Last year R had had so much fun that she talked about it for months (not an overstatement!). She kept her medal near her bed and showed it off to friends and her grandparents with pride. She even stored her T-shirt, convinced she would need it the following year as well. Given her enthusiasm, her little brother E was more than excited to take part this year. After a full week of “is it tomorrow?”s, finally the day came and we left in the early morning to reach the Eläintarha sports field in the heart of Helsinki. We picked up the new green T-shirts and a huge bag of goodies offered by the sponsors. This year the age group order had been reverted and small children were expected to run first. During the wait the children were invited to warm up with some music, guided by a trainer and a sponsor’s mascot. Usually E does not engage in these activities, but this time he mimicked everything his sister did and jumped like a crazy rabbit.

We still had some minutes before the run started, so we turned to the several free activities offered by sponsors. E loves mascots and hunted them all to steal hugs (how cute!).

The field was filled with games and exercise tracks. We made time to enjoy them all before and after the run. E loved jumping on the trampoline and on and off obstacles. R tested her skipping rope skills. There were several participants, but the size of the area didn’t allow the place to become crowded. This meant we barely queued, which was nice.

The Valio stand even had free-of-charge face painting. E chose to have a crown painted on his forehead (modest), while R went for a classic set of hearts on her cheek.

Finally the announcer’s voice called their group. It was time to start! We gathered near the starting line and warmed up at little more. Like last year, I noticed how all announcements were communicated both in Finnish and English language. Many of the families taking part were international. As expat parents, it felt relaxing to be able to follow everything without language barriers.
E was excited but clearly nervous. Dad took a minute to hug him tight and speak encouraging words into his ears.

It was almost time to go. While we all counted backwards to 1 loudly, the kids set in the starting position…

… and RAN!

To my surprise, E ran faster than his sister in several parts of the track. Luckily her pride wasn’t bruised. I guess the siblings’ rivalry motivated them both because after a little while we lost daddy. It was tough for me to stay close and take pics in the process. It was so emotional to see them cut the final line in the end!

I hugged them both, I was so proud of their determination. They ran confidently, without checking if I or their father were following or not, and following the track signs without hesitation. They really deserved the medals!

After the run we all enjoyed the snacks offered by the organisers, which included yogurt, fruit bars, and raisins.

Before heading to lunch, we went back to the activity field and played some more. Surprisingly, kids had still some steam to let off.

What a wonderful experience! We loved it and cannot wait to do it again next year. And you should too: make sure to follow the Helsinki Minimarathon on Instagram and Facebook. In 2020 the children’s running event will take place on May 16th. We’ll see you there!

We were granted tickets to the event. Opinions are mine and sincere. Read more about my work values here.

The post Proud of My Fast Runners: the Helsinki Minimarathon 2019 appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

Useless to say, I had to break the news we were going to my kids only few hours before. Defining them excited is an understatement. They had the time of their life, eating ice cream with little limitations (“Can we really have more??” – I quote). We visited on Saturday 27th, after lunch. Tickets worked in turns of two hours. We entered when one was ending and were lucky to meet little crowd. We could freely tour several stands. Unfortunately I have to say that about a hour later the situation changed and we found it hard to move around with two small kids. I feel this is something families should be mindful of.

We explored especially the ice cream section, being us an Italian family and therefore an absolute authority on the topic of gelato. We had a chance to taste many and our top threes were:
3. Roberts’ Coffee Gelato Factory
2. Kolme kaveria
1. La Gelateria – our winner!
I was especially impressed by La Gelateria’s pistachio flavour, a vegan version made with water. I was skeptic, but I found it as creamy and tasty as gelato should be.

During our visit the main stage was hosting a fierce competition to win “Ice Cream of the Year 2019”. According to the general results, vegan pistachio is a strong trend this year. Bus Gelato‘s version won the coveted title.

Few stands had mascots greeting small visitors or brief activities for children, like a raffle where we won candies.

To break the sugar rush, the organisers had the smart idea of placing a kids’ corner on the second floor. We visited it to unwind from the noise and allow the children to jump some energy off on the bouncy castle. Beside that, the space had chairs and boardgames. I was really glad to have this quiet corner where to rest before hitting the stands again.

Another nice touch were the water fountains, easy to access and absolutely needed! I was expecting somebody would cash out on selling water bottles, but I was pleasantly surprised by this free service offered to visitors.

