Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! It's snowing outside!

I am a trained Postpartum Doula. In California I was never asked what I offer when I work as a Postpartum Doula, now I get asked that question pretty much daily. And I understand why! Sweden has a very different social system built around pregnancy and childbirth compared to some other countries. BUT that doesn't mean Swedish women don't have the same basic needs as women in the US for example. After all, we are all women!

I knew that our move to Sweden would be tough on many levels, but I hadn't predicted this cruel homesickness. I don't even dare to think about Sunnvale because it hurts so much not to be there anymore. Obviously it's much harder to move away from something you love and give up that life, for something you know very little about or don't have such positive memories of. In our case, we are moving to something new-old. Having the energy to start over here is a challenge. And in that situation, homesickness comes knocking. But I don't dare open the door, not yet.

We moved from California at the beginning of the summer, got the keys to our new home in July and the container of stuff from the US arrived in August. When we moved to California we didn't really know for how long it would be and we didn't have a container in that direction included in our deal, so we chose to store a lot of stuff then (6.5 years ago) and also get rid of some larger furniture etc that wouldn't fit in the storage we were renting.

I have just left my children at school and am cycling at a leisurely pace back towards town. I'm enjoying myself and cycling so slowly that I barely have any steering speed. The morning offers blue skies and the Lake Mälaren is completely clear. I breathe in fresh, cold air and boost with new energy for a new day. A very special day. I have so many new ideas in my head, I feel like I just want to go home to the office to sit down and sort out what feels most right to tackle first. But there's no rush, I'll get to what I'm supposed to get to today. Although the list I'll write down will probably be enough work for 10 years to come.

Writing seems to have become an evening habit. I thought it wouldn't be like this...

Today I thought I'd spin on cozy moments and how important they are. With three kids in the family, it's hard to find time to spend with just one child at a time, but we try to make it happen as often as possible. Tonight, our son opted out of an activity because he just wanted to sit on the dock and dangle with his legs. I thought it sounded great and we went down to the dock. Realized we hadn't been there together since the quickly passing swimming season.

I love working with holistic health, because many health-related problems are actually preventable. The complexity of the holistic approach is challenging, as you have to get all the pieces of the puzzle and also put them in the right place to form a complete puzzle. At the same time, it is so amazingly cool that you can do so much about your lifestyle and life situation yourself. You make the decisions, you decide, you put the puzzle together and experience the results!