Do you dare to try a spinach/apple smoothie? Or should I head out to the kitchen and make you a coffee? Tea? Or maybe you’d rather take a short walk down to the old cobblestone streets of our town and go out for a coffee? To be honest, I have not been out a whole lot since Covid started, but all the café’s and restaurants are open. Lately I’ve felt a longing to sit at a cafe and slowly sip a delicious beverage, something I used to enjoy from to time to time before the pandemic. Still there’s this other side of me that tells me that I should continue to be careful a little longer.
How is your week so far? It’s already mid weekend here (we are 6-10 hours ahead of my friends in the US, depending on time zone.) Work has been busy as usual, busy and good. Most of my free time this week have been dedicated to my daughter that has a (hopefully) temporary breakdown about living in Sweden. It’s hard to deal with. She is stressed and refuses to speak Swedish, which naturally complicates things since we live in Sweden now. She’s always preferred to speak English, but still tried her best with Swedish. Her Swedish is pretty good, but she doesn’t speak like a native, and now she refuses completely. She has a new teacher that she strongly dislikes (to put it mildly,) and that doesn’t help. Every morning have been a battle this week. My heart goes out to her, she’s always loved school and adored all her previous teachers. Now she don’t want to go to school at all. We could let her start a new school, closer to home, but at this time she doesn’t want that. I have talked to her teacher, she gives me one version, and my daughter another. My main goal this weekend is to make my daughter feel good about herself and school next week. Unfortunately there’s a ton of schoolwork we have to finish, since she refused to do it at school. Of course I’m not OK with her refusing to do the work her teacher tells her too. I just can’t do much more than reasoning with her when I’m with her. At this point no logical reasons matter to her. I believe it may be some underlaying loyalty towards her dad, that she haven’t seen in more than two years due to the pandemic. For that reason I arranged for the two of them to talk about the situation at school over the phone today. They talked for a long time. Her dad told her all the reasons I told her, why she needed to learn, and speak Swedish while in Sweden. The fact that we both agreed upon this matter made her even more devastated. It’s going to take some real effort to get over this hurdle. I’m OK, its just heartbreaking to see one of your children struggle like this, and to hear over and over that she wants to live in the US a gazillion times a day.
Have a refill on your beverage and tell me about your weekend plans!
Thank you so much for staying with me, and an extra thanks to Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share! Have a fabulous weekend!
Love,
Maria
GreenDreams 
Oh Maria, I really hope that she will settle down and understand that she really needs to learn to speak Swedish. I can understand why she is acting like this, it’s a huge culture shock. Have a good weekend my friend. It’s currently 100F at my home, the valley will have low 100s and upper 90s next week,
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Yes, me to John. I can also understand that everything is starting to sink in now, that this is all a part of the transition, but I hate seeing her so devastated.
I hope you are enjoying your summer temps 🙂
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Thanks so much! I wonder if this took roughly 2 years to manifest Maybe a speech professional can help her fully understand your wonderful language more quickly.
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Thanks for sharing what you are going through – it will turn out for the best but it’s a shame you’ve been unable to help her get over that hurdle more quickly…and as a huge fan of all things spinach, I say fix me a drink!
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One spinach/apple smoothie is coming right up! It’s like the big move and everything that comes with it became a reality for my daughter just recently. She says herself that up until now it felt like a big vacation, that she’s just been visiting. There wasn’t really a problem until this semester started, she did her best (and she’s been doing very good in school,) and her best was always more than enough. I hope you are enjoying a great weekend!
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I am sure that she will make the difficult transition and excel as usual…change is really tough as we all know!
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Yes! Thank you 🙂
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Parenting has its challenging times, for sure. ‘Tough love’ is hard work! 😉 Kids don’t have the experience to know what is best for them, and while unpleasant, some things must be worked through even when they don’t like it. But try telling a kid that this is a ‘growth opportunity,’ lol! Stick to your guns, Maria, you know what is best – hang in there! ❤
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Thank you Eliza! I’m with you. Growth opportunities are not easy to understand for a 9 year old. Thank you ❤
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Oh, Maria, I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter. i know very well what it feels like to not feel at home where you live… I was like that for so long before we moved to Ireland. I felt like an alien in Sweden, although it’s the country I grew up in – I just didn’t fit in there anymore. I really hope your daughter can find ways for her to settle in and accept her new situation.
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Thank you Susanne, I truly hope so too.
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I’m sorry to hear about your tough situation. I hope your daughter feels better and agrees to continue her schooling. I’d try a small sample of the spinach/ apple smoothie. Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.
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Thank you Natalie ❤
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I love smoothies & juices now our warmer weather is here I will definitely be chilling out with them more. I love that such a small flower can be so pretty.
