Anyone still there?

HELLO!!!  I know it's been a while, ok 5 months, but here I am again.  Trust me I think of the blog often but it takes a certain dedication I just don't have right now.  Plus everything that pops in my head is either too personal or too normal to post.

The main reason I took up blogging was to share my normal life abroad with others throughout the world.  And to help nearby expats find their way.  But now that I no longer live in a major city, I feel like I have nothing new to offer.  I am out of touch with big events in Eindhoven, and things that happen near the village I live in are too small to involve the international community.  But one thing I do have is 13 yrs of built up knowledge, so I can always fall back on that!

I think one of the neatest things that has happened to me through blogging was being contacted by a woman in Argentina who was going to move to The Netherlands.  She had questions about elementary school and life here in general.  We ended up emailing back & forth until she moved  And the other day as we sat having coffee together, watching the kids play, I was just amazed that our new found friendship started from this small blog.

Since I am not class mom this year at school I feel like I have had less opportunities to help out the new moms in the area.  But luckily my daughter is quite social and I met a few newbies recently.  Actually have a couple new play dates (inc coffee for the moms) lined up.

I find it so fascinating to meet people from all over the world.  To hear about what is normal to them, and share our cultures with each other.  It's also amazing just how many people take that step and move abroad, far from what they understand or are comfortable with.

Must admit though, my move here was quite cushioned considering my American husband was raised here and spoke Dutch.  And all of my in-laws are here.  I take my hat off to those expats who move without that cushion... who knows, maybe one day that will be us too.

I'll close for now, and fingers crossed that I post again this month!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Darrin Doll

The last time we visited The States my daughter discovered that the Chelsea Barbie doll had accessories just for her, like a club house & play ground.  And beyond the accessories there were also other little dolls to collect.  Being that she is 5 yrs old the Chelsea & Chelsea friends are right down her alley.  She already had one of the friends, Kira, and a couple Chelsea's, so we bought the swing set and packed it in our suitcase.  The club house was too big so my Mom was sure to buy it for Sophia's 5th birthday and ship it over.  (Thanks Mom!)
 

Of course on the packaging they advertise the other dolls, dolls they just weren't selling here in The Netherlands.  I could find Chelsea but none of the friends, and my daughter really wanted the little boy, Darrin.  I asked my family in The States to start looking around but no one could find it in the stores.  Strange.  We started checking online and saw it for really overpriced amounts compared to the Chelsea doll, even stranger.  Not wanting my family to spend over $30 for a little Barbie doll, I took it into my own hands to find one before her 5th birthday.  And surprisingly enough, I found it on Amazon in Germany.  Now, I don't speak German, but I do use Amazon a lot and Dutch isn't so far off, so with the combo I was able to order her one in time and didn't overpay (too much).


After that curiosity took hold and I started looking around for the Darrin doll again (not to buy but to double check the prices), and shortly after I ordered it via Germany I saw the price went up on Amazon in Germany.  I checked The States again and saw some online shops are now asking over $50 for the little doll, what?  Amazon in the UK wants double that!  Why in the world is this doll so expensive?  Was it a limited edition?  Did they stop producing them?  Anyway, I'm glad I found one in time!  Now I just have to find the Tamika & Madison dolls before she loses interests in the little ones and moves on to playing with Skipper & Stacey more often!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Kids Library Books

Now that my daughter visits the school library with her class I have little say in what she brings home, all I can hope for is that she is happy with her choice.  Sometimes I wonder how she ends up with the books she brings home... was it purely based on the cover picture... did the mom helping out that day ask her about her interests... are they only allowed to choose from a limited selection?  (Keep in mind she is 5yrs old.)

She's allowed to bring home 3 books every week, and with enthusiasm we read one per night, then revert back to our home collection for the other 4 night time stories a week.  Unfortunately, often, the books don't send the message I hoped.  I'm not looking for profound child philosophy, but more so a nice simple way to explain life to my child.  I noticed this last year at her Dutch school, and thought maybe the problem was my Dutch language skills, that I was picking the wrong books.  But I'm seeing the same problem at her new English speaking school.

