Why I love socialist countries (and Anglo mother groups)
Living in France you soon realise the advantages of a fundamentally socialist system. Here every mother, working or non-working, has the right to subsidized childcare. A non-working mother has the right to 2 half days a week at a place called “une halte garderie”. My daughter loves it! She learns to sing new songs, dance little dances and play with all her friends, all for the maximum price of 3 euros an hour.
The downside for me, however, was that when we first moved to Paris I did not know a soul. As the state here takes on the responsibility for entertaining the kids, there isn’t really a platform to meet other mothers.
In London, the moment I had a newborn baby and realized I needed daytime friends (most of my socializing up to then had been nocturnal), I joined various groups. I had the choice between baby massage, baby yoga, general baby groups, even baby music for newborns. In France these kind of networks don’t exist, because most mothers go back to work within 4 months of giving birth as the state nurseries are plentiful, cheap and good.
So I fell upon Message: www.messageparis.org (A group of other mothers coming from anglo backgrounds, who must have had the same issues as I did, started it up). It has turned into a highly organized network of playgroups, workshops etc.
So now we have the best of both worlds; my daughter gets to play with other little French kids and sing cute little French songs, and in the afternoon I get to gossip with my mom friends, and the kids play together and everything is bon, as they say in Paris.
Da Bike!
OK, I first thought I should hold off with writing about this topic because it’s really so un-originally DUTCH, but hey – we do live in Amsterdam now, and it’s truly quite impossible to avoid it: The Bike.
I do have to give you girls some background information. After 7 years of cycling to High School, ‘through weather and wind’, as we say here in the Low Lands (meaning rain or shine), 9 kilometers to and 9 kilometers back (about 35 minutes each way – and that’s riding fast!) and 8 years of cycling to university (less far but with hangover – that’s equally bad), I thought I had had my fair share of cycling.
So. No cycling in New York. No cycling in Brussels. And No cycling in London. Seven years of no cycling, and no plans to change that situation. I actually quite liked our lil’ old Saab 93 that we had in London, combined with the occasional taxi!
Sigh.
Back in Amsterdam, things are different. I forgot. Everybody cycles. So, after the initial shock, I started to get used to the idea of cycling again. Especially when I saw these cool ‘transport bikes’ everybody has nowadays:
Not bad, I thought. And so practical! With a crate in the front (handbag) – brilliant, and so cool!
So, I decided that for now, I wanted a bike with a crate. Maybe after a while, when the children are a bit bigger, I would convert to a ‘bakfiets’:
You can easily fit 3 children in the front as you can see, and maybe even 4! All of the SATC mums in Amsterdam have one similar to this one, so it must be ingeniously practical!
After browsing the Internet, I found out that the best-tested ‘bakfiets’ in the Netherlands (by Dutch cyclers club ‘fietsenbond’) is ironically this one, the ‘Nihola’ from Denmark:
(see also http://nihola.info/).
So, I sent my husband en route (he studied industrial design engineering so he must be an expert) with the assignment to find me a cool bike with a crate, if not a bakfiets, preferably the cute one from Denmark.
Of course, I neglected to look at prices. How much could a bike be? (I have never paid more than 50 euros for a bike).
Prices:
Transport bike, as in picture: from €1145,-
Bakfiets, as in picture: from €1579,-
Nihola, as in picture: from €2195,-
End of story: after two hours of anxiously waiting for my cool bike to arrive, my husband called to say he got me a decent second-hand Gazelle bike, (€200), which would be fitted with 2 children’s seats and a basket on the front.
Please don’t tell anyone.
♥
-Esther
A Bra Dilemma
My baby is now 6 1/2 months old and I had been thinking about making the big switch from breast-feeding to bottles for the past couple of weeks. Well, there’s nothing like having the flu (and handing the baby over to your husband to watch) to kick that thought into gear! After being sick for two days last week (and only feeding him in the night time), I decided that enough was enough! It was the perfect time to stop. (Six and a half months is a pretty long time, if you ask me).
So, now I am officially finished nursing. And alas, some changes ensue… Now I have to be a bit more organized when it comes to leaving the house; do I have bottles, formula, etc? It’s also not so easy in the night-time to quickly nurse him back to sleep. I end up stumbling to the kitchen in the darkness to mix the formula and water. BUT, those things aside, I feel good- a bit more independent, (and he doesn’t seem to mind either)!
However…
Baby friendly? No, grazie!
On Saturday morning we decided to go and have a look at the new food hall on the 7th floor at “La Rinascente” (which is basically the only department store in Milan).
It does look great. It reminds me a bit of the 5th floor at Harvey Nicks (in London) …although it’s possibly smaller.
There’s a restaurant, coffee bar, chocolate (Valrhona) corner, juice bar, sushi bar, sandwich bar and a mozzarella bar. Plus you can buy some fine teas, biscuits, ham, cheeses, sauces etc.
So why am I telling you this?
Because it sounds like a good place to go for a quick lunch, a mid morning coffee, a nice stop while shopping in the center of town… BUT it’s not baby friendly!
They refurbished possibly 10 restrooms and there is not even a changing table…. and of course not a high chair in sight!
Italian business owners are a bit short-sighted; they still don’t understand how mums with babies are nowadays great customers. We are used to going out- lunch&dine, earn&spend. Why should we have to miss all these opportunities after having a baby?
Unfortunately in Milan, babies are only truly welcomed (with appropriate space and equipment) in very few places, and I am determined to discover them all in the very near future!
-Michela
Super Porridge!
As the mother of a 6-month old (who LOVES to eat), I can tell you that I am becoming quite baby-food savvy. Babycook?… Check! Fresh fruit and vegetables?…. check! Baby rice?… NO!
I’ve found the superior alternative to plain ‘ol baby rice. It’s called Four Grain Super Porridge, and it’s JUST that! A mix of four (organic) grains: quinoa, wholegrain rice, wholegrain millet, and amaranth.
It’s one of Plum Baby’s brilliant concoctions. (They also make a four grain super porridge with plum and banana and another one with apple and apricot.)
In addition to its nutritional advantages, I also think it mixes into fruit and veg purees easier than simple baby rice, and the consistency of the porridge on its own is also smoother and easier for babies to eat.
My baby loves it, and I love that he’s eating loads of whole grains!
Check out Plum Baby’s website for more info and where-to-buy.
-Courtney
