expat dad Archives - Marco Strong

We made our way into the flat, even though the flat was barren it felt nice stepping into a warm place. I knew there and then that we made the right decision in moving to sweden. I also knew we had a long and hard journey ahead. We reached Gävle around 9 pm and by then my two daughters were exhausted, so I put the madrass we bought on the floor, made it as cosy as we could, got some of our essentials unpacked, got ready for bed and shortly after they were both sleeping. I don’t remember much of that night except realizing how internet connection is vital for survival specially in the winter months, and specially when you just moved to a new country, a new place you have yet to call home, you desperately want to watch something so you can lie your head down and feel comfortable and just rewind. And so our new journey began, the next morning we woke up to our girls checking out the new place. We all got dressed in layers of winter clothes and stepped out for the first time to buy some breakfast and lunch to bring home. We quickly realized we underestimated the snow and the below zero degree, it was cutting your skin cold and the snow came up to our knees. It was all overwhelming with two young children but we got thought it. Imagine how our breakfast tasted after coming home with it, we felt like real life Vikings. If we could survive this, we could survive anything.

In Stockholm, it’s common to see dads with expensive strollers hanging out in the park, in tight jeans, just-right white shirts and a nice beard.

The boom of latte papas can not be attributed to a trend, the credit goes to Sweden’s generous family leave program as well as Swedish fathers adopting a hands on parenting model in which fathers get the chance bond with their babies. Each couple receives 480 days of paid parental leave for each child, which can be taken up until the child turns eight. Most of those days can be shared between the parents.

Let’s go to the definition of the word: Latte Pappa

– a humorous term for a Scandinavian father

The result? Head to any Swedish cafe during the week and you’ll come across the country’s notorious ‘latte pappas’ enjoying a coffee break, before heading to the park with their kids o strolling around town for some shopping

Coming from a more traditional part of Germany, I can say every child needs a “Latte Pappa” – during the early years of their life.

Children with involved dads generally do better in life not to mention are less likely to break the law or drop out of school.

When fathers are actively part of their children life , children do better – that’s a fact!

Next time you see a so called “Latte Pappa” just know, drinking that coffee is part of him being a great dad.

Tag: expat dad

Moving to Sweden part 3

I am officially a Latte Pappa