 

Let me give you an example.  (I only chose these because she recently checked them out.)
The Trouble with Dogs - the book starts out great, the family has a naughty dog and they want to do something about it.  They hire someone to come in and teach the dog standard commands, and he is fairly successful.  The family then thinks these rules have sucked the fun out of the dog and decide to quit with the lessons.  Now what exactly is this teaching my child?  To give up?  That animals don't need to be trained?  That's not how things work in our house.

 

Eat Your Peas - ah, finally book to help my daughter realize how important it is to eat her vegetables.  Oh, not quite.  After multiple tantrums and endless unneeded promises/rewards from the parent the child turns the table and suggests that the mom eats her brussels sprouts.  How did it end?  Neither one ate their vegetables!  What is this teaching my child?  Bribes are an option?  Back talk is o.k.?  That if you flip out long enough mom will give up?

I'm not putting down the authors, I find writing children's book to be quite difficult.  It has to be simple, light hearted, and yet still send a good message, and hopefully a laugh along the way.  I'm more so just wondering why they ended the way they did.  I feel in life, if you don't like it, don't subject yourself to it.  (This goes way beyond books.)  But see, like I said, I don't have a choice in the books she happily brings home.  At least they opened up a good conversation, about how things work different in every home, and how things work in our home.

It wasn't just these books.... last year I remember checking out a book to help her get through nightmares.  What happens?  The tough kid gets scared, the book is full of scary drawings, and inevitably just upset her more.  There was also the book about feeling left out and making friends, in the end it offered no real solution a child could relate to.  I checked out a book about bullying, and again there was no real message by the end of the book.  It makes me wish I could write my own children's books, but like I mentioned, it's harder than you think.

Maybe I'm wishing she brought home fables... maybe I should pre-screen the books better... or maybe authors should think about the end result.  Again, I'm not bashing anyone, just raising awareness.  Any of you run into these issues?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Helping Out

It's the end of the school year and this means helping the school with odd and end tasks, as well as the usual ones.  Since January I have been working in the school library, once a week another mom & I tidy up the shelves of books and return all of the borrowed books to their places.  Generally this is about 30 minutes of work, which I don't mind.  I like volunteering at the elementary school, I think I would even take a part time job at my kids school if something opened up.  Today was the last morning I was to work in the library, and unfortunately the other mother couldn't help out.  It would have been nice to volunteer one last time together, oh well.  I actually thought there would be less books than usual, but actually it was just the opposite.  At least they left me something to remember the school by.  (My daughter will be going to a different school after the summer.)

Besides the fixed volunteer work, I have always been available to help out in the class when needed.  Cleaning up after sleepovers, checking for lice, helping out with breakfast's, and even going on field trips.  And there was one last request, help clean the toys in the class before the summer.  I wanted to sign up to help clean the classroom itself, but my husband was away and I didn't want to arrange a babysitter on a school night.  So I offered to take double the amount of toys home to clean.  I ended up with 2 trash bags full.  One full of stuffed animals and the other full of costumes.  Glad my husband wasn't home, because it looked like I was running some kind of kids laundry mat for two days!

 

Now that all of the tasks are completed it's starting to sink in, school is almost over, summer is nearing rapidly, and August is going to bring a lot of new experiences our way.  Hopefully I can also get involved at the new school!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

School Sleepover

What do you think is an appropriate age for kids to have a sleepover at school?  Is a sleepover at school even appropriate?  As a parent to a young child these are new questions for me to face.  And to be honest I didn't like that I even had to consider it. 

Two weeks ago the Pre-K & Kindergarten classes at my daughters Dutch elementary school had a sleepover at the school.  I didn't mind all of the activities around it - the bbq dinner, the games outside, the morning calisthenics, or the breakfast in the gym - I just didn't like the idea of my 4 yr old sleeping at the school without us.

Picture it, 5 classrooms, 25-29 kids per room, 2 teachers per room, and the kids range from 4-6 years old.  The teachers had to request permits from the city & fire department, and they were asked to stay awake all night to make sure things went well.  Not one thing about it sat right.  We have no problem with our daughter spending the night away, but this situation just seemed weird.  I felt it was such a strange request, why would this event even be organized?

