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Give your baby lobster tail

We just got back from an epic, 3-week trip in the US with the kids. It began in Washington, D.C. and ended in Boston. You’ll be hearing a lot about it.

Here’s a clip of Herman screaming for lobster tails and butter at a classic lobster pound in Freeport, Maine called the Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster Company.

Lobster men talk in Freeport, Maine

Delicious setting and beautiful food

I’ve eaten a good deal of lobster and steamers (fresh clams) in my life, but never this good, and never in such a real setting.

To get there you drive down a small, winding road through quiet woods and past houses until you reach a little harbor. There’s one restaurant, one industrial building, a mix of working and recreational boats and a great view out over the bay towards a few wooded islands.

Fresh Maine lobsters, steamers, butter for dipping and cornÂ

Down on the docks the smells of salt water and dried fish blend with gasoline and oil from the deep frying in the restaraunt. There are probably thousands of lobster pounds throughout New England and I have been to a few. But there’s something special about this one in South Freeport.

The steamers pop and crunch into your mouth. The perfect combination of taste and texture. Lobster is a different food when it’s fresh, dipped in butter and eaten while overlooking the very waters it lived in. Harraseeket Lunch even served local, organic hamburgers that were delicious.

Menu at Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster Company

One visit and you understand why so many people now are trying to get back to the roots of eating local food — it tastes better and feels right for the body.

As you can see, the whole family will enjoy it.

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This little man is my boss

Viewing time: 3 minutes

After almost one week on paternity leave, Herman likes me better and the bond is growing. Watch episode three, “Herman likes me better” of the video series “On papa leave with Herman”. I talk about what I’ve learned so far on paternity leave and our upcoming trip to the states.

Post production note: Mom, can’t wait to see you too:-)

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You’re not in New Jersey anymore

Being a man...this is with Olivia

A woman in a hard hat and I am changing diapers.

Every now and then I get a reminder that I live in Sweden. Usually, it is something that happens, a series of events or something I see, that feels super Swedish. Something you can’t experience anywhere else.

I had a you’re-not-in-New-Jersey-anymore moment today.

I dropped off Olivia at daycare and then went to open daycare with Herman, my 7-month-old. Open daycare is a place where parents on parental leave in Sweden take their children to play and sing songs. Many parents feel isolated while at home with their children. For them, open daycare is an oasis of interaction and often acts like a community center. Best of all, it’s free.

At open daycare, Herman played with an orange stuffed dinosaur hanging from the ceiling. I talked to a mom I had just met about her 6-month-old son and we had the typical compare your baby conversation.

Then Herman got hungry. Then he pooped. Then he got tired. So I left open daycare and put him in the bicycle carriage and headed for home.

On the way, I saw a woman in a hard hat, jackhammer in hand, working on a construction site.

Now I know it’s the 21st century, and women construction workers are not as uncommon as they used to be. In Sweden, more so than in America, many women work in traditionally men-only professions — construction, politics, law enforcement.

I’m used to it after five years in Sweden.

What made today a you’re-not-in-New-Jersey-anymore moment was that I had just come from open daycare, from giving the bottle, changing diapers and baby conversations — all traditionally motherly and womanly activities. And now, me the man, the father home for five months with his 7-month-old, had just passed a woman whose current task it was to make a big hole in the ground.

It felt cool. I felt cool. What an opportunity I have, I thought.

But then I started to wonder, “Is it unnatural — does it go against biology- that I’m doing what I’m doing and she’s doing what she’s doing?” After some thought, the conclusion I came to was no. It wasn’t unnatural and I am comfortable in my roll as a stay-at-home dad. Actually, I take pride in it.

I think most men in Sweden would agree, but what about men in other countries? What’s your take? Does staying home with the kids and doing a job traditionally done by woman fly in the face of nature?

Share your opinions.