Our First Week Living in Italy with Four Kids: What Nobody Tells You
Culture shock, playground bars, the world’s best pasta, and learning when to just go home.
We are here. Actually, properly, here; the cobblestones, the tiny fridge, the butcher who already knows our name. The first days brought a wave of beautiful disorientation: everything smaller, everything different, everything somehow more alive than we expected.
School They Actually Love
The boys started at their Boundless Life World School and promptly lost their minds about it, in the best way. They ask to go on Sundays. Sundays. The friendships, the freedom, the education philosophy has clicked in a way we couldn’t have predicted. We’ve also made great friends with the other parents, and the community events, a town tour, and a learn-to-play padel session have made settling in feel surprisingly easy.
Playground Bars (Yes, Really)
Italian playgrounds come with cafés and bars attached. The kids run wild on the equipment while the parents sip espresso. We have decided this is civilization at its peak and we have no notes.
Being in a small town means bumping into the same people constantly; at school drop-off, at the gelato shop, at the butcher. No planning required. Spontaneous is the whole vibe here, and it turns out spontaneous suits us perfectly.
To just walk out your front door and run into someone you know, it turns out that’s not a small thing. Honestly, it’s been one of our favorite parts.
Finding Our Rhythm at the Table
The tiny fridge has been our greatest teacher. Because it holds approximately four items, we shop constantly and that’s become one of the unexpected joys of life here. Every other day we stop at the fresh fruit and vegetable market in the piazza around the corner. The butcher greets us like regulars now, because we are.
We’ve leaned into local ingredients: olive oil, balsamic, whatever’s in season. The boys are eating pasta for nearly every meal, and our house staple, fresh pasta with pomodoro sauce and Parmesan, has become something close to sacred. Since restaurants don’t open until late, we cook dinner at home most nights. We try to sneak out for lunch while the older three are at school, which has become its own little ritual.
New Things We’ve Tried
Padel tennis came first, introduced by other families in the cohort who’d already caught the bug. It took about fifteen minutes to understand why it’s addictive, and we’re already plotting our return to the court. One afternoon we grabbed bikes from the hub and just rode; no map, no destination, no plan. Just the two of us winding through the Tuscan hills, taking in the views, and figuring out where the road went. It was one of those unexpectedly perfect days. We’re already thinking about making it a regular thing and adding a baby seat for Sylas. We also took a morning trip to Florence, if you missed that post, it’s up now.
The Honest Part
We were invited to a dinner one evening. On the way through the door, we pulled the eject cord and went home. The two-year-old was deep into meltdown territory; too tired, impossible to contain indoors (it was raining). The older two were disappointed. We were disappointed. But sometimes that’s the call you have to make, even in Italy.
We walked home, fed everyone quickly, and went to bed. The next morning it was fine. And honestly? That’s just how it goes with four little ones.
The truth is that four small kids is hard anywhere. The tantrums, the exhaustion, the constant negotiating doesn’t stop because you’re in a beautiful Italian town. This is just the season of life we’re in, and we’ve made peace with it. Some nights you eject. Some days are messy. And then the next morning the sun comes up over the piazza, and your kids are begging to go to school, and you remember why you’re doing this.
What We’re Still Figuring Out
Chris works late into the evenings on calls back home that’s the main challenge right now, but we’ll find a flow. The kids’ usual snacks and cereals don’t exist here either, but they’re adapting better than expected. We’re navigating, adjusting, and getting a little better at it every day.
What’s Coming Up
A week in the Dolomites at a Kinder hotel that we are unreasonably excited about. Rome and Venice are both on the list. And we’re still deciding on a beach for June; close and easy, or far and worth it. More adventures to come.
One Week In…
We’re still adjusting. Still figuring things out. The kids are exhausted by 7 PM, the fridge is always empty, and Chris is up way too late on work calls.
But somewhere in the middle of all that, between the school runs and the spontaneous gelato stops and the dinners we cooked at home, something shifted. We’re building friendships we didn’t expect this fast. We’re living slower, saying yes to more, and spending time together as a family in a way that feels different from home. More present, more unhurried.
Pistoia pulled us in quietly. No big landmarks, no tourist crowds. Just real Italian life happening all around us, every single day and us, slowly but surely, becoming part of it.
One week in, and we already can’t imagine being anywhere else.
So far, so good.
