Learnings from a 4-Year-Old

This year our summer holidays once again saw us soak up the sun and a controlled amount of ice cream by Italy's ever gorgeous Lake Garda.

One evening we decided to go into town for dinner and as the temperature had dropped to under 30 degrees for the first time in over a week, we each took an extra top with us. 

Paul had chosen a hoodie for Stefan, and for a reason still unknown to me, this hoodie was tied loosely around Stefan's head in the soon to become fashionable 'turban' style.

I thought Stefan would want to take it off within a minute or two, but no. He kept it on only to have it readjusted a few times during the walk to town, during dinner, and during the walk back to the hotel. And he even decided to pose for pictures (taken by us, not by strangers). 

A couple of times I saw him shake his head from side to side to let the sleeves move around in a pendular motion. 

With this headgear on, he proceeded to burn off enough energy to light up a small town by running around benches, trees, groups of people,  anything on the way that could increase the length of the walk. At some point he raced past an elderly Italian couple who turned around and exclaimed 'bello!' to the dust behind Stefan. 

We asked him a few times, if he didn't want us to take the hoodie and put it in the rucksack, but no, only when we were back at the hotel, did he take it off.

I loved how Stefan was totally unbothered by the looks he received and look forward to more similar episodes in the future. 

Lesson learnt: Who cares what other people think if you don't hurt anyone and have fun! (And in this case might even have started a new trend.)

Future profession suggestions: Conductor; DJ; yoga teacher...

'Daddy, could you please remove the pebble from my shoe?'

'Oy, waiter, please ask the group of people next to us to cut it out and stop practising the 'Cup Song' with glasses on a wooden table.'

Summer

then

hiding in the darkness

behind closed doors

despising the heat

now

protecting eyes and body

behind sun glasses and sun cream

embracing the warmth

always eating ice cream 

Pear, Feta, Red Pepper Salad with Lemon Ice Cube

This salad is my own invention - at least as much as I haven't seen a recipe for it anywhere. It's oh so simple to make but surprisingly delicious. My party trick here is to add an ice cube of lemon juice and leave it to melt a bit before tucking into it. Keeps the salad fresh and cold.

My own invention. Please note the lack of pointless lettuce.

Sleep

Instead of making New Year's resolutions, two friends and I have decided to each come up with a word or term which describes an area of our lives that we would like to improve on during 2017.

My word is: Sleep.

Even before Stefan was born, my nightly sleep was all over the place. I had huge problems falling asleep, would wake up several times a night and every night, I would eat something. Sweet. No wonder I always grabbed the opportunity to take a nap (which might account for me being a student for six years before getting a full-time job...)

The main symptom of my post-natal depression was my insomnia. I had plenty of opportunity to sleep as Paul got up most nights to deal with Stefan, when it was obvious that I was struggling, but I couldn't fall asleep. And when I finally did, I only slept for two hours max, before waking up again and then being unable to go back to sleep again.

This vicious circle was finally broken during my stay at the hospital and I am ever so grateful to the medical staff for letting me sleep as much as I could the first week of my stay.

My ability to fall asleep and sleep quality have greatly improved over the past two years. BUT, I still have a pretty crazy sleeping pattern, which is what I want to change this year.

Basically, I go to sleep between 22.30-24.00 and then get up between 06.30-08.00 (Paul usually takes Stefan to the Krippe in the morning, I then pick him up in the afternoon.) This doesn't mean, however, that I get my recommended seven to eight hours' sleep every night due to the fact that I usually wake up two to three times to go to the toilet, often stay up for an hour to read (the hour between 03.00-04.00 is my preferred one), and most worryingly, regularly eat a LOT of chocolate. (On top of that, Stefan occasionally comes to sleep in my bed which also wakes me up. But I kind of like having him snuggle up next to me as long as he keeps his feet away from my face.)

Consequently, I take a nap lasting from one to two hours most afternoons and feel sluggish for at least one hour afterwards. This adds up to a lot of wasted hours during the week, month and year. And this has to change!

