Oliebollen and Fireworks
In the Netherlands, old year’s eve is usually celebrated at home with friends. Board games are played, a comic show is watched and loads of oliebollen are consumed. (Free translation of oliebollen = oil balls; sounds good, don’t you think? They’re basically like donuts and taste darn good)! Of course a decent amount of alcohol is consumed as well – to make the board games more entertaining and the comic show really amusing. (more…)
Money and lentils
Tonight Italians will sit down with friends and family to enjoy a multi-course dinner and welcome the new year. Depending on the region, on the menu there will be fish or meat, some will have dinner at home, some at restaurants. What all these dinners will have in common is the Italian good luck dish (that is often served after the champagne toast at midnight): zampone and lenticchie.
Zampone is stuffed pig’s trotter which is simmered for hours and it’s served with lentils that are supposed to bring loads of money for the New Year. The money promise is often enough to convince even the kids to eat at least a spoonful of them!
Enjoy your dinner and Happy New Year!
Michela
Breastfeeding in public
I deeply believe in the benefit of breastfeeding, and actually enjoy it. Unfortunately I live in a city that doesn’t make life easy for breastfeeding mums.
There are very few public places that have a mum&baby room worthy of that name and where it’s possible to breastfeed while out and about. There aren’t any Starbucks, or places with comfy sofa chairs, (and Ikea is out in the suburbs- so that is out of the question)!
SleepThroughTheNight
Some babies sleep through the night from 6 weeks onwards. Some babies (really, I’ve heard about these babies!) even sleep through the night from birth!! Most babies eventually sleep through the night from the moment solids are introduced.
My babies are not like that. (more…)
Cartoons for Toddlers
Don’t get me wrong, I am fully aware that cartoons and TV do not substitute a mother’s love and attention, but Cartoons have helped me out of a tight scrape more than once!Stuffy noses
Believe it or not, my 2.5-year-old son cannot blow his nose! Whenever he has a stuffy nose he inhales instead of blowing out, making things even worse. And often, when he is down with a cold, I’m woken up at night by a very loud “I cannot breathe!”
It’s for this reason that I’m very grateful to the inventor of a very smart piece of equipment: the Narhinel nasal aspirator. It’s a tube which has a mouthpiece at one end (for mummy) and a disposable mucus reservoir with an anatomic tip to put in the nose (with a filter that prevents mucus from going up the tube) at the other. My son does not love it, but it does the job brilliantly!
And we can all go back to sleep! 
-Michela
For 2 people:
If Paris does not come to the mountain…
……the mountain will come to Paris.
This is exactly what has happened in front of the Hotel de Ville in the 4th. An ice skating rink and sledge lane have been erected in front of the town hall, and taking into account the sub-zero temperatures here in Paris, you might as well be in Chamonix. The sledges (or sled lanes) are only for kids under 12 and everyone gets a 10 min turn. Kids under 6 need to be accompanied, (but watching the parents going down the lane, it really did not seem like a chore). There is also a merry-go-round which my daughter loved even more than the sledge.
And the best thing of all: It’s free.
This alpine entertainment will be around ’til the 9th of March, so there is plenty of time to go and enjoy yourself.
Happy sledding!
-Emilie
Miffy’s House
Who doesn’t love Miffy? My daughter surely adores her! Dick Bruna created this little rabbit in 1955 and by now her stories have been translated to more than 40 languages! Did you know Miffy has her own website? It’s great to explore with children: there is an audio book, animation, music, games, and more! There are also links to a variety of webshops: the books are great and I can also recommend the DVDs!
Last weekend we decided to treat our children to a little trip to ‘Miffy’s House’ (a.k.a. the Dick Bruna House). (more…)
Babycook
So… we have crossed the big pond and survived the 9-hour flight to Seattle (where we will be spending the first half of our holiday). We are all settled in and cozy, (despite our 4 a.m. wake-ups), and are adjusting to things here in the States…
…like huge grocery stores with hundreds of options, big vehicles on wide streets, loads of space, and anything you want whenever you want it (I’ve seen more “open 24 hours” signs in the past few days than I’ve ever seen in Europe)! There is really no limit to what you can find here, and how easily you can find it.
This is why I am always stumped to find that there are actually a few of my favorite European things that you can not find here in this “land of plenty” (nor find a suitable alternative)… like my Beaba Baby Cook! (more…)
V.I.P. (very intelligent pocket)
While my husband thinks I have too many handbags, I own way fewer than I would actually like to. (Husbands don’t really get the whole handbag-per-season idea)! Still I do not switch bags very often because of the hassle of moving all my paraphernalia from one to the other.
Now I might have found the solution: VIP (very intelligent pockets) by Tintamar.
