Motherhood

Parenting through the coronavirus time in Finland

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Parenting through the coronavirus – well, I thought it would have been harder so far. The kids have stay at home now one week, and I was a bit scare how I would cope with all this. I mean our youngest one just started kindergarden and we (or I) get used to the new routine and having some time of my own to work. This coronavirus stay-at-home life hasn’t been so bad, really.

One thing that we still can do in Finland is, that we can go out. We still go to walk and parks with kids, but of course we avoid contact with other people.

I have been coping well, because I respect the daily routines that we have created. Our boy goes to have his nap at the same time that he did in the kindergarden. Scheduling and planning daily bases helps me to copy with parenting during the coronavirus pandemic. I keep the frames and in the middle I improvise.

Also, the reason, that I stay positive and optimistic is, that I concentrate on the present moment, not yesterday or tomorrow. I try to make the day best of it, even if I know, that it repeats the same routines day after day.

While staying home with the kids during the coronavirus pandemic, I have started to do my meditation practice even more often, even if it is like five to ten minutes, it helps me to concentrate and be balanced and positive person. I mean, what can I do in a situation like this? I can just accept the things how they are and make best of it.

For our family staying at home isn’t that bad, because anyway we spend a lot of time home or park near by. At the moment I haven’t have that much work, so I can be flexible and spend more time with the kids while my husband keeps working.

I do notice how lucky we are, and that I am really thankful. My husband or I ,we are not the ones who are out there to fight against the coronavirus for example like doctors or nurses that risk they health to help others. My husband can still go to his working space (there is only one person with him) and we are always been good at being team players: we know, that both of us need breaks to be without the kids during the day.

So how does our coronavirus stay-at-home life looks like?

Well, after the breakfast, I look after the kids till three. Then my husband comes to eat and goes to the park with kids. I normally have time to work a couple of hours before they come back. Then it is “dinner” time and after my husband goes to work one hour or two. After seven it is the family time and at eight it start to be the bedtime. And same routine tomorrow and day after that, but it works, and it keeps us parent in a good mood.

I have also started to limit my own screen time, because I have noticed that spending too much time on my phone, I start to feel dizzy, my eyes are tired and it is hard to concentrate to other tasks. Also, with kids it makes me multitask things when at the same time I try to be with them  and look at the phone – not really a clever mixture. I wanted to limit my screen time especially now, when during a couple of days I started to check the news like every hour. It is too much information, now I wait the information till next morning when my morning newspaper arrives.

And to be honest, I don’t really like myself, when I notice that by the end of the day I haven’t done nothing special than just spent too much time on my phone. I like to do things! I like to read and write, cook meals, spent time with the kids, do some knitting, do meditation and yoga practices – that is my kind of day, and I feel good when I go to bed at night. This  is the conclusion I have came, when I have spent a week at home. I am sure you are doing some reflection too? Like, what is important in your daily life? What kind of things are eating your energy? What giving it to you?

Anyway, in the big picture this is just a little period of our lifes. And when most of us are staying home, so why make most of it?

“We will survive this together” start to be a bit cliché, but it is true!

I send you a lot of virtual hugs and positive energy to work through this!

Read more:

New routines

Zero waste home

Looking for that lost balance

 

Motherhood

How does life change after having a second baby?

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How does life change after having a second baby? Well, a lot – even if there isn’t that much discussion about it. I mean I found only one book concentrating on the second baby. As a mother of two, I found it important to write about it, because the second baby isn’t the same thing as having the first one. So many things still keep changing!

Of course, the experience of being a mother is familiar. For a woman, having a second baby does not bring that much new things for the beginning. Your are already a mother, you have experienced already the miracle of giving a birth. You know, that relationship to your partner will change a bit and there are lot of things happening in your body. Those things we luckily already know!

But what will happen after? What will happen when the hormones are gone and the baby is at least six months old? Can life go one like it did with just one child?

Well, I would say NO!

There is a French saying about how a baby comes to parents world. It means that you can kind of easily still keep living your normal life. You travel and go to have a dinner in restaurants with the kid etc. You find thinking: well, this isn’t so bad!

When we had one child, we were two adults and a child. As our family size grew, the mindset turned around: children began to determine our life rhythm. However, I realized this with a little delay, thought the only guide I found about the second baby slightly talked about this.

Among other things, the guide advises to plan holidays in your home country instead of going abroad with little children – for the comfort of all and for the peace of mind of their parents.

