I apologize for not having posted regularly on my website and for things being so quiet on the social media front since the 14th of February. My father passed away suddenly and the kids and I left Canada and traveled to Norway to spend time with my family and help my mom recover from losing her partner. We are going to stay here until April to help my mom and I will be updating and writing from Norway.
I will try to highlight how it is to be a parent and live in Norway. I will enroll my kids in Norwegian school and daycare to discover firsthand how it is to be a parent in Norway compared to Canada.
Why this perspective?
Norway is one of the few countries in the world that has friluftsliv (outdoor living) as a basic human right for children in its laws; for schools, daycares and all residents have a right to access nature. This is called “freedom to roam”. (allemansretten)
Access to nature is free
You do not have to pay money to visit a public park or even a privately owned forest, as it is free for everyone to enjoy. In this principle you also have the right to do wildcrafting (picking berries, mushrooms, gathering branches, etc) and you will not find “No Trespassing” signs or any notices in the public parks saying “no tree climbing” or “don’t pick the flowers”. It will be interesting to be here for a while and see how things have change or stayed the same since I was a child. But now it will be through the eyes of a parent.
An orginazed childhood
I grew up in Norway, but I do not see my childhood here anymore. I grew up with a stay-at-home parent with active and free play in my community. Today in Norway almost all children start daycare at the age of 1 year old and attend after-school programs till they are about 10 years old. It is a much more organized childhood than how I grew up.
Dealing with childhood obesity
Interesting enough even though Norway has so much outdoor play in schools and early childhood, youth here are dealing with similar issues as the rest of the world with childhood obesity and sedentary kids. I have noticed I do not see that many kids in my neighborhood playing, walking and biking to school. In the local paper it said, “we need to get kids more active because obesity is so high among teens”. Experts in Norway are looking at screen-time with the same critical eye as they are in North America
