Being the first summer living in a house with a little garden in Japan, being father of a son having just turned one, I wanted to make a little Swedish imprint in our daily Japanese life and celebrate Midsummer together. Midsummer is a big festivity in Sweden, and apart from eating an drinking, the Midsummer […]
It is Saturday evening and I am sitting on the floor just behind a mosquito net in front of an open veranda door. My wife and son are sleeping and I have just finished the dishes, having cleaned the bathroom after a long bath. It is dark ouside, although I can discern a faint glow
Kindergarten. Daycare. Dagis. Hoikuen. Many names. Many experiences. My wife have happy joyful memories of when she was a little little child, going to hoikuen. She had friends, she learned a lot; consequently she wants our son to experience the same happiness that she did. I on the other hand have sad painful memories from
When I came to Tokyo, I felt like a curiosity. I remember early days standing in front of the traffic lights close to our apartment, waiting for green; often times there would be mothers with babies in strollers or in child carriers also standing there waiting. And more often than not, the little babies could
One year ago I was sitting on a bench in an empty car park outside a big children’s hospital in Tokyo waiting for news about my wife and our yet to be born baby. Today I am sitting in a beautiful house in Fukuoka with a sleeping wife and one year old son in front
Moving from a small apartment to a two stories house means a lot of life changes for a small baby. When dad goes up the stairs, our little son becomes very unsettled and wants to go with me to check that I am not leaving. When mum is going out to get a delivery at
All week I have been searching for a few moments to write a few lines, and I have not until now found that chance. In reality I would have liked to have a lot of time to write story after story – it has been that kind of a week – but for now a
I had almost given up my efforts to keep my clothes clean from yellow stains; instead, a few months ago, I narrowed down my home wardrobe to a few pieces that I did not mind too much getting all stained from everything having a baby in the house brings with it. Thinking about yellow in
So here we go again. Tokyo is under a new state of emergency. The Golden week holiday is here, and there seem to be a focus on making people not travel or unnecessarily spending time in crowded places in order to stop the increase in Corona virus infections. Hence, for the first time since last
Our son has started to walk. From one day being able to stand on his own to the next happily walking across the room with a toy in his hand – the speed of learning of a child is incredible. I wish I could mimic him as well as he is mimicking me – imagine
Our son has really started to show an interest in learning new words, and he understands more and more – when I ask him if he wants to go out in the baby car, he gets really excited and starts to crawl towards the front door. When I tell him that we shall vacuum the
I wonder if Japanese houses are built with cherry blossom in mind. Cherry blossom, sakura, one of the quintessential symbols of Japan, capturing the frailty of existence while celebrating life in the most exquisite way. During a few short weeks every year, the sakura season arguably exhibits unparalleled beauty in nature; in some ways I