I remember reading the phrase somewhat amused. “We would travel,” I was thinking.

And so we did. We went to Spain and Italy, when our son was four months old. We did a road trip from Finland to France and back when he was six months old. We went on a cruise and in last November for a week holiday in Barcelona and London. After stubbornly hitting my head against a wall, I realized that traveling with a baby and 3-years old was not a very pleasant experience. In fact, on almost every trip, our son has become ill, the nights have been sleepless, and he has eaten badly. We have returned home feeling quite exhausted.

Of course, the situation of each family is different, but I am just saying… Traveling with our second baby was relatively easy during the first six months, but the trips made after were hard ones.

So I started thinking: maybe it would be better to stay home or travel in Finland. To be honest, the only pleasant travels, that we have done is when we went to my mother’s place in the Northern Finland. There we have extra help and I can really send the feeling of being in some sort of holiday – drink coffee and read the morning paper alone.

There was a moment when I felt sad about it: we couldn’t travel. I am the person who likes to experience things, and my haunting spirit needs to have escape vacations time to time – and now I just needed to settle down.

And that is what I did.

I only could accept things as they are right now. I could surrender.

And we did found a short cut: we bought a cabin one hour away from Helsinki. We can travel there and everyone can have a little sense of holiday. Yep, we start to remind of a middle class family in high sense. Well, that’s life. Kind of typical family life.

The birth of the second baby also changes family dynamics. The newcomer is probably quite different than the firstborn. Of course you shouldn’t compare them, but that’s what the mind unintentionally does. Then there is the relationship between the siblings, the jealousy of the firstborn, the attention-seeking and then constant need the parent to be present for the both of them. That new situations requires from parents situational awareness, a little knowledge of educational psychology and patience.

At first, our girl seemed ok after the birth of her brother. She began to experience symptoms as we switched the kindergarten to French play school and at the same time our son began to move more. There were pushing, taking toys from the hand – totally normal stuff when siblings build they relationship, but still: it felt bad. After all, quite often, the firstborn needed more attention from the parent. So I tried to give her more attention and bring her more to participate to take care of her brother. Now when our boy is one year old, they have started to build kind of nice relationship between them and they play together.

However, our family wellbeing were most affected by our baby’s sleeping and eating difficulties. Our son woke up dozens of times a night. He ate badly and was crying a lot. Except my mother (who lives 600 kilometers away), we didn’t have any support net in Helsinki. We were constantly tired.

But as I said earlier: this is just a temporary thing: it will not last forever. I didn’t for us too. When the baby year were over, our boy started to eat and sleep better. It was like an over-night magic, but it happened.

The change is continuous, and this was a very comforting knowledge for me in the baby year.

Third insight into the (second) baby year: Children forces you to settle down.

With our first-born we were on the move all the time, but after the birth of the second baby we needed to stop and build our roots somewhere.

Ok, of course there are adventurous families who sell their possessions and go around the world with their children and pets (sometimes my gypsy spirit dreams about this too), but for many us more kids means settling in (boring) routines. I remember being horrified when some of my mother friends followed stick daytime routines with their kids. We only could have lunch in a fixed hour, then where the nap time, not doing this or that – God, it sounded, really complicated to me. But before I realized, I become that person. I understood, that routines are sacred – you don’t mess with them. I mean, that is how you keep the family life nice and happy.

After becoming a mother of two I have received quite a few life lessons. I have learned to schedule my days better, be more effective and, above all, I have learned to be more patience. I have grown to be an iron lady who stays calm when the children start to scream in a super market and there is a long queue behind me, when a table crashes in a coffee shop, or someone pees on my lap or in the bed. I have learned to tolerate the chaos around me, and be gentle to myself.

I know this is a short and a bit tricky moment in our life when the kids are little. I am sure later on I will look back this time of my life feeling nostalgic. For I know I am lucky to have these two healthy kids and a husband that supports me.

Our life is not a beautifully composed home play, that we play on Instagram, it is a family story about sticky fingerprints, laughter, screaming, noises inside the walls of our imperfect home. That’s us. That is the life of two adults, two kids and a cat.

So conclusions on life with two kids now when the baby year is over: yes it is tricky and it does change things, but finally in a good way. I even got myself thinking: if we managed with these two, how about third one then?

Well, maybe not now.

Read more:

Should we have another baby?

