Maarten: “Yanne and I have always agreed: we didn’t have children to take them to daycare every day. So when we got Lasse eight years ago, the question was: how are we going to arrange it? Yanne still had her own business, a sewing studio in Breda. It was a financial decision to prefer my permanent contract instead of her work as a self-employed person. But Yanne also wanted it herself.”
Yanne: “When the eldest was born, a strong kind of mother lion feeling arose in me. That was new; Before, I wasn’t one of those people who fell in love with babies – Coo coo coo – sat on my lap. But with my own children I felt very strongly: I want to take care of this.”
Maarten: “In the meantime, we have regularly evaluated: is this still what you want? Especially because I see how difficult it is for Yanne sometimes. But we always come to the conclusion that it is good for now.”
Yanne: “It is of course very traditional how we do it. And of course it is also a luxury that it is financially possible. I’m glad I still work one day a week at the sewing machine shop. That almost feels like a day off. And now that all four children are going to school, the situation has changed again. I have more time to build my own business. I really love sharing second-hand furniture finds and, for example, giving chairs a second life with new upholstery. This weekend I created an Instagram account for my company, Atelier 9010. That gives me a nice, new energy.”
Accept chaos
Maarten: “The day starts here between half past seven and seven o’clock. That’s what it takes to get through it all without stressing too much.”
Yanne: “I set the breakfast table the night before and now I have got all the children to make their own bread. In the morning I do the ritual with them upstairs, Maarten is already downstairs and cuts the fruit for the lunch boxes.”
Maarten: “I leave the house around eight o’clock for work in Breda. I started working for the municipality as a self-employed person in 2007 and eventually became a permanent employee. In the role of team leader for four years. It is a job for four days a week, but that is tight: it is actually just a full-time position.”
Yanne: “When the children are at school, I clean up the breakfast chaos, do the laundry and take care of all kinds of odd jobs. For example, last week it was ‘walk to school’ day, about road safety. I see fluorescent vests and bicycle lights appearing again.”
Maarten: “With four children you have to accept a certain degree of chaos. I clean and vacuum the toilets, that’s important to me. But even if you mop the floor every day no time they stomp through the house again with their sand shoes.”
Yanne: “On Tuesday, three have swimming lessons. On Wednesday Yenthe and Mads have gym, Norah goes to gymnastics on Friday, Lasse has programming lessons on Saturday and then of course they also want to play with friends. Fortunately, I can plan well. The big family agenda is my bible.”
Maarten: “What you don’t have with four children is peace. I especially underestimated the noise level. That screaming and shouting, loud and high, sometimes literally makes my ears close. Just for fun, I occasionally put on those construction earplugs to take the sharp edges off.”
Yanne: “The eldest two always watch it after dinner Youth news. Then we will bring the youngest two upstairs.”
Maarten: “Four-year-old Mad is now in a phase where only mom is allowed to brush his teeth and read a book.”
Yanne: “At the weekend Maarten sometimes sits in the kitchen and the children come to me on the other side of the house to ask if they can have a drink. Then I say: have you seen that gentleman in the kitchen? That is your father, you can also ask something from him.”
Maarten: “The children are more attached to Yanne, that is a fact. Then I don’t feel rejected, no, it is mainly impractical at times.”
Yanne: “Sometimes the days are so hectic and busy that my mind is completely exhausted by the time we have dinner. I sometimes shout that to those little dragons: mommy is up.”
Huge to-do list
Maarten: “It’s quite a lot, yes, four children. For me, doing odd jobs is a nice way to clear my head. Yes, there is always a huge to-do list, but I like that. I have a very hard time sitting still.”
Yanne: “I always have a thousand and one projects, in addition to the family and the renovation of our house. Someone else would think our lives are completely boring, but we quickly think: I think it’s possible.”
Maarten: “The older the children get, the more I like it. The eldest is already starting to joke a bit. Or the youngest, who indicates all our emotions with the colors of the traffic light; we work with that at home. Then he says: Dad is red, right? Ha, it’s often true.”
Yanne: “All children have something creative in them. So when they sit here at the table doing crafts and having cute conversations, I enjoy it. Or sometimes we all watch a Disney movie on the big couch, nice and close to each other. That’s really nice.”
Maarten: “I met Yanne at a sewing class, where I came because I wanted to learn how to make my favorite T-shirt myself.”
Yanne: “And then he fell in love with the teacher.”
Maarten: “I sometimes joke: I came for a T-shirt and ended up with a family with four children.”