Regular readers will already know how thankful I am that my kids are Dutch. But this week it hit me again just how lucky we are to be here in the Netherlands. How lucky my kids are to be Dutch.
This post is short and sweet but I really wanted to share this with you.
My Dutch Kids DO Scamper Off
I have just read ‘How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t with Your Kids‘ by Carla Naumburg. (Don’t judge me, we’ve just come out of lockdown and between us we have been ill for months).
(It’s a great read by the way – and if you read it with highly sensitive children in mind it has some great tips.)
Anyway, I came across this statement:
“For a variety of reasons, the era of kids coming home from school and scampering off with the neighborhood kids until dinner time has passed.”
And man did I feel smug for a few minutes.
Because, put simply, the era of Dutch kids coming home from school and scampering off with neighbourhood kids until dinner time has most certainly not passed.
My Dutch kids do this. They come home to dump their school bag and pick up their bike, tell me who they are out and about with and scamper off. And then they come home for their dinner.
Independence and Freedom
I know we have it good. We live in a small village. There are plenty of places for the kids to escape to independently around us. There are two playgrounds. A petting zoo. Countryside to build dens and makeshift bridges. A school playground. A football pitch. A panna football cage. There’s even a lake nearby they can go to swim in the summer with their friends.
They know how far they can go. My kids know what time to come home.
But they also have independence and freedom.
I am thankful for my Dutch kids.
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