Family time
By Jaimy de Vries
In May I went to Canada and visited my “au-pair” family as a friend. We had such an amazing time and time went by so fast. Unfortunate I couldn’t come to the family in January because my entry to Canada was refused. Sad news for me, but also for the family who were preparing and waiting for my arrival. I already had my room ready in December, but it stayed empty for a while. Till finally the moment was there: the customer agent let me in! The room was not empty anymore….
A warm welcome
I had a warm welcome from the family. I got picked up by Lara at the airport and the girls made a cute drawing for me. When I finally met Lara it felt like we knew each other already, like I was picked up by a friend, even better: by family. When I arrived at their house – my temporary home in Canada – she gave me a little tour of the house. When I entered my room I was overwhelmed by cuteness. The girls made a drawing on the wall and they put a stuffed animal in front of my door, so I didn’t have to sleep alone on my first night (“Awwhh!”). Lara arranged a very warm welcome too, with flowers in the room, stuff for in the bathroom (soap, tooth brush) and even a lip balm because the air is so dry in Canada. “So sweet!! They thought of everything!”
It was strange to be in an western country again. It felt like coming home. Everything is just so luxurious comparing it to South-America where you need to buy food at strange markets where they sell guinea pigs…and now here in Canada you have big shopping malls with a Walmart. And it sounds stupid, but I was so happy with the toilet paper here. In western countries they have thick toilet paper, where in South America it’s very thin and you need to throw it away in a trash can instead of the toilet. “Gross!”. And here in Canada you have “normal” western food. Finally my Greek yoghurt with fresh fruit and granola, instead of a weird maize granola with chemical sweetened yoghurt. I felt so grateful that I have all these things here now, but also back home. I missed it quite a lot.
Taste of the Canadian life
In the weeks I stayed here there was a perfect balance between time with the family and time for myself to discover more of Canada and the Alberta province. And I really needed some free time, because everything is far away. Alberta is sixteen times the size of the Netherlands. To go to the Rockies or the Badlands you’ll need to drive 90 minutes minimum. The nice thing about a longer stay in one place is that you meet more locals and you’ll do more regular stuff , like going to the playground or doing groceries with the children what makes it easier to emerge in an Canadian lifestyle.
I stayed seven weeks with the family. They have two girls: Madeleine who is four and Noa who is two. The girls are really sweet and so wise for their age. Lara speaks Dutch with them and their Dutch is excellent. Maybe they learned some words from me and I learned to pronounce some English words better, like Kananaskis and Spinach. Win-win!
Together with the parents, or alone , we did a lot of fun things with the girls. The most fun part was just enjoying the simple things. For example, the girls were just so happy playing doctor-patient, pull-up monster or going to a playground and having a picknick up there – it was even better if we went by bike. They also liked doing groceries and crafts together. We also had tea party’s for the first time and we tried to practice being very polite, like an English prinses. This was so fun, seeing the girls acting like a princes. They are so imaginative, creative and funny! Another fun thing they really liked was drinking out of my waterbag. I let them drink out of it, only if they joined me on a “hike”. So we did some hikes together and measured it on my sport watch.
Playing doctor-patient
Picnicking
Tea-party
At the playground
Indoor playhall
Doing grocceries
Besides our daily activities, we did more fun stuff! We also took some bigger trips together (me and the girls), like going to the Calgary tower to get an amazing view over the city. We played a game up there “I see, I see, what you can’t see….and it is...”, what was fun. After our sightseeing we had lunch at the 360-rotating fancy restaurant and practiced eating without spoiling. The girls did a great job! We also went to the Calgary zoo together and had fun watching the Penguins and the Dino park.
And together with their mum Lara we went on a camping trip in Kananaskis where we made smores and went kayaking with grandma & grandpa. We saw a family of black bears and a coywolf along the way. With the whole family we went to the Stampede festival where we tried
some local food, like lemonade, mini-donuts and corndogs. We saw huge horses, watched the rodeo and danced the powow with the Native Americans. And to top it off we all went on a holiday together in Invermere. All that in just 6 weeks!!
