Todays little happening:surgery - removing something rather unusual

I don´t often bring my kids to the hospital for surgery(grateful for that). And then again, this was only a minor operation(Grateful x2). One that can even make us smile a little. 

Soon ready for action. 

What makes us smile, is the reason why we had to come to the hospital for surgery. Why we have waited for months for this surgery. And I am just about to tell you. 

Can you see which bodypart is revealed? Yapp! A finger. Some people get a splinter in their finger. My eldest daughter had lead in hers - nope, not the bullet kind of lead. She had gotten a piece of lead from a pencil stuck under her skin. The skin had incapsulated it and it was going nowhere fast.  So that is what the surgery was for; removing pencil lead from under her skin! 

Soon finished with the sewing. 

I am pretty cool about medicine gore on tv, but as a mother I am not even capable of watching as she got a shot...

I am happy we only had a short visit to the hospital and have no more in sight. And for some odd reason, it turns out that this was a fairly rare kind of surgery. I wonder why... ;-)

Dagens "happening" - på operasjonsbordet

Ikke ofte jeg har med ett av barna til sykehuset for operasjon(heldigvis). Og dette var bare en liten, liten operasjon. (Heldigvis x2) 

Klar til action straks. 

Det som er litt morsomt er hvorfor vi altså måtte på sykehuset for operasjon. Hvorfor vi har ventet i månedsvis på operasjonstime. Og det skal du få vite nå. 

Ser du hvilken kroppsdel som titter frem? Jepp! En finger. Der noen får flis i fingeren hadde da altså min eldste datter fått bly i fingeren - eh...nei. Ikke en kule. Det var derimot en blydel fra en trykkblyant. Og dette hadde vokst inn under huden. Så vi var altså på sykehuset for å fjerne blyantbly fra en finger! 

Snart ferdig å sy sammen.

Jeg er egentlig ganske tøff når det gjelder å se på gufne greier på TV, men med mine egne barn klarer jeg ikke engang å se på at de får bedøvelsessprøyte...
Glad for at dagens sykehusbesøk er over og at vi ikke har andre i sikte. Snipp - snapp - snute, så var blyantblyet ute! :-)

Why my (and perhaps your) search for perfect always fails...

Not too long ago I had a conversation with a colleague of mine in connection with a few questions I had regarding work. She said something to me that was like turning on the light inside me: "It seems as if you are trying to manage everything at once. You can´t. You have to give it about three years!" 
And I knew she was right. I was trying to get a hang of everything - straight away, when it was in fact an impossible task. 

Not just that. I became aware that it was how I was trying to live my life too, in all aspects, as a mum, as a wife, as a fellow human being... We have so many roles as a human and I was really trying to get everything done, and everything done right. At once. 

Striving for perfection becomes a terrible ordeal when you don´t realise it is impossible to obtain. 

If my goal is to jump to the moon, but I only manage to jump a few feet, it would feel like a terrible failure! But... if it is possible for us to see that it is utterly IMPOSSIBLE to jump all the way to the moon, a few feet is quite alright and you can feel ok about what you have done. 

And that is the world I am now introducing myself to: seeing my limits. One should think that it would be a negative thing, but on the contrary, it opens my eyes to the reality of what I can do, and compare my accomplishments to that instead. That makes it possible to be so much  more content and happy with oneself. If I can´t jump to the moon, there is no point in being sad for not making it! 

In addition to that, it is important to accept that all we can do, is not obtainable either. Life consists of so many variables that affect us, and so many considerations - it is important to look further than the tip of our nose. 

Sometimes, a 30% effort IS 100%. And then we have to be content with that. 

"It would be very quiet in the forest
if nobody sang
but the birds who sang the best"

- unknown

To me that means that we all, no matter what we are able to do or not, are a very important part of that puzzle which is life. We don´t have to be perfect, so why die trying? 

Wishing you a great - and unperfected - day!

Katinka

Hvorfor min (og kanskje din) jakt på det perfekte, feiler...

For ikke lenge siden snakket jeg med en svensk kollega i forbindelse med noen spørsmål jeg hadde på jobben. Hun sa noe til meg som var som å slå på et lys for meg: "Det virker som om du prøver å få til alt riktig med en gang. Du må gi det tre år". Da gikk et opp for meg at hun hadde rett - jeg prøvde virkelig å få til alt med en gang og det var egentlig en umulig oppgave. 