It’s so odd how it’s like a little switch flips in our children’s minds, Adrenache I think I spelt it right, is very normal in our treasures, If that helps. I used to have times with my daughter when she was a child where she would come out of nowhere & have a go at me for no apparent reason & then storm off. I’d be left there wondering, who that was? what just happened? Then she would be a true treasure of a daughter & come out & be so sweet & I’d be so relieved she’s still there. It’s always heart wrenching to see our treasures struggle, she is so blessed to have you as her Mum.
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Thank you ❤ I'll keep that in mind, Most of the time my daughter is really sweet, and she tells me many times each day that "you're the best mom in the whole universe." It is so hard to see her struggle. I am very firm with her, that she needs to learn Swedish, but its a tough situation for sure.
I hope you are enjoying your warmer weather. I bet the garden is thriving! I'm going to try to overwinter my pepper plants this year, we'll see how it goes.
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I’m sorry your daughter is going through that rough period. I hope you all figure something out soon!
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Thank you Trent! I sure hope so. There is all kind of help available, but she needs to participate herself.
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Hi Maria,
Oh my goodness, my heart goes out to you and your daughter with her struggles. Very tough situation, and boy, is she digging in her heels. I’m so happy her Dad helped explain things too, which will help eventually. (I hope!) I can’t offer any suggestions, except it reminds me of losing something and grieving that loss and so in time she will stop grieving and grow to love where she lives. The only problem is she needs to be in school and do her homework and partake in the language and time isn’t on anyone’s side right now. Praying she will come around and be more reasonable for you and it’s so sweet you share with us. And maybe knowing you are such a wonderful parent will ease the burdens you must feel. Hang in there sweet friend!! 💖 Thank you for the spinach apple smoothie! Sounds YUMMY! ❤️❤️❤️
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Thank you for your kind words Diana. It’s exactly how I believe it is, some type of grief for something she lost, that she needs ot get over before she can move forward. There is help available for her, if she will take it. Thank you for your encouragement. It is a thin line to be the person that makes her feel safe, and at the same time the person that “force” (her words) a change.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend! I’ve enjoyed seeing your photos of Murphy this week. I think he’s stolen your heart 😉
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Oh my goodness, school resistance is a tough one and when you too are in education seems even worse. I hope between your daughter’s school and her parents she can overcome her fears and dislike of the changes. I am sorry, I have seen this before in my role as a school principal and it often needed psychological intervention if the child was over say 6 years.
Denyse #weekendcoffeeshare
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Thank you for sharing that you’ve seen it before. It feels like a bit of a dead end where we are now. I have requested help, and she will see a therapist that the school have access to next week. We’ll start there. There is plenty of help available, if she will accept it.
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I would like to take you down to the coffee shop and treat you. Sounds like you are going through a really tough time with your daughter. Hope the therapist can help;
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You are so sweet ❤ Thank you! This particular aspect of my life right now is hard, very hard, but of course there is so many other things to be grateful for all the time. I hope you are well my friend. ❤
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I’d definitely give that smoothie a go, I can’t believe how green it looks. I can definitely relate on the teacher/child front. With my youngest son, one minute we’ll be flying high on a subject and then it becomes the worst thing ever. Usually teacher related and no amount of reasoning seems to make a difference. I really hope the school situation becomes easier for you.
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Thank you! At the moment my daughter’s mind is like a rollercoaster with really high highs, and low lows. Today and yesterday was fabulous, the day before a disaster. Life sure is interesting 🙂
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Kids are hard no matter what language they speak and teachers they get. Stick to your principals as you know you are right.
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So true! Thank you!
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Hi Maria – I’d gladly take one of those smoothies. I pretty much love anything with spinach.
I was sorry to hear about your daughter’s distress. It really feels like this is not her whole story, but you may already know and are “managing” this with her. Perhaps there are also good friends back here that she would love to talk to. Regardless, I’m sorry she’s going through this and it cannot help be be hard on you. You are too good a mom to not hurt with her.
I wish I had the words that would resolve this for you both, but this will be more of an effort for her loving mom to help guide her through to a more comfortable frame of mind. I’m not exactly sure of her age, but am guessing that several things are happening both around and to her that only the security you provide and some time will help with. Stay strong mom. She’s worth your every effort.
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Your smoothie is coming right up! Thank you for your comforting words. ❤
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I love all kinds oof smoothies. Yum. I’m so sorry your daughter is having a hard time with school. Hang in there mama…sounds like you’re doing the right thing and also hearing her heart too. Praying the deeper reason is made known and you can all work through it.
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Your smoothie is coming right up! Thank you! We are taking it day by day. Today and yesterday was really good days for her. I hope you are enjoying a great week!
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