Confirmation Day – Day 249 – May 9, 2026

Today’s the day! It’s important that we all get as much rest as we can, because today will be hectic, but of course I’m up at 6am. I guess my brain just didn’t get the memo?

Téa is also up. After a while, Kari-Helene and Frida are also up. Maylin sleeps in, Joe sleeps in and Alma sleeps in. Ste is up and goes for a run. Everyone has breakfast in their own tempo. Our schedule doesn’t start until about 11am, but from then on it is fully booked for the rest of the day. In between everything that is going on in all the directions, there’s also time to read.

At around 11am, Kari-Helene, Frida and I head over to the party hall. We have been tasked with picking blueberry leaves to decorate the napkins with our name cards. There are lots of blueberry bushes behind the party hall, so we climb the hill, head to a cluster each and start picking. Inside, we trim and place the leaves on each napkin. It looks so nice! Once this is done, and all the flowers are set up, we head back to pick up the children (oh, and husbands).

Once the kids and the husbands were piled into the two cars, we picked up Lise on our way and headed to downtown. The main parking lot in Arendal city centre is inside a mountain, which thoroughly excites Maylin. It’s freezing cold inside though, and we walk quickly towards the exit. The sun feels so nice, but it’s still windy.

This confirmation is not a religious one. In Norway, 14/15 year olds have had mandatory religious confirmations since 1736, and since 1951 there has been a non-religious alternative. The tradition is one that prepares the youth for life as grown ups, and they have to go through a course from September until May to “graduate” or get confirmed. The topics during the course include things like identity, critical thinking, human rights, ethics and humanism.

There are 33 youth being confirmed today, and their friends, families and supporters fill the entire cultural centre. I look up and around us, and the theather seats are all full. The ceremony has lots of music, a pianist and a trumpeter play beautiful melodies, and a singer sings a couple of songs as well. The most impactful speech came from a man in a hat, with his message to the youth. He started with a song, and then delivered a powerful message about finding out who he was (adopted from Colombia, with a strong Northern Norwegian accent) and encouraging the kids to discover who they truly are, to be kind to each other and to be confident in their own abilities. I so wish I had a transcript of his speech, so I could translate it to Joe and the girls.

After the ceremony, all the families gather in groups outside until it’s too cold and windy to be outside, and we all go back to our cars. We head to the party hall, where the kids play board games with some of the young Norwegian relatives. Our girls use their little Norwegian vocabulary, and the Norwegian girls use their meagre English. It’s a win in all directions!

When all the guests have arrived, we are seated and Kaia holds her welcome speech, thanking us for coming and opening the buffet. There’s a large taco buffet set up at one end of the room, and everyone picks exactly the kind of tacos and the type of filling that they want. Special shout out to the mango salsa!

We eat and enjoy some good conversations, listen to some sweet and moving speeches, and enjoy the sunshine on the patio. Then there is cake. My niece Alma wants a confirmation too, because of cake. There are so many to choose from, and I probably eat a little too much. There’s a cake called “the World’s Best”, Kathrine made it, and it is so very delicious. If you are an ambitious baker, or if you are ever in Norway, please seek it out and try it. I promise, it’s the World’s Best cake!

After cake, there are more good conversations over cups of coffee. Then I find myself in the kitchen, playing with the high powered, 3 minute dish washer. I have used these in previous “lives”, working in restaurants and bars, and they are so fun. From literally caked on dishes, to sparkling clean and almost dry in less than 5 minutes? I love it. Once I emerge from the kitchen, most of the guests are gone, and we say some more farewells. There are family members of Kaia’s here that I probably won’t see again until the next time she invites us for a life event.

We get back to the house around 9pm, and are in full wind down mode. The girls go to bed first, and then us adults sit and chat for a bit longer. It’s crazy to think that we kind of just got here, and we only have one day left. We head to bed, and look forward to hanging out some more tomorrow.