Mastodawn

Metro – Metro.co.uk: News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities from Metro [Unofficial]1d ago

Football teaches kids to be losers – that’s important

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://metro.co.uk/2026/05/16/football-teaches-kids-losers-important-28383170/

Metro – Metro.co.uk: News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities from Metro [Unofficial]3d ago

Kids are losers sometimes – it’s important they learn that

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://metro.co.uk/2026/05/13/kids-losers-sometimes-important-learn-28355747/

Metro – Metro.co.uk: News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities from Metro [Unofficial]5d ago

I had a chemical pregnancy — but my baby still counts

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The Snow Melts Somewhere 6d ago

Giggles On My Island

Did I ever tell you that I live on an island?

It’s easy to mistake for solid land, but it trembles when green waves lap its shores, and it welcomes the whistling wind that is forever accompanied by a faint fishy smell. Seagulls’ cries mark the arrival of spring as several bridges firmly connect it to other pieces of land.

Our home is right in the middle of the island. This is convenient, because it means I can reach every corner effortlessly, if need be, and you never know when need might be. I can do an hour-long walk lazily along the shores without ever being too far away from home.

Forgot something? No problem. Kid called? No problem. Thirsty? No problem. I can just go home and pop back out again. The only thing stopping me is, perhaps, the weather.

But when the weather gods do smile and the smiles turn into sunshine, I like to stroll around this urban residential area surrounded by water. There’s always something new to experience. On my last walk, for example, I saw:

A suspiciously shaking bush that emitted clear-voiced giggles
A reluctant cat that was being urged to walk, but pretended it didn’t understand
A polite food robot that waited for people to pass, then hurried off with its little flag wagging like a puppy’s tail

I don’t know everything about my island, but there are certain addresses I’m starting to recognise on the map that my kids’ smart watches emit. Just looking at the signal, I can tell whether my boys are at a friend’s place, doing sports, or counting coins at the kiosque that sells watermelon bubble gum. Being a detective mum has never been this easy.

In the summer, the kids hang out in the neighbourhood with their bikes, rollerskates, and scooters. In the winter, they’re ice skating on the frozen football field. We detective mums can set an alarm on our kids’ watches to let them know it’s time to come home, but it’s not foolproof.

”Great minds think alike”, a mum commented to me, when we were trying to get our kids to come home and they were each waiting for the other to go home first.

“Sometimes we just dance to the tune of the alarm,” my kid confirmed.

”I mean, there are LLAMAS in the park! BUNNIES, for crying out loud! You can’t expect me to come home now!” he said another time (true story).

The park is pleasant for gardenless adults, too, llamas or no llamas. Online, my wise bloggy friend PR said, ”Chattiness is directly proportional to the amount of sunshine”, and I couldn’t agree more. As the sun emerges from its long winter hibernation, random springtime talks with other mums, their babies yawning in a pram, are some of the more cherished moments you’ll experience in our very own park.

And the next time you see them on a sunny day, you’ll ask where the baby is. “Here”, they’ll say, pointing to a school-aged child. “This is her!” Time might move differently on an island, faster. Who’s keeping count!

The most important thing to remember, as life goes by, is to focus on the giggles.

Focus on giggles.

#Children #Finland #Happiness #Helsinki #Life #Mums #Writing