Our daughter handled the news well when we told her she would be sleeping at home that night and would return to the school early in the morning.  But the comments from the parents and teachers were unneeded, as if we were being fearful and making our kid suffer because of it.  Trust me, the only suffering I saw was the way the kids looked the next morning after the sleepover.  (Just imagine a bunch of small children with hangovers, if you need a visual.)

I have no regrets about picking her up at 8PM that night and returning her at 7:30AM the next morning.  I'm glad we stood our ground and didn't give into peer pressure.  Funnily enough, the majority of the parents picking their kids up at 8PM were foreign like ourselves.  I helped clean up the next day and to be honest I only heard good stories, there were no disasters and things went fairly smooth but still, I just don't agree with it.

What do you think, were we being overprotective or is it just weird to have young kids spend the night at the school with just teachers?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Kids' Breakfast

I'm in need of some suggestions so I thought I would turn to all of you for tips.  Here in The Netherlands the kids eat sandwiches for breakfast & lunch.  I never wanted to subject my daughter to two meals of sandwiches a day, so I stuck to the toddler breakfast oatmeal mixed with fresh fruit.  But now my daughter is no longer a toddler, she's 4 going on 5 yrs old and she is getting tired of oatmeal for breakfast.  The problem is she refuses to eat cereal & milk and we don't have time for bacon & eggs before school.

Lot's of things have popped in mind, pancakes are easy but not nutritious... fruit is yummy but not filling enough... toast is basically a sandwich.  And keep in mind we're Americans living in The Netherlands, a lot of the convenient American breakfast food like Pop-Tarts aren't readily available here (and not exactly healthy either).

I'm curious what do you feed your kids before school?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Vacation - Dramamine Kids

Our kid isn't prone to motion sickness, she's the kid who never complains about the car & loves roller coasters (even Space Mountain).  But something about her & an airplane don't quite mix.  She's flown between Europe & America 3 times now (12 flights due to connections), and each time was increasingly more difficult.  The poor kid had 4 vomiting sessions trying to get from AMS to PHL!!!  By the end of the flight she was covered in it, between little warning and a leaky bag it was a mess.  The poor kid couldn't even handle the smell of the food on the plane and had to cover her head in a blanket just to get some relief.  Eventually she wore herself out and fell asleep, but needless to say there was little enjoyment during the flight.  Based on past experiences we knew to pack extra clothes for the connecting flight - at least this time I wasn't alone trying to handle it.

When it was time to return home, my husband & I dreaded the flight back.  We knew it would be miserable for her, and could possibly put her off flying (and flying back to The States to see family is just part of our life).  We had to do something.  But were we really going to be those parents that load their kid up on medicine just so they sleep through the flight?  It just didn't feel right, but what was better for her, vomiting for 6-8hrs or sleeping?  There we were searching the kiosks at the airport, exploring our options, feeling kind of guilty. Then as if the clouds opened and the sun appeared we found Children's Dramamine!  It was a great option, no guilt, no unneeded flu/sleep medication - one magic pill that we hoped would change everything.  And you know what, it did!  Whether it was a mental thing or actually worked, our 4 yr old didn't vomit once or complain about being sick.  She enjoyed the flights like a kid should (well, she did skip the meals & cover her head again, but that was precautionary in her mind).

Needless to say, THANK YOU Dramamine!  And for any of you out there travelling with kids prone to motion sickness, you have to try it!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Vacation - Restaurants (#1)

Hey I'm finally getting around to the first post about our two week vacation in Florida!  Seeing that I am still short on time - the realtor is showing our apartment again today - it's going to be quick but useful.

During our vacation we did our best to moderate how often we ate out at restaurants, besides it being unhealthy & costly, we wanted to enjoy eating on the lanai & grilling at the house we rented.  Being that we live overseas there are definitely restaurants you miss, sure we have access to great European restaurants but sometimes the ones you grew up with just call your name.  For me, while visiting The States I have to squeeze in a meal eat at either Outback and/or Red Lobster.  We luckily enough hit up both!  (No, they aren't Michelin Star restaurants but they're yummy and bring back nice memories.)

