Days that never seem to end.

So I knew I wasn't enjoying Monticelli..
I underestimated how much I was right not to. The language barrier is terribly difficult at times and I can't emphasize that enough to anyone wishing to work within a family abroad. Today really was the hardest day. I knew my relationship with Michele's mom was a tough one purely because we can't communicate properly and efficiently when we are both alone with Riccardo. I know I can be trusted but to her I am just a 20 year old English girl which in Italy is actually really young to be dealing with children. The one time I have known her to praise me is when Erica said that she thought I was really mature for my age, which seemed so strange to me considering so many of the people I know from back home are having children or have a baby themselves around my age. However for this reason it isn't only the language barrier but the culture differences that also get in the way, there seem to be a lot of misunderstandings and misjudgings of character and today made me sure that she didn't like me and she never intended to.. for me I just knew I had to stay there for a week and it was their family so I had to respect them even if that meant putting in more patience than usual purely because I want my experience here to be a good one.
Today wasn't a good experience. Not even slightly. The morning was good, me and Erica came back to the house in Brescia and I packed my stuff ready for Sardinia tomorrow and then we went shopping and I got slightly carried away giving myself retail therapy in H&M and Zara. I have definitely decided to wear all of my clothes on the plane home to avoid any issues with luggage allowance. Then we came back to Monticelli because Michele's mom is getting pretty old and it seemed unfair to leave her with Riccardo all day so we all had lunch and then we tried to get Riccardo to sleep, the minutes slipped by and he just didn't want to sleep, Erica left to run more errands and Michele's mom went off somewhere in the house and I was still in the same spot trying to "sssh-ssh-ssh" Ricci to sleep, however nothing was working so I decided to let him play to tire him out. This worked and so instead of trying to put him in the pram where he cried I got him to sleep in Erica and Michele's room where it was dark and the scent of them on their pillows would hopefully relax him. It did and so at 4.05pm he finally fell asleep after hours of continuous attempts.
Now usually he has his 'merenda' (afternoon snack) between 3.30 and 4pm but with him needing his sleep I completely forgot so when he woke up at 5.20pm I changed his nappy, gave him some water and he seemed a little hot so I took him to walk round the garden in his pram...on my travels I came across Michele's mom she asked me in Italian if he had eaten and me completely forgetting about merenda and thinking she meant dinner saying no not yet he will later, then she said merenda and I quickly apologised and she wandered off to the kitchen. I called Erica to apologise and she reassured me and said it happens and that she would call Michele's mom to ensure she made him a smoothie and that everything was OK. I went into the kitchen and heard the conversation and assumed everything was fine, when she came off the phone Michele's mom stormed straight over to me whilst I was holding Riccardo and started shouting in my face in Italian calling me stupid twice and then saying capito?! which I assumed meant did I understand? She then mimicked me crying and saying Erica this Erica that in a really whiny voice like she was taking the piss out of me. At this point I'm still holding Ricci and I was shaking like a leaf from anger so I didn't know what to do.
It was honestly like a slap in the face. I'm not usually forgetful, it was an honest mistake and to me it felt like she had been waiting for me to make that little slip. It just seemed incredibly nasty to talk to someone like that with no reason to blow up the situation whatsoever. She stormed off into the kitchen to make the smoothie and then came back to give it to Ricci who by this point I had put him in his highchair and sat next to him like I usually would, she carried on ranting on to one of her servants and then returned and picked him up out of his highchair and took him away from me. I was gobsmacked. I've never received that kind of treatment and I never wish to again.
The homesick child within me came out and I went and locked myself in my room, packed all my stuff up and messaged Erica insisting that I stay in Brescia for the last night because the atmosphere had become way too uncomfortable for me. So when Michele and Erica returned we sat down and had a chat and decided it would be best for me to come back to Brescia alone until we fly to Sardinia tomorrow. So I came back and ate my feelings in the combination of parmesan with honey, mixed vegetable rice and cooked tomatoes and watched Gossip Girl. Then I did a workout and had a shower and got everything prepared that I needed to. Definitely feeling better after having the breather that I needed.
I want anyone wanting to do this job to go into it with a strong head on their shoulders. You have to take a few knock-backs but you have to communicate to your host family when you are not happy and you can't accept being mistreated. I do love being here but today was a terrible experience for me and I don't want to endure anything like that again.