What’s my final verdict on the event? It was fun, but more suitable to adults or families with older children. The crowd in the final part of our visit made it really hard to move around, let alone reach the stands. Then there’s the fact that small kids are way more sensitive to sugar, so the visit can easily be cut short by how they react to the tastings. I found the event interesting and entertaining for adults, and I would definitely recommend it more for a romantic or friends’ date than a family outing. If you decide to attend, make sure to check the programme beforehand and make sure to get the most from your visit.

It was an interesting experience and the whole family enjoyed it. It was nice to make a big exception on our diet and get our bellies full with delicious ice cream. Would definitely visit again next year, just me and my hubby this time!

We were invited to the fair by its organisers. Opinions are mine and sincere. Read more about my working values here.

The post Kicking Off Summer At The Carnival of Ice Cream and Chocolate 2019 appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

The event was praised by all participants. I myself went back home with an excellent toolbox and renewed hope. Not too long ago I had an epiphany that my role as a parent when my children are overwhelmed is to help them express their feelings in a safe and contained way. Please don’t imagine me as Gandhi while my child is in the middle of a tantrum, I am not. Screams and defiance are terribly triggering for me, but defining my role allowed me to feel way more in control of the whole situation. However, I was quite at loss about what I could do concretely to help my children. Here’s what I personally brought home.

What is anger, really

Anger is a secondary emotion. The “Anger iceberg” visually shows some of the primary emotions hiding behind anger. Primary emotions are painful and make us feel vulnerable. Our innate instinct to run away from them make us shift to anger instead. This is common to all human beings, not just children. For example, someone who feels sexually rejected from their spouse may react by getting mad or becoming resentful instead. The key idea here is to try and understand what is the underlying emotion the child is not capable of showing. This may vary time to time and it’s closely connected to triggers, which I discuss later. For example: if your child shows anger – through defiance or tantrums – when you pick her from daycare, it may be that seeing you was a reminder of how she missed you during the day and how vulnerable she felt. In this field, my advice is to trust your guts. In the end, parents are always the best experts on their children. When you have a good idea of what the real issue is, you can react more appropriately. Sending a child who feels rejected to a time-out is the worst thing to do (I talk from experience!). You may wanna comfort and reassure, instead. With my children, it truly helps if I try to voice the emotion for them: “Maybe you felt rejected because I was paying little attention to you when I listened to your sister telling me about her day. I’m sorry you feel like that. I love you also when I’m not looking at you”. Imagine how frustrating must be to lack a way to properly express yourself, like when you try to speak a language you are not fluent in.

Anger is not a bad emotion. Anger is just a red flag. How we express anger is the real point we are trying to fix. We need to teach our child how to express anger in a healthy and constructive way. Another point Angela made was about anger management VS therapy. My understanding is that while anger management may act as a quick fix to defuse the emotion, therapy is the only long-term working strategy. In the context of parenting, I interpreted this as having to teach or help the child to dominate the emotion in the spur of the moment, but also applying long-term strategies to allow the child to identify, cope with, and express their primary emotions and what they are rooted in. Just focusing on dealing with tantrums won’t solve the root cause. The main goal should not be to manage the single anger episode, but to help the child grow and learn how to self-regulate over time.

Identify the child’s triggers

What pushes your child’s buttons? What is that something that sets off the primary emotion and, consequently, the angry reaction? Common triggers in children can be tiredness, hunger. In adopted children they could connect to feelings, emotions, events in their past. I remember once reading about an adopted child who would throw a tantrum before every car ride, until their parents understood he associated car rides to the multiple home moves he had to endure. Every time they would board him on a car, he was terrified he was being moved to a new family. Knowing your child’s triggers can help you to prevent anger, as well as react at best. For example if your child is clearly exhausted and struggles to finish eating lunch, it may be wiser to break off the meal and put her to nap earlier. Or, in the example of the child angry when picked up from daycare, if she is hungry it may be wise to keep some snacks in the car. If the child is old enough, the parent can brainstorm and identify triggers together with her. Even if kids are small, it’s empowering to try and voice their triggers when they have calmed down: “Maybe you got mad because you were hungry“. We need to teach kids to become self-aware. A practical tool here is to print the identified triggers in a worksheet like this. With some creativity and cliparts, you can make up something more appealing yourself, the point being having the list accessible or visible somewhere.