Ikke bare det, det gikk opp for meg at det var sånn i alle aspekter av livet mitt, som mor, som kone, som medmenneske, ja alle rollene vi som mennesker har - og det er mange! Jeg prøver å få til alt - nå!

Å jage etter det perfekte blir et blodslit når man ikke inser at det man tror er mulig, faktisk ikke er det. 

Det er klart, hvis målet mitt er å hoppe opp til månen, men bare klarer å hoppe en meter, så føles det som et SKIKKELIG nederlag! Men hvis man bare klarer å skjønne at det faktisk er praktisk umulig for et menneske å hoppe helt til månen, men at en meter er helt alright, da føler man seg faktisk litt ok allikevel. :-)

Og det er den verdenen som nå begynner å åpne seg for meg: å se mine begrensninger. Kanskje skulle man tro at det var en negativ ting, men fordi det åpner for at jeg klarer å se realiteten av hva jeg kan klare og ser hva jeg klarer i forhold til det, så er jeg langt mer fornøyd med tilværelsen. 

I tillegg så må jeg klare å godta at ikke alt jeg kan klare er oppnåelig heller. Livet består av mange variabler som påvirker oss og mange hensyn å ta - det gjelder å se mer enn bare rett foran nesetippen.   

Av og til er 30% faktisk 100%. Og da må man være fornøyd med det. 

"Det ville blitt svært stille i skogen 

hvis ingen andre sang

 enn de fuglene som synger best"

- ukjent

For meg så betyr det at vi alle, uansett hva vi får til eller ikke får til, har en viktig del av det puslespillet som er livet. Vi MÅ ikke være perfekt, eller best. Så hvorfor gå til grunne i forsøket? 

Ha en fortsatt fin - eller uperfekt - dag! 

Katinka

Mum, you can leave now...

We have just been through a big decision on behalf of one of our children. We have had our kids at a private school and have been really pleased with it. Small classes and many teachers in addition to good values. But for our youngest girl, the road to school became too long. 

My experience both as a mum and as a teacher, is that firstgraders enjoy learning and they look forward to school every day. But for our first grader, the road to school has been a huge challenge and she dreaded going to school. We therefore decided to try the school nearby where we live. It was success from day 1. 


The second day she tries out the day care facilities for schoolchildren. There are few kids there when we arrive this early morning. But one of the girls she will be starting school with, waves at her. As she approaches us, my daughter tells me:
- Mum, you can leave now...
Then she stretches out her arms and wants a proper hug and a kiss before I leave. - Bye, Mum!

It hurts a little. Just leaving. My wee one is in a new element with few people she knows, but she feels strong enough to let me go. But I think she can see the doubt in my eyes, because she adds: - Mum, you have to get to work on time, you know. 
A little reluctantly I start walking away into the blue morning as the snowflakes fall silently to the ground. Her words keep repeating in my mind:

- Mum, you can leave now...

And I think about the bigger picture. How my eldest children are on the threshold of their own lives and symbolically will say the same words: - Mum, you can leave now.

It will be a painful secession for me as a mum. All you want is to watch over your children and look out for them. But there comes a time when you have to let go and leave them to tread their own road.

I am not ready to let go yet. But I know that the time is closing in faster than I can fathom. I am so blessed to have five wonderful children that I love tremendously. But little by little they will have their own families and cooking for 7 will become cooking for 2. The laundry baskets will be emptier and the mess will be just about gone. Less straining, but oh so empty. 
Still the house is full of laughter and challenges and mess, but i understand that I should just love it all as long as it lasts. Because I am not ready to hear those words yet. 

- Mum, you can leave now...

Mamma - nå kan du gå

Vi har nettopp vært gjennom en stor beslutning for en av barna våre. Vi har noen av barna våre på privatskole og er kjempefornøyd med det. Små klasser og god lærertetthet og ikke minst gode verdier. Men for vår yngste ble skoleveien rett og slett for slitsom.

Min erfaring både som mor og som lærer er at førsteklassinger gleder seg over å lære og de gleder seg til å komme på skolen hver dag. For vår førsteklassing har det vært et ork og hun har ikke hatt lyst å gå på skolen. Vi bestemte oss derfor for å prøve skolen i nærmiljøet. Det var suksess fra dag 1.