Nine pockets to help you find all your things with your eyes closed. All in a stylish and
hard-wearing material that’s washable in soapy water. You move it from one bag to the other, making bag change quick and stress-free. They come in many colours and have a business version (larger, to fit in briefcases) and a men’s one too. Another excuse to buy a new handbag!
-Michela
Only in France
The French “joie de vivre” is well documented, and French women are also known for taking good care of their bodies. But I have to say that when I first heard about state subsidized “re-education” of a certain part of the female anatomy after giving birth, I could not believe it.
But believe me girls, it’s true……
Here is an article in the New York Times I read describing the phenomenon of making mothers “as good as new.”
-Emilie
30+ skin
I have tried to deny it for a while, but I recently celebrated another birthday and here is the truth: I am definitely (way) over thirty now.
So.
Since my late teenage years I have always, without thinking and without a complaint, used the Clinique 3-step skincare range. Only in the mornings of course – in the evenings I was usually way to lazy (or drunk) to do much more than brush my teeth and take the pill (or 2, just in case). (more…)
Learning French without French Class
Ever since that blasted day at French Class when my wallet was stolen, we have stopped going to class. (I hate that mall). Sadly, my son really misses it. And the few French words he knows are not doing much for him these days (unless, of course, he wants to ask for a raisin…)
Thankfully, as I was surfing one of my favorite sites, Cool Mom Picks, I came across the perfect solution: foreign language DVDs for your kids! The Little Pim videos are designed for babies and toddlers. (Apparently kids under the age of 6 are most capable of soaking up different languages). Their unique method combines immersion and repetition with animation (a cute little panda named Pim), and images of children engaged in everyday activities. The videos are now available in French, Spanish and Mandarin, but nine additional languages are soon to be released (including Enlgish- which, I thought, would be good for your Italian, Dutch and French-speaking children)!
I just bought the Little Pim: Playtime DVD in French, which promises to teach my son more than 60 new French words!
Much easier than dragging my 2 children to French class every Wednesday, (and cheaper too)!
Oh- and it’s an American company (think $$$s), but they ship worldwide!
-Courtney
thanks Cool Moms!
H&M, again!
We all know that dressing a newborn can be tricky! That’s why side-snap bodysuits are so useful. Unfortunately not all the brands have them in their range, they can be quite expensive, and your baby may only wear them for a few weeks (newborn size especially). On the other hand, if you buy cheaper ones they may not even last this little time.
At H&M you don’t have to compromise! They sell side-snap bodysuits in packs of two for 7.99 euros. One is solid colour, the other is stripy and they come in pastel colours: blue, pink, green and yellow. Good quality cotton that can be washed at 60°! What more do we want for those first few weeks?
-Michela
A destination very far away
I married my husband out of love, not because of the country he comes from, as it is possibly the most unpractical country to travel to from Europe: New Zealand.
New Zealand certainly has a lot of advantages, namely it is 30 degrees there at the moment (not 2 degrees as in Paris), and the New Zealanders were the original inventor of the Ugg boot! They also host important cultural events like the international gum boot throwing competition and the world famous golden shears championship!
I am actually really looking forward to being in New Zealand. It is the getting there with the 2-year-old toddler that fills me with dread. How do you keep a 2-year-old happy and quiet for a 24-hour flight there and back??
More beanbags!
Well, this proves that there is a lot to write about beanbags. (The third post already)! Though these ones aren’t for sitting on…
I bought these 12 tiny beanbags in NY about two years ago and they are a favourite in my family. The baby loves the different colors, texture and feel of them (they are filled with little rice grains). My 2-year-old loves stacking them (and tumbling them down, of course). I like making funny little guys or animals out of them. And we really like the way they look too! They are called Kushies Zolo Beanstax, and easily available in the US (unfortunately difficult to find in Europe, but this American store, Babesta, ships to Europe – and stocks more of the cute Zolo range)!
-Esther
London’s Transport Museum has reopened!
Living in London BC (before children), I was able to visit the many museums this city has to offer. (Aaaahhh… free time! I have almost forgotten the meaning of the term).
Back in those (more cultural) days, I visited the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, which gives a very detailed history of London’s public transportation. The museum takes you through time and shows you how vehicles have developed to their modern-day form. On display is an original steam locomotive from the 1800s, horse-drawn trams, London’s first motor bus, and an electric trolley bus from the 1930s.
What it really is… is a kid’s heaven! (They have a variety of hands-on exhibits for kids, and allow children to climb aboard the vehicles and even sit in the driver’s seats).
Respect!
Mums deserve respect, wherever, whenever and whatever!
BUT… I must admit that being a new mother of two, (who benefits from her own mother’s help at different moments during the day), I now have the utmost respect for expat moms who have neither family around nor hired help. This job is tough! (more…)