Help the child to learn how anger feels

Anger can set in slowly or quickly. In any case, there are always announcing signs. For example my son starts changing his mind 30 times in 2 seconds and goes “yes-no-yes-no-” on everything. It’s useful for a parent to learn what the signs are, but in the long run the child should become self-aware. The body usually shows early signs of anger and we can help our children to identify those. For example ears may feel hot, or fingers may start tapping. At the risk of annoying you, remember with small children you can be the first to voice these signs: “When you get mad, your eyebrows go down like this and you start stomping your feet”. These remarks should be made when the child is calm, because she won’t be receptive during an episode. It can be useful to fill up a sheet like this one on the fridge and regularly go over it with the child. In my opinion, talking about the anger episodes during quiet moments is also a healthy way to normalise them.

Teach your child to express emotions verbally

A healthy long-term strategy is to teach your child to express their emotions verbally. Here Angela showed something that was nothing short of a revelation for me: the wheel of emotions.

She explained how children live mostly in the inner circle but growing up they should start to see the different shades of feelings, and move more and more outwards. How can you enrich your child’s emotional vocabulary? Some practical ideas:

• lead by example: voice your own emotions. I do it all the time. “Argh, I feel so frustrated this dress doesn’t fit me anymore” “I’m so excited we are going on a trip tomorrow” and so on. Children are always listening and observing their parents even when they don’t look like they are (no pressure);
• read books together: nowadays there’s an incredible selection of children’s books on feelings and emotions. I put a list together, but there’s plenty more available, in several languages;
• try and voice your child’s emotions: “I wonder if you feel tired” “Are you curious to see what’s inside this gift box?”;
• play games: for instance, mirroring each other face announcing a feeling (“Let’s make a sad face” “Now a happy face”). Once I made a deck of emotion cards and regularly had my kids guess what emotion the drawing on the card represented (ashamed, worried, surprised, …);
• create an emotion chart: Angela provided us with several examples of emotion charts. You can make your own and help the child express through figures how they feel (not during the anger episode, but maybe afterwards when she is calm). Charts can be used to identify what feeling one feels as well as how intensive it is. A similar useful concept is the anger thermometer. The chart should be age appropriate and can be created together with the child. Put it somewhere accessible.

Most importantly, you parent have to embrace the idea that feelings are a normal part of being human. Never punish a child for expressing her feelings. Just teach her the best way how.

Teach the child how she can feel better

As someone who who worked hard to pinpoint what made her really feel good only in her thirties, I cannot stress enough how enriching this learning can be for children. This is a crucial building block for self- regulation and control. The parent can guide the child to identify what helps her to defuse feelings, calm down, feel good. There’s such an empowering teaching in this approach: you may not be able to control what hurts you, but you can control how you take care of yourself. A “feeling-good kit” or “calm-down kit” can take several forms: it can be a physical box with soothing and/or sensory objects. The child doesn’t have to necessarily calm down by herself, the key is for her to learn in time to stay in control and go fetch the box; the kit can be a list of activities, like “counting to 10” or “go for a walk” or “ask for a hug from mom”. You can print a colourful list and have it accessible and teach the kid to redirect to it when necessary.

Behavior contracts

Another parenting tool presented was behavior contracts. Those are joint resolutions that a parent and a child agree on. Thinking of my own experience, I have some concerns on this approach. If you go down this road with an adopted child, you have to be alert on shame. The contract has to be a constructive and positive intervention step, not a routine opportunity to underline how the child has failed. Again, the cornerstones are helping and empowering the child.

Most importantly, regulate yourself

One key teaching was that parents have foremost to regulate themselves and be in control of their own emotions. Parents, willing or not, lead by example. If you don’t practice what you preach, your teachings are worth nothing. This doesn’t mean you have to be perfect, no one is. If you didn’t learn to self-regulate during your own childhood, you’ll start now. It’s never too late. If you slip away from your teachings, just apologise to the child. There’s much to learn by witnessing how parents face their own mistakes.

All the tools presented here can be applied to yourself as well! I myself made a “feel-good” list and hanged it in my bedroom. My husband and I once drew a representation of the negativity cycle we’d go when fighting and now it’s hanging on our bedroom closet. It really helps to have this sort of things written down and accessible. It’s the same principle of goal journals or to-do list: we tend to slip into our usual dynamics, good or bad. You can even make your own parenting behavior contract with yourself! In time, you will realise that you and your child are in this learning journey together.

