National Pride?

I was a little disappointed in the Dutch today.  See tonight The Netherlands plays against Spain in the World Cup (soccer) and the lack of support I saw in town this morning came as quite a surprise.  The Dutch are known for being great sports fans, dressing up in orange and coming out in herds to support their national team.  But today, I think only 1 in 10 people even had on orange (or the national colors - red, white, & blue).  Maybe they're all waiting for the game tonight?  Maybe they're just waiting to see how Holland plays and then dress up next time?  You know, if this were The States, everyone would have been decked out all day to support the national team.  Where's the team spirit guys?

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