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Justine Strand de Oliveira's avatar

One of the first things I noticed in Brazil was children running around loose in restaurants, with everyone smiling at them like it was a normal thing. It was! "Que gracinha," everyone said. "How cute." One of my first clues I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

Teresa PBG's avatar

Very similar in Portugal. Quite honestly, I found it a bit disruptive at first. Then I had my own...

Lucy Pepper's avatar

Reading this and your previous post was like reliving when my babies were babies. There was such a struggle between the two cultures about how to raise children, and me in the middle having to manage all of them as well as raising MY children.

Teresa PBG's avatar

It was quite a negotiation. Do you think we should have a prize in diplomacy, or (in my case) contained volcanic explosions that didn't quite reach the level of Pompei. But almost.

What was the biggest beef you had?

Lucy Pepper's avatar

So many beefs: bedtimes, soup (and yoghurt), lanche that I didn’t want them to have 5 mins before supper, cold vs hot (water, air, ice cream).

My explosions were severely punished with weeks of coventry and amuo, and worse, from the mil.

Teresa PBG's avatar

Oh I hated being sent to Coventry! I’d prefer just to talk about it. But actually, my H was sent more than I was. 😜 😂