Despite not being able to float, seriously I sink like a rock if I'm not actually swimming, you can see me here risking life and limb in the water. No, that's not me in the pretty pink bathing suit, that's me with the beard and big boof-head. Not only do I have my own life in my hands, but that of my niece @smallsteps who my brother @tarazkp entrusted me with that day. We were at the lake only a very short stroll away from his apartment and having a great time. She loves the water and we were out there just hanging out, talking about stones and trees and other interesting things like how good munkki's are! Seriously, if you haven't tried one you should get on it. Anyway...
At the time I'd only known her for a few days despite her being almost two years old. I live in Australia which is about 13 bazillion kilometres away from Finland where my brother lives with my niece and sister-in-law. Still, my niece and I hit it off and became pretty good friends. I spent time teaching her how to talk like an Aussie and she spent time wrapping me around her little finger, which didn't take very long...I think about 1 minute or so.
We were fortunate in July 2018 that the weather in Finland was hot by Finnish standards, some 28-29 degrees. In fact that's what we'd had all the way through our 6 week trip, even in the UK! We were lucky. It allowed us to go to the lake several times and I have a lot of photos to remember our time there at the lake and the various other places we went together. Although, six months and 13 bazillion kilometres later it hardly seems enough. I miss my niece and am afraid she may forget me, or at least the times we shared.
We video chat a lot, most weeks at least once, and I send videos to her of us talking. I also receive them back courtesy of my brother and his wife which is greatly appreciated. I'm worried though that, moving forward, her two-year-old memory won't recall the time we spent together. When leaving Finland to come home that was one of my biggest worries. I was a bit of a mess when I said goodbye to her to be honest and it played on my mind for a long time. How do you explain to a two-year-old that 13 bazillion kilometres separates us?
As she gets older she'll have different memories of us. I'll be sure to show her pictures of our adventures together and of course there's a constant stream of stuff my wife and I buy for her heading to Finland so she's always surrounded by those things, our videos and chats. My brother and his wife also do a great job of helping her remember us so moving forward I think we'll have a great relationship, but for now I miss her a lot.
We have plans to return to Europe in 2020 and will see my niece of course. She'll be around 4 years old so after a lot of hugs I'll be able to accelerate the Australian language lessons, she's pretty good already to be honest, and I'm sure she'll teach me a thing or two also. My hope is that one day they all come down to Australia so I can play tour-guide for my niece, take her koala bear-hugging and to the beach too however I'll need to wait a while for that to happen I think.
Right now I'll have to be content with the photos and videos I have, to love her from all the way over here and save up my pennies to get back there in 2020...If any of you feel sorry for me and want to donate a couple of flights to me (I'll be happy to accept business-class tickets) please let me know. I'd be most grateful of course. You know I'm actually kidding right... I'm happy to take premium economy tickets too, not just business class! 😝
Sweet child abducted by swamp monster.
Hmm, is it so obvious? I was hoping no one noticed :)
You are very fortunate to be able to visit your family in Finland, and I'm happy to see that you have the financial means to do so. It's a pleasure to see you happy with your niece and all of your travels. I haven't seen my family since 2009 and I need to make some sort of Win in my finances before I will be able to visit the United States with @emaferice and @zaclucasrice.
Sorry if I'm not always good at writing comments.
Sometimes my jokes are not funny and there are other times where I'm too serious, but I really appreciate your presence on the Steem blockchain! @galenkp
Yes, we work hard to have the means to furnish our lives with travel and other things we want to have around us. We have had good and bad financial times but through effort and persistence we have been able to recover and push forward. We work hard still and will have to for years to come.
It had been about 15 years since I saw my brother in Finland and so the trip was important. We also had not met my sister in law there, or my niece of course.
Just on your comments...Yes, I'd noticed you can be quite serious in your commenting; Nothing wrong with it I guess. I try to keep it quite light and yet relevant. As an Australian I can tend towards being sarcastic so try to temper that a little. Because the written word can't convey expression, tone and body language like face-to-face communication it leaves it open for misunderstanding. I try to be careful so that doesn't happen in my own comments. As much as possible anyway.
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Thanks @galenkp sometimes I'm serious in person too but it shows more in written comments than in person. Mainly because of the reasons you mentioned.
@emaferice and I are currently at a low point financially, we have the means to pay our bills, live comfortably and try to save each month but our savings are much lower now than during the initial years of our marriage.
I am doing my best to recover some savings with @emaferice and I'm trying to create new sources of income and position us for a market correction in real estate, world currencies and a possible bull run in cryptocurrencies.
Thanks for replying to my comments. I wish you, your wife and your family nothing but the best in life 😊
Ahh it's tough when you're 13 bazillion km away. I let my parents get away with spoiling my kids so much because we see them once a year (and stay with them for extended periods every two years, I'm actually at their place at the moment).
Small probably won't remember much from when she was 2 because long term memory doesn't develop til 3-4 but she's also a smart little cookie and may surprise everyone :) Fortunately we have ubiquitous technologyso she'll be able to see all the photos and the videos so she'll know about it even though she might not be able to remember much herself. I think we're kind of at some advantage as more people are able to record history.
Hopefully a bit of steem power helps with your next trip :D
So there was no point in being nice to my kids until they were 3?
Yep pretty much 😆
(For people not used to what passes as my sense of humour, you’re likely to end up with a fearful and less empathetic child if you don’t treat them well from the outset 😝)
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Every little bit helps and in the meantime, yes, we have technology.
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Never let go as they will always remember! My family left three years ago and despite being closer than a bizziliion miles away, we only get there once or twoce a year. We just got back yesterday and my daughter cherishes every moment with the family as she was raised with them early on. Thanks to technology, she now takes initiative to write and call them every week! It is great to see and know that she misses them often.
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Thanks goodness for the technology that brings people together huh?
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I'm sure you'll get to see her many times as she grows and that she will know and love you, since you'll be there constantly, one way or another!
You seem really happy in that picture <3
I was very happy. She makes me smile just thinking about her and that day, that moment, we were just hanging out together just the two of us away from the others. It was a nice moment.
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She's a cutie! That's nice you're going to be seeing her again in 2020. That will be here before you know it. I'm still celebrating New Year 2018. Not sure where the time goes.
Where does time go? Not sure, but I know that the older I become time gets to wherever it goes with greater speed. 😂
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