1. Encourage my children to sleep outside
I must be crazy, right? You do remember that we
live in Sweden where it is cold and dark for 6 months out of the year. That's
no condition for a little baby to be sleeping in! Well, not only is it
culturally acceptable to keep your child outside, sleeping sweetly in their
stroller - it's actually encouraged. I once had an elderly woman reprimand me
for keeping Calvin sheltered under a plastic covering because, "the fresh
cold air is good for his lungs." She was right, as most old ladies are.
Both of my children slept very well - like 3 hour nap well - outside in the
winter air. Of course I kept them bundled in their snowsuits in their stroller
sleeping bag contraption so warmth was never a concern. Nobody ever called the
police for child neglect and I got to enjoy a nice cup of coffee sitting at my
kitchen table, observing my sleeping angel through my window. Gotta love
Sweden.
Here is Lucy just waking up from her outdoor
naps - so snug as a bug in a rug outside in the cold winter air.
2. Ice skating on the sea
Swedish schools will take their students out to
the nearest frozen lake or sea, cut a hole in the ice, and demonstrate how to
properly extract yourself should you fall through the ice. The students must
then each jump in the water, feel the icy shock, and climb out by themselves.
Why is this deemed a necessary exercise? Because everyone ice skates or XC skis
on the frozen ice in the winter time. We discovered that to combat the winter
blues, you need to get out of the house every weekend and get your blood
moving. Lake or sea skating is just the thing!
3. Living near the water
Before
moving to Sweden, we had only lived in cities. I lived in Tampa for college and
Jon grew up in Rhode Island, but I never imagined that we would ever live
within a quick walk or bike ride to a beautiful beach. Stockholm has made it
easy by being a city of islands and we've managed to live near the coast
everywhere we have lived in Sweden thus far. I'll even "settle" for a
lake but living near a body of water is at the top of my list of wonderful
perks.
4. Sledding as the main mode of transportation
In the wintertime,
sometimes the pedestrian pathways aren't plowed first thing in the morning but
I still need to get my children to school. The stroller gets bogged down with
too much snow and walking becomes too difficult for the kids. What to do? Break
out the sleds and drag those kids down the hill! They love riding in their
sleds and it's become the preferred mode of transportation for all
involved. Lucy wanted to go sledding last week and we are in the middle of
spring, so it's safe to say that sleds are always fun and not something we ever
did much of living in Atlanta.
5. Living off of the land
I have
always loved camping and nature and now we have fully embraced the Swedish
culture of blueberry picking in the spring/summer and mushroom picking in the
fall. The forests are open to all and you are legally allowed to blueberry/mushroom
pick anywhere except directly in front of someone's house. We have discovered
our own "secret spot" in the woods close to our house that yields a
ton of chanterelles. Last year, we enlisted the help of our friend, Samantha,
to help us pick enough blueberries for a delicious pie. We needed 3 adults to
offset the balance of the kids just picking and eating their share.
