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Tag archives for kids

Raising the social media generation

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This week the fashionable Beckhams shunned their publicist and opted to announce the birth of their daughter and share family photos via social media. It’s one trend they weren’t the first to set.

My son was on Facebook before he was even born. I announced my pregnancy on the social networking site to my wider circle of friends. Some people also got word of his arrival before I’d had chance to tell them personally thanks to a round of eager congratulatory messages posted on my wall within 24 hours of his birth. And that could be considered slow when compared to the growing number of breaking news babies whose mums tweet between contractions or update their status as they push.

The young Demsteader part 1.

We are indeed giving birth to the social media generation and even raising them online. Parents devote time to blog about their kids in diary form, they post cute photos and funny videos for everyone to see. Given that the Swedes are ranked first out of 138 countries in the latest World Economic Forum report on the usage of communications technology, it’s likely they do so more than most. Find out more fascinating facts here about the Swedes and their social media habits.

Now I found some old baby photos of myself the other day. I had forgotten about them until they fell out of an old book where I’d stored them to stop them curling at the edges. I’ll get round to that photo album someday. The matt-finished polaroids have stood the test of time despite their 34 years. They have that authentic antique tinge which adds to the air of nostalgia when I look at them.

The young Demsteader part 2.

Personally, I’m happy that my childhood pics and the memories that come with them have been privately preserved for me, rather than posted around the block. I wouldn’t normally want to share them with the world but, for the sake of this post, it seems I am.

Regardless of your online restrictions, today’s photos, videos and blogs are out there in the networked community cloud. And there they will likely stay until your baby turns teenager and beyond.

I wonder how William Nilsson will feel in a few years time when he replays his famous YouTube clip, knowing over 130 million have seen it before? The innocent, amateur video of this little Swedish boy went viral, became an internet phenomenon and is one of YouTube’s most watched clips to date.

We parents really don’t yet know the repercussions, if any, of uploading both a visual and verbal commentary of our kids’ lives online. We do know, however, that we won’t be stashing photos in a Kindle for safe-keeping.

Christine Demsteader

July 20, 2011

Isn’t he… pretty in pink

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I once favorably commented on a garment worn by a fellow expat in Sweden who, like myself, hails from the north of England. It was a pink shirt. It looked nice. I told him so, then added: “I bet it wouldn’t go down too well in your local pub back home though.” He agreed and admitted that while Sweden brought out his metrosexual side, he drew the line at lemon sweaters casually thrown over the shoulder.

The World Economic Forum tells us that Sweden is one of the top countries when it comes to demonstrating gender equality. Yet, kidswear stores in Sweden have yet to catch on to the concept that pink could be the new black for boys. And I’m pretty thankful to be honest. I couldn’t quite see myself kitting out my little boy in head-to-toe Hello Kitty.

Kalle in his spotted pink number. Photo: Staffan Claesson/Helena Kulle

Still, cross-dressing for kids is up for discussion. Writer Anette Skåhlberg was pretty disgusted when her son’s daycare had a quiet word about his dress sense. He liked to wear his sister’s dresses and his mother didn’t view it as promblematic. Other parents did.

So Skåhlberg took it upon herself to create the character of Kalle, based upon her son, and wrote the children’s books Kalle med klänning (Kalle with a dress) and Kalle som Lucia (Kalle as Lucia).

The stories, aimed from age two upwards, are part of a wider selection of fairytales penned by Skåhlberg to expose children to equality, openness and tolerance at an early age.

There’s also the likes of Princess Kristalla who goes against the wishes of her parents who want her to marry a prince while she wants to live happy ever after with her girlfriend. Meanwhile, male giraffes Jösta and Johan want to have a baby together and go on the hunt across the world looking for an egg.

Toys have certainly moved on an age since the days of my youth when it was strictly Action Man for boys and Barbie dolls for girls. But the thrill of “dressing up” has stood the test of time. When I was at nursery school I looked forward to Wednesday afternoons. That meant a great big chest filled with clothes and hats would come out of the closet along with our imaginations.

Today, no one will turn a blind eye to Pia becoming Pirate Jack but what about Fredrik who wants to be Fairy Frida? At the Egalia pre-school in Stockholm you can be whoever you want to be. The agenda is gender-free – with teachers refraining from using personal pronouns and instead refering to both boys and girls as “friends”.

The pre-school has recently made international headlines over its methods to break down typical male and female roles, which one commentator  labelled “gender madness”. I am inclined to agree. Let us not forget the story of Pop – the gender-free tot - whose Swedish parents cause a stir by deciding to keep their child’s sex a secret. While I commend the country’s mindful gender-gap endeavours, such lengths leave me red-faced rather than tickled pink.

Christine Demsteader

July 14, 2011