Dutch House Rules August 28, 2006

These are based on the rules posted in our house (in Dutch of course) they were taught in kindergarden without mention of anything religious, all the moral bases were covered. I have a more involved version of this as a flash book on my website, just follow the link to the on line children’s stories on my website: www.aletta.org

The End of the World as I Knew and Loved It… August 26, 2006

There was much going on that early summer in 1960, first I had a baby sister. That brought on much change. I was no longer the centre of my parent’s universe. In fact it seemed to me I no longer existed as anything too important at all. I was largely invisible. So it did not surprise me that no one thought to mention that we were moving, and not just a few streets over either, but what seemed like a world away.

I was told in essentially fairy tale format what a wonderful new life we would have in the new house. A house mind you, not a flat as we had always had. I was told about all the wonderful new friends I would have and the bicycle and toller skates I could have because in this village there was little if any traffic so it would be safe. Of course I could neither bicycle or roller skate and had a miserable time learning anything new.