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Showing posts with the label happiness

Why are Dutch Moeders so Damn Happy?

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by Andrea Mulder-Slater I'm a Dutch girl. And so, when my editor at The Yummy Mummy Club recently asked if I would share my feelings on a Washington Post article suggesting that my people (specifically Dutch moms) are the most relaxed in the world. I did, and here's how it went... I’m five years-old and I’m in a small a town in northeastern Netherlands, visiting family with my parents.  It’s late afternoon and some neighbourhood kids are riding bicycles on the paths that run beside my aunt’s house. I ask my uncle if he has any spare fietsen (bikes) in the schuur (shed) behind his garden. He does, but they are all too large, except for one that – if modified – should do the trick. He and my father make some adjustments while my mother and her sister enjoy a relaxing cup of tea. Moments later, I pedal past the house, sitting on a bed pillow strapped to the seat post of a too-large Dutch bike. You can read the rest (and I hope you do) at:  http://www.yummymummyclub...

People... as seen by a 3 year old

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by Andrea Mulder-Slater Yesterday, the 3 year old announced that she was going to draw a girl. Next, she drew a boy. Then she drew the entire family. Later... a village. And just like that - she is drawing people. Every person is drawn the same way, with the same proclamation, "A head, and two eyes. Some hair. And some legs!!!!"  The drawings are always followed immediately by a happy dance, some enthusiastic jumping and a loud chant of some sort. Point being, the kid is exquisitely elated with this new found skill of hers. She is also drawing the letter "x" (or "t", depending on which way you twist your head) with abandon. This makes me smile. Meanwhile - today, she informed Geoff that her dollhouse toilet is attached to a pipe which goes down to the basement, out the wall and into the backyard. Huh? She's clearly spending far too much time at our new home construction site. Life is good. No, really.