A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and
Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)
When Swedish-born Linda McGurk
moved to small-town Indiana with her American husband to start a family, she
quickly realized that her outdoorsy ways were not the norm. In Sweden children
play outside all year round, regardless of the weather, and letting young
babies nap outside in freezing temperatures is not only common—it is a practice
recommended by physicians. In the US, on the other hand, she found that the
playgrounds, which she had expected to find teeming with children, were mostly
deserted. In preschool, children were getting drilled to learn academic skills,
while their Scandinavian counterparts were climbing trees, catching frogs, and
learning how to compost. Worse, she realized that giving her daughters the same
freedom to play outside that she had enjoyed as a child in Sweden could quickly
lead to a visit by Child Protective Services.
Could the Scandinavian philosophy of “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes” be the key to better lives for her American children? And how would her children’s relationships with nature change by introducing them to Scandinavian concepts like friluftsliv (“open-air living”) and hygge (the coziness and the simple pleasures of home)? McGurk embarked on a six-month-long journey to Sweden to find out. There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather is a fascinating personal narrative that highlights the importance of spending time outdoors, and illustrates how the Scandinavian culture could hold the key to raising healthier, resilient, and confident children in America.
Paperback, 304 pages.