Category Archives: Freya

Dora Beaten By Freya – Ironically Without Violence

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Freya has finished her first ever video game on her own. Dora The Explorer – Journey To The Purple Planet. It was hardly the most cerebral of games, being linear and very forgiving, and it’s not her first time playing, either. Oh, no. Since she was about three years old she has been drawn to the Nintendo DS, and has many games which she likes to try out now and again. We’ve played together for many, many hours, and have completed the odd game or two, but this is the first time she did it with almost no help. Once she’d learnt how to save the game the only times I assisted her was when she could not hear what instructions Dora was giving.

I’m currently waiting (and so is Freya, with baited breath) for Singstar Abba to arrive, which will be our next family adventure in video games, although, in fairness, Singstar is more karaoke than gaming experience. Our newly purchased wireless microphones are lying pathetically in the Guitar Hero dual guitar holder that I received for my birthday.

I hope it arrives in time for Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest qualifier. The two go hand in hand.

Clowning Around

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Freya started circus school today. She’ll attend one fifty-five minute lesson a week for the next fifteen weeks. Today’s class got Freya doing forward rolls, balancing a bean bag on her head and spinning plates, among other things. It should be a great way for Freya to expend her insatiable need to be active, as well as improving her dexterity, balance and other motor skills. Oh, and I suppose it’ll be fun, too.

Some years ago Jo and I discussed an eventual move to our house in the north. It’s located in a small village in the middle of nowhere and embodies all that Stockholm isn’t: a tranquil, low stress hideaway where you make your own entertainment. The idea of permanently relocating ourselves to the countryside has been put on the shelf – at least for the time being – because Stockholm, ironically, embodies all that our house isn’t. As a family we want and need things that Stockholm offers: friends, vegan restaurants and food shops, parks, swimming pools…circus school. The list goes on.

I want our daughters to live a city life, despite the problems of pollution, congestion, crime etc. I was born an raised in a moderately sized town, and I appreciate the (limited) options I had. Freya and Zelda live in a capital city ten times the size of my hometown. I cannot even imagine what their childhood memories will be like.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

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Freya started her acting career today. It sounds grandiose, but she was a mere extra. That said, it was for a well-known Swedish channel, SVT, and it does star a reasonably famous Swedish actor, Gustav Hammersten. It took me a while to realise who he was: he’s much thinner than I thought he was.

Freya had the pleasure of appearing – pre-edit – in a few scenes. Today’s filming was shot in a nursery school, so Freya got to play with Lego, pretend to sleep and play some kind of naming game. And she gets a wallet-bulging 200 crowns for it, which she quite enjoys. I haven’t told her that I got 400 crowns just for being there, but I don’t suppose she’ll mind.

The main thing was that she liked doing it and wishes to ‘perform’ again.

Freya’s First (And Last?) Audition

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About three years ago we signed up for a year’s membership to an acting agency. It was all just for a bit of fun; we had no expectations of anything coming from it. And, it didn’t. A year went by and we got nothing, except for my audition as Mouse Man…

A couple of days ago we received a phone call from a production company. They wanted Freya to go to an audition for an advert. Even though we had not paid any further money to the agency, our pictures of a young Freya remained on their site. The production company had obviously browsed their way to Freya, and thought she looked interesting for the part. They asked us to come along today for a tryout.

Freya was quite quiet through the audition – she shared it with another girl whom she had befriended whilst waiting her turn – though she was not entirely voiceless. If she was nervous then she hardly showed it. She thought it was ‘boring’, but she’d like to do it again.

Now we have paid for a two month membership. Not just for Freya, but for the whole family and any potentially interesting possession. It appears one can also hire out anything that may be useful for films/TV/adverts.

The Return Of The Pudding

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Like many parents, we worry about the amount and kind of food that our offspring consume. Freya has been not so eager of late to eat food, and our liberal approach of asking her just to taste everything before she declines is starting to get to me a bit, since it is not reaping the rewards I wish it to. In fairness, the recently introduced “three more mouthfuls” tactic has worked, and I’m happy for that small blessing.

Today we made Sneaky Dad’s Pudding, a mixture of strawberries, banana, avocado, peanut butter, flax oil, carob powder, soya milk and orange juice. Now, I know it does not sound like the kind of thing that would be tasty, or be appreciated by children, but it is actually very nice. Everything gets whizzed up in a food processor, giving it the consistency of half-melted ice-cream, and has lots of minerals that any child would benefit from.

Both Freya and Zelda tucked in, and Freya even had three portions of it. She wasn’t so enthusiastic when she was little, but now she claims she wants it every day. I’m not sure just how long it’ll take before they get bored of it, though for the first time in a while she is eating very well.