Oct
04
Another September has come and gone. I can already feel the days getting shorter and the light is definitely beginning to wane. Always a month of transition, September has been particularly difficult for me the past five years because the fourteenth of the month marks the untimely death of my father. Although that day was …
Aug
10
I’ve never been one of those moms who cried at milestones. I’ve looked forward to the first solid food, the first steps, the first loose tooth, and even the first day of school. It’s hard not to be excited when your kids are absolutely desperate to escape you and each otherover the moon at the …
May
07
Tomorrow, my “baby” girl will be five years old. Five years since my father told me I needed to hurry up and have this baby because his flight home was booked for only a few days after the conversation. Five years since I squatted down to pick some asparagus on May 7 after days of …
Apr
29
Misunderstandings are a part of expat life. Language barriers, cultural differences, and a desire to attribute meaning when sometimes there is none–all of these are experienced on a regular basis. Such was the case when I posted the following in my post, Easter in Finland: Of course, it wouldn’t be a holiday in Finland without …
Mar
25
Like many American parents, I spent a great deal of time the past two years completely freaking out worrying about sending my children to school. Public school? Broken, underfunded, full of bullies, a little scary. Private school? Long commute, overpriced, not feasible, full of rich kids & drugs, a little scary. Home school? Holy shit. …
Feb
24
Considering what a huge role travel has played in my life, it was with a surprising amount of trepidation that I booked our Winter Break tickets to Paris. Trying to live in a foreign country with a four- and a six-year-old somehow felt less daunting to me than trying to enjoy a vacation in a …
Jan
04
I’ve known for quite some time that I am affected by winter’s short days and lack of daylight. Even in sunny Colorado, the lack of light gets to me in December & January, so I knew I’d have some issues when I moved a good deal further north. Not surprisingly, nearly 10% of Finns suffer …
Dec
02
You remember that children’s book about the country mouse who trades places with his big-city cousin and ventures to the city to see what it’s all about? It occurred to me this afternoon that I am that mouse. Despite having a rather big-city penchant for the opera, fine wine, fancy restaurants, and shoes, I think …
Nov
14
Yesterday, the kids & I arrived in Finland for good. A one-way ticket is always a little bit of a scary thing, but it didn’t really hit me until I checked in at the airport and the guy asked me when we were returning. I told him we weren’t, then proceeded to freak out a …
Oct
16
Yesterday, the kids & I flew to Helsinki to meet Matt. That means I was solo parenting for the kids’ first international flight, and that I had to deal with baggage, customs, and a 3+ hour layover in Frankfurt without assistance (beyond the lovely staff of Lufthansa, who were quite helpful). The kids were fabulous. …
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