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Picture of Marjolijn and Sebastiaan during our wedding

Stories on Sebastiaan

Three kidz

21 May 2004

This weekend we have three kids at home. Casper's good friend Jelle is coming over for a couple of days. His parents are going paragliding in Germany, and taking their smallest critter along with them. Jelle and Casper go back a long while, from the time they both were born. As in the Netherlands it's almost impossible to get a place for one's child in a kindergarten at a decent time in a childs life, one (almost) has to grab every opportunity that comes along. For us, having enscribed Casper when he was only two months old (still in Marjolijns belly though), it was important NOT to send Casper to the kindergarten from three months of age (quite natural down here). So when Jelle's parents told us they hadn't gotten a place for him either, we suggested to share kids for some time. So it went that Casper and Jelle grew up together for the first 10 months of their lives. Every parent had one day, Marjolijn had two days. All in all it was a good arrangement, which meant that everyone shared in some of the responsibility, and the costs were kept to a minimum. But around x-mas of 2002 Jelle had gotten a place in the kindergarten, and as we had passed twice on an offered place at the kindergarten "the Pinguin" just across the canal from us, we didn't dare say no a third time. So it went that Jelle and Casper joined all the other kids in the normal pattern of going to daycare.

 

But we kept in touch and the kids enjoyed eachothers company. Everytime we went to visit both kids had a great time, and talked about both before the visit and after. So when Jelle's parents were off for a long weekend, Jelle came to us. Now the both of them are a little over 2 years, meaning their own will and wants and needs are being tested day on day out, as well as the patience of their parents. Casper and Jelle did and tried everything that was allowed and not quite allowed during this weekend. At times it was quite a challenge being a parent towards them. Especially when they would be teasing eachother or enticing the other as he was doing something that they knew was not allowed or would bring them into trouble. Nothing is more fun than doing stuff that's not quite legal! But we drew the line at teasing Casper's little brother Robin. We made it perfectly clear that Robin was part of the family and was to be played with and not made fun of. After some time I guess they got the picture, because then they either ignored Robin or gave him something to play with when he was around.

Sunday came and Sunday went by. That evening the calm returned to our home. What a difference two kids of the same age and energy-level make from just one. Only now I can really appreciate the work our kindergarten-teachers do. It takes some guts and a truckload of patience and understanding to be able to deal with this every day. And not with two kids but with 12 or 15! It was fun, but I'm glad it's a little while until next time ;-).

Posted by Sebastiaan Naafs - van Dijk | top

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    ... on 04 October 2024 @ 07:31