Saturday, January 27, 2018

Things I Learned Traveling to Estonia Last Summer

1. If your kid gets invited on a summer travel adventure, figure out a way to tag along! (I was really just supposed to be the carrier pigeon of this operation, but I managed to get two weeks' worth of travel in before I came back and left Jack to finish the adventure without me.)

2. US playgrounds need to step up their game. Estonian parks and playgrounds are way cooler. Sure, a kid could fall off the Estonian swing and bust his head open, but Estonian kids must be pretty smart 'cause I never saw that happen.


Remember those big wooden hamster wheel things that they used to have at Papa's Pizza before they became "too dangerous" and were removed? At least you could climb out of those things! This one closes you in. I kept waiting for someone to get a nosebleed or take an elbow to the mouth when they all three got in it together, but all these kids got from this toy was a bunch of exercise. (This was actually in Finland.)


I really can't tell you why this one is so much fun, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It's like a pogo stick meets a balancing bridge and YES THAT IS REAL ACTUAL CEMENT THAT A KID COULD FALL ON! (Nobody fell.) The object is to stand up on the middle one which is super bouncy and wobbly. I tried and failed many times. I am actually wondering if something like this could be installed in my backyard. I am telling you, this would be a HIT at parties!


3. The quality of my life is significantly improved if I eat cake every day.

 

4. I need more cheesemongers in my life. Specifically, I need cheesemongers who want to give me free samples and tell me what cheese pairs best with my wine. Also, I need more wine in my life.


5. I really, really, REALLY love marzipan. Am I the only one who thinks we need handcrafted marzipan painted with all natural fruit and vegetable dyes readily available for our consumption? Look at the marzipan trolls. Marzipan freaking trolls! The Estonians are brilliant.


6. Restaurants with outdoor seating provide blankets in case you get cold. I love this so much. Also, I am pretty convinced that there is no bad food in Estonia. Even the gas station I went to had a little deli with fresh salads, soups, and these little open-faced fish and egg on rye bread sandwiches. For my thoughts on open-faced fish and egg on rye bread sandwiches, see list item #3.

7. An Estonian girls weekend is a heck of a lot different than any girls weekend I've ever been a part of. For starters, they met at a health spa. Now, I certainly can't speak for all Americans, but my experience with girls weekends has been a lot of eating and drinking and sitting around and more eating and drinking and sitting around. Don't get me wrong, I love overindulgence as much as the next American, but spending our days in the sauna, swimming in the sea, and walking into town for lunch and strolling around for hours before heading back to the sauna left me feeling refreshed. And the funny thing about Estonia is that even though I felt like I drank a lot, I never once had even the slightest hangover. 

(I will say, however, that my experience with the Estonian masseuse was somewhat terrifying and I think I will stick to getting massages from someone with whom I can verbally communicate from now on.)


8.  No matter where you are in Estonia you can always find live music. And Estonian children learn to waltz and so everyone (young and old!) waltzes to live music and it is pretty much the sweetest and most amazing thing ever and we should all learn to waltz right away so that we can bring this trend to the US.  Who's with me?
 

9. I needed this picture to be taken. When my mom was sick and knew she was dying we took one last family vacation to Southern California. It must have been incredibly hard for her to travel at that point (she died a few months later) but she put on a happy face and we went to Disneyland and a Dodgers game and tried to have a family vacation knowing that this was it. The end was near. 

My brother got this idea that he wanted to try rollerblading (this was the summer of '96 and rollerblading in SoCal was going to be pretty rad). Even though she must have been exhausted and I'm sure no medical professional would have authorized this, my mom put on rollerblades and off she skated with my brother. They posed for a photo together.  "This is how I want you to remember me," she said. 

I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, but this photo is how I'd like Jack to remember me.


10. I think I might be a happier and more fulfilled person if I spent my days herding cows and making my own cheese. We would all probably be better off if we ate cucumbers with our breakfast. It is actually pretty hard to jump up on a hay bale.

 


11.  To travel is always the right decision. (I knew this one already, though.) 

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Renaissance


"I've been thinking about starting the blog up again," I say to Brent.
"You've said this before..." he replies tentatively. He's right. I have said this before.

I think about doing a lot of things. And I always find plenty of excuses for not making those things happen, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone.

But isn't that just the beauty of January? The promise of a new year always fills me with fresh, naive optimism. 2018 will be my year! I see my fellow hopefuls out running in the mornings with their new shoes and jaunty strides and I wonder if we will see each other again, mostly because I wonder if I will maintain my newly reimposed early morning running routine.

And so, Brent, I am thinking about starting up the blog again. Here's why:




There are too many days where the sun is shining and I forget to notice it. There are too many times when a Sunday afternoon trip to the park seems like an inconvenience until I remember that a Sunday afternoon trip to the park is the perfect reminder that Sunday afternoons should be spent on a bike or on a swing or at a park or ANYWHERE but home folding laundry. 

Blogging helps me remember that.


And I'm worried that I'll forget all of the funny stories that make childhood so ridiculous and fucking magical at the same time. Like the time one of our chickens had a mysterious hurt foot and lay dying in the hen house (fun fact- unless you are a chicken- chickens cannot balance on one foot and will die quickly once they become immobile) and Clementine's heart just about burst with sadness. "Oh, Mom, we have to help her!" she cried. 

For ten days I hauled that bird out of the henhouse and coaxed her to eat and drink and showed her how to balance with her wing. I praised and encouraged her but also employed some tough love. I'm sure the neighbors assume I am insane. 

One day when I came home from work, Clementine greeted me at the door. "She can walk again! We fixed the chicken!"

Also, I really like to make things. Like Buche de Noel cakes:


Blogging helps me remember some of our more random holiday traditions.


I've been thinking a lot lately about how I frame my thinking. Taking pictures has always helped me to really see the beautiful moments that compose my life. 


But mostly I want to blog again because I want us to remember what 2018 was like. I spent a good part of Christmas Eve poring through our old family albums at my dad's house.  Here was my childhood, sandwiched into dusty old books and binders.

This blog is my children's childhood.


I've grown tired of hearing myself make the same excuse for not doing the things I want to do: I don't have enough time. 

I've grown tired of talking to my friends about how busy we all are and how there's not enough time to hang out.

Sawyer prattles on about school as we drive to piano practice. I am thinking about what we will have for dinner but I catch something about growth mindset. 

"And so my group tells me, 'You're not bad at reading in French, you're just not good at it yet.'"

Hmmm. Some rusty wheels have begun to spin.

First, let's give a shout out to his teacher for teaching the whole child (in addition to math and reading!) and now let's see if we can apply this hippie shit to the real world.

So, maybe I do have enough hours in my day, I just haven't figured out how to use them yet?

Time will tell. I have my running clothes set out for tomorrow morning. I am thinking of ideas for another blog post. 




And let's close this by acknowledging that if Kate Klein can move her entire family to the other side of the world and teach full time while navigating the complexities of life in China AND update her blog twice in one week (!!) perhaps it's time for me to stop the bullshit excuses and start writing again.

Kate, this one is for you. XOXO