In front of the Calgary tower
Eating at a fancy restaurant
At the Calgary zoo
Camping trip in Kananaskis, dog licks
Family holiday
Before I arrived in Canada the family asked me if I want to join them on their vacation to Invermere. “Of course! That would be fun!” This would be a first experience for me how it would be if you go on a holiday with young kids. Preparation is key, and it’s a lot: “What kind of toys to bring? which books? Crafts? And will it all fit in the car? What kind of food to bring and what to do while we are in Invermere?” I could help a bit in doing some research what to do in Invermere, and I went out with the kids while the parents packed all the stuff and put it in the car.
It was a nice vacation and things went smooth. We mostly hang out on the beach and playgrounds. We hiked a little bit with the kids too, hikes of around 1 km long. While hiking the girls love to pick some flowers to make the room look a bit nicer. With fresh picked flowers we went back to our vacation home and made our own pizza. This was fun!
I had some free time too. First I decided to go on a hike alone. It was my first hike alone and I was a bit nervous because it’s still bear area. I took all the precautions: carrying bear spray, set up a time for pick up and put on some loud music and sang-along all the way. “That will scare of the bears haha!” I thought. And it did! Another day I went on a kayak trip alone, from Invermere to Radium springs on the Colombian river. I loved it, just being outside, hearing the water and being active. “This is my thing!” I thought. “When I’m back in Holland I want to buy a kayak and live close to the water!”. I put it on my to do list for when I’m back home. During my kayak trip I saw many American Eagles and one from up really close, 5 meters (approx. 15 feet).
We ended our holiday good. While driving back home we saw a grizzly bear with a young cub along the road!! It was incredible cute! When you see them peacefully eating dandelions and ignoring all the cars around them, you can’t believe they can be aggressive and really dangerous.
A responsible role
Collin and Lara are such great parents. They raise their girls on such a positive way. And I learned lots of trics from them that helps to create smoother transitions. Because of my job as a pediatric nurse I helped families with their parenting whenever they had any questions or difficulties. And now I got to practice all these advices I had given to parents before. Now I could see if my theoretical advices really helps. That was interesting. Most of them quite worked, but with kids, – and I knew that from other parents – every child is different what requires a different approach. In the end it was useful to have some background knowledge.
I learned a lot during my stay at the family. One of that is just experiencing how family life is: the fun parts but also the not so fun parts. Sometimes I felt very tired after a long day. But even though Family life can be hard sometimes….it’s very rewarding. The girls are so sweet and that makes everything right!
During my stay I also thought how grateful I am that I waited to buy a house and start a family, and decided to first make my dream of a world trip come through, with all the freedom I have. Now is my time to discover the world without any big responsibilities. Because having a family is a big responsibility!
Panda family
At the end of my stay I felt part of the family and the girls probably too. The biggest thank you and gratitude the girls gave me was on a normal morning… probably a week before I left.
The girls love panda’s and they both have panda stuffed animals: mama Panda, dad Panda and baby panda’s. One morning they showed me a new panda. “This is Jaimy panda” said Noa. “Aahh that’s so incredible cute, that made me so happy” I almost cried.
Goodbye
Time went by so quick. After a six week stay it was already time to say goodbye. I bought a present for the parents and a doctors kit for the girls, because they loved playing doctor-patient with me. The last couple of days we used the doctors kit a lot playing doctor-patient.
The girls were so cute. Before I left they made with their mum some presents for me: A love necklace, drawings and – so cute – a pendulum for me with all their memories of our time together. Memories they thought of was: doing groceries together, having picnics at the playground, going to the zoo, tea time, making pancakes and playing doctor-patient. Thank you girls!
I had such an amazing time with my “au-pair” family. I was not an au pair when I visited them, but just came as a family friend and helped out a bit. They were so welcoming and heartwarming. I felt comfortable and part of the family in just a couple of hours. We had lots of fun together and I hope my help was of good use. We will meet again when they visit the Netherlands and I visit them when I come back to Calgary. I loved Canada so much, I will certainly re-visit it again. But first things first: finishing my world trip.