Time for another interview from my A Kid’s Life series. Over the past months I’ve absolutely loved doing these interviews and learning about what families from around the world are up to on a daily basis.
Today’s family lives in Holland but is by no means the “average Dutch family”. Both parents are from Colombia and have lived all over the world over the last 20 years. Giova (the Mama) told me that she has adopted traditions and customs from all these different cultures and integrated them into their daily life. I can relate to that!
Giova is one of the writers behind the charming blog One Bunting Away (the other is her sister who lives on the other side of the ocean). She’s a creative soul and sweet as can be. The sisters write about their lives and what they find beautiful and inspiring.
Giova is the also the proud mama of two boys of very different ages. As you’ll see from her photos that there is nothing cuter than a big brother holding his little baby brother’s hand. Heart melting really.
Now let’s hear a little about their daily life….
What country do you live in?
We live in Holland, but we are not Dutch.
Are you and your husband the same nationality?
Yes, we were both born in Colombia. We left 20 years ago.
Do you both work? Or does someone stay at home?
We both work from home
How many languages are spoken in your house? What one(s)?
Spanish is what we speak between us, but we all speak English, even the little one has started.
How many kids do you have? What are their ages?
Two. One is 11, and the other is 2
At what age do kids start school in your country?
He went to school when he was 4. No nursery, or anything of that type. We are thinking of sending the second to a nursery, simply because we don’t have as much energy as we did 9 years ago.
During the school year what time do your kids usually wake up?
He (older son) was always waking really early, around 6 or 6:30. Depends on the country we are at the moment. Now it is at 7am
What do your kids typically eat for breakfast?
During the week it is mostly cereal, yogurt, fruits and PB&J sandwiches. During the weekend is a whole different story. More elaborate and more food.
What time does school start? What time does it finish? What is the weekly school schedule?
Now that he is secondary school our older son starts at 8:40am and finishes at 3:40pm. If he has after-school it finishes at 4:40pm
Do your kids learn a second/third language at school? From what age?
He is learning French and German, and since this school year they have added Mandarin to the program
Do your kids eat lunch at school or home? What is a typical lunch for your kids?
Our older son eats lunch at school, and because it is a British school it is a warm lunch like Shepherd’s pie, lasagna, things like this.
Do your kids do any after-school activities?
He has been playing the clarinet for awhile now, he started with the recorder when we lived in Barcelona. He used to play soccer when we were there also, but not this year.
What time do you eat dinner? What’s a typical dinner you would eat?
We eat around 7pm. Our older son’s favorite is chicken, broccoli and rice, he could eat this everyday. It is always a warm meal. Pasta with vegetables, or meat. It is a good thing that they like almost everything. I’d also like to mention that we love a lot of the typical Dutch specialties such as Dutch cheese, bread, stroopwafels and herring with pickles.
How much television/computer time do your kids have on a daily basis?
During the week none. During the weekend he plays video games and sometimes we watch TV together. But our TV is mostly to watch movies. We only allowed video games when he turned 9. We are not fond of these things.
What time do your kids go to bed?
The little one goes at 8pm, the older one by 9 or 9:30pm
What are some typical family week-end activities?
We watch movies, or go for walks around the Amsterdam Bos (forest) which we love, we relax at home, since the weeks are quite hectic, sometimes we go to the zoo, it all depends on the weather!
When do your kids have vacation from school?
One week in the fall, one week in the spring and almost 2 months in the summer
What do your kids do during the summer vacation?
We almost always go to visit my mother in Florida. It is something we really look forward to, both of my kids love the water.
What are the typical “first foods” for a baby to eat in your country?
The older one was born in the US, the little one in Barcelona. We have basically given them what is available where we are. Fruit purees, rice and oatmeal porridges, soups.
A huge thank you to Giova for answering my questions.
Here are other interviews in the A Kid’s Life series: Italy, Japan, America, The Philippines, Tasmania, Canada, Belgium and New Zealand.
Jillian In Italy 
Thank you Jillian for inviting us into your beautiful series! It was a pleasure to do this!
Wonderful, I still loooooove this series! It’s so nice to read about a non-Dutch family living in Holland. And to see some pictures of Giova’s super cute sons!
My nephews are sooo beautiful!!!! I was sure I had commented on this lovely post! I guess my mind plays tricks on me more often than not. This series are so much fun!