- Mamma, hvis du lurer på, så har ihvertfall jeg bestemt meg for hva jeg har lyst til...

Den andre dagen skal hun prøve SFO for første gang på den nye skolen. Det er ikke mange der når vi kommer, men en av jentene i klassen hun kommer til å begynne i, vinker til henne. Hun kommer bort til Leah og jeg får følgende beskjed: - Mamma, nå kan du gå.
Så strekker hun armene opp til meg og vil ha en skikkelig kos og nuss før jeg går. - Hadet, mamma!

Det gjør litt vondt. Å bare gå. Hun er i et nytt element med få kjente, men føler seg sterk nok til at hun vil jeg skal gå. Jeg tror hun ser tvilen i øynene mine, for hun legger til: - du må jo rekke jobben også da, mamma...
Motvillig går jeg ut i den blå morgentimen med snøflakene dalende ned. Setningen går om igjen i hodet mitt flere ganger: - Mamma, nå kan du gå.

Og jeg tenker på det i større betydning, hvordan de eldste barna mine nå står på terskelen til sine egne liv og symbolsk kommer til å si det samme snart: - Mamma, nå kan du gå.

Det blir en smertefull løsrivelse for meg som mamma. Alt man ønsker er å våke og passe på barna så langt det lar seg gjøre. Men på et eller annet punkt er det på tide å slippe taket og gå...

Jeg er ikke klar til å slippe taket enda. Men jeg vet at den tiden nærmer seg fortere enn jeg egentlig skjønner. Jeg er så heldig å ha fem flotte barn som jeg elsker over alt på jord. Men litt etter litt vil de få sine egne familier og matlaging for 7 vil bli matlaging for 2, vasken vil krympe, og huset vil ikke trengs å ryddes så ofte... Mindre slitsomt kanskje, men det kommer til å bli fryktelig tomt. Enn så lenge er huset fullt og egentlig burde man bare nyte alt ekstra arbeidet som følger med. For jeg er ikke klar for å høre det helt enda. 

- Mamma, nå kan du gå...

Are you an optimist, pessimist - or just plain realistic?

I just did one of those really authentic tests on Facebook. This one was called: are you optimistic, pessimistic or realistic? 

I have not pinned myself down for one as I feel I am a mix of all, so I took the test to let the omnipotent, all powering, truth be revealed. 

The result: 
(quoting only parts of it)

"You are a true optimist at heart! 

You always see the bright side of life, 

always thinking positive thoughts 

and seeing butterflies and sunshine and unicorns everywhere. 

It is true,

 sometimes you get burned

 by trusting too many people

 and believing that everything will turn up fine,

 but it sure is better than thinking about every little thing that can go wrong with your life".

I still think I am a mix of all, but I agree with the bottom line here, we need to remember there is light in the tunnel. And that no, the lights are not a train coming toward you! 

Earlier this week, I had just gotten the kids out the door and getting ready for work, when 30 seconds later the doorbell rang. My youngest had fallen into a puddle and was wet through and through. I had to change her from top to toe and rush to help her catch the bus on time. She barely made it. Phew! But this was just the first of many similar situations throughout the day. It is like everything just has to happen simultaneously! And so these kind of days become "one of those days". 

We all have down days, or days where everything seem to go wrong, but we also have new days ahead. Those days are still blank and we are the masters of filling them. (Hm, I guess I am optimistic) 

Instead of counting your days, make your days count.  
(Picture of my youngest daughter some 5 years ago)

I think being optimistic, not all the time for everything, but just as a general way of thinking on life, gives your whole life a different shine. 

I believe two people can live through the exact same day, but experience it as two totally different ways. Like when you get in a accident and wreck your fancy car, there are two ways to react:

1. Oh, no! My car! 
2. I am grateful that I am fine and nobody was hurt. 

This is overdoing it a little, but you get the point: Try to see the positive in a situation (when possible - I realise that is not possible in everything) 

I recently read something along the lines of:

"If you experience something you know you will laugh at in a month or a year, you might as well laugh at it at once. Who knows if you´re there to laugh at it later"

I guess that is optimistic/pessimistic at the same time, but I kinda like it. 

Gordon B. Hinckley said that we are not just here to endure life, but to enjoy it. So do your best to remember the postive things from your day, and that will colour your days. 

Oooh, gotta go. The butterflies are signalling me that it is feeding time for the unicorns...

Have a great day!