SKYNI

Midsummer is one of the most important holidays in Sweden as it marks the longest day in the year. We only get about 2-3 hours of darkness.

Midsummer is usually celebrated with family and friends, eating and just enjoying the sun.

This year, we dressed up the kids to attend the festivities. Linn is seen here wearing a traditional folk outfit and Jonathan is looking smart.

Summer is here and the kids just finished their school term. Swedish schools have a summer party to mark the end of the school term and parents are invited.

It just so happened that both kids have summer parties in their school on the same day. Jonathan’s party was between 2 to 3 pm and Linn’s party was 3 to 4 pm. I wasn’t sure of the agenda as the information was in Swedish. Apparently there was a Concert with the kids singing summer songs. I was 10 minutes late and when I got to Jon’s school, I saw that all other parents and family were there with their video cam recording the proud moment. I felt really bad that I missed the concert.

But what I was really really happy to see was how Jonathan’s face lighted up when he saw me and that I came to the concert. He kept smiling and was truly happy. He proudly showed me around his school and even asked me if I want coffee.

These are truly priceless moments with my son.

I was away for a week in Istanbul and was really looking forward to coming home to the family. On the way back from the airport, Nicke told me that there is a surprise waiting at home for me. I was intrigued.

When I got home, Linn just hopped on to her bike and cycled. We just removed the training wheels not too long ago and she was initially apprehensive about cycling. But Nicke said that she learnt how to cycle in that morning. I am really proud of her.

Very proud as I still don’t know how to cycle at my age and she is only 4 years old.

Linn has been taking horse riding lessons and she is really enjoying it. On one occasion, Nicke was too tired to bring her to class and he asked me to do it. Little did I know of the numerous tasks such as putting the saddle on the horse and also preparing the horse Before the class. Thank goodness there was alittle girl who taught me what to do. At one point, I caused some panic in the barn as the rope around the horse was loose and the panic is because if the horse trips over the rope and break a leg, the horse will have to be put down due to the age.

Soon it was the lesson and I walked round and round the training ground with Linn, holding on to the horse. The Singaporean in me was always looking out for horse shit and also, listening hard as the lesson was conducted in Swedish.

All in all, a great experience and I am happy that I got the chance to do it.

These are Linn’s current favourites and I do think they are kind of funny…

Favourite food

Cheese with Pasta (yes, not pasta with cheese)

Favourite snacks

Cheese bits

Favourite song

Eye of the Tiger (yes, that song from Rocky…she sings it all the time)

Favourite friend

Hee Won, her Korean classmate. She just discovered he lives in our neighbourhood and she is now always running to his house after school.

Favourite Movie

Disney’s Beauty and The Beast. Jon and Linn have been watching this everyday now without fail. Jon even insisted that I buy him a rose so that he can pretend to be the beast.

Favourite TV Programme

Charlie and Lola. In fact, she has started to develop a strange British accent.

Favourite Outfit

She wants to dress herself now and her dress sense is rather ‘interesting’

It has been slightly over a month since Jonathan started his new school. We have to switch school as he was not able to keep up with the pace in the previous school. In the new school, Jonathan has a dedicated one on one teacher, Jessie who has been assigned to him full time. So far, he seems to be enjoying school.

We also started medication on Jonathan to help him to focus. He seems to be able to sustain a longer attention span. But we noticed that the medication has effects on his emotions, resulting to regular emotional outbursts specially when he does not get the things he want. He is also taking melatonin at night to enable him to get a good night rest.

It has been a really long journey with Jonathan. Sometimes, it feels like a neverending uphill battle with no breaks. Deep down, our biggest fear is that Jonathan will never be independent. Nichlas has been really patient in trying to find him friends and get him to be sociable. Sometimes I see the despair in Nicke’s eyes as he sees Jonathan sinking more and more into his own little world. It breaks our hearts and at times, we feel really helpless. There really seems little we can do to help our precious little boy.

Nevertheless, we cannot give up but will keep trying to help him. We cannot hope that he will one day come out of his own little world but can only hope that he can cope in our world.

When I asked Linn if she is lying to me, she pointed to her nose and said ‘Look at my nose Mummy…it is not growing’.

Kids having their first high tea in a beautiful castle.

Cold and wet is how I would describe the first few days of summer. We are apparently experiencing the lowest June maximum Daily temperature since 1928.

Let’s really hope that it will heat up soon.

Cherry blossoms in Sweden are quite beautiful. Too bad that they are out for such a short period of time.

We finally started to enjoy spring in the past 2 weeks. The glorious sun is out finally after a long long break and the whole country seemed to come alive again!

