Week 10 ??♀?????

Monday

On our way to the train station, I finally got a hold of Martin Rytter Schmidt . Him and I go way back to Designskolen Kolding and he is currently, in my words, ruling the IMPACT Commerce experience design department in Odense and Aarhus. Originally I wanted to hear his thoughts about what he wants to know about a candidate in order for us at UX Unite to be able to promote job-seeking talents to hiring managers. BUT we ended up talking about if I potentially could do some work for them to get their talented employees up and out to show off their work.? Victor and I jumped on a train to Odense. First to visit my oldDesignskolen Kolding friend Line Borgersen , and talk about an app she’s been working on to increase children’s connection to nature and learn about biodiversity. She is a multi-illustrative talent and I always leave her house feeling visually energised and wholesome. On my way back to Odense, I got to catch up with Tine Jeils? which was amazing. She is rocking it at FFW and it’s been great to see her shine after she got her foot in the market. I got on a call with Hugo Sant'Ana and we discussed a topic theme on LGBTQIA+ which I’m very excited for us to do ??, especially for all us hetero cis-people out there. I am an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community and I think everyone should educate themselves on this topic, so I’m happy to put some spotlight on it.?

In Odense, I met up with my good friend Astrid Juul-Larsen . We used to work together at a wine bar and have remained friends which I’m grateful for because she is honest, and dares to challenge but she always teaches me something new.?She lovingly commented on my little blog being very focused on my family life, a thing I have thought about, and concluded that this is something I'm doing mainly for myself. To reflect on what I get done in a week and being on (part-time) maternity leave obviously, my kids will take up space. I don't mind. This is my life and I'm not writing with a goal of getting XXX amount of followers or weekly readers. But I did appreciate the question ??

Astrid was not only kind enough to look at a job application I was writing but also take a crying Victor when I got frustrated. She told me to go take a bath. Not a shower, but a bath ?? that was the best bathing experience since my birthday two years ago when Lars took me to a spa…

Tuesday

Some years ago Astrid gifted me a new haircut and now we finally found the time to get the locks trimmed while sipping on some bubbly wine. The hairdresser informed me that my hair was around 50 cm long ???? and it was fun to see that my hair had changed color in the period I was pregnant ???Now it's an appropriate 40cm ??

In the evening I went back home and it was great to have gotten a new cultural input, but still be home in time to say goodnight to Olivia. Wednesday?

Victor and I kickstarted the day with a meeting with the lovely Sandra Mulvad at IDA . She is an agile group leader and is looking for another one to take on the workload. She had kindly agreed to meet with me and tell me more about the job. It’s a very cool position where I would coach and work with the developing teams (off course including UX’ers) in how to make a better digital IDA. There is so much I can apply from my work with CPHUX and I left feeling excited ?? The conversation helped me narrow down what my focus should be in my application material.?

At my mother's group, I did tear up out of frustration. Victor has been sleeping very poorly lately and it quickly frustrates me to the point where I just get plain mad. In retrospect it makes me sad, he’s such a lovely little boy, with no way to express himself except complaining, screaming, or crying. I wish I could pull back from going directly to angry, but it’s a way our body copes. If we once have gotten mad quickly, the body remembers and that becomes its auto, go-to emotion. I’m trying to consciously detect my pattern and break it, but it is very hard. I’m lucky to have these lovely women who support me and want to help me out ??

Thursday

After Victor went in for his first nap, I finalized my job application and sent it off to IDA. It felt good to know the ball officially is rolling now.

I’ll be conducting 4 events with Preely and Claus Venlov and I had a chat about the current status. In March I’ve gotten Riziki Nielsen to do a talk on practical advice on how to work with AI as a designer. In April Julia Cowing and Kate Hanenberg will do a talk about how to action on user feedback using the “method” of triangulation. This one will be a two-part event with a talk (hopefully in May) on how to then co-create the right design for the real users. Super pumped for all 3 talks.?

I went to my mother's therapy group even tho I had discussed internally if it was a waste of time. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised at how poorly it is facilitated. They completely dismissed their own agenda and it became a long check-in with an open Q&A at the end. I had to leave early to make it in time for baby swimming class, but I got a question in about professional confidence which was quite interesting. In a way, they just acknowledge that the struggle is real and that self-doubt is very normal. But it did feel nice to get a weird type of permission to be battling my inner imposter syndrome. YES, we all have them ??

The next couple of hours were just a mix of bathing, swimming, and driving with Olivia and Victor in turns ???

That evening I did something I hadn’t done in a while. I attended an online event with Louis Rosenfeld from Rosenfeld Media on the topic of “Should you write a (UX) book”. Fun to e-meet my old professor from Emily Carr University of Art and Design Haig Armen there. He briefly told me he has been in dialogue with Lou for years on a topic for him to write a book on. I would for sure buy and read that book!!!?

"Haig... Write that book!!!"

Friday

Victor was taking his first nap, I was battling some gossamer cabbage when the phone rang. Olivia's daycare, with the info that she had some blisters on her tongue, and that we should consider contacting the doctors before the weekend kicked in. I called right away and got an emergency time between 11-11:30. Packed a bag and some food. Picked Olivia up with Victor strapped to me. Drove over, waited, and got her checked. She has a fungus type of infection, the weird thing is that it is normal for babies but Victor doesn’t have it ?? Returned to the daycare where she got tugged in for her nap, and returned home… Puhhhaaa… What was supposed to be a chill morning/noon, just got kicked up a notch. I didn’t go to Baby Rhythmics because that would have been too much. Christina Bruun came over, bringing snacks ?? and we chilled out in the sun. We picked up Olivia and when we got back home, we had the next guests. My co-mom Cecilie, her daughter Lea, and her son Valdemar (Victor's buddy) came to dig up some winter flowers from our garden. But first, we played inside, which was just super great to see the two kids interact.?

That night I fell asleep while tugging in Victor…?

Saturday?

We had a chill day at home, doing everything and nothing…?

In the afternoon we visited Lars’s sister and family for a family dinner. There’s one month and one day between Olivia and her cousin Axel. Seeing them parallel play is just the best. Axel was very interested in baby Victor. There were hugs all around that evening ??

Sunday

Another day of just relaxing, playing with the kids, dealing with small things and cursing over the fact that a trip to the hardware shop during their nap time resulted in very short naps ??

New rule: No practical trips during nap time.?

AND: Victor needs to eat dinner before we do.