greenhouse

Have you ever noticed how busy life suddenly gets, when you are on holidays? It’s this strange phenomenon. I always make these grand plans of catching up on all these little things (like organizing my ‘itunes’ and sorting pictures and such) when I’m away from home, but they never get done. It’s almost as though I need the stress of a very busy life to get anything done at all.

I was convinced that while in Latvia (especially now that I have a work lap-top!) I’d be blogging a lot more, too. Alas, it isn’t so! It seems like every minute of the day is taken up by one insignificant little thing after another and before you know it the day is over. And even though Kaspar has begun napping again (He often sleeps a good two to three hours during the day! Yay!!!), days when both kids are asleep at the same time are far too rare. So, when it does happen, I grab the opportunity to do a thing or two.

The weather has been blissfully warm and sunny and we’ve been spending a lot of time outdoors. It’s ironic that despite the usually cool springs here, this one has been consistently warm and sunny. I’ll even go as far as to say that every single day the projected temperature has been warmer than that of Toronto. And that’s a true rarity! I’m sure Toronto will catch up by the end of this week... and we’ll probably get slammed with some unusually cold days sooner or later... In the mean time, I’ll enjoy the 20+ degrees during the day, the sun and the wind in my hair and the nice cool nights, where it’s enough to keep a window open so that you can snuggle into the blankets and breathe fresh crisp night time air and listen to the nightingales.

The thing that perplexes me the most, as I stroll through the streets and watch other mothers here, is the way they dress their kids. Honestly... it’s a little disturbing. It’s not unusual to see a mother dressed in a summery top and shorts, probably sandals on her feet, lugging around her two year old with a close fitting hat on his or her head, the kind that has ears and they’re always tied tightly below the chin, a parka, socks (sometimes even a pair of tights under the pants) and most certainly long pants and long sleeves under the parka. It’s as though all the children are sick. And even a sick kid in Toronto would not be as over dressed as these poor kids. I’m sure that I have left some mothers wondering what I’m staring at them for. On the other hand, I’m sure I’m being started at as well. I’ve named this phenomenon “the greenhouse child”. In Latvia this is the norm, unfortunately. My brother’s wife and I have had some amazing laughs at times. She is on my side of the “the greenhouse child” issue and her stories of children her kids meet at the daycare are not only extremely amusing, but also a little frightening. Most mothers in Latvia are of the age old (at least for Latvians) belief that the only way to keep a child healthy is to dress, dress and dress them very well. And it’s being taken to the extreme. I do remember vaguely being told to pull my hat over my ears when I was a child and told to wear a scarf and stuff like that, but I had never noticed how extremely cautious parents here are.

I won’t go into the details, but there is also the “no ice cream” rule for anyone who’s got a runny nose, sore throat, cough or even cold hands. A drink is never served cold from the fridge to a child no matter how hot the day might be. They like to add a tad bit of boiling water to anything that comes out of the fridge even milk. Juices get served lukewarm. Just imagine – lukewarm grapefruit juice. Yuck! Anyways... you get the picture, right? And people stare, they really do stare at my kids, who are allowed to wear a t-shirt and shorts or bare feet on a baby, because HEAVENS!!! It’s +23!!!