zaterdag, juli 11, 2020

Julidommes

Loes piekert over een cadeautje voor haar jarige zus. Sofía (7) wil meedenken: “Is zij van de make-up of van de kleren?” en geeft dan zelf antwoord: “Ik denk van de make-up, zo ziet ze er een beetje uit.”

Camilo (4): “Mama, ik ben een beetje de baas over jou en jij een beetje de baas over Sofía.”

Sofía krijgt een nieuw badpak van de Hema. Ze pakt het vast en snuift er diep aan. Zet dan: “Wauw, dit zwempak ruikt naar de vrijheid. Het ruikt naar de winkel en als we daar weer heen mogen is Corona voorbij en mogen we weer opa en oma knuffelen!”

Maren (bijna 6) baalt van de eczeem op haar armpje. Emma zegt dat ieder mens wel ergens last van heeft, of iets dat ie liever anders zou willen. Maren vraagt wat Emma dan heeft en die noemt haar navel-met-operatie-litteken. Maren: “Maar papa dan? Die is wél helemaal perfect!”

Met z’n allen op de fiets door de drukke stad. Vraagt Emma waar ze later zouden willen wonen, in een drukke stad of in de natuur. Maren: “In de stad, want dat vind ik gezelliger.” Matthias (7): “Ik zou later in precies de wijk van opa Toon en oma Beppie willen wonen.” Waarom? “Dan kan ik ook steeds wandelingetjes over de dijk maken.”



maandag, juli 06, 2020

Boeregenen of boerengenen?

I need help with the title, because my Dutch grammar is a leaky affair.

Our kids are bilingual - they speak fluent English and Chinese. I have occasionally been teaching them important Dutch words, like "fiets" en "potverdriedubbeltjes." In fact, scolding children in Dutch comes easy.

I can't sing for shit. Really. I am probably tone-deaf, but being decent with rhythms helps hide a lot of inabilities when you play music together with friends.

In In A Green Field, they mistakenly asked me to do backing vocals once. I warned the band not to go there, but we needed more vocal harmonies in our songs. My personal microphone was mysteriously removed again by the next rehearsal. But I wasn't embarrassed; I felt redeemed.


I sang at our wedding, but I was playback'ing while a real (female) singer sang live behind the curtains. She entered stage after the first verse, much to the entertainment of our guests ("Katelyn plays the drums like a man, and Erik sings like a girl"). If I had been the one singing, then the room would have cleared quicker than if there had been a raging fire.

Yet, in the private quiet of the children's room, I sing lullabies to the kids. This includes many Dutch all-time favorites like Poesje Mauw, Ik Zag Twee Beren en of course Slaap Kindje Slaap.

Today Elsa (6) sings Frozen songs, often extremely loud and very much out-of-tune, and Aiden (3) does everything Elsa does, so we are close to living the kind of nightmare that I made fun of only 6 years ago...


I started wondering, is this nature or nurture?

Recently, and much to our surprise, Elsa started singing Aiden to sleep, and she decided to sing what she has heard...




The next day, Aiden kept singing the song as well. He is clearly influenced by Elsa's version and her lyrical genius. But he actually sounds better - in terms of melody...




But, listen again... They both sing "Doar boiten loopt..." Their Dutch comes with a strong, natural Brabants-farmer's accent. Obviously, I never sang it like that, I have been conditioned over the many years.

So, this is firmly genetics! Our kids are true Termeers, their roots grow deep, down in het Branbantse land.

And after corona is over, they will come to audition with Wooden Ships.