Fool’s Spring has made a brief but welcome appearance with its luring promise of sunshine and warmth. Morning birdsong hangs in the air with crocuses and daffodils sprouting up through the once dormant earth. I just want to breathe it all in and exhale the darker months which are now, thankfully, behind us. We have survived our first Scandinavian winter. Every fall and winter (yes even in Vancouver, Canada) I convince myself that the darker days don’t have an impact on my mental health…that is until the sun arrives and I feel like a completely different person. I love spring dearly, and so, it would appear, does my son. Over the last few days he has woken up with a spring in his step (yes pun intended), combined with a desperation to get outside. He’s on the cusp of turning 3 and his beliefs and opinions are strengthening by the day.
He wakes up, asks if he can play, then announces he’s going outside. Now, despite living in a very safe country where kids are free to roam without much concern…he’s still a bit too young to just release out into the wilds of Copenhagen. So, it’s a delicate dance between explaining the morning routine (honestly, it’s the same, hver dag) and supporting his whims and desires. As one of the pedagogues so gingerly explained to me last week “I sense he is wanting to have more control”. Yeah, same! So, with a bit of convincing, some silliness and clever tag teaming between myself and my husband, we manage to get him fed, dressed and his teeth brushed. Then he exclaims he’s putting on his tøj på (his flyverdragt) in preparation of going outside.
The other morning, we went through the same routine and he very quickly announced he was going to the “train park”. A wonderful legeplads (playground) just down the way from our apartment. Luckily my husband was already dressed and ready for the day, so out they went on an early morning adventure, pre-vuggestue drop off. It was completely unplanned and such a hyggelig way for them to start their Friday. A nice change from our sometimes-hectic mornings where all three of us are needing to be somewhere and nothing is going according to plan. If you know, you know.
They arrived at an empty suntrap of a park where my son happily busied himself digging in the sand with a fleet of his nearest and dearest front-end loaders and excavators. In my heart, I believe he’s feeling the seasonal call of getting outside and sticking his hands in the dirt. Awakening from winter and preparing for spring. Leading a simple free childhood of embracing the seasons in all of their glory. We humans are really quite simple folk!
My husband sent me this sweet exchange from that morning:
Our son: “Park is empty.”
My husband: “Yea, no one is out yet.”
Our son: “Everybody brushing teeth.”
His heart-warming innocent observations constantly ground me and bring forth a realisation that slowing down, allowing space for flexible free play and embracing his toddler whims makes us better parents, better people and genuinely happier humans. Just don’t forget to brush your teeth first!
