The country's early-childhood education program indeed places a heavy emphasis on "joy," which along with play is explicitly written into the curriculum as a learning concept. "There's an old Finnish saying," Holappa said. "Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily."
As the final weeks go by and we near the arrival of our newest family member, I'm growing less anxious and more excited about how my toddler will react to being a big brother.
The best way to teach our kids to eat well is to encourage them to trust themselves too; to listen to their bodies' cues about hunger, fullness and comfort.
We instinctively want to protect our children from the bad things in this world and while we can't be there all the time, one of the ways we can do just that is to become vocal advocates for comprehensive school safety in our own communities.
