Child in the Box

As part of my occasional series on the Finnish hellscape, here's a cool story about Finnish babies sleeping in cardboard boxes.

[There's also a video version (it starts playing automatically) of the story. It doesn't contain as much information, but it does have a baby playing with a book.]

Since 1938, the Finnish government has given expectant mothers a box of essentials for their young ones. Better yet, the box doubles as a crib.

Here's what's in this year's box:

* Mattress, mattress cover, undersheet, duvet cover, blanket, sleeping bag/quilt
* Box (doubles as a crib)
* Snowsuit, hat, insulated mittens and booties
* Light hooded suit and knitted overalls
* Socks and mittens, knitted hat and balaclava
* Bodysuits, romper suits and leggings in unisex colours and patterns
* Hooded bath towel, nail scissors, hairbrush, toothbrush, bath thermometer, nappy cream, wash cloth
* Cloth nappy set and muslin squares
* Picture book and teething toy
* Bra pads, condoms

Here's what some Mark guy had to say:

"We now live in Helsinki and have just had our second child, Annika. She did get a free box from the Finnish state. This felt to me like evidence that someone cared, someone wanted our baby to have a good start in life. And now when I visit friends with young children it's nice to see we share some common things. It strengthens that feeling that we are all in this together."

This seems like the sort of thing other countries should be doing (although CONDOMS FOR BABIES?!?), but wev. Finland was able to pull together the program when it was dirt poor, and managed to continue the program during the wartime. Of course, with austerity sweeping the land (including Finland), I doubt we'll see other nations pick up on the program anytime soon. It's a shame, because THOUSANDS OF BABIES IN MATCHING MARIMEKKO ONESIES*!

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*Onesies not necessarily provided by Marimekko.