The hard part of being a mum...

Jonas starting daycare is no fun. As I wrote in my last post Wednesday was his first day there alone, and called after little over an hour for me to pick him up. On Thursday it had gone by a little better, he was still crying, but she was able to comfort him. Then Friday, well it was her birthday and 2 other daycares were visiting, which meant a lot of kids, which I guess was a bit too much for Jonas, because again he was really upset...

Over the weekend he has been teething, and that just causes crying, less sleeping and luckily a lot of cuddles. Though this morning he seemed a bit better, at least he did cry as soon as he saw his toothbrush. But he did cry when I handed him over at the daycare... that is the hard part of being a mother, handing over a crying child, who puts his arms out towards you when you leave... oh I really hope he hasn't been crying the whole time when I pick him up, I really hope that soon this will be better...

But what makes is worth it is when you get the smile from him when you go out in the snow. On Thursday night we had quite a bit of snow, so this weekend we went out with his sled, and he seemed to enjoy it, even though he fell of a few times. He didn't cry when hitting the snow, and was smiling when he got back on...

Please keep you fingers crossed for him to love daycare soon:) I'm just happy that it will be a while before a start working again, so he can start slow!

A winter walk...

Today was the first day Jonas was going to be in daycare by himself. When I left we agreed that he should stay for 2 hours, and then I would pick him up again, so he got to start up slowly. About 1 hour and 15 minutes after I dropped him off, she called that maybe we had overestimated the 2 hours, because he was really upset, kept crying and she couldn't get him to calm down. So I went to pick him up, he was quite happy to see me, but it took a bit before he calmed down completely:)

When we got home I decided to take Jonas out for a walk. We got a little bit of snow on Monday evening, but nothing to brag about. The sun was shining, and the ground almost covered with snow I figured it was the perfect weather for a walk to the little lake nearby.

So we put on our warm clothes and started walking. When we got to the lake I was kicking myself for only bringing my pocket camera, because it was an amazing scenery, and well my pocket camera doesn't take the best of pictures.

We went to the feeding spot, to feed the swans and ducks with some old stale bread. But the first part of the lake was covered with a thin layer of ice, so it took a while for the swans to make a "road" to shore. But I think they were happy we brought food, and Jonas was happy watching them eat.

I really enjoyed watching the swan babies (I don't know what the proper name for them is), that had got a bit bigger than this summer. It was fun to see them trying to walk on the ice, they looked like Bambi on ice. Their parents seemed to have tried it before and were better at it.

When we got home, we had lunch and now Jonas is sleeping, hopefully the fresh air will have him take a long nap, he seemed to be needing it, especially since I for some reason was really upset from 1.00 am till 2.30 am last night... So a good long nap is in need, maybe I should take one as well:)

Yet another post about daycare...

Today Jonas is having his first in daycare, my little baby is now a little boy:) We got an e-mail back from the municipality (remember I wrote about it here) well they basically don't care, we got a long explanation on how they try to adapt the daycares opening hours into the modern and flexible family... well why do we get the lousy opening hours when? And in the end they wrote "we hope you will find a solution to your problem soon"... well that was kind of why we wrote you, you were suppose to find a solution to our problem as the municipality guarantee... Well I got so fed up with this I guess we will try to work with the daycare we got...

That is for now anyways... on Friday we went to visit a privately owned institution, and now I am kicking myself for not having signed Jonas up for a space there when he was born... it is the most lovely place, there is lots of kids, lots of adults, an amazing playground, it's on an old farm and the got animals like goats etc. for the kids to visit. But of course they are full, they don't take any kids under the age of 2 in until 2013... but we have signed Jonas up, and are hoping that we will get a spot. Sooner or later we are moving him there. I have heard so many people saying but moving him around is not good for him... I know, but the way I look at it is we are starting him up at this woman today, and by the age 3 he will be moved into kindergarten, if we instead moves him to this other institution when there is a free spot and then he will be able to stay there until he starts school... so both ways he will only be moved once, so I don't get all the fuzz!

