Years ago, my mother-in-law taught me a concept taught to her by her mother - that some days are just "days with holes in them". Meaning that on those days you feel miserable, and everything goes wrong. Or they are melancholy, and you just can't wait for them to end. Or maybe something actually terrible happens, or you get some bad news. A day with a hole in it is a great concept - it gives you the acceptance that today is a shitty day - and that some days are just like that. It also gives you a sense of closure, in the way that it is just one day - tomorrow will probably be different.
Over time, I have also taught this phrase to my own kids, and sometimes in tears or frustration or unhappiness we agree that today is just a day with a hole in it. And we feel better! If any other hurdle comes our way, we figure it's meant to, because it's that kind of day.
Well, for various reasons today was that kind of a day for us. So we decided to get out of the house and tackle the day head-on, by going to various museums and exhibitions in town. I managed to abandon my men and dived into the Marimekko exhibition on at the Decorative arts museum.
Dear lord, if there was anyone on earth who NEVER had a day with a hole in it, it's those happy Marimekko designers. I have never seen a fashion label with a bigger sense of
joy de vivre. Who doesn't love their cheerful, bold, colourful prints? And to top it off, they sewed these fabulous floral fabrics into short frocks that could only be described as stylish sacks. In the midst of my day with a hole in it, I realized that I NEEDED one of those frocks/sacks - and all my problems would be solved.
Meanwhile, my boys were visiting an old favourite, which never ceases to amuse and amaze - the Latvian Natural History museum.
The best bit is the vintage diorama on the second floor, with all the moth-eaten stuffed animals. If they ever refurbish that floor of the museum I will make a one-woman protest by chaining myself to the lopsided taxidermied giraffe.
We have been visiting the museum since the boys were tiny, and they still get excited every time we walk in the doors.
Especially by the big clunky mechanical map-of-the-world, where you can press a button next to a picture of an animal, and little lights come up on the map that correspond with where the animal lives.
And there's certainly nothing like a careful examination of the "Mouse school" to chase away that day with a hole in it....