Our garden is coming together quite nicely with all the flowers blooming and our gigantic rhubarb plant is making its annual appearance again. But keeping a garden in tip top condition is really a full time job. Without my Mother-in-law’s very green fingers and guidance, it would have been impossible to get it into shape. The constant loving care, the pulling of weeds, the trimming, the lawn mowing, the pulling of weeds (yes, it deserves 2 mentions) all requires time, effort and a lot alot of work. When we bought the house, the previous owner said that it was really easy looking after the garden. He also excluded the fact that they paid a gardener to do the work.

But I must say that it is quite nice to be able to sit out in the garden, to enjoy the sunshine and get the BBQ going.

So, if you have the chance, please come to Sweden this time of the year. It is indeed beautitful.

One day I asked Linn how her day was in school. She mentioned casually that her friend, a Korean boy said he loves her.

I was surprised and asked her how did she responded.

She said to me simply…’Mummy, I didn’t say anything because I don’t feel anything.’

And i thought I will only be having this conversation with her when she is 24 and not 4!

Happy Mother’s day to my dearest mum. I always thought that my mother was very very hard on us when I was growing up. Being a mum myself, I now understand how hard it must have been to bring up 4 girls without help – to cook, clean, teach, discipline, ensure that they get to school, look after them when they are sick, and put them to bed. She had to be hard to get things under control.

Now to think of what a kind, loving and self sacrificing person she is, I think it must have been really difficult being hard and strict with us. She was a true Tiger mum. When I was young, i never saw her virtues until i grew up. In fact, I will even admit that I do not fully understand her . Something that I should really try harder to.

Despite our differences, I know that she will do anything for her husband and family. Even if it means sacrificing her own time and happiness. I used to suffer from insomnia. I still do. I will always remember how she would stay up and lie next to me to comfort me… and she would sing to me a song that I will sing to my own kids when they cannot sleep.

So this Mother’s day, i just want to say I love you mama and I do appreciate you. Very very much!

Spring time in Sweden can be really wonderful if the sun is up and shining. Unfortunately, somedays can still be wet and miserable.

Today is an example. It is still chilly at 5 degrees in the day time and the weather forecast says that there could still be the possibility of snow in some parts of Sweden. We are fast approaching summer and it is unbelievable that snow is still possible. Well, let’s really hope not.

But if the sun is out, it can be really really nice. Last weekend, we went out for some really nice walks in the forests and lakes.

On the 30th April, Sweden celebrated Välborg with huge bonfires all around Sweden. It was really interesting specially for the kids.

We joined in the celebration this year as the weather was really good. It started with a big gathering for the entire neighbourhood and all proceeded to walk to the selected field and people were holding fire torches. It was the first for Linn and Jon and they thought it was really cool to walk with all other children holding fire torches in their hands.

Nichlas, Farmor, kids and I walked for around 2 km to the bonfire and when it was lighted up, it was nice and warm. It was around 5 degrees at that time.’

When it got dark at around 9.30 pm, they started the fire works. It was really magical

We were happy as the kids enjoyed the experience and were very well behaved even though it was way past the usual bed time.

I don’t normally like to celebrate my birthday. After having kids, I try not to think so much about getting older as I need to stay young for my kids. I always tell myself it is just a number and sometimes I trick myself into forgetting my age. Unfortunately, the body and face can never lie these days.

Swedes do not say Happy Birthday here in Sweden. They say ‘Grattis’ meaning Congratulations. I thought it is quite funny as there is nothing to congratulate for turning one year older. But that is their way of saying ‘Happy Birthday’.

I had a really nice birthday. My friends gave me a really nice surprise and brought me out to lunch on Friday. It made me felt really special and wonderful. Thank you Rizza, Vernetta, Jane and Elsa. I had a great time!

My family celebrated by going out for lunch. We had dimsum in one of the Chinese restaurants. I told Sharon, my sister who called later that day, that even the dimsum in our Singapore kopi tiam taste better. But such is the standard of chinese food here.

The kids sang me the Birthday song but Linn was cheeky. She added a new verse and sang it to the same tune as the Birthday song.

How old are you now?
How old are you now?
How old are you now?
How old are you now?

How to not feel old like that!

Linn’s friend, Ella slept over last night. We thought it was really cool and we hope they had a great time.

Ella is her friend from her childcare and she is 4 years old just like Linn. They seemed to have loads of fun, playing with Barbie, Hello Kitty, drawing and watching a Barbie movie.

We thought it is a good idea to see how Linn interacts with her friends. We want to encourage her to bring home her friends so that she feels comfortable bringing her friends over as she grows older.

Linn has really taken up drawing in the past few months and she is always drawing pictures of the family.

This is one of her drawings and the she drew herself to be the princess.

I may not show it enough or spend enough time with them but I do love my children with all my heart.

Linn the pirate girl and she loves dressing up to be a boy these day!