For the adults, we had an array of choices, but my daughter was limited.  She's doesn't eat mac & cheese, hamburgers, steak, or shrimp... but luckily she does eat her share of fish sticks, chicken nuggets, & hot dogs which were on most American kids menus.  But after a while we felt bad ordering her those things, and then we started noticing grilled chicken on a lot of menus.  Turns out she is a big fan of grilled chicken at restaurants - now I felt a little less bad that she was eating too many fries during the 2 week vacation.

My 4 yr old enjoyed the grilled chicken at Red Lobster & loved the ice cream at the end.  But it was the grilled chicken at Outback that made her oooh & aaah!  She liked the chicken so much she even told the server, ha-ha!  Now the milkshake she ordered at Outback didn't go over so well, but the chicken completely made up for it.  So if you're stumped what to order you kids the next time you happen to be at an Outback or Red Lobster, go for the grilled chicken, it's highly recommended!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Reformed Smoker

I used to smoke cigarettes... it's been 10 yrs this month since I stopped.  It was one of those things I wanted to try but knew I would hate.  Yeah, that didn't work so well considering I smoked for 8 yrs!

The summer before I started high school I tried cigarettes & beer.  Little did I know at 14yrs old that it was the beginning of a wild ride!

I was one of the "rebellious" kids in high school, maybe I was breaking away from my nerd image, maybe it was the freedom of getting away from conformed religion, maybe it was other stuff I'd rather not mention.  Anyway, it was who I became for a long while. 

I was the teen that took bathroom breaks and came back reeking of smoke.  How did I really believe no one noticed, ha-ha?  Smoking in the school bathroom caused a lot hassles for me, like numerous visits to the office & a big fine!

But those hassles were also pretty funny memories (later).  One time we were all piled up in the handicap stall and of course the cigarette had just been passed to me when one of the teachers (possibly school cop - it was a long time ago) busted us.  There was little I could do, it was obviously in my hand.  So like any other rebel, of course, I blew the smoke in her face and took my punishment.

Or the time the teacher made me wet the cigarette and take it to the office as evidence.  Have you ever smelled a wet cigarette butt, ugh?  For some reason admin wasn't available, I sat there for ages stinking up the office, re-explaining my story to every adult that walked in, and eventually tossed it and returned to class (just can't remember if I actually got detention or not). 

The best was when they busted me for the umpteenth time and were finally sick of it.  They sent me to court and hit me with a fine.  In order to repay the fine my mom found the worst job around, I was forced to work at a fish farm in the weekends vacuuming poop & muck from the tanks.  I made more than enough money to repay the fine but my mom kept the leftover money.  (And despite being rebellious I was also a hard worker and the farm kept me on for a while, I think it was possibly one of my first jobs.)

Times have changed since I was in high school and obviously I have too.  Just wonder what the kids actually get away with these days?  Some things don't change though, I still occasionally walk up on the teens smoking in the woods across from the high school where I walk my dog.  We've even seen them time when the teacher walks by and they slip away for a quick puff, ha-ha!  I guess not everything has changed.

Did any of you smoke cigarettes in high school?  Any of you reformed smokers?  (And yes, I did find a clip from Full House, have to love & hate the 90's!)

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

School Vacation

This week the schools are out here, which means finding a way to entertain my 4yr old, all day.  And apparently she doesn't consider doing the laundry, vacuuming, or going to the grocery store entertainment, ha-ha!!!  I think I've done pretty well though - even though it's Thursday and I'm exhausted... she's still up watching a movie with her cousins.

Walking the dog in the woods has become part of our day, it really helps to pass a good chunk of time, keeps her moving, and entertained.  Who knew you could collect that many acorns?!  (Walking the dog in the woods is a usual activity for me but she is generally at school during that time.)

We've also gone to the public pool, which is one of the largest in the area with slides and all kinds of fun things.  This helped keep up with her swimming lessons, wear her down, and keep her entertained.  (As for me, I also had water aerobics that night and felt like a walking chlorine tablet by bedtime.)

There was also the playdate with an old friend from her preschool.  I must admit the weather is great here right now, so visiting the local farm, feeding the ducks, and the "gnome search" set-up in the herb garden was fun.  (Watching a man losing his shoe in the canal was just an added bonus!)

