Page 23 - Italian-American Herald - December 2023

PER I BAMBINI
Il Natale è qui!
By Melissa Cannavo Marino with Maverick and Darla
È Natale! It’s Christmas. This will be our second Christmas in our new home, and we are così eccitato (koh-zee eh-chee-ta-toe) so excited!
We knew Christmas was coming soon when we went out and about and began
to see everything that celebrates the holi- day. Right after Thanksgiving mamma and papà put up l’albero di Natale (lal bear-oh d Nah-tal-a) the Christmas tree with colored balls and other ornamenti (or-na-men-tee) ornaments like le stelle (lay stel-a) stars, angeli (ahn-j-lee) angels and other holiday figures. There is a train that runs sotto (so-
We saw lots of other decorations on homes and businesses on our ride
and when we came home, we
were tired, so we wanted to
take a nap. It was a nice day, so the windows were open a bit and we lay down in the sun to rest.
Just as we were
about to doze off, we
heard musica (moo
zee-kah) music coming
from the church in
town. They had started playing beautiful canzoni
di Natale (kahn-zoe-knee
d Nah-tal-a) Christmas songs instead of the regular bells.
We haven’t had any neve (nay-
vay) snow yet, but we can’t wait to see
the first flakes. We love to run around in our yard, and we would love to see i nostri genitori (e no-stree gen-e-tor-e) our parents build un pupazzo di neve (oon poo-pah-zo d nay-vay) a snowman which of course we would probably jump on and knock over.
Most of all we can’t wait to see i regali (e
toe) under the tree which we would love
to chase around but we know we are not allowed. There is also un abitante del villaggio di Natale (oon ah-bee-tan-tay del vil-la-joe d Nah-tal-a) a Christmas village which has lit up houses and una chiesa (oon-ah key-a-za) a church.
Outside the house there are le luci (lay loo-chee) the lights of many colors and then there is una slitta di Babbo Natale (oon-a slee-tah d Ba-boe Nah-tal-a) Santa’s sleigh and several renne (ray-nay) reindeer. The one in front of the sleigh has un naso rosso (oon nah- zo ro-so) a red nose and we learned his name is Rodolfo or Rudolph.
When we went to a nearby park for a walk at the beginning of the month, we passed by il municipio (eel moon-e-chee- pea-oh) the municipal building in our town and saw they had set up un presepio (oon pre-sep-e-oh) a manger scene. Mamma told us it was il bambino Gesù (eel bam-bee-no Je-zu) in the crib with his mother Mary and father Joseph. He was surrounded by i tre saggi (e tray sah-gee) the three wisemen and there were also alcune pecore (al-coo nay pay- kor-a) some sheep.
reh-gal-e) the gifts which Santa will leave for us in le nostre calze (lay nos-tray cahl-zay) our stockings and under the tree. We will give our own gifts to mamma and papà and that will include kisses and all our love!
Buon Natale cari lettori! IAH
ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
DECEMBER2023 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 23
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