Disclaimer: this post is not a replacement for the training, nor it is a faithful reporting. These are my own key learnings which I tried to convey as faithfully to the original source as possible.

The post Anger Regulation Tools For Parents appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

We had a chance to see the new show in Espoo and it was the very first time at a circus for both our kids. They were so excited! Like true enthusiastic first-time parents, we did a lot of things with R back in the day, so it’s quite rare that she and her brother are able to share firsts. I pointed out how awesome it was that they had this opportunity with a circus show.

The show took place on a small colourful tent. Starting at 6pm, it lasted about an hour and a half and consisted of several acts. It included acrobatic exercises, a funny clown’s performances, and short scenes with small animals: a cat, a bunny, several small dogs. All of it except the presenter’s introductions was language-free, which made it accessible for our multicultural family.

The clown made several appearances appreciated by all children. He started by handing out candies and had the young crowd into his pocket right away! He showed several magic tricks which left my kids wondering and trying to find explanations for the rest of the evening. We witnessed a couple of talented acrobats showing their abilities. One presented several balance tricks, like balancing a pile of glasses on a sword, as well as juggling. Another acrobat climbed on ropes and a square-like structure, rotating and backflipping suspended in the air while we were gasping underneath. The dogs had different roles in several parts, some funny and some breathtaking. It was impressive to see what they could do! In my favourite performance they pretended to do math by barking the result of simple additions.

During the short break, kids could ride the pony or have a balloon shaped for a small fee – bring small cash if you plan to attend. Parents were served free coffe and had a chance to buy snacks and juice for the small guests.

We had a very nice family time at Sirkus Caliba! It’s perfect entertainment for small children and a nice diversion for the whole family. Get in touch with Sirkus Caliba to find out if the circus planning a stop near your location, and don’t forget to follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

We were granted tickets to Sirkus Caliba to review the show. Opinions are mine and sincere. Read more about my work values here.

The post First Time At A Circus: Watching Sirkus Caliba Show appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

Kiasma is the major contemporary art museum in Helsinki and it’s conveniently situated adjacent to the central railway station. Kiasma is part of the Museum Card network and children always enter for free. Moreover, as it’s customary for many museums in Helsinki, entrance is free for everyone on the first Friday of every month.

Visiting museums with small children is always a challenge, but Kiasma organises once a year few weeks of hands-on art workshops targeting every age group: babies, toddlers, and older kids. The goals of the workshops are to facilitate parents to spend quality time with their kids, allowing parents to visit the exhibition while conceding something to the little ones, and introducing the rule-free world of art to children of all ages.

Our experience

My children (aged 3 and 5) and I visited the toddler’s drop-in workshop on a snowy Thursday morning. We entered the museum, undressed from our winter gear and left it to the free-of-charge wardrobe service (a pleasant surprise, as opposed to having to drag winter jackets around). The workshop was set on the last floor, in a small room. There were several activities to choose from, definitely enough to spend half a day there. As soon as we got in, we encountered a table full of mysterious boxes.

Exceeding my expectations, my kids spent a good half hour playing with them. Boxes contained a variety of sensory and visual surprises. E and R were in a frenzy to open all of them, while later they played some version of hide-and-seek where one would hide a specific box and the other needed to find it.

Close to it, two small ball pits with coloured lights invited for a “dry bath” in colours. In the corner, we found a dark box filled with mirrors and sensory objects. Children were allowed to crawl in and use flashlights, or explore using touch. E especially liked being able to experiment with light. I noticed how careful tools had been chosen, to grant safety (no small or sharp objects) and easy use for the little ones (flashlights had soft buttons, for example). My expat mom’s special eye also caught that all activities are described in Finnish, Swedish, and English, making them accessible to all families.

E and R spent some time also playing in the unusual “sandbox” which contained plastic plates instead of sand and coloured lights. Tuija, the workshop main planner, explained one focus was to show everyday objects in a different setting, that is the creative process of many contemporary artists. As a parent, a good chunk of my role includes giving boundaries, rules, and fitting reality into schemes and boxes to feed it to my children. I am excited at the idea that art, even at this simple level, can allow them to explore the free world of imagination and creativity.