Then we had my nieces (9 & 12) over for the day and now they're spending the night.  We barely stopped... more than an hour in the woods collecting plants and what not, placing our collections in pots back home, hitting up the grocery store (putting them to work pushing the cart), visiting 2 different playgrounds, making endless messes around the house including them drawing all over themselves, and now a movie in bed.  (And oh yeah, I can still play a mean game of HORSE!)

The weeks not over, and there are more walks and even a bbq planned.  Who ever said vacations were for resting???

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Book Tour #4

It's been a couple months since I last hosted a book tour for Fire & Ice.  Why?  Between the holidays and taking a small break from blogging, it just didn't pan out.  But all the while I did keep my eye open for a children's book, then one finally turned up!

Drum roll please...

The Money Tree

 

Besides the fact it's a children's book, I also chose it because of the message it sends.  Sure it's a fictional story just like the last book I helped tour but I really felt it was a story my child could relate to.  I'm sure a lot of you have dealt with teaching your child(ren) to spend their money wisely, so why not present the idea in the form of a fun book.

If you want to find out more about LaDonna Smith's first children's book, The Money Tree, pop on over to Danica's Book Corner.  Over at my book blog, you can find excerpts & blurbs provided by Fire & Ice book tours, and this book I actually read to my child so there will also be a short review.  Hope you give it a chance!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica 

Argh!

What a day, I guess do to distractions and rushing I managed to make two unusual messes today... I just love wasting my own time!

The first was the dog food mess in our storage room.  When I finally opened our delivery of dog food, I was in a hurry expecting our niece for the night so I wanted to get it out of the way asap.  Assuming (yeah, we all know what that does) that the thick sturdy 33lb (15kg) bag of dog food could handle anything, I tossed it into the corner of the storage room.  What happened... the side burst open of course and food started pouring everywhere.  Always fun to clean up when you're expecting someone at the front door in the next 5 minutes.  As you can see in the pic, I taped up the side of the bag, then ended up scooping up the food with a dust pan and pouring it into the old bag.  Argh!

Then there was the marble cake I promised the kids.  It was doomed from the start.  I had never made one before and to be honest I probably should have read the instructions completely before starting.  As I mixed the batter we all ended up covered in white chunks, including the kitchen.  Even then I could tell something wasn't right with the mix.  Then as I went further, all the while having to stop and deal with the kids I noticed I had completely messed up a step, and to be honest it didn't really mention needing milk but I'm positive box cake batter needs milk (or at least water).  I was just about to put it in the oven when I realized it was time to cook dinner.  This meant the cake would have to bake while we ate, and cross our fingers it would be done before the kids went to bed.  At one point when I checked on it, I saw the batter had spewed out of the cake form and all over the baking paper.  It was a mess but I thought still salvageable.  After dinner we realized there was no way it would be ready in time.  After finally taking it out, I pricked it to see if it was done or not... it deflated, never a good sign.  I tried to get it out of the cake form to cool it, but it just crumbled everywhere.  By this point the kids were in bed, and I had to break the bad news this morning, there would be no cake.  I had to take a pic to prove it to them, looks delicious huh?  Argh!

Any of you have off days?  I mean, c'mon, I messed up a box cake mix!
Oh yeah, sorry for the blurry pics but ever since the last iPhone update I have barely been able to take focused pics, love the new update, argh!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Sports & Kids

I am really curious how many sports or activities are your young children involved in?  Why?  Because now that my daughter is in Pre-K at a Dutch elementary school, I am realizing a lot of these kids lives are jammed packed.  Personally I feel one sport or activity outside of school for a small child is plenty.  They're young, they're worn out from school, and they need free time to rest or play quietly away from the hustle & bustle of school and sports.  My daughter takes swimming lessons (she's been in swimming lessons since she was 5 months old).  But when she started going to school 4.5 days a week, I questioned if the 45 min swimming class once a week after school would be too much.  But since she has already swam for so long, we figured we might as well keep her in until she gets her diploma.  Now that she's at school and hears other girls attend dance class, she wants to sign up also.  Dance & swimming, on top of school, at 4 yrs old, that's just too much right?  Like I said though, at her school some of the kids have 2-3 sports they are enrolled in outside of school.  Now I know American kids often have sports incorporated into school, Dutch kids also have P.E., but I am talking about after school activities, whether it be through the school or not.  At what age is it o.k to be enrolled in 2 activities?  When is it considered too pushy?  Sure I want to expose my daughter to sports & music, but I also don't want to overwhelm her and keep her so busy she misses out on just enjoying herself and being a kid.  What is your take on this? 