Nothing is permanent expect change

The second baby

good life

New routines

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This year I made a couple of New Year’s resolutions. Usually I don’t make them, because I tend to forget them by Easter. Anyway, now  I decided to make some moderate New Year’s resolutions that fits in my busy family life and makes my everyday life a tiny bit better.

First: I started to go a latin dance class. The last couple of years I have only do yoga and meditation practices, and I hardly went to running or a gym. I noticed that my body needs more active movements, too. I start to wonder, what kind of sport I would like to do, and the answer was clear: I wanted to dance.

Last fall I went to a mum-baby latin dance class, and really enjoyed going there. So I decided to continue my latin dance class as a solo, and it has been one of the best gifts to my body and soul that I could imagine to give in this present moment.

My second decision is about adding the conscious practice of positive thinking in my everyday life. I tend to stress a lot, and often in the morning I wake up feeling anxious knowing really why.Regular meditation practices have shaped my life attitude in a positive way, but I needed to start document my journeys. I don’t have time to write long episodes of my day in a diary, so what I did was this: I bought a calendar where I write down before bedtime at least three thinks of that day that made me happy or that I was content. This is how I end the day with good things.

I have to admit, that some days it is difficult to find positive things to write about. When the children and I get sick, I haven’t have a good night sleep, the organic rubbish bag breaks down in the elevator and the cat pees in the center of the bed, well, in those marvelous days it is difficult to look for the bright side, but I try anyway. In those days my notes are something like this: a good cup of coffee, a conversation with a friend and remark that I managed to survive through the day with humor.  Then there are days when the position of the stars are favorable and it is easy to make a long list of the good things.

Anyway, it has been essential to realize that there are good things that happens to me every single day! And it is important to stop recognizing them – especially at this challenging stage in my life as a mother of two young children. Another insight is that with my own attitude towards the events of the day I can make a huge impact how I am responding to them.

Together with my meditation practice I have noticed, that I feel more positive about my life and the future. And it is nice to notice afterwards, as I browse through my notebook, that my life seems – well, not perfect, but not so bad either.  For me that positivity calendar is one of my self-care method tools, which proofs me that good things happens around me every day and left me feeling grateful about the life I have been given and all the small details in it.

My third promise is about to start to save money. I’ve always been a really bad saver, and as a low-income entrepreneur after obligatory payments I don’t have much money to put aside. As an optimistic spirit I set myself a goal to have 3000 euros in my saving account by the end of the year. Currently, my saving account balance is 400 euros.

So, how am I going to save money?

Well, my plan is to pay attention our grocery shopping. When you go to supermarket often, you tend to buy more things that you actually need. Also, I am going to reduce purchases from flea markets. I have a bad habit to go every week to a couple of flea markets that are just ear by our home. The third plan is to sell old clothes.

It is too early to say if I keep my promises or not, but I feel ambitious, and I am dedicated to them. Of course there can be breaks, that is normal, the important part is to go back to the new routines and not to give up. And why would I give up, since the new habits are making me happy and my life a bit better?

I will keep posting on my new routines during the year, meanwhile I put my dance shoes on and see the life through pink lenses and start to be a saver lady.

 

Read more:

Should we have another baby?

Nothing is permanent expect change

Dream on my dear

Lifestyle

zero waste home

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We have been living in our current apartment now a one year. Those who have followed me on Instagram or this blog know, that we moved last September from Spain to Finland, and we hardly bring anything with us. Instead of buying everything in new, we decided to go zero waste and buy furniture and stuff from flea markets. Some of the furniture we even found on the streets or got free from our friends.

Now we have lived in this so called zero waste home life one year, and I would like to examine a bit closer our decoration project and write about our experiences so far.

So lets start.

I have to admit, that zero waste home hasn’t been that easy project. As an aesthetic person it would be nice, if our furniture goes well together and the decoration would build a harmonic combination. If that would be the case, we would wait even longer to decorate our place.

So the first thing that this zero waste lifestyle has taught me is to be patience. To look for a perfect armchair or sofa can take years, and when you look for those items from flea markets it isn’t that easy task: You need to go hunting often and then I guess, there is a question how lucky you are. I have learned, that if you find something that you fell in love right to way, reserve or buy it – you might not get a second chance. I have learned that lesson well!