Another cool thing about this institution is that it's open 24/7, well you get 200 hours a month, otherwise you have to pay extra. But these hours can be spent however you like, so if my husband would get stuck in traffic on the way home, he wouldn't have to stress about not being at the daycare before they close... and even better they don't "force" us to use our vacation in the middle of July and between Christmas and New Year etc. The daycare you get through the municipality is closed 2 weeks during the summer (the most expensive time to travel), on all national holidays, between Christmas and New Year... and well this is not always the time we have off, I do work between Christmas and New Year, I don't always have the 2 busiest travelling weeks of, and since I work in a garden center I might even work on national holidays... so we are really hoping to get him into this institution, so keep you fingers crossed for him to get a spot soon:)

Well I should get things ready for his first day in daycare, or should I say our first day in daycare... I will be staying with him:) Have a great week everyone!

The end of my maternity leave...

Tomorrow is officially my last day of maternity leave... I can't believe that it's been more than a year since I stopped working! That went fast! Though I still have my 6 weeks of vacation before starting work again, but I'm sure they will pass by even faster than I would like...

On Monday Jonas will have his first day in daycare (nothing new has happened so far, so we are starting out here and see how it goes). Well the first day will actually only be a few hours, and I will stay there with him. Depending on how well that goes he will then be staying there a few hours by himself from Tuesday. I guess I'm lucky to have so much time for him to get used to being away from me... or should I say, I have so much time getting used to being away from him, I bet it will be harder for me to leave him...

So this week we have really enjoyed sleeping in late... well he usually wakes up around 5.30, he will get a bottle and then he used to go back to sleep, but not now. So he will play around in our bed and I will watch TV. Well I'm watching the news, because honestly nothing good is on that early... only different kids shows and boring sitcoms. So far Jonas hasn't caught on to the kids shows, though it is the strangest things that will get his attention. You can be sure if the weather forecast is on he will stop whatever he is doing and watch it. A soccer game can hold his attention for a little while as well as the voice of Dr. Phil... What should I make of this? A soccer game, sure he is a boy, the weather forecast, yeah I guess it's nice to know what to expect since he is sleeping outside during the day, but Dr. Phil? I have no idea why, I guess he just sees him as a nice guy, which I am sure he is:) But after about half an hour or 45 minutes of TV he will be back to sleep again for a few hours, so I'm enjoying that as long as I can:)

Well that will be all, I am off to enjoy the last of my maternity leave:)

A letter to the mayor...

Well first I have to say I'm blown away by all the comments on my last post, thank you so much, they really make me happy:) And the little cheering up has been needed the last few day, I have been more than a little upset, I have been pissed.... yeah I thought I was pissed when the guy with the car blew us of, I guess I wasn't... let's face it, usually when something pisses me of I bitch and moan about it, but doesn't really do much about it.

In Denmark all municipalities offers daycare for children, some municipalities has guarantee that you will get a spot for you kid, if he/she is sign up 3 months before you need it. We live in one of those municipalities, and I signed Jonas up for a spot last May, which we would be needing in the end of February this year... So I thought (called me naive) that I was secured a spot, especially since I had to choose what was most important to us, if we wanted something close by (yeah that would be nice, but not an absolutely must), what kind of daycare (a private person with only 4 kids or a public with loads of kids, and more adults) or the opening hours. We chose the opening hours to be the most important. Since my husband is commuting quite far at the moment he leaves around 6 am in the morning, and with me working in a department store my hours shift a lot, some days I will start at 6 am, some days later, some days I will have to work till 9 pm, which means my husband will have to pick up Jonas, and because of the commute the long opening hours will be necessary...

This smile has also been cheering me up:)

So on Monday I got a letter that he had been accepted to a private daycare, which I am kind of okay with, but the thing is she doesn't open until 7 am... so my husband will never be able to drop Jonas off, because then he won't make to work in time, and well I can't drop him off either if I have to be at work at 6 am. So I called the bitch at the municipality that I have had multiple discussions with, every time she is so rude... I said this won't work, this way one of us will have to quit our job and be on daycare... but she didn't care, maybe I could get another spot in the fall...

Usually this is where I would stop doing more about it, and just really bitch and moan about it, and try to make it work. But not this time, this just affects me way too much, I'm going back to a job I love, and now I might have to quit because I can't get Jonas into a good enough daycare?

