American Military Spousal Business in Italy and Adam's Newborn photos

In this post I will discuss employment in Italy and disperse it with the “newborn pictures” of Adam. (That’s in quotes because he was really a month old when they were taken)

Here in Italy, military spouses cannot seek employment outside of base. Spouse employment is limited to the base (so you can imagine that’s tough competition) and on top of that it is given priority to Italian citizens first. We are tenants at an Italian base, and understandably they’d like the jobs to go to their own people before the Americans, however, this makes it very difficult for spouses to find a job. 

            I have met many military spouses who were stay-at-home moms, but here at the Aviano base there is a HUGE stay-at-home spouse group because it is so challenging to get a second job for the family.

            Furthermore, Italian regulation “prohibits the operation of home-based businesses”, so one cannot hope to gain financially in that manner either. If you are a military spouse reading this and are interested in knowing more, this link here details all of the rules surrounding American military spousal employment in Italy: Employment in Italy

I have heard some women, (generally those whom are very career driven) lament the fact that their resumes are suffering the three years they are here and how it will hurt them when they return to the states and recommence the job search. However, a way around the rules has been found, for the home businesses at least.

What people are doing is offering “free services” to others in the effort to experiment with their business/build a resume, and the unspoken rule is that it is polite to offer a “donation” or “tip” for their services. This provides an interesting aspect because essentially the customer, er… recipient of the services, determines the worth and value of said services.

There are also some rules and cautions along with this method, for instance, say I were to offer in-home child care (which isn’t allowed, as that would be considered an in-home business), I could not advertise or set designated hours of operation or anything of that sort. I could however offer to babysit my friend’s child daily and we would privately work out the hours she needed a babysitter and then she would determine how much to “tip” me. Through word of mouth others could learn that I was offering to babysit for friends and contact me.

I learned of this system when Adam was born and I had several aspiring photographers offer to take “free” newborn pictures of him. Free? I thought. Well of course! I am generally not one to turn down free things (particularly food...), and I commented on their kindness to a friend who in turn explained the system to me. The “free service” providers do get some benefit out of this, they get to upkeep their skills, have the freedom to experiment where they may not have before, they get the chance to build their portfolio, and earn a wee bit of extra money.

So the “newborn” photos of Adam you see sprinkled throughout this post are a result of this system, and I accepted two different photographers offers to take pictures of him. Both women had started up in the last year and are hoping to make a full time business out of it when they get back to the states.

This one is supposed to be Adam as a turtle, note the little green tail at the back. 

This system and the Italian employment rules may have been a huge benefit to them, for without the stereotypical jobs to apply for, they instead had the time to pursue their passions and then attempt their hand at starting their own business and preparing it for their return to the states. They now have a year’s worth of photos for their portfolios and have been able to experiment with logos and all other sorts without being locked into a business and having paid for advertisements with a certain logo or anything like that. They get a free few years for trial and error and to hone their skills.

For the receivers, we get very cheap services! I messaged the owners tagged on the photos of the photo facebook pages of the photographers and asked what they had donated for their pictures, and it was generally in the range of $20-$60, depending on the amount of people in the shoot and whether or not they went to a studio or location. Speaking from experience I know photos like these would cost hundreds back in the states! Also, the photographers here don’t have an affiliation with a printing company, because they aren’t a business, so they simply give us a disk of all the photos and we go to the company to print them ourselves. I like this soo much more! I can upload a nice copy to my facebook (and blog!) and I can make as many as I’d like of a certain kind without a middleman or being restricted by “package deals” that only allow certain amounts. 

The other woman also had a "turtle" set. lol.

             Now a brief discussion on newborn photography and our session; Newborn photography sessions are looonng. They last a minimum of two hours and I was at both of Adam’s for around three hours. (One photographer said she had a 6 hours newborn shoot… ew) This is because in between feedings, tears, and changes, one also has to get them while they’re sleeping.

For newborns, photographers prefer them to be asleep. This is because they are easy to pose and position and to dress up. I can understand this, and I bet it would get old having numerous positions of an infant with flailing arms, however I wouldn’t have minded some pictures like that. I think that most babies look very similar. They are generally chubby, bald little things, and dressing them up as crochet animals (which seems to be the fad everywhere I’ve seen) makes them look even more similar. Perhaps this is why my favorite photo taken is the one below. He’s not sleeping or dressed up as anything, but in it he looks more like our child than any of the others. You can see his lovely blue eyes from his mother, the generous lips his father gave him, and the expression indicating a part of his personality.  

I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures and a description of the military spousal employment system here in Italy. I am thankful for it because I know I wouldn’t pay for such a thing back in the states, but here I was able to get some fun photos of him for a cheap price. Also I don't feel guilty staying at home with my little one, knowing there are few other options if I did desire to leave him and attempt to find employment.

Tax Return and All-Clad Cookware

We filed our taxes, received the tax return, and already spent a good part of it. Today, the last of our spendings arrived! Troy and I knew we were needing a good pots and pans set, and after some research and consultation, we settled on All-Clad and Troy selected the pieces he thought would be of most use to us.  

Oooo, shiny! 

My DH and I both have a passion for cooking and are eager to make use of our new cookware. We have divided up the week so that I have been assigned the Monday/Tuesday meals, and he is in charge of the Thursday/Friday meals. (Wednesdays we attend a Bible Study that serves us dinner, and Sat/Sun are the designated days for eating leftovers or going out to eat) This set up has worked nicely for us as we get to pursue our passions but not have the pressure and drudgery of being in charge of every single meal every day of the week. As we only have two days a week each, we can plan an elaborate (or modest) meal and give it our all, knowing we get to lay back and let someone else do the work on the other nights.

We do our weekly shopping after church on Sunday, and last week during our shopping trip we discovered that we had coincidentally both planned a form of chicken for the first night and crock-pot ribs for our second night. Haha. Great minds think alike, no? And if one has to have similar meals twice in one week, at least we have excellent taste, yes?

Adam enjoys hanging with us and doesn’t like to be left in a room without someone in it, and dinnertime is no exception. He eyes our food and demands to be fed at the same time so he can feel a part of the meal as well. Here he is after last Tuesday's meal:

Passed out after a delicious dinner. "Mmmm, mommy makes yummy ribs." ;) haha

Italians and Monthly Birthdays

While Adam and I were in the hospital, my roommate told me it was her son’s 2 month birthday and elaborated that Italians celebrate birthdays monthly for their children when they are young. (Wow, and I thought Americans were overboard with children’s birthdays!)

On March 8^th, my husband was helping the landlord chop wood and the woman, Marchelena (though that may not be how she spells it…), came in to visit with me. She was holding Adam and asked if they could bring over cake the following day. I was confused, but not being one to turn down cake I said, “Of course!” She could see I was rather puzzled at the random act of cake giving and asked, “Tomorrow, Adam one month, no?” That was when I recalled the conversation I’d had with my Italian hospital roommate. “Ah, si si!” I responded. “Bene!” she replied, clapping her hands and exiting. 

The succeeding day my husband answered the doorbell to find them standing there with cake and a bottle of wine. They walked in and Albano asked, “Where is the guest of honor!?” haha. I went and grabbed Adam, who was sleeping in his crib, and brought him out to his “1 month” birthday party. We shared the pie/”cake” they brought and passed around the baby and made conversation as best we could with our language differences.

I’m not sure if this is something they expect us to do monthly… but it was nice to enjoy some good food and company, and to celebrate the fact that our son is now a month old, and still alive and well. 

Albano and Marchelena? with Adam on his 1 month birthday