Then again, when you find that perfect item after a long hunting period, it is a feeling of pure happiness. We got out kitchen table from free from a friend of mine. It wasn’t in a good condition, but we decided that we would manage for an instant. Then a year later we found that perfect, wooden round table from the 60s, the one, which goes perfectly in our tiny kitchen place. Everyday I am happy to see it! This is also a lesson: you don’t need to get everything ready or the perfect decoration done right away – it is better to wait and see – get to know your place and figure out what will work there.

Also, I have learned to follow the zero waste principle number one: refuse. If we don’t find that beautiful and functional bookshelf, we try to be without and find other, creative solutions. It is better to be without and wait for the right one than get something that you will throw away in a year or so.

The one thing that I have learned too, is to get use to imperfect and in progress situations. Lets face it: decoration a home is a long, long project – in the meanwhile you have to get comfortable with unfinished situations and find peace with that. Of course there are moments that I feel envy of my friends perfect natural white-wooden-decoration, but then I need to remind myself, that as a working mother the decoration project isn’t that high in my list and with time everything will be ready someday.

Yes, there might be a little mix-match-decoration in our place, but when I look around, well, it isn’t that bad. We have found nice things, we have a comfortable armchair, which in my dream life I can sit down to read a book (for instant I just watch the kids play). We have decorate with warm colors to get that cozy atmosphere. Most of all I see life, a family life around me and lots of joy in here – and isn’t those the things that you can’t buy?  And lets not forget our carbon footprint and the good we try to do to our planet – with that the decoration goes second.

 

Read more:

Zero waste lifestyle on the road

2019 – make it a year of sustainability

Home sweet home

 

Travel

Summertime in Finland

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In May I was all about going somewhere, but now when the summertime started in Finland, I am more than happy that I can spend the whole month in here. The landscape is absolutely amazing this time of the year – all these greens and blues, talking about all the wild growing flowers, that makes the nature look like s candy shop.

So lets talk about summer life in Finland. It is true that during the summer we Finns are more vivid than in other seasons. It is logical, of course, but still: to see all these smiling people when the sun is shining, and you can spend most of the day outdoors, well it changes everything after the heavy and dark season.

For me and my family, I want to spend as much time as possible in my hometown in North, In Raahe. The summer life is so easy in a small town: every action is framed by simplicity. You don’t have to wait in a line, the grocery shop is near and cafés too. And the sea – only a couple of minutes ride a bike and you see it, you smell it. Also, there are a lot of summer activities in small places during holiday season, and normally they are not far away and over booked (so it easy to make last minute plans).

But of course there is something else, why I love spent time in Raahe: my roots are here. This is where I grow up. Everywhere in this environment there are hidden notes that whispers: do you remember this? Of course I do. I remember when I took this same road to my grandmother’s place (where my mother is living now), the hours that I spend in my local library or the café that we used to buy cinnamon rolls with my mother.

Now I get to share all this with my kids. I get them to create roots here, too. My daughter is playing at the same playground where are used to play when I was little girl.  During the nighttime I read her same books that my mother did when I was young. She even found a drawing that I have done one of my old books.

The roots are important; they make you feel home and sense of being grounded somewhere. I love the idea that kind of way my kids are making their own paths here, memory marks that they hopefully remember later on in their lives.

Well, at least I keep repeating some paths that hopefully my kids will remember (even if later on we live some other country…)

So this is what I want my kids to adapt from the Finnish summer…

That we always traveled by train to North, and they remember how the landscape changes from south to north.

That summer meant a visit to my mother’s place.

That we went to have a picnic near by the sea in Mikonkari and picked up flowers.

That we took the bikes and just kept on riding. (I love the idea how easy it is to ride a bike in Finland, there are hardly any traffic in a small place and the roads are good.)

That we went to buy ice cream again and again. (Did you know that during the summer there a huge selection of different kind of ice creams at grocery shops? And those ice cream kiosk you can find everywhere.)

That we made a strawberry cake from the Finnish strawberries (it is a tradition).

That we went to have a walk in a forest.

That we did day trips near by.

Also, I hope my kids remember that we, parents, were relaxed and present with them. (And we had time to read and drink coffee on the terrace, and maybe even have a date night too.)

I hope they remember feeling happy and relaxed during the summer. ( I am sure I get opinion about this one day.

So above all this is what our summers are made of in Raahe. Of course we go sauna and swimming (if the water is not too cold, most of the time it is for me at least. I am not going to lie about this.)

Now, excuse me, there are little girl waiting for me to go and buy an ice cream for her. In this moment I couldn’t find a better excuse to close my computer.

