Vitamin D

Last year, while in Norway, my husband, Kory, took out his bottle of Möller's Tran (cod liver oil) for his morning swig.  It’s loaded with vitamin D.  It’s hard to find a Norwegian that didn’t grow up swallowing it every morning of their childhood.  Norwegians have more cod, than they do sunshine, so they figured out years ago how to solve that vitamin deficiency.  Old habits die hard.

Our son had friends over that morning so Kory offered the boys a spoonful.  They wrinkled up their noses and said, “No, thanks,” except for 12-year-old Henrik.  Henrik’s response was, “Sure, I’ll have some.”  The other boys looked at him in astonishment as they told him how much they hated that stuff.  “I hate it too,” Henrik replied, “but it’s good for the body,” and down the hatch it went.  Smart kid.

Some Norwegians still opt for the liquid variety of cod liver oil but overall it isn’t as popular as it once was.  I’m guessing it’s because Norwegians have much more free time than ever before so they afford themselves the time to absorb their vitamin D from the sun, when it does finally appear.

Every house I’ve seen in Norway has a sun deck. I’m certain that one of Norwegian’s favorite pastimes is sunning themselves.  If the sun is out, all the world stops and everyone goes outside, leans back in a chair on their veranda, and quietly soaks up the sun for hours on end. 

The oddest thing about this whole ritual is that women take off their tops and sit outside in their bra, in order to maximize their skin exposure.  A bra, in Norway, is just another piece of clothing and not considered an undergarment, like we think of it here in America.  It’s common to see old ladies out working in their yards on a nice day, just wearing pants and a bra.  It was hard to get used to.  Even on the warmest of days, I still can’t bring myself to do it.

One sunny day, we hiked to the top of a nearby mountain and a young woman came running up soon after us, just wearing shorts and a sexy see-through bra.  I recognized her as the woman that had helped us earlier that day at the bank.  It instantly moved our otherwise professional relationship into the realm of fairly intimate.  I wasn’t comfortable with it at all, but Kory thought it wasn’t so bad. 

I’m thinking this may be why the younger generation has moved away from Norway’s tradition of swallowing cod liver oil to finding other, more stimulating ways, of getting their vitamin D requirements.

Babies

Norway values children.  They provide a generous maternity leave, monthly support for 18 years and free health and dental care.  Even children living outside of Norway get money from the government if one of their parents is a Norwegian citizen.  Norway goes overboard to see that children are well cared for and have every chance at a good life.  I guess that’s why no one throws a baby shower, because the government provides it all.

Babies born in Norway are not automatically citizens, like in America.  Babies can be born anywhere in the world but the only way they will ever get a Norwegian passport is if one of their parents was a citizen at the time of their birth.  Norway doesn’t otherwise allow dual-citizenship.

The strangest custom around the birth of babies is that they all get baptized soon after they are born.  A long held religious belief is that once a baby is baptized, it is considered a Child of God and guaranteed eternity in heaven, no matter how it lives it’s life.  

If the baby is born with problems and won’t live long, the King, who is the head of the State Church, has granted all doctors authorization to perform emergency baptisms, just in case. 

Norway uses a mid-wife system for delivering healthy babies in a birthing center.  It’s possible a woman would never even see a doctor, unless something went terribly wrong.  They allow babies to be born in water, on the floor, or using a chair – whatever the mother wants.  They also commonly use acupuncture to help relieve the pain, but epidurals are also in the realm of possibilities.  They rarely induce labor and C-sections are only done in a life-threatening situation.

All Norwegian hospitals have adjacent “hotels,” where mothers and babies stay at least four days.  These hotels free up hospital beds and keep patients close should the need arise for acute care. For new mothers, there are classes taught during those days so they don’t feel like I did heading home without the slightest idea of what I was doing.

One thing they teach every new mother is the value of her breast milk. Breast milk is full of antibiotics and is used as eye drops for goopy eyes or quick healing of little scratches. I learned this from a Norwegian cousin shortly after giving birth here in America.  She also told me if the baby gets congested for any reason, a few drops of breast milk up the nose is the best decongestant around.  We had a good laugh while testing that out on my husband’s stuffy nose, but discovered it was totally true.  I’m sure if that were common knowledge in America, someone would try to capitalize on it.

ADHD

The year we lived in Norway, our son, Kaleb, was in the 4^th grade.  The only part of school he didn’t enjoy was getting pounded on regularly by Markus.  Markus wasn’t really a bully, but had what his mother called “impulse control problems.” We’d call it ADHD, and my son’s classmates called it “a bad excuse.”

I talked to the teacher and Markus’ mother about this and finally the school principal, after Markus came at Kaleb’s throat with open scissors one day.  I thought that was a bit much. Something more than a good “talking to” needed to be done. I suggested maybe Markus could stay inside during the next recess if he attacked my kid again because the stern “talking to’s” were apparently not very effective.  The principal just shook his head in disagreement, because in Norway, they pride themselves on treating everyone the same, and if Markus were kept inside, he would feel ostracized and different, and that’s just not how things play out in socialized Norway.

Eventually, their solution was to have a parent/teacher meeting.   All the parents showed up to hear a long lecture from Markus’s psychiatrist about the problems he has in day-to-day life.  We were shown a video explaining how ADHD affects the child and their family and we were told that this is a sad and difficult situation, but the Norwegian government doesn’t like to drug kids up for this type of behavior unless there are no other options and the kids show no sign of improving.  It had already been years, and they were still evaluating him, all the while the other kids were getting pummeled with rocks and fists waiting for a firm medical diagnosis that would bring them some relief.  It was clear our job was to convince our children they should be glad they don’t have ADHD and to please be kind to Markus because he has a right to a normal life, too.

When all was said and done, they asked if anyone had questions and not a single hand went up, even though everyone’s kids had been attacked by Markus.  Finally, my husband said, “I understand you’re trying to get us to sympathize with Markus’s rights, but doesn’t my son have a right to attend school without getting beat up every day?”  Silence.  There was no answer because they didn’t expect that question. 

Later, several parents who’d been afraid to voice their concerns, told Kory they were glad he spoke up because in Norway, no one ever does.  Socialism breeds silence because no one wants to stand out.

The whole experience just left the entire 4^th grade class wishing they too could be labeled ADHD so they could smack Markus back.