When a child is two they are scheduled for a check-up at the health clinic with a child nurse.  The main aim of the check-up is to see how the child is doing with language development.  Before the appointment the clinic will send out a little questionnaire about your child’s basic language achievements – words, [...]

When you and your partner become new parents, and your parents and your partner’s parents become new grandparents, you don’t have to only choose an appropriate name for the baby (that makes everyone happy) but you also have to work out the names of the grandparents.  I’ve been in this situation in Australia with my [...]

When you have your last appointments with your midwife before you give birth she will ask you if you want to join a ‘mother’s group’.  (Although sometimes the language barrier gets in the way and you don’t realise what you’ve signed up to until you arrive at the appointment.)
Mother’s group is just a group of [...]

What do we do when we get snow on our boots?

We brush off the snow and get it all over our hands so we wash it off in the snow on the ground.
So far, every year has been Lilu’s first snowfall.  It can seem a long time between Winters for a Toddler so by the [...]

There is not much to do in the last appointments with your doctor and miwife the week before you give birth excpect the same old checks.  You might arrange your stay in hospital – hotel or materniy ward – fill in some more information forms, (which also helps the system collect statistics on how many [...]

The Norwegian version of the classic English nursery rhyme Ba Ba Black Sheep.
Ba, ba little lamb,
Have you any wool?
Yes, yes, dear child,
I have the body full.
Sunday clothes for father,
And Sunday clothes for mother.
And two pairs of socks
For tiny little brother.

Reindeer herding is more than just an occupation, it is a way of life and an integral part of the Sami culture and identity.

Norwegians have really understood the principle of recycling. An old, decommissioned boat like this one just needs to be stripped down, dragged out of the water and planted on solid ground. And voilá, you have a jungle gym for your kindergarten!
It’s just like how kids dump their new toy to play with the box it [...]

This post is a general introduction to pregnancy and birth in Norway.  In future posts in this series “Having a Baby in Norway” I will go through procedures, information and experiences in detail.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments section below so everyone can benefit from the answers.

Having [...]

NOTE: Updates on immigration to Norway can be found below.
When moving to another country there are many legal procedures you have to go through. This can be very daunting, especially when you don’t speak the language. I can understand why they use the term ‘alien’, because you can certainly feel like one. Being questioned about [...]