After the “dry activities”, it was time to mess around with water colours. The workshop makes available apron of all sizes, including adults’. An interesting surprise were the water painting boards, originally meant for mindful creative activities. You only need water to paint and the board clears by itself when it dries.

Finally, the moment they had been waiting for: real painting! Children were allowed to express their creativity by painting with different brushes and colours on some plastic surfaces, which was later cleaned by the workshop assistants.

Everything was protected in plastic and they had the apron, so they could safely focus on just drawing and having fun. Colours were easily washable from the skin. It was liberating for them!

The art exhibition

After having plenty of fun, we went downstairs to eat. Kiasma has a nice cafe that serves lunch on weekdays, but also some quiet spaces where it’s possible to eat a packed lunch or snack. Strollers and baby carriers are available and can be borrowed for free. The whole museum is fully wheelchair-accessible. Now that the kids were in their best mood, it was my turn to enjoy the museum. Two floors were populated with exhibitions. Even though most works were hard to explain to kids, many were visually attractive and they allowed me to enjoy most of them.

I was slightly worried we would walk into inappropriate content, but anything that was not family-friendly was separate and clearly marked (but still accessible, so don’t let the kids roam with no supervision).

The huge spaces of the building allowed my kids to explore safely. I taught R to observe paintings from different distances, that interpretation of art was always free, whatever feelings or images art would evoke in her where the right answer. After walking the whole exhibition, they insisted to visit the workshop again!

How to be informed of future family activities

Kiasma organises these workshops every year, usually around January, when the museum is less crowded. The toddlers’ workshop is planned towards the end of the week, including Saturday, to allow also working parents to take part. Information are updated on the museum’s webpage. To receive notifications of events directly to your mailbox, you can subscribe to the Kiasma klubi’s mailing list (in Finnish only). Some events are advertised on Facebook, so I invite you to like Kiasma’s page. We had plenty of fun and surely will be on the lookout for the upcoming happenings!

We were granted free access to Kiasma to visit and review the workshop. All opinions are mine and sincere. Read more about my working values here.

The post Contemporary Art and Children: Kiasma’s Workshop for Toddlers appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

The cruise ship was Silja Symphony, the one with the best reputation for family trips. When we boarded the ship, we were welcomed by live music and few staff members. Our cabin was cosy and spotless. R was excited she could sleep near mommy for two nights and she started unpacking right away. Silja Symphony is fully wheel-accessible, served by several elevators, and has a wide play area for kids (with plenty of chairs for parents to relax, bonus points).

Whenever we had some time to kill, we would visit there. R could play with Legos, relax and watch some TV, dive in the ball pit. Everyday there would be a small scavenger hunt and a prize winner among participants would be drawn in the evening.

On the first afternoon, we had plenty to do. After unpacking, we visited the royal cabin the two guest princesses shared. R was very impressed and I loved all the details. I mean, look at the Little Mermaid’s sleeping buddy, it’s Flounder! The roses, the rose bud lights, the engraved fairytale tome… what a great touch. It made it all more real for the children.

Shortly after, we headed to the Princess bingo game, hosted by a very special guest: Sleeping Beauty. You should have seen the children’s faces when she made her entrance!

She greeted the small guests and proceeded asking the audience what made a good princess. She shared the most important qualities for a princess are kindness and courage. She taught girls how to curtsy like a pro. Playing the role was the talented Juhlaprinsessa and believe me, she was way more than a woman in a costume! She was graceful, sweet beyond measure to all the kids, and really interpreted her character. Totally spot on! We were out of luck, but other young guests won colouring books and princess fairytale books.

After a quick dinner, we enjoyed the puppet show “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” by the renowned company Teatteri Hevosenkenkä. It was so funny that the following day R insisted to watch it again. There were jokes, songs, and a nice underlying message about not being scared by others’ diversity.

After the show it was time to let off some steam at the children’s disco. We were let into the private dance floor and small kids. R had packed two costumes: Elsa’s dress and unicorn. She changed into the latter and pulled off some great moves! The song selection alternated children’s songs with nostalgic and new hits. It was priceless to watch the parents giving in and starting to dance along (guilty, I cannot help it if you put on Bruno Mars or ABBA). Harry, the Silja Line’s seal mascot, paid a visit for a limbo game.

