A minor melt down

Here's a picture of the new car that I drive.  It's so cute!  I could literally wrap my arms from the tip to the back its  that small.  Some of you were wondering about the crazy stairs.  Here you go, that's Gabriele in his pirate costume getting ready for the carnival festival in a couple of weeks.  If you look to the top left thats Ilaria's office and on the right hidden is the play room.

It's the second week. I'm drowning in Virgin Olive Oil.  The food here is delicious!  But there's the salad that they eat with salt and olive oil, pasta with olive oil, the potatoes must have oil, the chicken needs oil, and bread needs oil.  My food is swimming in it, yet I've lost a couple pounds.  I have eaten more here in three days then I would have had in a week back home.  Yesterday as I was heading home from picking Gabriele up from school I saw the sunset, and decided that Italy's sunsets are olive oil soaking the sun like an appetizer.
I was asked to get Gabriele ready for school this morning because Ilaria was running out the door early for work.  7:00 I go to get him up, but he's in Ilaria's and Carlos bed.  Carlos tells me come back in five minutes.  So I go, put my contacts in and wait five minutes.  I come back.  I ask nicely, I bring the clothes that Ilaria picked out.  I sit on the bed waiting, I turn on the light.  All the while Gabriele is screaming NO! I reach over and take the blanket off of him, and he starts kicking and screaming.  So much so that Beatrice is now awake.  Great! My nightmare is coming true. Gabriele runs into where Carlos is crying.   So I take the clothes and put them in the bathroom.  He comes in and pushes me out and yells he will do it himself. " Okay, I'll come back to check in five minutes okay?"  I walk way and wait a couple minutes before opening the door up a smudge to see that he has put most of his clothes on and is working on putting the rest on.  "good job Gabriele!"  Now its time for breakfast.  Carlos comes in and tells me Beatrice is in his bed sleeping.  Gabriele is screaming that he doesn't want the cookies for breakfast.  Carlos opens the fridge and asks if he wants a pudding.  Which of course he does, because what child in there right mind wouldn't want a pudding for breakfast right?  A deep sigh from me is my reply.  Carlos is out the door with Gabriele in a few moments, then I hear Beatrice calling from the room.  I come in and she asks, "can we play now?"  Beatrice is suppose to sleep in to about 8:30, then I get her dressed and down to Nona or grandma's house.  But today is not the day for schedules and apparently I've had it too easy up until now.  So I say, "Beatrice, I have to take a shower will you wait a couple minutes, and close your eyes for a second?"  "no!"  is her reply.  Okay I smile I have an ace up my sleeve.  "Do you want to watch cartoon while I take a shower?'  "Yes!" she whispers like conspirator in crime.  I turn it on and hop in the shower.  I must have been in there for five minutes max.  I turn off the water, wrap a towel around me and hear the front door open.  Carlos is back.  Great another upset in the balance.  Why is it that kids act the worst when their parents around?  Why today? why did Carlos have to come back?  I quickly throw on some clothes, walk to where Beatrice is laying watching cartoons.  I tell her in five minutes we are getting dressed before I run into my room, run a brush through my hair.  Now its back into the room, where I turn it off to her screaming "no!"  "Come on Bea let's get dressed for Grandma's house."  "NO!" she yells back, I could almost hear her venom spewing out at me.  I ask her nicely on more time, then reach for her and pick her up carrying her to the bathroom.  No more miss nice women.  All the while she is screaming and crying huge crocodile tears.  "Lift up your arms, up to the sky" I say in a sing song voice.  "No!"  "Do you want to do it yourself?" "no!"  Finally she lets me take her shirt off.  Still crying I try to put the new shirt on.  "NO!!!"  she is screaming now and crying which makes her cough.  "You see what you do"  she yells as she points at me like it's my fault she coughed because she's upset.  " Bea can you please put on this shirt?"  "NO!"  now Carlos comes into the fray.  He says something to her in Italian which she calms down a little too.  But as soon as he leaves it's screaming and yelling and coughing while pointing out it's my fault.  Again Carlos comes in to calm her down. Up to this point I have asked nicely, I smiled, I waited, and have been patient.  Now I feel like crying myself and just saying fine you dress her, but I don't.  I just wait patiently.  Finally she allows me to help get her dress.  Breakfast time, another chance for screaming the N word.  I give up before I start and show her the pudding which of course she wants.  After she is done she seems almost fine.  She is smiling like nothing happened.  I was foolish to think that everything was fine. I am helping her put on her shoes, which she promptly starts kicking me with.  "No Bea that hurts please don't do that"  I say and gently hold her foot while removing myself from her reach.  She moves close and starts kicking me again.  "No Bea please don't do that. Why are you kicking me?"  I ask her.  "I'm mad" she replies.  "Why?' she mutters something in Italian.  (Literally muttering) Well I stand up and ask kindly "What color of coat do you want to wear today? Pink or purple?" "Purple" she whispers.  After the jacket's been zipped up I hand her the scarf and hat her mom specifically asked me to have her wear.  She grabs the scarf and wraps it too tightly around her neck.  I try to help her asking, "do you want it like this?"  "No!"  "okay, how about this?"  "No!!"  Then it's back to crying and screaming.  She runs into her room hides in behind the door.  I calmly walk down to her room and ask her nicely to go with me to leave for Nona's house.  "NOOO!!" she screams so loud.  So I walk away.  What else can I do? She's hysterical.  "Fine Bea I'm leaving for Nona's then, Goodbye."  I wait this usually helps them get their act together.  "NO!" I hear muffled from the other room.  Then a flash of purple and she's crying by the stairs.  I walk over and again ask her nicely to go to Nona's house.  "No!"  she is sobbing uncontrollably.  Carlos comes in and picks her up, talks to her in soothing tones in Italian.  He says to me, "I go down"  "okay,"  I say back.  Bea is instantly cheered.  In fact she is happy enough to run over to me and say "Poppy goes down not you" which I just nod my head.  She obviously didn't get the point across because she told me two more times that I was not going down with her.  Okay I said.  That was the best news all morning actually, but I wasn't going to tell her that.  I just picked up the garbage and took it outside.  Came back inside.  I confess I called my mom sobbing about the whole ordeal.  I was beside myself with worry that I was doing something wrong, and why are they acting like this when they hadn't before.  My mom and dad of course gave me excellent wisdom.  I calmed down, hung up, and I read a book till lunch time.  I went down to Nona's because she called and said in little bit of English, but mostly Italian for me to come for lunch.  I came down, and low and behold Bea runs up to me and hugs me.  Hugs me!  After this morning I was expecting a no, and a scream.  Nona by the way makes the most delicious food I have ever had, and one plateful is not enough.  She heaps food onto my plate.  So much so that I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to walk back up the hill.  Finally I meet Carlos' brother as well.  He's in his twenties, handsome, and very nice.  But must importantly, he speaks a fair bit of English.  We conversed back and forth nothing special.  I must add though that I hope I talk to him again.  So note to self.  I have two spoiled children that do throw tantrums, but I will not let them get the best of me or see me get in any case emotional.