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Snail Story

Do any of you have a snail or creature in your yard that has decided to make it officially their home?  Apparently we have a pet snail!  The snail decided to show its face about six months ago.  We were preparing our terrace for a bbq and when I lifted the cover on our picnic table there was a snail in a beautiful yellowish shell.  Immediately I grabbed my phone, snapped a pic, and ever since it has been one of my favorite Instagram pics.  Then a good few months went by before it turned up again, this time in one of our plant containers.  We accepted its presence and occasionally my husband would move it hoping to make it a little happier, maybe it would be more interested in the carrots than the weeds.  After my daughter saw the movie Turbo, her interest in the snail grew and we also decided to name it Turbo, just like the racing snail in the kids movie.  The other day my husband was clearing off the terrace to clean it with the high pressure hose when our daughter said, "hey, there's Turbo!"  Turns out my husband had stepped on it, but some how it survived (similar to the movie).  And yesterday before my husband went to play golf, he found the snail in his golf shoes which he often forgets outside.  And without telling me (I wasn't home) he placed the snail in a mug on the kitchen counter and left for golf.  When I returned home last night and started tidying up after putting our daughter to bed, I noticed the mug and tossed it in the sink not knowing there was a snail inside.  I didn't get around to clearing the sink until this morning (hey, it's weekend).  After loading the dishwasher I grabbed the wash cloth so I could finish up the dishes that didn't fit.  And when I lifted the cloth from where it was draped over the faucet I realized Turbo was hiding in the upper corner of the sink.  Naturally I freaked out and grabbed my camera again.  (Unfortunately the sink wasn't clean, so I will not be showing you those pics.)  Maybe other people dare touch snails and creatures, but not me.  I was going to leave the snail until my husband could deal with it (I was even starting to think he had set me up to see how long it would take me to clean out the sink, ha-ha!)  But when the snail decided to start creeping from one basin to another, I knew I had to do something about it.  Didn't want the little thing to get into any salt or sugar, or spread germs of course.  I have been holding on to some glass jars thinking about collecting bugs or worms for my daughter and now one had an official purpose!  It didn't take me long to collect different types of soil from containers on our terrace, but the real question was how to lure the snail.  (Keep in mind my 4yr old is watching everything.)  We hit up Google to see what snails eat, and luckily we had mushrooms in the fridge I didn't mind using.  After breaking one up and shoving into the small jar half full of soil we kept placing it in Turbo's path but again and again it avoided the jar.  Then finally it curiously crawled inside... YES!  Once it was safe inside I opened the door to outback and carried the jar & snail back out to the terrace.  My daughter was very impressed that we gave it a little house.  (Again, I took pics to share with everyone!)  I doubt the little snail will be in the jar the next time we check, hope my daughter is not too disappointed.  And then once we were back inside, I scrubbed the sink to no end and then hopped on my computer to share the story with you all!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Wordless Wednesday #78

Link up here for Wordless Wednesday!

Our curious camera compilation can also be found here...

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Different Times

We've decided to introduce our daughter to The Cosby Show and luckily enough we've been able to start with the pilot episode thanks to You Tube.  While watching the first couple episodes last night, my husband and I had a good chuckle, it's amazing how much has (and hasn't) changed since the 80's!  It really made my head start swirling, how different will our kids childhoods be than ours?  Don't get me wrong, I grew up in the 80's & 90's and we didn't have it hard at all.  But I started wondering what kids/teens these days do... do they still talk on the phone for hours to their friends... do they still write pages of notes to exchange with their friends between classes... do they even still see the importance of a library... do they even do homework without computers?
 

