Sidenotes

Before I get back to Paris stories, a couple assorted notes on Stockholm life.

~ There's a little boy in Peter's class that cracks me up because he's so "helpful". We'll call him "A". A is a very confident little guy. He was assigned as Peter's "buddy" on his first day to show him the ropes, and his coat hook is next to Peter's. A always says hello to me, and usually has some tidbit to offer about school policy or life in general. On the few days when Peter's been sad about going to school, in tears as I'm trying to leave him, A has offered small comfort in the form of comments like "What's wrong with him?" Kids are so sensitive.

Today, Peter was taking his coat off as A came in with his dad. A looked at Peter in concern and said, "Did you forget to check your weather app today?" I asked what he meant. A was dressed in a full zip up snowsuit over his school clothes. He replied, "It's supposed to SNOW at 5pm today!" "Oh, well, we'll be home by then," I said. He just looked at me, with total disappointment in my naiveté regarding Swedish weather, I guess, and began to peel off his own layers. For what it's worth, we HAD checked our weather app, and ours shows a small chance of showers in the 4-5pm range. I think A is going to be sorely disappointed in his hopes for a great snowfall today. But if he's not, we'll be toasty warm in our flat, watching out the window.

A's father is always there at school drop off, but never does more than nod at me in greeting. I think he speaks English, because A speaks excellent fluent English with a lovely Indian accent. But he never does anything to tone down A's advice giving. He never even offers the gentle eye roll that would seem infinitely appropriate to me, so I keep my own face straight as well. At first I found it off putting, but now I look forward to finding out what A will offer me each day.

~ Grocery delivery has saved my home-making life. I am so grateful for it. The website is painfully slow when I'm ordering, so I spend hours setting up an order, but that's totally okay. The benefit is very much worth the cost. I have never had any interest in ordering groceries back home, but I may be getting spoiled here. Even as I type that, though, I think the lure of driving my car to the store when I get home will get back on that wagon quickly enough. I miss my van.

~ Thanks for all the sweet comments on instagram about Marianne's new moto jacket. She declared she wanted one a month or so before her birthday, so we knew we'd be shopping around once she had cash in hand. We totally scored when we found the winning jacket at H&M for around $50! There were only a couple of them on the rack in that style, but one was the right size, so, you know what they say, "You don't need scores of jackets. You only need one, if it's the right one." She still hemmed and hawed, and we left and ran some other errands then came back to look at it again. I'm so glad she got it! Clearly you all are, too. She didn't really want me to post a picture of her, because she's 14 which, I think, means if you're not posting a selfie it's not cool to post at all. That's why I slipped it in after all the all the park pics. Less conspicuous so she minds less. But man! That girl! She's getting so grown up and is clearly much chicer than me. Not that THAT's a challenge.

Meg, also, used some birthday money to up her moto-chic. She was desperate for a pair of black booties or boots. After some shopping around, she settled on a super cute pair of boots with a couple fun buckles. They're taller than booties but don't come all the way to her calf. I don't know what you call that height. but she loves them and they're adorable on her. She now wears them with everything (along with her panda earmuffs, of course) so look forward to spotting them in photos to come.