Mom Friends - Maria

Maria is a mom of two and the founder and director of The Scandinavian School of Jersey City. In this mini-interview, she shares how her family’s favorite Swedish traditions have helped her kids understand who they are, her tandem show-watching preference, and how she learned that family structure matters less than mutual respect and showing up.

What’s your favorite family tradition? 
Coming from Sweden originally, there are some Swedish traditions that I have instilled in my children and our family, like celebrating Christmas on December 24th, hunting for papier mache easter eggs filled with Swedish candy on Easter Eve, and dancing around the Midsummer pole in June every year. My children also love our tradition of waking up on their birthday to breakfast in bed, served on a tray with a mini wooden Swedish flag along with Swedish waffles or Swedish pancakes.

Creating new memories with those we love the most is perhaps my favorite family tradition. Our large international family is always up for spending their time off together in one way or another, and this has meant my children identify themselves as Americans as well as being Swedish, which means so much to me. Not only do my children speak the language, but they understand so much more about what being Swedish means, culturally and socially, and because of that, also understand who they are. 

What are three things you always have with you?
Lip balm, AirPods and sunglasses.   

Favorite recent read / watch / listen?
I devour podcasts and audiobooks, and the topic depends on the mood of the day for me. I love the NYT The Daily podcast to keep up with the most recent news, something that can sometimes be difficult as a working mom with two kids in sports. I love books that bring me to other times and places, in particular from the perspective of what life was like for women during a particular time–the limitations and hardships certainly, but also the pioneers–the strong voices that questioned the status quo. For my undergraduate degree, I was a lit major and fell in love with authors such as Edith Wharton, Jane Austen and Louise Erdrich. Recently, I have listened to a few series of books taking place in Scandinavia around the turn of the century, like The Phenomenal Women of the Grand Hotel by Ruth Kvarnström-Jones about Wilhelmina Skogh, one of the first female hotel owners and managers in Sweden. I also love my share of The White Lotus, Shrinking, and all of Taylor Sheridan’s series.

What’s your favorite way to unwind?
When my daughter was little, a good friend of mine told me that while her child was watching something on TV, she would sit with him while watching something of her own on an ipad with headphones on. This might not be for everyone, but for me, this was the greatest life hack in giving me some time for myself. I still do this when my kids want to watch the same movie for the fifteenth time. I also make sure to take time to get a workout in every day, which helps me be the best version of myself. 

Tell us about a mother you admire.
There is no shortage of inspiring women in my family. When I was born, there were five generations of women alive, strong women who had lived through a pandemic, the suffrage movement, two world wars and the early deaths of their partners for some, or unconventionally living alone by choice for others. My paternal grandmother was one of the first female bus drivers in Stockholm in the 1950’s, and one of my sisters was the youngest female train engineer in Stockholm at the time she started. I feel fortunate to have had and continue to have such strong women around me, who inspire me to not only keep working hard, but to shoot for the unimaginable.

 Maria’s Lewis FavoritesWe have and love Lewis clothing, zip pouches, and linen spray, but the bedding is not only comfortable, but it is also easy to use and, huge bonus, it is also incredibly pretty.

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