19/09/2024

Yhteiset Lapsemme 2/2022: Mothers´ community

Written by Tamar Collander

There are five mothers from different countries all over the world in our moms’ community. We met each other in Helsinki. It all started at the Kaisaniemi Daycare, where our children were in the same children’s group, and we got to know each other.

My daughter started to attend the daycare in March 2018, when she was two years old. At the time I already had a short history of living in Finland, because I had moved from Georgia in the summer of 2017. It was a difficult time for me because I did not have much information about the society, services, and life in general in Finland. Also, I didn’t have many contacts here and I missed my family and friends in Georgia. I felt lonely at times. My husband worked abroad, so I had to take care of our daughter alone. It was also a big change for our daughter since she’d been born and had lived her first years in Georgia. But when I started to take her to the daycare, little by little she got used to the community there, and I noticed she got friends and seemed happy.

The beginning of moms’ community

One day we met another girl and a mother in the daycare. They were from China and living in Helsinki. At the daycares Christmas party, I made more contacts. I met Mari Liis and her daughter; they had moved to Finland from Estonia. Our daughters became friends. The next mother I met was from Korea. One pretty cold winter morning when I was taking Anna to the daycare, a lovely little boy came to me and told me what a beautiful hat I was wearing with a smile on his face. Then he asked me why I was in such a hurry, so I explained that I was late from work. The child looked at me and asked why I had decided to grow up. He told me that being an adult is a very responsible job. For example, if I was a child again, I would not need so much work, and I would be able to stay there and play with him. I thought about it all day and remembered the little boy. Very soon, he introduced me to her mother – Korean friend Haesong.

The next mother was Anca from Romania. I met her at a summer celebration party in the daycare Kaisaniemi. During the first year the teacher had told me that Anna had a new friend Teo, who she was spending most of the days with, and later I heard that the teacher told the same story to Anca about her son. Finally, we met at the daycare’s summer party and our friendship begun.

During the time when we were all going to the daycare to pick up the kids, we suddenly started meeting each other very often, and all the kids were also meeting and greeting each other’s parents. It made us more friendly, and eventually we all became friends. 

Together through the pandemic

I decided to plan some events with these mothers and their children. For example, I planned a preparation of traditional dishes and master classes of these dishes, because we were all from different countries and cultures and we had a lot of fun cooking together. We also started to arrange children’s birthdays together, as well as going out together as a group. We visited for example museums, theaters, various of children’s events and festivals and so on. I would like to say that during the Covid-19 -pandemic, this relationship greatly eased the conditions, especially for the children. We have always been good friends and were always in a good contact throughout the pandemic.

One big family

Our spouses became friends as well and now we are united as a team, one big family, and we celebrate all the parties together such as Christmas and New Year, Valentine’s, Halloween and so on. We have spent a lot of time together and dedicated many unforgettable and beautiful days to our little ones and each other.

Nowadays all our children go to different kindergartens or schools, but we have still stayed as great friends and spend time together often. For example, if any mother has got a problem, we are ready to help as much as possible at once. We share each other’s joys and sorrows, which empowers us and gives us thoughts and motivation for a better life. I can hardly imagine life without them. I will be grateful to my friends and the country I met them in all my life.

We did not plan our friendship, it just happened, and we are already planning the future together. In the future, we will travel and spend as many nice days together as possible.

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