Little Scandinavian » Family & Life

Shelter in a cardboard castle on a rainy day

Scandinavian mum — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:19:53 +0000

With inset day at school Little A were able to enjoy an extra day off school. A bicycling trip to the nearby park was quickly postponed with the stormy weather outside (haul as we speak!) so she’s chosen to seek shelter in her giant card board castle instead. The gorgeous castle, bought at the lovely Aravore shop in Crouch End, can be painted and decorated after taste and imagination -and of course recycled when served its purpose. Little A’s wearing GAP blouse , Lilli & Leopold merino wool leggings and H&M hairband.

© Little Scandinavian

If you don’t happen to have a cardboard castle at home, check out our article on what to do with kids on a rainy day.

December in London

Scandinavian mum — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:22:59 +0000

It’s been an unusual mild December, compared to our previous years in the capital. With 12 degrees plus, flowers blooming and birds singing it’s very little that’s reminded us of December. We hope January will bring us some minus degrees, lots of twirling magical snowflakes and a bit of winter joy. Until then…

Little A doesn’t necessarily choose the simplest routes when out & about. Snug and warm in her fleece from Isbjorn of Sweden. Loving the wildlife in London.

A Scandinavian Christmas home

Scandinavian mum — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:24:44 +0000

A Swedish magazine recently featured a Scandinavian family home, all ready for Christmas. The article “Decorating with vintage” in Lantliv presents the art of combining new and vintage, creating that perfect less is more Scandi Chic style. This home belongs to creative couple Mille and Christian Gyldenfeldt both working within fashion and design (HTM Group and Noa Noa). They live together with their daughters Esther 4 and Gertrud 1 in Denmark, with a home in Copenhagen and a country house in Rågeleje.

© Lantliv

Via the Norwegian blog Kjerstis Lykke -also worth visiting if you like Scandinavian interior and family lifestyle.

Time4You -the Little Scandinavian way

Scandinavian mum — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:08:06 +0000

What do you do when it’s time for you? Time out and time away from being a mum. Time for you and your partner to have some careless, relaxing and good quality time! The blogger Southrivermum challenged me to share; “Yes, just your partner, getting to know him again after the madness of colic, sleepless nights (and not in a good way) and feeding schedules when all you wanted to do was slouch in front of the TV when you had any spare time. There comes a point when it’s actually time to take your head and body out of mummyville for a few hours and reconnect, relax and ideally have some fun with your other half.”

So what do we do in the Scandinavian home when we need some time for us?

Well first of all I have to say that we are way beyond the baby and sleepless night stage with our two girls already being 6 and 10 years old. Or maybe we are in a in-between sleepless nights stage as I’m sure it’s not long before they start hanging over at friends into the early hours… But for now they brush their teeth and say good night around 8ish leaving us with several hours of adult time every night. But even so it’s nice to do get a babysitter so that we can leave the house and just be us once in while.
One time friends came to stay and we went for a couple of nights to Paris. That was just amazing. 2 hours with the train and then you walk hand in hand down the cobbled streets of Saint German.
But we don’t have to go to Paris to feel that we have time for each other and time for nourishing the relationship. Having a babysitter to come over for the evening is fine too. The girls loves their babysitter and can’t wait for her to arrive (and us leave!?) So what do we do out? Dinner at friends, dinner at restaurants, parties and clubbing. It’s exhibitions and talks, fairs and events. Sometimes I wonder if the absolutely best time for us is when we on a rainy autumn day asks our neighbour to watch the girls for an hour, leaving the house hand in hand, walking through the misty woodlands whilst talking and ending up at our local pub with a crackling fireplace. Finishing a half pint of favourite beer before giggling deciding to have another before we disappear back into the night -happy and on our way home. Because sometimes less is more, with the simple things in life making us happy.

Let us know how you spend some quality time with your partner -and check out the other blogs talking about time4you!

Little B’s celebrating her first decade!

Scandinavian mum — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:14:54 +0000

Or so she told me before going to bed… It makes those 10 years sound even more unbelievable. We are planning to wake our Birthday girl up with song, cake and presents, followed by a nice family breakfast. The day is still fairly open, but exploring London together and enjoying Half Term is definitely on. Then a nice meal out in London City. Any recommendations are more than welcome, but Little B stated: No Italian and no pub food… Someone? A few pictures from our morning so far.

© Little Scandinavian

An everyday story from the playground

Scandinavian mum — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:23:35 +0000

We found a little note in Little A’s School bag last night, a small insight into her everyday life, from Bob the caretaker at her school.

Because big things happens on a daily basis in little people life’s.

It’s a boy!

Scandinavian mum — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:02:36 +0000

No, it’s not me this time. It’s my dear Norwegian friend and blogger Heidi. Heidi lives in Copenhagen with her husband Mr C and their cat, Leia. She’s blogging on I’m with Leia -a wonderful and a creative and handmade oases -now soon to venture into handmade and lovely stuff for your baby as she gave birth to a little baby boy this morning.
We’re so excited on her behalf and we think all you readers would love her modern retro approach to motherhood and nesting.
As a little welcome to the world we would like to give our virtual and inspirational best wishes.