Read more:

What I wore this summer

The summer when I get hooked

Summer life in Brittany

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travel

Aftermath: a perfect holiday

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You might call the holiday to be successful when you return home feeling a bit blue. At least my husband says it’s like that. Me, I began to suspect if the midlife crisis start to hit already?!

Anyway, many of us have a summer vacation waiting around the corner, so let’s talk about a vacation and a successful one.

For us, the Italian road trip was a success. This I can feel in my bones and pants tighten at the waist. At home I have listened songs that I heard from a Italian radio station while we were on the road. Also, limoncello bottle is waiting to be opened and a couple of new souvenir magnets from Italy have appeared on the fridge door. Perfect holiday always creates some sort of post-holiday spirit that you want maintain as long as possible.

Also, this goes with the style, too. The Italian ladies – how good dressers they are! It is like looking a fashion show. Have you noticed? They wear colors, patterns and lots of accessories and they have this kind of high level sense of style and how to mix all these things together. I just love all the colors and feminine style that they wear! I want to copy it, too! So my high promise for this summer is to wear more accessories and high heels – I have got a way too comfortable by wearing sneakers all the time.

What I learned from this trip is, that the holiday is more pleasant for everyone, when you don’t set a tight schedule. We improvised the whole Italian trip with the children (yes, it is possible). Often we didn’t even know where are we going to go next day. This brought us a great deal of freedom and we could, for example, change the city if the weather was bad. Our travel would have been more stressful, if we had booked all the hotels in advance and that had created the atmosphere to run to the next stop. I believe that our holiday got a very different feeling when only the first night was booked in advance and then we jus let the holiday roll at its own style and speed.

Remember also, that you don’t have to see everything what your holiday destination is offering. Leave something for the next time. This time we didn’t even try to get in to the touristic places (the tower of Pisa we saw on the rain, so there weren’t that much people). Instead, we ate well and enjoyed the atmosphere of each city in our own way. For example, in picturesque Verona, we had lunch in a quiet side street restaurant, and this is what I will always remember of this place. Also, it was enough this time. We can always return to Verona some other time.

If possible, travel outside the tourist season. In July and August, the rest of Europe is so overbooked that I avoid traveling during that period. The end of May was a great time to visit northern Italy: it wasn’t too hot, you could book hotels on the same day in a good price and the traditional touristic destinations weren’t full of people.

Lets get back to beginning…like I wrote, a perfect holiday brings also its downsides:it is more likely to be followed by a post-holiday melancholy. Normally, like in my case, it doesn’t last long time. (Daily routines and busy family life doesn’t leave a huge gap to feel blue.)

Thought, the post-holiday blues is not always tied to the destination or the sun, it is tied to you and that big or small change that you have experienced during the holiday. It is true, that we always return home a little bit different version of ourselves than we left. After all, we return home filled with experiences and new memories. One kind of return home with an updated version of ourselves, and that makes it a bit difficult to return to our “old” life.

Luckily, the summer season is about to start and all those adventures are waiting in a corner, and that makes everything a bit softer. And maybe, I just say “maybe”, but who knows we are going to return on the road again in September after tourists are gone. Before that, I’ll put on my fruit-patterned skirt that I found from a vintage store in Milan and start to use those heels again – some things you can always copy and bring home – if you try to look at the bright sights.

Read more:

Get together

Barcelona vs. Paris

The summer when I got hooked

 

 

 

 

 

Sustainable Fashion

Part I: 10 tips how to create more sustainable wardrobe and change your shopping habits

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I decided to start a new serie that concentrate on sustainable fashion and how to build a more sustainable closet. In the first part, I share tips on how you can control your purchasing habits and how to take the first steps towards a more responsible lifestyle of dressing.

1. Go back to your own wardrobe! This is what I always do when I get excited about some new style that I have seen on magazine. I avoid buying new clothes and I try to use my wardrobe as a source of inspiration to create that wanted style. This has made me a bit more creative dresser.

2. Give up of buying new clothes because it is the new season. Think differently and invest only clothes that last long time, from season after season. Today trends changes so fast that you are always a bit behind if you choose to follow this path. Also, for me, it seems a bit ridicule in this IG era that, when some new trend hits from catwalk to everyday style you can see copy of it everywhere  – and there is nothing personal about it.