It was close to bedtime when the dance floor cooled off. The Skidit team had planned a soothing moment to end the day. Sleeping Beauty read a bedtime story to her young fans. I had washed and changed R into her night clothes, so that I could put her to bed as soon as story time ended. She didn’t have an ounce of energy left and feel asleep with a contented smile on her face.

We woke up when the ship was approaching Sweden. From our cabin window we could see the iced sea waters and the archipelago surrounding Stockholm, all islands covered in white. We visited the Grande Buffet restaurant and could pick whatever we wanted for breakfast. We are Italian, so we look for sweet flavours in the morning. This is often an issue when we travel, as the offer is quite poor. Well, not on Silja Symphony. Beside eggs, sausages, bacon, and other rich flavory options, we found plenty of sweet ones: fruit, bread and jam, yogurt, cereals, muffins, crepes. With our bellies full, we headed towards our morning warm-up: a dancing lesson with the Little Mermaid to the sounds of Under the Sea.

We spent our day in Stockholm – I’ll leave that part for a separate post – and went back to the ship in the afternoon. We took a chance to rest in our cabin before having dinner at Grande Buffet. On the previous night we had grabbed a quick bite, but now we were ready to take it easy. The buffet had a kids’ section and R could pick her own food. I went nuts on the cheese table. The buffet had everything. Veggie options, meat, fish, cheese, a great selection of desserts (tiramisu in chocolate tarts! I should have bagged a thousand and run). When you travel with picky customers as kids can be, a wide what-you-see-is-what-you-get food selection can be a life saver.

Oh, did I mention kids could get ice cream as dessert? Genius!

After dinner, the Skidit team had planned some serious fun. R insisted to watch the Teatteri Hevosenkenkä‘s puppet show again, then we headed to the dance floor for another grooving session. She dressed up with her Elsa costume and danced like no one was watching (I totally was because she was so cute!). The Little Mermaid came to say hi and dance to a couple of songs. She’s R’s favorite princess, so she sticked close and stole more than a few hugs. And what better finale than Let it go playing? R pointed at her dress and commented excitedly “It’s perfect!”. The cutest and most full-hearted lip-sync interpretation followed. Priceless.

The Little Mermaid wrapped up the evening with a bedtime story. We were heading back to bed, when we heard some live music playing in the Skylight venue. I gave in to vacation’s spirit and allowed some more spins on the dance floor. The early shows for adult guests were family friendly and children were allowed to dance near the stage. The performing group Scandinavian Dancers entertained us with live songs and energetic dances.

Even though I enjoyed all our time on the ship, it was a nice surprise to be able to enjoy a show engaging the adult audience.

We spent our last night on the ship and when morning came, Helsinki was getting close. We enjoyed crepes and fruit for breakfast, played some more in the play area and packed. One thing is sure: we will never forget this magical trip!

What I loved as a parent

The planning and organisation was nothing less than perfect. Every activity was on time. The schedule left time to move across the ship, have toilet or eating breaks. We never had dull moments, yet we didn’t need to run around. On the second day, the organisers made sure we still followed the Finnish timezone: for example, the bedtime story was at 8pm (9pm Finnish time). Silja Symphony and its services are completely child-friendly. I’m a whiner when it comes to service, but I was so impressed by how kind and professional the staff was, a smile always on their faces.

A comment as an expat

I know many of my readers are international and they are probably wondering about the events’ language. All communications on the ship were given in Finnish, Swedish, and English. Most signs had instructions also in Russian. The night shows I watched were in English and performers were international. The Skidit’s programme was in Finnish, but during the bingo game when parents needed to help their kids, numbers were announced also in Swedish and English (which I really appreciated!). In other words, if your child speaks Finnish and you don’t, it’s gonna be fine!

The next cruise is happening in March and has “circus” as a central theme. Another taking place in June will be announced later: make sure to like the Skidit Festarit page to never miss their events and their ticket giveaways. I cannot but recommend you to join one Skidit cruise. Prinsessabileet has been an amazing family experience which overcame all our expectations and left us with precious and royal memories.

We were offered tickets to the Prinsessabileet cruise in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are mine and sincere: more on my working values can be found here.

The post A Dream Come True: a Sea Adventure with our Favourite Princesses appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

This year, my husband happened to be home on parental leave and since lately I have been having a hard time, he told me this year he would deal with anything concerning R’s party. “You only have to bake the cake, the rest is on me”. My natural tendency is to be a micromanaging nightmare, but I was feeling so overwhelmed that I let go. Completely. Until the night before the party when I asked him, “Did you go and pick up the keys of the venue?”. Silence, followed by panic.

