I know I’m just being a grump and she’s actually a nice person but the comments she makes are driving me crazy. Living abroad in Finland has put me in a constant state of feeling stressed out and unhappy, and it’s little moments like when we’re discussing how my husband and I are picking out names and laughing over how it’s a bit difficult (finding a name that works in Finnish and English is tougher than you’d think!) and she tells us to just stop thinking about them until the baby is born because we aren’t naming it until its christening.

Umm... we aren’t waiting months to give our baby a name and we hadn’t even discussed having a christening or baptism so what place is it of hers to make that decision?

Then later when we were talking about breastfeeding and how I had read I should aim to nurse every 2-3 hours at first to increasing milk supply she bursts out “did you get that information from HERE?” Meaning Finland, as if information from anywhere else is invalid and if I’m reading this from the US, which is her attitude about anything I say or information I get not founded in Finland.

I know everyone has their opinions but it’s just overwhelming to get it all the time and knowing that we’ll be moving into the same complex as them and they’ll always be 2 minutes away isn’t a relief but feels like it will be a constant source of stress because of how incredibly overbearing she is about everything.

She makes decisions and attempts to take control of our lives every moment. I’m just so done with it all and I’m having a hard time staying polite.

If I didn’t have to stay here because of my husband’s job, I’d go back to the states immediately. I want my family and friends, not to feel isolated and irritated every moment. Ugh.