‘We both want to get out of our normal jobs’

Jan Willem: “We prefer to snooze until 07:00. At 6.30 am Bo, our daughter, comes for the bottle. So it’s not really snoozing. And then it’s a matter of getting up, getting everyone dressed and spreading a lot of bread.”

Kim: “We both have two children from a previous relationship. I have a nine-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter.”

Jan Willem: “My daughter is three, and my son almost two. And then we have a little crumb together, Bo.”

Kim: “Bo is just three months old. We both have our kids half the time, our ex partners have them the other half. They are all there at the same time two weekends a month. During the week we did divide it.”

Jan Willem: “Then they get the attention they need from their own parent, without other children around. We got to know each other when Kim came to live on my street.”

Kim: “We were both still married. We were both no longer happy in our marriage, our partners knew that too.”

Jan Willem: “She invited me for a cup of coffee.”

Kim: “More grew out of that.”

Jan Willem: “We could chat very well, we went for a walk in the evening.”

Kim: „I was not divorced by Jan Willem, he was the proverbial last straw. But we had said: gosh, I really like you. And if you decide to get a divorce, I’ll be there. In this way.”

Jan Willem: “That’s how it went.”

Kim: “I was always the driving force in my relationship, so it was liberating not to have to consider someone else. My divorce was pronounced in November 2020 and Jan Willem moved in with me at the end of that month. I have sometimes said that I would rather go ‘lat’, but I can’t miss Jan Willem either.”

Jan Willem: “In her old relationship she predominated, I in mine. We are very evenly matched, I think. It also clashes, but that’s what makes it strong. You can easily let go of something and someone else jumps in.”

Kim: “We definitely wanted to have a child together.”

Jan Willem: „It was a hit straight away, we did not expect that. We both had a history of IVF. Now it happened spontaneously. We thought: you see, we are meant for each other.”

Kim: “We are a good match.”

Own photography studio

Kim: „I am a district nurse in home care. I am always home for my kids on Mondays and Tuesdays.”

Jan Willem: “One week I am free on Wednesday, the other week on Friday, when I have my children. I am an interior designer and furniture maker. I like it, but the photography comes first. In 2017 I started my own photography company. Due to the private situation and corona, it was quiet. Kim and I met and she said, ‘Why don’t you pick it up again? That’s where your heart lies. Then I make the site for each other and do the socials.’ When I’m behind the camera I’m myself, I don’t think about anything. And Kim likes it too. I do corporate photography, product photography, weddings, evening parties.”

Kim: „I did it as a hobby, I really enjoy photographing children. They are spontaneous, honest. Our studio is about to open. I will mainly be there. My supervisor knows that I will say goodbye if things go well. Ultimately, we both want to get out of our normal jobs.”

Jan Willem: „For the financial security it is necessary that we keep it. I work four days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. And I may have to shoot a party on Friday night. And everything has to go out on Sunday, because I have to go back to work on Monday.”

Kim: „On a weekend when we have the children, and after nine o’clock in the evening, there is no work. Not even on the website or anything. We find that quite difficult at times.”

Jan Willem: “Then my work at the fire service is added. Any time I’m at home, the pager can go off and I’ll fly out the door. That could take an hour, but it could also take five. We look at each other for a moment and wonder: will it work out or not?”

Kim: “Sometimes it just really doesn’t work out.”

Jan Willem: “When that beeper goes off, I’m going crazy, I’m a lump of adrenaline. The fact that I’m still looking at her says a lot. In my previous marriage there was no discussion.”

amount of wax

Kim: “The amount of wax has seriously exploded.”

Jan Willem: “That’s a side job for both of us.”

Kim: “We just have a very thick family agenda, otherwise we really can’t figure it out. We know exactly when the children are there, when they go to daycare. That thing is really my lifeline.”

Jan Willem: “In the evening we huddle together.”

Kim: „After 9 pm it is ‘our time’. We love to watch stupid television. Or we chat. We never get tired of talking, strangely enough.”

Jan Willem: „Or we get in the car and take Bo with us, and just drive. That sounds stupid, we get in and drive around. Out into the wide world. We’ll see. Sometimes we are gone for three hours. And in the meantime you have talked a lot with each other. If you sit on the couch with your mobile, you won’t get there.”

Kim: „That’s another legacy from our previous relationships. That you have to put your phone aside a bit.”

Jan Willem: “You really have to make time for each other. We also remind each other of that. The rut easily creeps in when you’re really busy. You should not forget each other, because you are number one.”

In Rush Hour, couples and singles tell how they combine work and private life. Participate? Mail to [email protected]