First out, our favourite knitted quirky toys from the Copenhagen based design team LuckyBoySunday. This is the perfect gift to the newborn little baby; so soft to cuddle and with such high quality it will last like forever -and as a bonus it will be a stylish accessories to any family home.

© LuckyBoySunday by Little Scandinavian

Next up is Holly’s, born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2002 when Britt Bonnesen and Camilla Anderson decided to give the 70s four-leaf clover new life. It’s retro in the utterly most sweet way. This is essentials for your baby and child -growing up feeling comfortable and happy. A bodysuit is a must have for babies, choose your favourite clover print from a range of colours.

© Holly’s

We know that Heidi is a wiz with her hands and that she probably would make a pair of our next item up, over a cup of tea. But for us that are not so brilliant with our knitting pins there are still a way to provide our darling babies with these immensely sweet knitted baby booties in 100% alpaca. Esencia, again a Danish brand, and one of our favourite not only for their comfortable and lovely design but also for their innovative thinking on how to make itch free wool garments for children.

© Esencia

Denmark is known for being trend setters -also within kids fashion and design. There are some truly great stylists and illustrators around too. We love retrovilla.dk and rieeliselarsen.dk for inspiration and pure happiness.
And shopping! We must admit being slightly jealous. As a new mum Heidi gets to stroll the streets of Copenhagen with her newborn son and daily if she wants visit a range of lovely shops. But as many would know, time with little ones can be stressful. For those days where you just want to cuddle up in the sofa with a cup of tea whilst the baby sleeps, why not visit one of our favourite online stores, lillefigaro.dk which is well worth a visit for anyone with an interest into gorgeous children’s clothes and accessories.

We wish Heidi and Mr C all the best and we’ll be very excited to follow you in your upcoming journey into family life with your very own newborn Little Scandinavian.

Lots of love
theScandinavianMum at Little Scandinavian

A horse riding birthday party

Scandinavian mum — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:00:17 +0000

Little A was invited to a horse riding 7th Birthday party this weekend. We’ve had one too, when Little B turned 7 a few years back. We think it’s such a lovely party idea, with the children all engaging in grooming and horse riding together. Then it’s all ends with a lovely Birthday tea in the stables, in a private room. Here’s a few pictures of Little A enjoying her friends party.

© Little Scandinavian

Where: Trent Park Equestrian Centre, East Pole Farmhouse, Bramley Road, London N14 4UW, +44 (020) 8363 8630
Price: £25 per pony (shared by two children) and £7 per child for birthday tea. Cake and decoration can be brought in.

Remember, we’re still wondering what to do for Little B’s 10th Birthday. Please let us know if you have any ideas!

Wildflowers, Scandinavian style nursery in the UK

Scandinavian mum — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:00:36 +0000

Helena: I’m a Swedish mother who started Wildflowers Kindergartens six years ago in 2005. The pre-school is located in mid-Hampshire, between Winchester and Petersfield. It is based on the Scandinavian outdoor nursery model for early childhood education where children learn through exploration, movement, relationships, activities and out door play all year around.
Independent studies have shown that children educated in natural environments are healthier, have better balance and co-ordination, are more attentive and concentrate better, demonstrate more creativity and co-operation in their play, and develop more sophisticated uses of language, than children spending most of the time indoors and in the outdoor spaces of conventional early years settings.
In addition to the kindergarten Wildflowers also arrange playgroups, parent & child groups and holiday camps.

© Wildflowers Kindergartens

Both Little B and Little A went to a lovely nursery in Oslo for children 1 – 6 years. Most nurseries in Norway are non academic in the sense that the children do not learn how to read and write. What’s most important is to learn social skill and general awareness and to grow confidence and independence, so the children would be ready to start big school when they turn 6 years. In Scandinavia we think that being outdoors is an essential way to learn the most important skills for children.
Moving to the UK have in many ways been wonderful. However moving children from outdoor nurseries to indoor nurseries and schools with wet play have made me miss the Scandinavian way of doing it -learning by nature.

© Little Scandinavian

No school run?

Scandinavian mum — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 08:00:27 +0000

Back to school, and back to the school run. Or is it? One interesting read this week was the internet site by Living Street People and their campaign Walk to School, a national campaign launched in 1995 to encourage children to walk to school. They now have over 6,400 schools and 1.6 million children taking part.
What I found particular interesting was the organisation’s Living Streets position on walking to school without parents in England. Apparently there is no set age when a child is considered to be ready to walk to school independently. They say Parents should assess the risks associated with the school route and their own child’s confidence. Parents should work with children to build up their independence, while walking to school, through route finding, road safety skills and general awareness.

To be honest, I thought it was illegal for a primary school child to walk on their own. But it isn’t. A families’ guide to the law highlights a survey by Kidscape which found that most parents allowed children from age 9 to cross local roads independently. In Scandinavia most children walk on their own to school, from as early as 6-7 years. In other words, for me, walking our 10 year old 0.75 mile to our local school, only crossing one road seems a bit overprotective. We are now considering talking to her school about this matter and will clearly take their advice into account before deciding. But by law and recommendation, walking to school alone for Little B is a perfectly safe start on her independence.
I on the other hand still have some more years doing the school run with Little A age 6, but we can definitely start practicing route finding and road safety together.