29.000 down and counting

Yesterday I "lost" 29.000 kr, roughly 4400 dollars. I recently got my tax return here in Sweden and since my official paid job started January 2012, this is the first year I'm taxable in Sweden. My job situation last year was complicated to say the least, I worked freelance as a teacher for a while, "sold my soul" (i.e. academic integrity) for money and finally got a two parted job as an associate professor and a research scientist. I was aware that each of these jobs taxed me as it was my only job (i.e. too little), but I figured that since I had been income-less for several months in the beginning, it would even itself out. I even did some rough calculations. I was 21.000 kr wrong. After calling up the very nice English speaking tax people and being on the phone for an hour, I am now more knowledgable about the Swedish tax system and how to pay back what you owe. If I pay 2500 kr each month, I will be almost debt-free by December when they start charging interest.

This brought me to my next loss. I have recently been given some specific advice from academic colleagues in terms of promotions within the Swedish university system. Without getting into details, it turns out that the advice was straight out wrong so when I asked my boss for a raise yesterday (to help pay my taxes back), it turns out I have been eligible for a raise long time ago, back in fall 2012. In fact I had had all the paperwork ready January 1st this year but been advised not to submit it due to another promotion that I will apply for early 2014. Those were the next "lost" 8000 kr. Don't cry over spilled milk I thought and submitted my application this morning. 

Jetlagged baby, jetlagged mom

A question I often get, both by random people who ask where we have traveled from and people who are planning to travel with their child, is how I deal with Zoe's jet lag. And this is often the phrasing of it: How do you deal with her having jet lag. While I don't disagree much with any of the advice given over at "Have baby, will travel", one of the obvious answers is that you deal with it like you deal with your own. Traveling west, you both wake up 3:40am the first night, 4:30am the next and after three nights you have a fairly normal day. On the way east you get a more extreme sleep pattern, waking up every four or so hours for a couple of days. That said, my best piece of advice is the advice they give to new mothers: Baby sleep, parent sleep. Don't think that you will wake up at 2 am but the child won't. Go to sleep as soon as the child have nudged off, that being 6pm or 11pm. So the question is not how I deal with Zoe's jet lag but how we deal with our jet lag.

And, yes, it is currently 4 am the day after Zoe and I got back to Stockholm and we have been awake both since 2:30 am. Zoe is watching "In the night garden", the most calm children's show I can think of and I hope we can go back to sleep in not too long.