End of One Chapter

Everyone knows that I'm a little bit crazy. I've been playing role playing games for more than fifteen years. Last weekend I took five of our kids with me to a trip through those years.

Ropecon is the largest non-commercial role play festival in Europe. And it takes place in Finland. Seventeen years it has been in Espoo, Otaniemi. It has been growing and this was the last time when I had a chance to walk around paths which I have learned to love.

Taken from Ropecon-site

My story starts fifteen years ago, I was only fifteen years old, tiny teenager, afraid of anything new. I was so lost in Ropecon with the father of my four oldest kids. It takes many years to get that courage to take active part in that event.

Finally at Ropecon 2005 I found historic dancing and I've been missing it since then.

Through the years we have been sleeping in our car, eating breakfast outside the same location every year. Some of the kids have been there before, some not. Now I had the chance to show them where everything started.

We saw rock-scissors-paper- game which was kids absolute favorite.

I also had the chance to dance, and I enjoyed every second of it.

Meanwhile kids read their books

and ate lots of candy...

When kids seemed tired, I packed them back to the car and drove them home. Later that same night I went back to take part to a dancing ball, very last time at Otaniemi. Slow and sad Waltz (Two to Twirl) showed me every moment of the years gone by. It was like the Yesterday once more, and I have to walk out.

It's the end of one chapter. Next year we will start something new at the new location in Helsinki. Hopefully we will meet there!

Who needs a midwife, we have Youtube!

They say, that it is like winning in lottery to be born in Finland. We have public maternity clinic system which doesn't ask if you can afford it or not.

Almost every kid in Finland is born at a hospital. Almost every mom has to stay two nights at the hospital after giving birth. Until to June 2015, mothers have a chance to check the hospital beforehand, visit there and get familiar with the environment before the actual childbirth. Those visits have been a part of our "birthing classes", usually only first timers use this option, but also those who have unusually strong fears, or those who have just moved to a new city or town.

Midwives answer our questions on those visiting tours by the way.

Number 5, two days old

Well... What we'll have after June? We will have a youtube video. Many of our hospitals have already replaced "birthing classes" with a pile of paper and youtube videos. At the same time our midwives tell the media, that new moms got no clue on newborns needs or how the pain is important part of childbirth. Oh my....

Now there is this new law also, which means that around our capital city they will shut down couple of parental units. It's also almost criminal to even think of giving birth at home and we don't have those "Midwife Centers" in Finland.

Number 6, two days old

I was just wondering, when machines replace midwives and somebody gets an idea of youtube guided birth. Once our moms gave birth at sauna without medical help... Why should the modern mom handle it with youtube, is beyond me....