Well hello there. How are things?
All is well here at Pasta & Patchwork, although it’s a bit hectic. But then we did exactly what everyone told us not to: go freelance (me) and have a baby (us) while writing up a PhD thesis (Mr P&P). It’s madness, they said.
And it kind of is. Especially because we did all this only two years after moving away to Italy, and without the help of family. Especially because neither my freelance salary nor my husband’s research salary are particularly generous. And because life with a little tyke who is (almost) running around simply is madness.
Nevertheless, I think we manage. Some days we go a little crazy. Actually, on the days that the boy is ill and I have a deadline and the husband just has to write write write, it all goes spectacularly wrong. Mostly, however, we manage.
In the grand scheme of things, we don’t have that little. We have enough to live on, to rent a small but cosy flat, and to prioritise travel over buying more stuff. We have enough to be, I think, fairly typical of our generation.
We’re well-educated but good employment opportunities are hard to come by, so we have to be self-sufficient.
Our parents waited until they had the house and the jobs and the savings account, and we, well, didn’t. We do, however, have flexibility. I can choose to work a little less, and build more towers for my son to knock down
We are a melting pot family: Brazilian, Belgian, British and Italian all at the same time. What my son lacks in expensive toys and schooling, he will gain in multicultural experience (I hope).
We live on pasta.
We smash, glue and hash new things together out of old things.
We worry about landfill and wash our baby’s nappies instead.
We try to be environmentally responsible and not buy too many new, disposable things (but I completely admit to thinking that cheap IKEA furniture is the shiznit when the damn shoes keep falling off the damn ladder and you just NEED a better solution quickly).
We sometimes give in to the pretty stuff. Or the cool stuff. Or the lip-smackingly tasty stuff.
We live in a 60m2 flat = every corner is full and privacy is non-existent. But there is actually nothing better than having my son grin and poke me in the head through the bars of his cot when he is ready to PLAY and COME ON parents can we get up already.
Welcome to us. Welcome to Pasta & Patchwork.
All is well here at Pasta & Patchwork, although it’s a bit hectic. But then we did exactly what everyone told us not to: go freelance (me) and have a baby (us) while writing up a PhD thesis (Mr P&P). It’s madness, they said.
And it kind of is. Especially because we did all this only two years after moving away to Italy, and without the help of family. Especially because neither my freelance salary nor my husband’s research salary are particularly generous. And because life with a little tyke who is (almost) running around simply is madness.
Nevertheless, I think we manage. Some days we go a little crazy. Actually, on the days that the boy is ill and I have a deadline and the husband just has to write write write, it all goes spectacularly wrong. Mostly, however, we manage.
In the grand scheme of things, we don’t have that little. We have enough to live on, to rent a small but cosy flat, and to prioritise travel over buying more stuff. We have enough to be, I think, fairly typical of our generation.
We’re well-educated but good employment opportunities are hard to come by, so we have to be self-sufficient.
Our parents waited until they had the house and the jobs and the savings account, and we, well, didn’t. We do, however, have flexibility. I can choose to work a little less, and build more towers for my son to knock down
We are a melting pot family: Brazilian, Belgian, British and Italian all at the same time. What my son lacks in expensive toys and schooling, he will gain in multicultural experience (I hope).
We live on pasta.
We smash, glue and hash new things together out of old things.
We worry about landfill and wash our baby’s nappies instead.
We try to be environmentally responsible and not buy too many new, disposable things (but I completely admit to thinking that cheap IKEA furniture is the shiznit when the damn shoes keep falling off the damn ladder and you just NEED a better solution quickly).
We sometimes give in to the pretty stuff. Or the cool stuff. Or the lip-smackingly tasty stuff.
We live in a 60m2 flat = every corner is full and privacy is non-existent. But there is actually nothing better than having my son grin and poke me in the head through the bars of his cot when he is ready to PLAY and COME ON parents can we get up already.
Welcome to us. Welcome to Pasta & Patchwork.