(NOTE: One of the luxuries of having a three bedroom flat is that we all have a bedroom each. Paul and I are one of those couples that don't share a bed as then neither of us would ever get a good night's sleep.)

Hence, in 2017 I want to focus on getting a normal sleeping rhythm going and this is how:

• Be in bed and ready to sleep by 23.00
• Getting up no later than 07.30
• No eating during the night
• No reading during the night
• No napping during the day

What would you like to change this year and how will you go about doing it?

I'd love to hear from you! 

Happy 2017!

Oatmeal Rolls

I wanted to make these rolls for a while as I liked the fact that they contained cardamom which I love! The recipe is from a Danish magazine.

I thought this set-up looked very professional - 

I didn't really use the wooden spoon much - it's more there as a prop.

The first batch - the second one is in the oven at this point.

These rolls were easy to do and I liked the consistency of them. The next time I bake them, I will add more cardamom. They freeze and defrost well.

Traditional Bolognese Sauce with Pasta / Spaghetti

This dish our weekly and freezer-stable. Either Paul or I made a batch once a week, have a portion on the day and then freeze the rest. That's how you realise you're a parent and have turned domesticated. But in the best possible way. The recipe is one Paul has picked up from some REAL ITALIANS that he house-shared with at university. So it's as authentic as it can possibly be. It's really very yummy and incredibly quick and easy to make.

A+ for presentation.

Speaking Danish and Monkey Tummy Land

At the beginning of this month, our little family visited my parents, brother, his wife and daughter in Denmark. Not Copenhagen, but the part that sticks up from Germany. In order to get there, we first flew to Amsterdam from Zürich and then from Amsterdam to Billund (where the  FIRST and ORIGINAL Legoland is). My parents live twenty minutes' drive from Billund in a place even people in Denmark have only heard about, if they either come from there or have had an unhealthy relationship with the law.

The weekend was all about the children, so we spent most of the time in Lalandia  - or more correctly, in Monky Tonky Land (Stefan: 'Daddy, I like Monkey Tummy Land!') among over-excited children and exhausted-looking parents. Considering the chaotic nature of the place (imagine loads of padded cells of various sizes containing either soft gigantic lego blocks; slides; colourful balls; child friendly assault courses; trampolines etc.) there were surprisingly few tears. And, I realised something totally amazing: If an unruly child even looked at Stefan the wrong way, I could tell him/her off! And they would understand me!

That's one thing, both Paul and I have discovered about living in Switzerland with a child: It doesn't matter if you speak some German when it comes to children if they only speak Swiss-German. They just give you a pretty puzzling look, when you begin a sentence directed at them with: 'Können Sie bitte Hochdeutsch sprechen? Ich möchte Sie gerne tell you off.' (It's SO much easier to use the formal 'Sie' than the informal 'Du' grammar-wise...) So the couple of times, a child has dared to be in Stefan's way, I've done variations of shouting: 'Oi! Achtung bitte!' and giving out the death-stare.

Not only are the Danish the, apparently, happiest people around, Danish children might also be the best behaved, as I didn't get to raise my voice at someone in my mother-tongue.

Which could have been a blessing in disguise...

During a conversation with my sister-in-law, who's originally from Ukraine but speaks fluent Danish, she said something which just didn't make sense to me. I understood all the words but not the meaning of the sentence. Apparently, this was some newfangled Danish slang and her comment to my bafflement was: 'Karen, I speak better Danish than you now!' Which is evidently true.

Luckily, Stefan impressed with his Danish speaking and comprehension skills.

Paparazzi moment by the slides.

In order to get this very rare incident on camera (both cousins in the same picture) my mum and I displayed our, very well-developed it turned out, paparazzi skills. When we saw that Stefan and Marie were likely to go down the same slide, we basically pushed away anyone who could potentially ruin the shot with the shouty explanation: 'They're cousins. We've never seen them go down a slide together at the same time before.' Because that makes such a slightly manic behaviour totally acceptable - and a lot of sense. But as you can see, we got the picture. And what a fine one. It's Stefan on the left (this is how they do it in Zürich), and Marie on the right.


Enjoy this longer than usual weekend.