Today's blog is about sleeping times. And how I'm still amazed at the fact that many of my Dutch friends have their kids in bed by 7pm!!
Having moved to the Netherlands 8 years ago, you would think that i would already have adapted to the Dutch way of living/sleeping. Although we are surrounded by Dutchies, my husband is Dutch-Surinamese and not "Dutch-dutch". So while we enjoy certain Dutch treats like kibbeling, stroopwaffles, dutch pancakes and cheese, we are pretty much still asian/south american in many ways as well.
The majority of dutch people have dinner early. And when i say early i mean EARLY like 530 or 6pm! This means that by 7 or 730pm, the kid/s are probably washed up and ready for bed.
It's actually pretty awesome that parents can come home from work on time probably around 5 or 530pm to have dinner with the family. The Dutch enjoy family time and that's the main reason most shops are closed by 6pm every day, and in the weekends as well (some shops are not even open on Sundays). I come from Singapore where there are shopping malls open till 10pm 7 days a week and there are even 24-hour malls! So it was a definite culture shock for me to have to get all my shopping done before 6pm.
In the beginning i definitely tried to do the 'early to bed' thing for Lennox. I fed him around 630pm and tried to get him to sleep around 730pm. It felt a little forced because it meant that i had to cook something separate for him (and then cook AGAIN for us adults), and also had to get him to sleep when he wasn't even that sleepy which was such a big hassle.
That just didn't work for us. My normal cooking time is around 7pm. This was also the time when Jürgen would be free of his appointments and spend some time with Lennox while i cook. Dinner would be ready around 8 or 830pm, we would eat together as a family then we would let him play in the bath then wind down for the day and he would be sleepy and in bed at around 9 or 930pm. Some Dutch kids would already be asleep for 2+ hours by that time!! :P
I also used to feel guilty when we brought him out to eat dinner at restaurants around 730 or 8pm, and we would stay till 930pm or later, and he would be the only baby/kid around. Sometimes i would feel the eyes on me, judging me like, ooh, she's such a bad parent she let's her kid stay up so late.
But you know what, this works for us and that's the most important!
Moral of the story? Just do you and what's good for the family. Seriously. I don't know why after having Lennox i suddenly became so conscious of what people thought of us and our parenting skills. But my kid is healthy, growing well and happy. That's all that matters!
Having moved to the Netherlands 8 years ago, you would think that i would already have adapted to the Dutch way of living/sleeping. Although we are surrounded by Dutchies, my husband is Dutch-Surinamese and not "Dutch-dutch". So while we enjoy certain Dutch treats like kibbeling, stroopwaffles, dutch pancakes and cheese, we are pretty much still asian/south american in many ways as well.
The majority of dutch people have dinner early. And when i say early i mean EARLY like 530 or 6pm! This means that by 7 or 730pm, the kid/s are probably washed up and ready for bed.
It's actually pretty awesome that parents can come home from work on time probably around 5 or 530pm to have dinner with the family. The Dutch enjoy family time and that's the main reason most shops are closed by 6pm every day, and in the weekends as well (some shops are not even open on Sundays). I come from Singapore where there are shopping malls open till 10pm 7 days a week and there are even 24-hour malls! So it was a definite culture shock for me to have to get all my shopping done before 6pm.
In the beginning i definitely tried to do the 'early to bed' thing for Lennox. I fed him around 630pm and tried to get him to sleep around 730pm. It felt a little forced because it meant that i had to cook something separate for him (and then cook AGAIN for us adults), and also had to get him to sleep when he wasn't even that sleepy which was such a big hassle.
That just didn't work for us. My normal cooking time is around 7pm. This was also the time when Jürgen would be free of his appointments and spend some time with Lennox while i cook. Dinner would be ready around 8 or 830pm, we would eat together as a family then we would let him play in the bath then wind down for the day and he would be sleepy and in bed at around 9 or 930pm. Some Dutch kids would already be asleep for 2+ hours by that time!! :P
I also used to feel guilty when we brought him out to eat dinner at restaurants around 730 or 8pm, and we would stay till 930pm or later, and he would be the only baby/kid around. Sometimes i would feel the eyes on me, judging me like, ooh, she's such a bad parent she let's her kid stay up so late.
But you know what, this works for us and that's the most important!
Moral of the story? Just do you and what's good for the family. Seriously. I don't know why after having Lennox i suddenly became so conscious of what people thought of us and our parenting skills. But my kid is healthy, growing well and happy. That's all that matters!
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