have great friends here. That is mostly because she limits herself to other Americans. I get the sense that Olivia feels that she does "not belong" here. In any case, she is happy because she is with her family. Of the three kids, I have grown much closer to her while here.
After leaving our friends' place (with our parting gifts of teriyaki and soy sauce, and peanut butter), we had yet to pick up Charlotte from swimming. We were late and she had been waiting a while. Yet, she was in a good mood and very talkative on the drive home. Once home, she continued to chat over her (late) dinner. It was such a nice evening talking to her; I was hoping that perhaps her dismissiveness towards me was over -- or at least I could glimpse the other side.
We watched the women's olympic slalom from Vancouver before going to bed.
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