DIY in Holland, met kinderen

September 15, 2004

I made a trip to my first Dutch DIY store today to buy paint and some brushes and other things for the new house. So frustrating as I couldn’t read the tins or figure out what the descriptions were, I still don’t speak dutch well and none of the staff spoke English. I was getting frustrated but didn’t want to make a wasted journey, so I just bought some ready tinted paint that was a bit darker than I wanted and then the other stuff I wanted.

Later in the day I packed the car up with the goods and mats and toys for the boys and off we went to Kralingen. I managed to paint ¾ of the living room wall and only had one handprint from each boy to clean. I did the worst by accidentally dropping the paintbrush on the cream carpet. Both boys came over to me and pointing at the floor kept saying “uh oh, uh oh” and looking at me, naughty mummy! I think they were relieved they didn’t do it. That awful red wall is almost gone. Sorry Margaret.

I had taken some toys and blocks over which they didn’t seem particularly interested in once we got there. They decided the freezer was more interesting than my painting project and with some cooperative problem solving managed to get into the boxes of food that were in there. They also managed to take out the freezer drawers and shelves. Not much for them to do there, so they survived the 2-hour painting session very well. It was pouring with rain, so they couldn’t go outside to play either. Les had a good idea about giving each of them a container like mine, didn’t need it in the end.