Bunchland

What we’re reading today:

1. We thought Norway was supposed to be cool and progressive? So why did child welfare authorities take a healthy, happy 3-year-old from his parents and send him to live with his uncle in India?

2. “Unless it’s a kid saying it, ‘mom’ or ‘mommy’ denies women’s adulthood or agency,” says a York University prof. Should we stop slapping “mommy” on everything?

3. Just in case you wanted more proof that you’re not the worst parent in the world, Lifetime has given Ice Moms the green light. Now you can compare your parenting skills to pageant moms of the figure skating world.

4. Would you let your daughter have a sleepover where the only adult around was a dad? Apparently some groups think dads aren’t to be trusted. (We agree with the commenter who said it should be about whether you know the supervising parent(s) or not.)  Read more...

Dining al fresco by the lake

Today’s Postcard from Bunchland comes from Active Kids Club‘s Kari Svenneby. Svenneby and her family visited Norway this summer; judging by her pictures, we wish we did too.

Rowing at sunset

Today’s Postcard from Bunchland comes from our pal Kari Svenneby who runs ActiveKidsClub.com. Svenneby sent us this photo after her recent family vacation in Norway.

What we’re reading today:

1. Good job, Scandinavians, Norway is the #1 best country for moms. Moms live long, don’t die in childbirth, and get a great maternity leave. Afghanistan is the worst place for moms, according to this annual survey from Save the Children. Canada ranked 20th while the U.S. is 31st.

2. Babble’s found 10 Angry Birds-inspired dishes. TheBabybel one is pretty great.

3. Reuters has compiled some “eerie links” between Harry Potter and Osama bin Laden. BoingBoing suggests these so-called links are pretty ridiculous. Good for the book-burning set we guess? A sample: “Just as Voldemort was shaped by his mother’s death and his father’s abandonment, Osama was shaped by his personal struggle between Western pleasures and Islamic discipline.”

4. Sarah Newton, aka the Youth Expert, wonders if today’s mean girls are meaner than mean girls a decade or two ago.  Read more...

Contributor Kari Svenneby describes spending summer with kids in Norway

Norway!

One of the things that strikes me about Canada is how similar Norway and Canada are in both landscape and climates. It is as if someone left Canada in the dryer too long and made a woolen Norway shrink. The coastlines, the mountains and the breathtaking views of Norway are very similar to Canada. Even the similar climates, and our abilities to produce both oil and fish products seem to connect us. They have both traded the number 1 spot for best country to live in by the United Nations.

I live in Toronto now, but Norway will always be my home as well. Every year the kids and I try to visit my family in Fredrikstad in the summertime where we love to spend most of our time outside. After living abroad the one thing I miss the most is nature. Not because Norway has the most beautiful nature or more of it that in other countries, but because nature is so close to you wherever you are.  Read more...