It's Easy Being an Adult

"Mummy" says Minttu when I pick her up from nursery, "can I sit in the front?"
"Yes OK."

Nisha makes her bed on the roof of the playhouse

"That's not fair!" complains Niko. "She sat in the front this morning."
"Did she?" I ask, not really concerned who sat in the front or when.
"Yes she did, so she shouldn't sit in the front again."
"Do we need to argue about this?" I ask.
"Yes." replies Niko. "She always gets to sit in the front. "It's not fair."
"Well let's just say that today is her turn. Tomorrow can be yours. OK?" (foolishly thinking for a moment that the issue is resolved).
Minttu climbs proudly into the front seat and Niko goes resignedly into the back. But it's not over.

"When can I sit in the front?" Luca suddenly chips in. "Why do the others always get to sit in the front and I never do?" Oh no.
"Is this really important?" I ask them, not understanding why we are having an argument before we have even got into the car.
"Yes." They all say. I get it. Being in the front of the car is important. Very.

At home we sit down at the kitchen table and I give them each a plate.
"But I wanted the pink one," says Minttu.
"Well I've got the pink one and you can't have it." Niko says defiantly.
"Why can't Minttu have the pink plate, Niko?"
"Because I want it."
"Can Minttu have it? She likes pink....."
"No."
"Niko, does it really matter what colour plate you have?"
"Yes." they all say.

Dinner finally over, we walk into the living room where the boys have spent the previous day creating a "house" out of sheets, pillows and duvets. I was forced to promise not to touch it and I have kept my word. When I was last in the house, their creation was exactly as they had left it. However, it no longer is.

"MUMMY!!! OUR HOUSE HAS COLLAPSED!!!"
"I haven't touched it!" I cry defensively. Because I really haven't.
"But it's fallen down!"
"It wasn't me," I assure them, feeling as though I've been accused of a serious crime. "How do you think it happened?"
And then I walk in to find the answer.
"Because the dog's sitting on the roof....."

There was me, thinking that it was adult problems that were the really difficult ones. Forms, bills, unemployment, health issues, taxes...the kind of thing we all have to deal with and wish we could forget. But today was a very good reminder, that life for us grown-ups is easy. It is SERIOUSLY hard when you are under seven. When you are small there's a problem around every corner, Sitting in the front, pink plates, dogs on your playhouse....you never know when the next challenge is going to occur. I'm going to bed this evening feeling relieved to be an adult. Let's just hope I can help my children resolve the challenges of tomorrow :)

Happy New Year

It's been a funny sort of holiday season. After all the shopping, decorating, wrapping, waiting and cooking, the whole family became ill just before Christmas. We spent the next few days taking turns to be sick in bed. My turn, typically, came on Christmas Eve. I managed to be at my worst at exactly the moment the children were discovering what father Christmas had brought them on Christmas morning.

(I have to be honest, it did also hurt a little bit when one of them asked me why I hadn't bought them any presents....!)

Christmas dinner was cancelled and we had to tell our invited friends not to come. And then, just like that, Christmas had happened and it was the new year. It was my first new year with Nisha the dog and also my first without either parent being here anymore Needless to say, it was a bit of an emotional evening and a few tears were cried.

At midnight there was a spectacular firework display all around where we live. Nisha and I watched from our front yard and she gave me my first hug of the year. Looking back, the highlight of the holiday season has without doubt been the many messages we have received from friends across the world. This year, more than ever before, each of those messages was treasured.

And so here we are again. the start of another year. I have my list of goals and wishes for the year ready. Some of them will be achieved and others probably won't. And actually that doesn't really matter.

What I have learnt over the past two years from people who are no longer with us, is that all that really matters is the time spent with the people you love.

So if you have people in your life that you love, spend time with them, make happy memories and make sure they know how you feel. At the end of the day that is the only resolution that is really worth sticking to.

Happy new year everyone, wherever you may be. Lots of love from Somero xx

Somero Christmas Carols

Forty-one years ago, a couple of Finnish vicars decided to start something new. Why don't we have a special service at Christmas where we do nothing but play and sing Christmas carols, and at the same time raise money for people in the developing world.  We'll try it in a couple of parishes and see if it works, they thought to themselves.

Olli Salomäenpää

Well it worked. And now this traditional Christmas service happens all over Finland and millions of euros are raised for people who need it much more than we do. This year the money is going towards supporting mothers all over the world to help them give a better start to their children, through learning about nutrition and health issues which will keep their children healthy and better nourished.

Somero church was packed this evening (this photo was taken ten minutes before the service started). The congregation sang carols and were also entertained by some young violinists, the Metka Kööri Choir and Somero's Youth Choir. The only photo I have of the youth choir is out of focus as I was sitting so far away but I thought I would put it on here anyway. Sorry about the poor quality.

The singing, however was wonderful. Even Minttu, who at three is young to be sitting through an event such as this, was dancing on my knee in time to Ave Maria.

I went to the service with my good friend Eira,who at eighty years old says that she has been attending this annual service since they first started forty-one years ago.

On the way home in the car she told me how her brothers and sisters used to walk to church on Sundays when they were children, walking ten kilometres each way from their farm to church. On Christmas morning, the service started at six o'clock, so they would have to leave at four thirty in the morning to get there on time. Eira remembers these times fondly and says how as a child she thought that the church was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen.

It was nice to see so many people there this evening, hopefully a good sum was raised for the cause of motherhood in the developing world.

Wishing you all health and happiness wherever you may be reading this and a good start to the week ahead.