Quotes from Helen Russell

if you're not happy with who you're waking up with most mornings, make a change -- if you want something (or someone) else, go for it.

I am not important. If I take a break, no one dies. And this is A Good Thing.

in the US and the UK we'd fought for more money at work, Scandinavians had fought for more time – for family leave, leisure and a decent work-life balance.

There is not truly bad weather, just bad clothes.

being a part of a club helps you to be an active person, involved in community life and with a sense of responsibility for the collective. This is important for developing a society of trust.

You're more likely to be able to get on in life, get educated, and get a good job, regardless of who your parents are and what they do in Denmark than anywhere else. It turns out that it's easier to live 'The American Dream' here than it's ever likely to be in the US.

Unlike in the US and the UK, where already stressed out and underpaid women were being told to 'lean in' and do more, it looked like you could pretty much lean any way you fancied in Denmark and still do OK. Oh, and women weren't handed sticks to beat themselves with if they weren't 'having it all'. This, I decided, was refreshing.

With a focus on creativity in schools and nurturing future job talent, many Danes are getting a leg-up right to the summit of the triangle. By contrast, some developed countries haven't even got past the second rung of 'safety' – with no healthcare or job security (hello, USA).

Being too thin isn't particularly desirable here. Women eat.

Children started to be encouraged to think and go against authority if they didn't agree with what they were being told – this became a priority after the German occupation of Denmark and was something Danes were very conscious of. We wanted citizens who were democratic and could have their own ideas, so self-development is a big part of learning in Denmark.

Psychologists at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, found that the better educated and wealthier a nation is, the less likely its population is to believe in a higher being.

Happiness is the things you possess divided by the things you expect.

simple life maths: Fewer new shiny things = fewer hours overtime = happier life. So

Vikings, it seems, make their own way.

hand-crafted chair like an Arne Jacobsen or a Hans Wegner or a Børge Mogensen,' Charlotte goes on. 'Your average Danish home might also have a designer lamp like Poul Henningsen's PH or an Arne Jacobsen AJ from Louis Poulsen. Then

we were both home by 7pm in time for The Archers, it was a cause for celebration. More often than not, we only saw each other at weekends or encountered the other as a warm body in bed in the small hours, having worked late or been out with friends. But

Being an immigrant is not for sissies

Danes don't believe that buying more stuff brings you happiness,' Christian told me. 'A bigger car just brings you a bigger tax bill in Denmark. And a bigger house just takes longer to clean.' In an approximation of the late, great Notorious B.I.G.'s profound precept, greater wealth means additional anxieties, or in Danish, according to my new favourite app, Google Translate, the somewhat less catchy 'mere penge, mere problemer'.

Danes are blunt and direct and trusting and secure

smushi' – a combination of the famous Danish smørrebrød open sandwiches and sushi

Once I'm discharged, we're offered the opportunity to stay an extra week at the adjacent 'Stork Hotel' as a family. This is for new parents who want to ease the transition from 'shit, we have a baby!' to 'shit, we're taking a baby home!' Here, nurses are on hand night and day for advice on how on earth to take care of the squalling pink thing that has somehow sprung from your loins.

For me, it's the simple life – spending more time in nature and with family. If you work too hard, you get stressed, then you get sick, and then you can't work at all.

Jolly' is about slapping on a smile and making the best of what you've got. It's the fleeting moments of joy, and laughter, and dogs pushing trollies outside Lidl, that all of us can notice and celebrate. Happiness is in the small things. So stay 'jolly'.

it's a free country, a woman can drink-garden if she wants to…