3 Things That Make Sense in Scandinavia

Let's borrow these attitudes and lifestyle for an easier, happier & more balanced family life.

Hi new and old friends, greetings from Finland! 

We are now half way through our summer month in Scandinavia. I had been wondering how I would feel about Finland this time around: after living in the US for over 20 years, I moved my American husband and our three kids to Helsinki for 4.5 months last fall to experience the Nordic “happiness lifestyle”. 

I was wondering if I would feel the same ease, happiness and contentment I experienced then. I did! I have!

Why? Because so many things in the Scandinavian family life just make sense.

If you want to live a happy, content, balanced life, and give kids the opportunity to do the same, the Scandinavian type of lifestyle makes sense.

So, for this week’s newsletter, I’m taking you on photo journey through some of these moments—the “wow” moments where I really felt like “this is how it’s supposed to be”.  

These are the things that create the kind of happiness and balance that many people around the world just dream of or don’t even know exist—I forgot some of these too!—but they are right here, right at our fingertips, if we just create opportunities for them wherever in the world we are.

A note abut these photos: we came to Finland for a month this time, and rented the same apartment in the center of Helsinki where we stayed 4.5 months last fall. Our two oldest boys, 7.5 and 9, went to two different day camps for these first two weeks, and our youngest returned to his Finnish daycare—for Finnish language and culture immersion. Each weekend, we have met up with local friends for trips to the countryside archipelago, lakeside, and seaside. None of these moments were “staged”: these are real snapshots of real life, captured in the moment.  

1. No Toys, just Nature and Real Things. We didn’t bring any toys, and, I can’t believe it, but it’s been two weeks, and we haven’t needed any! Then we bought Jonas one little shovel, and one little truck. It has been really interesting parenting like a Finn on our summer afternoons: taking the kids just to play in nature or staying active outside. And playing with real things: their best experience was when one of our friends taught them how to drive a tractor, excavator and a car—on an island in a summer cottage.

2. Active outdoorsy things—with the whole family. Scandis have a somewhat relaxed attitude towards doing these little adventures (no age ban on little kids, and no need to sign your life away) so it’s easy to make them happen: it’s trusted you use your common sense!

3. Grown-up things combined with (wilder) kid things: Finland doesn’t have a nanny or babysitter culture, so families often go out all together. Kids are not expected to behave like adults in restaurants—like sit down through the whole meal. We had such a fun, relaxing dinner with Jonas playing in this restaurant’s sandbox for hours; and the bigger boys running and jumping in the rocks nearby—all by themselves, as happy as they could be.

   

   What do you think? Would this look like a fun summer for you? If so, tap the like button below! For me, when I experienced these attitudes and tried this lifestyle, it just makes sense and makes parenting and mom life more fun, relaxed and enjoyable.

x Annabella (join me on Insta for videos of our summer Scandi adventures)