3. When you buy new clothes try to think it as an investment: consider, compare and try! Avoid impulsive shopping unless it is a love at first sight! In a couple years now I have noticed that my shopping habit have changed a lot: actually I never go shopping. And when I decided to invest some quality garment I try it on several time before I buy it. And if it is not there anymore, well, it wasn’t for me anyway.

4. Favor clothing brands that respect ecological and ethical values. When ecological and ethical values ​​are important to the company, they are visible on the company’s website. You can view the responsibility of the clothing brands and the degree of their transparency on this website: Rank a brand.

5. Make up at least five sets of clothes that you can combine the new garment, and make sure you actually are going to wear that new piece of clothing. For example, if your calendar is not filled with representation and festive occasions, it is pointless to fill the wardrobe with fancy clothes that you hardly wear.

6. Extend the life cycle of the garment. This is one of our most important tasks as a wearer! One way to extend the life of a garment is to buy clothes used from second hand markets. I dare to claim that I purchased about 90% of my clothes for my children and myself from flea markets (In Finland the second hand market system is very functional). While extending the life cycle of clothing, I also save a lot of money. Let’s take an example. In high street stores, a new baby body costs around 10-15 euros. Then, when I want to sell it, I can ask for it only a few euros. So I lose a lot. When I buy used, I can sell it at almost the same purchase price. Yes, that’s how the economy stays in shape!

7. Think quality over quantity. When you buy new or old clothes, feel the material of the garment, check its details and seams, and look at the washing instructions. Learn how to take care of your clothes! Favor natural materials that are really comfortable to wear and they last long time in use. Thought, with new cotton clothes I would be careful, because making a cotton wool consumes a lot natural resources that, for example, there is no excuse to buy new pair of jeans every year. For me, I try to buy cotton clothes as used.

8. Try a shopping diet! The shopping diet is a good habit to change your shopping habit and learn how you usually act. You don’t need to start a radical diet over a year, but try just for a couple of months – and you will see, that your consumer habits have changed. For me it works, that I write down every garment that I buy on my accounting and calculate after every month how much money I have spend on new and used clothes. And every month I want to be wiser and save more money. Actually I started to but more money on my saving account.  So shopping diet can actually help your mind function better and clearer and you will save money, too.

9. Borrow and lend. The clothing rental model is still taking baby steps, but in the future it will become more popular. More information where you can rent clothes you can find for example here. Also, think if you could lend your clothes to your friends, co-workers or neighbors.

10. Avoid going clothing stores – out of sight, out of the way (and from your mind).

Rear more:

This is how you beat the wardrobe crisis

Wardrobe analyze – and how to extend life of clothes

Recycle, get rid of stuff and set yourself free

6 reasons why you should buy reused garments

Lifestyle

Should we have another baby?

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This weekend we celebrate mothers, so I decided to write about how is life with two children and being a mum.

I am sure many of you parents think about the question “should we have another baby?” And: “when is the good time?”

For us, our second baby came by accident. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted another child. We started to get in that comfortable zone with our first one and we wondered if we had the energy to start all over again.

Well, we didn’t need to think a long time when I got pregnant after beautiful wedding we were adding near Paris, in an old castle. Everything was so perfect in that moment, that no wonder I got pregnant.

And I am so happy, that things went as they did, and we had this beautiful, smiling baby boy.

In general, in life, I have started to believe even more, that things go as they are intented.

Also, I have find out, that the baby year seems much easier than it did with the first one.  Of course it depends how the baby is, but for me, the idea that I am already a mother makes everything so much easier. I have that silent confident that effect of course to my baby, too. I also feel more calm and relaxed.

Also, I have made a peace with that, that I am not a perfect mother, but I try to do the best I can.

So to have a second child, for me (so far) it has been a beautiful thing, it is incredible how you can share love, and how the feeling of being a family strengthen.

Of course there are downsides. You are busier than ever. And the relationship time is so limit, that you can only dream of it. I totally understand that many couples separate when the children are small, because it is hard at times, and there a much more fights than there used to have before kids. I have accepted that this is normal, and for us, it is important that we can always kiss and make up, solve things out, love and try to find solution.

The one thing that you should realize is, that mostly the fights start because both of you are tired, or you just need to have quality time together. To this conclusion I have come to.

To sneak beak how the life is with little children, I made a list of things that I have noticed so far…

This is how you recognize that you are mother of small children, when…

You don’t have a boring moment in your life, or you don’t know what to do next.