So we wrote a letter to the mayor... yep, we told him we didn't understand this whole thing. Every time you turn on the radio or the TV some politician is talking about people being willing to commute or move to get a job. My husband was unemployed for 1½ month this fall, and ended up having a long commute to his new job, he did what every politician say we have to do, and now we can't get proper daycare for our son... the solution they have given us is not acceptable and one of us might have to quit our job...

We got an e-mail back that someone was looking into our case, and we would hear from them soon... so I'm hoping that when we hear from them it will be that we got another daycare, with better opening hours.

On the bright side though, Jonas and I went to visit the daycare we got yesterday, the lady seems really nice, and I am sure she will take good care of Jonas. She is currently also taking care of a 3 year old boy, though he will soon be going to kindergarten instead, a 2 year old girl and a little boy a month younger than Jonas.

And today I called my boss, and told him about our situation, and he said that we would work around it until I got another spot for him... I think I said this before, but I will say it again, I got the best boss ever....

So please keep your fingers crossed that I will get a better daycare spot for Jonas, and soon:)

What did we do before the internet?

I have a hard time remember my life before the internet, I doubt I could live without it now. But back in 1998/1999 when I was an Au Pair in Maryland, USA I didn't even have an e-mail account... I wrote and received a lot of letters and I loved it. I loved seeing the mail man driving up our street in his little white truck, I love the mailboxes with the little flag (we don't have that in Denmark), I loved being able to send my letters from the house, just had to put them in the mailbox and raise the flag and the mail man brought them with him.

I got my first e-mail account after arriving home from the USA, which I thought was a great way to stay in touch with people. That was pretty much my first meeting with the internet... well not exactly I had been online once or twice in high school, but the internet was incredibly slow at the school and we weren't allowed to use it if it wasn't for school work...

Well since then a lot has happened. I got a facebook profile at some point, I can't remember exactly when, but I have uploaded the first pictures in the fall of 2007, so it was probably around then I got on facebook... honestly how did people stay updated while on maternity before facebook? I am so glad I can stalk my colleagues on facebook and stay updated:)

On October 30th 2009 I wrote my first blogpost, and who knew anyone would actually read my blog? Every time I get a new follower I might actually do a little happy dance:) I now have 21 followers, which compared to a lot of other blogs is nothing, but I'm happy for every single one of my readers. I love blogging because I get to know people from around the world, and learn new things.

Just this week I got a new cell phone, and I am actually now able to go online on my phone (yeah I know I'm really far behind in that area). My relationship with my phone used to be a thing that belonged in my purse and every once in a while I had to remember to recharge it... now I can download different apps etc. A whole new world to me:) Who knows... someday I might even get a Twitter account, which I still don't get the big deal about....

Twitter or not Twitter I don't think I could live without the internet today, I have a hard time not checking my email or my facebook several times a day... well that might change a bit when I start working again... well that was just a few of my thoughts, have a great weekend:)

A New Year has begun...

Hope you all had a wonderful NYE. We spent the night at some friends house, with all the kids we were 14, and I had a great time, even though I had to stay completely sober since I was driving.

I was a bit tired though, because of all days Jonas didn't care to sleep until around 8.00 am as he has done the last month or so, but at 6.30 am there was no way we would get him to sleep for a the next couple of hours. So we were up early, and so was I on January 1st, so yesterday was spent relaxing as much as possible... and after Frank got up after noon we went for a walk, since the fresh air would probably do us good.

I think with all the Christmas and New Year going on it almost became enough for Gilbert the cat... or maybe he just got enough of Jonas and he tried to take his own life...

Well not really he fell asleep on Jonas' train tracks and we put Jonas on the train, which wasn't moving and took the picture, and as soon as we turned on the tr

ain he was awake, but it just a great photo opportunity.

On New Years Eve all the kids had some fun while I was busy texting with my brother, so this was how I ended up looking... the couldn't believe I just sat there and let them put it all on me, but hey it was harmless fun and they really enjoyed themselves.

I haven't made any resolutions, because honestly I'm the worst at keeping them, and what is the point of making the 1st of January the date where you make changes? If I decide not to eat chocolate any longer (as if that would ever happen) I can start that on March 18th, can't I? Or do I really have to wait for January 1st? What I mean is that I think you have to make the changes when you feel like you can change them and not just because it January 1st.

Happy New Year, looking forward to blogging the next year as well:)