The Jarvii 
We’re getting ready to go on vacation to Italy in a few days. I’m actually really excited about this trip because I haven’t been to Italy in over 10 years! I have family in Rome, whom I haven’t seen in almost 9 years. And the most exciting thing of all is that I used to live in Rome many many moons ago, so this will be a super special trip that I get to spend with my kids, showing them where I would go and do when I was there. This is why I am super super super excited about finally making this trip happen.
Now that the kids are older, they are more aware about differences in how people live their lives. While we have visited England several times, England and the USA are so similar it really doesn’t feel that foreign. Whereas visiting Italy will be quite different for them.
One thing I thought would help the children deal with the (small) culture shock is checking out kid friendly books about Italy from our local public library. Thank goodness our library had a few books readily available. We managed to find books about the language, the food, and history. It’s a great way for O to practice his reading, and the added bonus of having the kids give their input on what they want to get out of the trip as well.
Let’s cross our fingers and hope they will learn a lot and enjoy the trip just as much!