I had taken the day off work to relax and bake R’s cake. I desperately needed a day to rest, but I ended up baking the sponge three times, having failed the first and after realising I needed one layer more beside the second. I was exhausted and the forgotten keys were the last straw for me. I got so mad I could not even speak.

Canceling was not an option: we were supposed to fly to Italy for three weeks the day after the party and R would have been heartbroken. At the same time, how could we entertain 18 toddlers for two hours in our living room?
We frantically tried to reach the custodians of the venue, offering to pick up the keys anywhere, but no one was willing to help.

We spent a couple of hours in panic, not knowing what to do, then we proceeded to list the facts: the party had to happen, we had to host it at our place, and keeping twenty toddlers in our house for two hours was not possible.

After putting the kids to bed, we brainstormed and listed few outdoors activities we could set up with little materials and time. We came up with the following:

• hit the snowman – we bought a resistant yet safe stick, and kids had to hit our snowman like a piñata;
• down the hill – we own two sledges and asked our best friends to bring another two, and had the kids slide down a hill behind our house;
• fill the bowl first – two teams (2-3 kids each) would challenge each other to fill up a bowl with snow with the help of tablespoons. The team which filled the bowl first won some candies;
• scavenger hunt – we bought three kinds of small objects (some cheap bracelets, Easter plastic eggs, chalks) and I hid them in our courtyard. Each kid had to find and bring one of each objects to win a lollypop.

We asked some of the parents, my brother, and his girlfriend, to stay and act as guardians and helpers (if you are reading, we are very grateful!). My husband rushed in the night to buy the little materials we needed (thank you 24 hours-hypermarkets!).

We sent a text to all parents (kudos to my husband who had all phone numbers stored!), changing the venue and shortening the party to 1.30h. On the day of the party, kids played outside for a full hour, rotating between the games, and enjoyed it a lot! We invited them in only to have a glass of juice, eat some snacks and the cake. R opened all her presents and kids were too tired and well-mannered to destroy the living room.

We had moved anything we could out of the way to make space. Our office room looked like a tetris game played with furniture and toys.

The party was a success, we had saved the day! After the effort and the stress peak, I just wanted to crawl to a corner and cry (which I did), but I admit it also felt good to see my husband and I had managed the situation so promptly and brilliantly. We have worked as a great team.

You bet next time we will remember to pick up the keys.

***

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:
I do not want to live in fantasy motherland
E’s first sauna
Toddlers’ Christmas movie night

The post My girl’s 5th birthday: disaster averted! appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

Look at those happy faces! They make me wanna run! (Pic: Minimarathon)

The Minimarathon is a sport event tailored for kids aged 5 to 13 organised by the Finnish Athletics Federation (SUL) and sponsored by lots of great companies. Participants are split by age groups and encouraged to complete the 1 km track, at their own speed and with no timing. It’s not about winning: it’s about being introduced to sports and reaching a small goal. Everyone gets a medal!
There is no age requirement to take part, the youngest participant last year was only 2 months old.

There’s plenty to do while waiting your turn. (Pic: Minimarathon.

Before the run, kids can warm up with some planned activities like jumping on a trampoline, running on the track or hugging mascots. The starting point is located at Eläintarha Sports field (Vauhtitie 6, Helsinki) and the end line is at Telia 5G Areena (Urheilukatu 5, Helsinki). After crossing the finish line the kids get to enjoy snacks offered by the sponsors. Traditionally the event takes place in August but in 2018 it will happen on May 19th.

R is so excited to take part and I am as well. Judging from the participants’ list, I see there are already a few hundreds of other kids at the moment who are as eager to run in the Minimarathon.  Registration is about 20 euros and the earlier you register, the less the fee. Join us! We’d love to meet you there.

Recommended starting age is 5 but there’s no true limit. Does little brother wanna give it a shot? (Pic: Minimarathon)

I should mention, if you are better people than hubby and I, and you like to treat your body right and challenge yourself, that on the same date and nearby locations, some marathons for adults also take place.

The Minimarathon’s organisers have granted R a free pass for us to help promote and review the event. Opinions are mine and sincere. Read more about my work values here.

The post Meet us at the Helsinki Minimarathon! appeared first on The Elephant Mum.