Linda Åkeson McGurk - There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)

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For Maya and Nora

We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this Earth, and to tell our stories. These are the moments when the world is made whole.

RICHARD LOUV

allemansrtten The right of public access, a common law that gives the general public in Sweden extensive rights to recreate in nature, including hiking, camping, and foraging for berries and mushrooms on private property. Slightly different versions of the law exist in Norway and Finland.

allmn frskola Swedens universal preschool system that offers part-time and full-time care all year-round at heavily subsidized rates.

barntrdgrd The Swedish version of German Friedrich Froebels original kindergartens. Adopted in Sweden at the end of the nineteenth century and replaced by the universal preschool system in the 1950s.

barnvagn The type of sturdy pram that is favored by Scandinavian parents and frequently used for letting babies nap outdoors.

educare A term that is sometimes used to describe the Scandinavian model of simultaneously caring for and educating preschool-age children whose parents work outside the home.

farfar Paternal grandfather.

farmor Paternal grandmother.

fika A casual get-together that usually involves coffee or tea and a pastry. Popular activity for moms and dads on parental leave.

forest school Preschools/day cares where children spend most of the day playing and learning outdoors, all year-round, regardless of the weather. Also known as forest kindergarten or nature-based preschool in the US.

friluftsliv Roughly translates to open-air life and is used to describe a culture and a way of life that heavily revolve around exploring and enjoying nature in a noncompetitive fashion.

fritids A subsidized after-school program for school-age children in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway that generally offers arts and crafts, games, physical activity, homework help, and outdoor play.

galonisar Polyester rain pants that typically come in the form of overalls and are essential for protecting both child and regular clothes during messy outdoor play.

hygge The Danish way of fighting the long, dark winter by creating a cozy atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with friends and family. Often involves lighting candles.

inskolning The process of gradually easing a child into a preschool routine, during which time a parent accompanies the child to the preschool for the entire day or part of the day. Depending on the child, this process can take anywhere between a few days to several weeks.

midsommar A celebration of the summer solstice in June that involves dancing around a maypole, singing traditional songs, and making flower wreaths. Rivals Christmas as the most popular holiday in Sweden.

morfar Maternal grandfather.

mormor Maternal grandmother.

mula Popular childhood pastime that involves shoving snow in an unsuspecting persons face.

Mulle An imaginary forest troll that inspires children to care about nature, created by the Swedish Outdoor Association in the 1950s. Can also be used in a generic way to describe somebody who is extremely outdoorsy or crunchy.

saft A sweet, typically berry-flavored drink popular with children, especially in the summertime.

school forest Privately owned woods set aside for use by preschools and schools for outdoor play and learning. Typically permits activities that go beyond allemansrtten , such as marking trails and building shelters.

Skogsmulle (See Mulle )

skolefritidsordning (Danish. See fritids )

solfattig Sun poor. A term frequently used by meteorologists to describe Scandinavian summers.

udeskole Danish for outdoor school. A cross-disciplinary approach to teaching in which children between the ages of seven and sixteen learn outside on a regular basis.

uppehllsvder The Swedish term used to describe a brief pause between two rainy periods.

valborg An annual Swedish celebration of the spring that occurs on April 30 and usually involves choral singing, racy student parades, and bonfires.

ppna frskolan Swedish for open preschool, a free program that offers a meeting place for parents on leave and provides developmentally appropriate activities for babies and children of up to five years.

A Swedish Mother in Rural Indiana

I dont want to go outside.

My four-year-old daughter Nora is standing in the mudroom, heels dug into the floor, lips pouting, and arms crossed in protest.

Her sister, seven-year-old Maya, chimes in:

Do we have to, Mommy?

They look like I just asked them to clean their rooms or, worse, offered them a bowl of fermented brussels sprouts.

I want to watch a movie instead.

But theres fresh snow on the ground. SNOW! Do you want to build a snowman? I sing, channeling my inner Anna, betting that their obsession with all things Frozen will win them over. I know that if I can only get them outside they will soon start rolling around in the snow and quickly forget all about Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale . The hard part is getting there.

Its cold outside! Maya moans. Why do we always have to go outside?

At this point Im tempted to tell them all about how we used to play way back when the TV had only two stations (neither of which showed cartoons, except on Saturday mornings), computer games had to be loaded from a cassette tape, and I had to walk three miles to school with snow up to my knees, uphill both ways. Instead, when I open my mouth, my first-grade teacher comes out.

Theres no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes! I blurt out a little too cheerily in my attempt to conceal my growing annoyance.

The kids stare at me in utter disbelief. Then Nora screams, I hate my snow pants! and throws herself on the floor, kicking off her new insulated pants, inchworm-style.

Deep breaths. Count to ten.

How about we try going outside for fifteen minutes and see what its like? Then we can decide whether to stay out a little longer or go back inside.

With this compromise in place, we finally head out the door, into the cold February morning. Im already sweating from the effort of putting snow pants, boots, a fleece jacket, mittens, a winter jacket, a neck gaiter, and a hat on a squirming child, and slightly exhausted from the heated negotiations. And I cant help but wonder what the heck is wrong with kids these dayswhy dont they want to play outside?

We drive down to the local city park in the small Midwestern town I call home. The air is brisk, the sky a saturated cobalt blue. We see a couple of squirrels chasing each other up a tree on the way. Aside from that, we might as well be walking on the moon. There are no cars on the streets, no children outside, no sounds. The town is literally shut down. The night before, the weather forecast had called for a chance of one to three inches of snow. In anticipation of being pounded with snow, sleet, and ice, people rushed home from work to fill up their generators and get last-minute staples from the store. By the end of the night, the bread and milk aisles at Walmart looked like a Cold Warera shopping mall in Moscow. The area schools announced that they were going to be on a two-hour delay, and most nonessential activities were canceled preemptively. Come morning, the schools planned two-hour delay had turned into a full closurebetter known as a snow dayand the local government had shut down as well.