There is always someone in your lap.

Someone is always hungry.

The laundry basket fills in a day.

In wintertime (in Finland) dressing up the children demands tears, negotiation and sweat. (You are lucky if you live in a warmer country!)

You know if someone is saying that the family life is easy, that she/he is lying, or the family has a 24/7 extra help.

You have started to forget things.

You have become a talent of multitasking.

You are more effective than ever!

You know that family holidays means a working camp – not a holiday!

Diseases circulate in the whole family.

You don’t remember when was the last time you slept seven hours a round.

The only thing that you dream of is a good night sleep and sleeping alone.

A playground is your second living room.

You are sorting small clothes to give away and updating kids wardrobe all the time.

When you are having girls’ night out, you don’t want to talk about children.

And after everything, you feel so grateful of these small wonders, and lucky that you are still married.

Love, it makes everything better.

So congratulations to you, mother. You know you are doing a great job!

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

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The story of four eggs

The second baby

When having a party

Travel

Get together!

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During our trip to Barcelona region, we saw our friends every day. We were so on the road all the time, that the Finn in me needed one day off to be in peace. To the contrast of our life in Finland, during our 10 days trip to Catalonia we saw more friends than in the last eight months time in Finland. And this: seeing friends as a family I have missed.

Our old neighbors invited us with open arms to have lunch, dinner and afternoon café with them. I felt like we were old members of the family. It touched me. And when I walked in our village in Alella, I felt for a moment that I was still living there. When I saw our old neighbor spontaneously on the street, bought chocolate croissants from our favorite bakery or bought bottle of white wine from a wine shop, it seemed so normal, that I could have just return back to my old life. And at the same time it felt like I was watching an old movie. From the car where Melodia FM was played in the background, I watched the breathtaking views over the village, in my mind I marked all the familiar spots: here we drank our first glasses of cava and there our daughter went to nursery. And here: here was our home. We stopped the car and I wanted to look closely our past. Our Frida Kahlo house seemed empty and some how abandoned (maybe the new owners were waiting for the renovation permit?) I did felt pain in my heart, but I understood that it was best solution to give up on this house and its huge renovation project, but to give up on this lifestyle? I am not so sure.

When you have lived five years abroad, it is not easy to fit back in Finland – during our time in Helsinki, I have come to realize this. But as I get older I have accepted that in me beside my Finnish roots I carry with me a bit of France and Spain, and this is why at times I miss to be in my other homes and the everyday joie de vivre. Luckily summer is coming here in north too (thought today it was snowing) and we Finns start to socialize more.  Friends, watch out, I will send you invitation soon. It is time to get together!

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Next destination: Lanzarote

Summer life in Brittany

First family travel

Travel

A postcard from Spain

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After spending eight months in Finland, it was about a time to have a little break. We decided to come for a holiday near to our old home area in Barcelona region. In so many ways this holiday was so needed.

The first thing that I noticed, when we landed to the Barcelona airport, was the feeling of relief. It was like a stone was removed from my shoulders. I didn’t even realize that I had felt so stressed out.

The other thing that I started to wonder was, if we are really enjoying our every day life in Finland. Don’t get me wrong. I think we are fine in Helsinki. My intention has been to try to live in a slow fashion, but that is the thing: we try to live in a slow fashion. It is not in our genes and we need to pay attention to it, but here the slow living ideology happens kind of naturally.

In the first couple of days I stressed about work and how I managed to combine work and family life in the upcoming weeks, but in few days I was so into this lifestyle, that I totally forget to feel stress about anything. Also, I took all the misfortunes that happened to us, like that someone break in to our rental car and broke the window and other adversities, kind of in a softer way than usually. It is like this time I really believe the saying: “Everything will work out just fine”.

Also, at first I was annoyed by the slow service, but then I started to question: why are we always just in a hurry? In Premia de Mar, in this lovely church plaza that I went to drink my daily cappuccino, and it was always served so hot that you need to wait a while before you can start drink it — it took me a couple of days to understood that this is how it should be: you should enjoy this moment – not to be in a hurry! A lesson to learn again, I guess.

Above all this holiday has taught me more about the sweet art of slow life. From an experience I know that you cannot transform the southern lifestyle to the north, but I hope I can bring a just tiny bit of it to our every day life.

Or we just need to come back here soon.

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Zero Waste lifestyle on the road

A different kind of weekend in Tallinn

For more sustainable and balanced living

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