Merry Christmas!

Another beautiful card made by my sister... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Working from home with a sick child

Myth or reality?

Is it possible to do any work AT ALL while taking care of your sick 2-year-old child? Well, I cannot say that working 8 hours is fully feasible. But playing small games does the trick for a while.



Usually opening my laptop is totally impossible, since Paul wants to do "something" as well with it. So this time he was allowed to put stickers around, as well as in his book. Well, you can see the result! I recommend the albums from Hema, good value for money.

Do you know a preschooler who would like to get a “pilot certificate”?

I got the following request from Zsofia Takacs, a research master student in Education and Child Studies at the Leiden University. Contact her directly if you are interested!


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Do you know a preschooler who would like to get a “pilot certificate”?

For our research on the effects of illustrations in picture storybooks we are looking for native English-speaking 4-5 year-olds. If you know English-speaking families, are interested or would like more information, please contact: Maria de Jong (Leiden University), jongtm@fsw.leidenuniv.nl or phone: 071-5273881.

Roetz Bikes coming soon!

I wrote in one of previous posts about Roetz Bikes. Short update: they have their new website live now!

Few other news:

• Serial production of the bicycle is planned for May/June
• Several small trial series will be run in the spring to refine the bike

People can contact Tiemen (the brain and heart behind the Roetz Bikes) at info@roetz-bikes.nl for more info on the bike, and to register for one of the trial bikes.

Are you as curious as me to see how this bike made of recycled parts will look like? I can not wait!

The Idan Raichel Project

Listening to quiet, calm and relaxing music should be an unmissable part of any mama day. So, here is my tip: The Idan Raichel Project.



I found it during a trip to Israel. I am not much seduced by typical souvenirs, you know, the T-shirt saying 'Jesus loves you' or 'I have been in Jerusalem'. So when I found a mini book/music store hidden in a coffee bar, I thought it was my chance to buy some Israelian music. The shop attendant recommended me a couple of CDs, fine with me.

To my surprise, I found out that there are two Spanish songs in the CD: "Todas las palabras", and "Cada día'.

Lyrics are simply a jewel to listen to:

"Todas las canciones, todas las palabras vienen y bailan
con el sonido que hace el viento cuando se acerca a tu boca y tu piel
mírame un instante, toca este silencio que ya se apaga
y abraza el aire que se vuelve cielo dentro de tu aliento y mi sed..."

"All song, all words, come and dance
With the sound the wind makes when approaching your mouth and your skin
Look at me for an instant touch this silence that is ending
And embrace the air turning into sky inside your breath and my thirst"

Keri Smith

I got to know about Keri Smith thanks to Flow Magazine. Her drawings are simple, but yet they make you come back to childhood. Of course, if you have children yourself, that is not that difficult anyway! See an example below of what we colored together with my son Paul; cute!



Take some time to check her website!

Ready for the snow?

We seem to be having a lot of snow these days. Although I find it totally cute, I still find it a challenge to go out with two children when there is snow around.



Any tips? I would welcome them!

Make your own mama with children picture

Pictures are lovely, but drawings are so cute!
My syster is really creative, and this is the drawing she made for us picturing Anna, Paul and me.



We are waiting for the next one having the full family!
Let me know if you like it as well!

Multi-linguism: Which language should I speak to my child?

What to do as a parent, if you have a different mother language than your partner? Which language should you speak to your children? Yours? Or the one spoken at the country where you live? Or just English?

A good friend of mine is Indonesian, her husband is Swedish, they speak English to each other and they live in The Netherlands. Meaning their son goes to the kindergarden where he is spoken to in Dutch. What to do? She collected the following tips for parents facing biliguism or multiliguism at home. Thanks a lot for the tips; they are great!

In summary:
• If you want the child to be multilingual, each parent should speak on their own language to the child. The child will learn and understand each language, but (depending on the child) at some point in their life, they will choose which one will be their main language, typically the language that gives him the most advantage. E.g. if you live in the Netherlands, most likely he will have Dutch as his main language. This all depends on the child, and if he likes language or not and how much he is exposed to the language.

• Until 6 years old, children acquire language, after 6 they learn (there is a difference!). So start as early as possible, after 6 years old, it’s more difficult to learn a new language.

• The child only learns the language you use to address him. So if you speak English to your partner, but never to your child, he doesn’t really learn English. Or if you play a CD with a music that you don’t sing together with him, he won’t learn. Interestingly (and I really notice this), the kid learns not through the words, but your tone, the context, facial expression and body language.

• Consistency is key. For example,if you speak in Russian, speak always in Russian, try to avoid mixing using other languages or English. This is because the child will learn that you also understand other languages and he could refuse to speak Russian to you.

• Multi-lingual is good but don’t inforce, since too much languages could burden/stress the child. So focus with the language which most relevant for him.

And for more information, you can check the following website, www.passionateparenting.com

If you are a parent in a multilingual environment; does this information help you? Which situations are you facing in your daily life when raising your child? Let us know by leaving a comment!