So today’s the day for barnbidrag (monthly child allowance from the government — all families with children receive this stipend, regardless of their income), which means that it’s also allowance day for Lydia. It’s come to my attention recently that there’s a fairly considerable disparity between Lydia’s allowance and her peers’ allowances, and I’m a… Read More Show me the money

It’s bright and sunshine-y today and there’s talk of the temperature reaching 10°C, which is a strange contrast to the blizzard-like conditions and the three or four inches of new snow we got last night. One thing’s for certain — it’ll be plenty wet out there today. In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day* Olof… Read More The Wearin’ o’ the Green, or something

I am about ready to kill my dogs, especially Mette! Tage just went down for his nap, and for some reason the dogs have chosen right now to go into a barking frenzy. They barked like crazy at Lydia when she came home from school, and now they’re standing at the window in the living… Read More Book Talk

The weekend seemed to fly by, although that’s not as much a problem for me as it was in the days when I was gainfully employed. I’ve been thinking about that lately, about how it would be if I ever had an outside job again and had to start following the work-week schedule. I don’t… Read More Monday

Lydia does say the most profound things sometimes. Tage has been driving her crazy for quite a while, wanting to get in her stuff all the time and to do the same things she’s doing. I was trying to help her feel better, saying, “he just wants to be like you because he thinks you’re… Read More Things a Mother Hopes

I took Tage to öppna förskolan for the first time this morning. For those who aren’t familiar with all things Swedish, öppna förskolan is “open pre-school,” where parents can go with their kids and hang out with other moms (or dads) while the kids play. I think it’s as much or more for the parents… Read More Fun and Games

I’m participating in a year-long “secret sister” exchange with some friends on another website, and I’m so afraid I’m going to inadvertantly reveal myself. I really want to be able to keep the secret until Christmas (the agreed-upon reveal date), but it’s so hard not to make a mistake that will give me away. I’m… Read More This and That

It’s another gorgeous day in northern Sweden. Blue skies, sunshine, the works. If it weren’t for the mountains of snow outside, I might actually be fooled into thinking spring was on the way. We made a quick trip out to Överskottsbolaget (an over-stock store) late this morning. We usually go there once or twice a… Read More Saturday

In an hour or so, Olof’s mom is coming over to stay with the kids while Olof and I drive to town to go to a movie. I think this will be only the second time that the two of us have seen a movie by ourselves. We’ll be seeing Scary Movie 3, which I… Read More Date night

Oh my god, Tage just gave me a total heart attack. He was sitting in his high chair eating supper and I was sitting here at the computer, less than six feet from him but with my back to him. Suddenly it struck me that he was being unusually quiet, so I turned to look… Read More A little fright