Growing up in an Italian family is the best. It may get loud and crazy, but at least you’ll never go hungry or ever have a boring holiday. If you grew up in an Italian family, you know these things to be true:
You always talk with your hands: You probably had friends joke around with you telling you to sit on your hands and talk. It’s okay to admit that it wasn’t easy. We get it. In fact, we think it’s weird when people don’t talk with their hands.
Pasta is not always the meal: It’s also an appetizer. It’s a right of passage. Unless it’s Sunday, in which case it’s the meal accompanied by large amounts of meat, mostly in ball form. Holidays usually start with pasta as one of the first courses, not the main.
You can never say no to food: Especially if it’s being offered to you by your grandmother. When she asks you if you’re hungry, it’s usually a rhetorical question because you know she will never take no for an answer. One does not simply go to their Italian grandmother’s house without an appetite, c’mon!
Your grandmother takes forever to sit down: Italian grandmothers are an entirely different and beautiful breed. She spends hours making a giant meal for you and your 28 cousins and is always the last one to sit down and make sure everyone else enjoys it. Italian grandmothers are the epitome of selfless love.
Sunday is the best day of the week: For most people, Sunday and Monday are the least loved days of the week. But if you say the word Sunday to someone who is Italian, just watch their face light up. Sundays are full of family and food. Enough said.
Low carb is not an option: Good luck telling your big Italian family that you’ve decided to try out the Keto diet. Carbs are the foundation of Italian food, they are almost as important as the Pope. Save yourself the embarrassment and keep the carbs in your life.
There is no such thing as a quiet night: Your family is loud and proud. If you have a non-Italian come and join you for a meal, they may be scared that your family is arguing. And while they might be fighting over something silly, you know that your family has nothing but love for each other and you wouldn’t trade their loud, crazy selves for the world.
Growing up in an Italian family is anything but boring. You’ve never had to worry about leaving a family gathering hungry, even though you went in thinking you were “on a diet”. Food is just how us Italians show our love! If you were fortunate enough to grow up Italian, we salute you! If you didn’t grow up in an Italian family but now you’re obviously wishing you did, you’re always more than welcome to join ours for the night, capeesh?