While watching The Cosby Show we had to explain to our 4 yr old that phones used to be connected to cords and you had to stay in one place to talk.  Then she saw a beeper/pager, we explained its simple function but I don't think she understood.  I'm sure she's going to start asking where the computers are soon.  I look forward to watching future episodes with her and answering all of the questions that will arise.
 

Besides technology changing, people have changed, we are desensitized.  Think of shows or movies that used to be considered controversial, and think of the market these days.  Even manners and respect has changed, I'm happy when my daughter says please & thank you, but my grandma still expects a "yes ma'am". 
 

Different times, different values.  Is it good or bad... it's both.

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Missing Market

Do you know what the kids toy market is missing... a grandma & grandpa Barbie!  When we decided to buy our daughter the Barbie Dream House my head started swirling with memories of my childhood.  I had every type of Barbie you could imagine, I think by the time I sold the dolls I easily had 40 in my personal play collection and I still have around 15 collectibles (in the box) stored back in Florida.  Part of my vast collection was a grandma & grandpa doll, I thought they were Barbie but when I started searching online I found out they were actually part of the Heart Family (also Mattel).  No matter what, they looked just like a Barbie and as I kid I could have cared less.  My daughter loves to act out her life through her dolls and grandparents (she has 6) are a big part of her life.  Since multiple members of my family are already hitting me up for Christmas ideas (I will not mention names) these dolls popped in mind.  I wasn't having any luck here in The Netherlands so I asked for assistance from a family member in The States. 

And we both ended up with the same result... Heart Family dolls no longer exist and yes, they made a grandma & grandpa Barbie once... you can buy them on Ebay for $199.99!!!  Yes, you read this correct, $199.99!!!  Needless to say, my daughter will not be getting grandparent dolls.  That's unless someone from Mattel happens to read my post, and thinks you know what, we should put those dolls back on the market.  Why?  How many different Barbie Fashionistas does the market need?  Some kids actually play with Barbie's because of the role playing, because of their vast imaginations, and not because they have on a glittery dress and ridiculous heels.  Do you hear me Mattel, the market is missing some wholesome Barbie Families!
 

As usual, I've included pictures... as you can see the Heart Family is definitely outdated and the grandma/grandpa Barbie blends into this time period, but they're not worth the Ebay price!

Wordless Wednesday #76

Link up here for Wordless Wednesday!

Our curious camera compilation can also be found here... (added some new photos on the 15th)

Barbie Dream House

Growing up I was a huge Barbie fan, and of course I have done my best to get my daughter also interested in Barbie's.  She started collecting dolls last year, and since she has taken fairly good care of them we decided to take her collection a step further.  We invested (it's a small fortune here) in a Barbie Malibu Dream House!  There were a few options online, all different style and size Barbie houses, but I wanted the one closest to the first house I ever had.  It took a while to assemble (so many stickers).  I should have thought back to my childhood Barbie houses and assembled it while she was sleeping instead while she watched on, attempting to play every time I stuck the next piece on.  In the end, I managed to get it put together without breaking anything or losing any pieces.  (Well, one piece of the Barbie laptop is missing so I told her it was a tablet.)  Everyday, she goes in her room and acts out things that have happened in her life or things she wants to happen, role playing is a great form of expression.  The only issue is that her room is carpeted, so I might go out and buy a wood plank to put underneath it.  It's already hard enough for her not to knock all of the furniture over, the house doesn't need to move with!
 

Were any of you Barbie fans growing up?  What toys from your past are you steering your kids toward?
 

Thought I'd throw in a pic of what my first Dream House looked like, not too much has changed in the overall look in the past 30 some odd years. 

Did you know there is also a fun new series for kids, called Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse

Adopting US Kids

Did you know that many American kids are now being adopted by foreign parents?  In years past I had often heard of children being adopted from poor countries or countries with an abundance of unwanted children... but I never pictured it being the US.  The first time I heard a Dutch family adopted an American child I was speechless.  Should I have really been so shocked?  I guess I naively thought adopted American kids stayed in the US.  When I saw an article on CNN online this morning it brought back those first memories and realizations, and it made me want to share the article with my readers:

CNN : Rising Overseas Adoptions