raamv wrote:
I am amazed that you say that you cant find things to do in Helsinki for kids... It is one of the top Kid-friendly cities in the world... Of course, if you expect things to do where you need English..then it could be a little less but still lots of things... ( There are almost muskari, uima allas, askartelu huone, etc etc )
Good luck with you moving to the states...
Thanks for the well wishes. I'm almost done with all my packing so now I have time to write
I didn't want to make comparisons because I know how fragile people on this forum are if you say anything negative about Finland, but you forced it out of me
. I wanna meet the person who said Helsinki is one of the top kid friendly cities in the world and find out what they were smoking
. Nothing friendly about the local drunks coming by the playground digging around for bottles or passed out on the benches in the parks so we cant kick the ball around (and I live in a supposedly very good & expensive neighborhood). Not to mention the broken beer bottles, occasional puddles of vomit, gobs of spit every few steps and piss on every corner. Or how about the smell of piss in the elevators at the metro station (or often times even in the metro itself!) as I travel to get to a muskari session that only takes place once a week, where all of the Finnish moms ignore us even though I make an effort to communicate with them. There are only 2 muskari classes that I know of within 20min travel time from my place (I'm sorry, but I don't wanna spend all day on public transportation with an anxious toddler) and they both occur only once a week and in one of them, they canceled the session 3 times in one month without notice, so I just gave up on going out of frustration. The swimming is something that I couldn't do because the hall nearest to me didn't have a suitable time that fit in with my daughter's nap schedule. I didn't want to travel far to get to a swimming class that fit our schedule because you also have to remember that there's not always a spot on the bus if you have a pram. Sometimes you get stuck waiting for a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th bus before there is one with a free spot. That's no fun if it's rainy/windy/freezing cold, etc... and your child is trying to climb out of the pram. The things that there are to do here are so few and far apart and happen for such a limited amount of time per week. That leaves a whole lot of empty hours in a week trying to find something to do with your toddler. Our apartment is too small to just stay inside all day and even if it weren't, I wouldn't want to do that. I like to take her out at least twice a day. Anyway, just look in the family section of this forum. There's always moms trying to start up play groups because of the lack of things to do here.
On the flipside, the neighborhood I'm moving to in the states has 3 libraries all within 10 min from each other that offer both storytime & sing-a-long time 6 days a week, 3 times per day (morning, afternoon and even an evening session for those working parents who want to share it with their children after work) and they all have a MASSIVE room just for children filled with developmental toys & games. The park district offers painting, dancing, swimming, singing, theater, fitness, baking/cooking, pottery, etc... HUNDREDS of classes broken into age appropriate groups, so even the youngest of kids can participate. There is a 3-story children's museum open 7 days a week with activities, interactive exhibits, and special classes all day long and the cost of a year's membership is a measly $65 for unlimited access & time spent there. All the malls have kids areas (one for small tots and another for bigger kids) and the one nearest to where we'll live even has a carousel. There are 2 diners nearby where all the meals are delivered by choo-choo- train (ok, not something for every day, but it's a silly/cute thing to do once a month) and there are also some kid themed restaurants full of games & rides. There are 2 free petting zoos open all year round, and a GAZILLION clean parks with very well maintained playground equipment. Even the book stores have children's areas where kids can run around or flip through books while parents can drink coffee and read magazines and there is never any obligation to buy anything. In the 4 months we spent there, I didn't have one single day that went by where I woke up wondering if we'd be stuck at home if it were raining. There's an endless array of things to do that will keep toddlers active both indoors and out in any kind of weather.
I know there are plenty of horrible places in America where I wouldn't dare raise my daughter, so no need for anyone to shove that down my throat
. I'm also sure there are plenty of good places in Finland to raise children with plenty of interesting things to do. I'm only comparing the place I live now to the place I'm moving to at the end of this week. I wish the best to all the expat families living in Finland and hope your experience is better than mine was. I definitely had some great years in Finland, and quite a few that were not so great. People on this forum are always saying, ''If you don't like it here, then stop complaining and LEAVE!''. It's not always as easy as that, but I finally found a way to do it
Thanks for this forum Neil, it's been very useful! Cheers everyone
