If I was a big-time blogger and wrote sponsored posts, I would write one for the TripAdvisor app.  That app is such a treasure trove of travel resources.  Second only to knowing locals.  I found Efteling on TripAdvisor and it completely lived up to it’s rave reviews.  It was everyone’s favorite part of the holiday.  

It’s an amusement park with a fairy-tale, folk tale, fantasy theme.  But fairy tales in their old-school form, pre-Disney.  I love Disneyland, and it will probably be forever untouchable in the ranks of amusement parks, but Efteling had a lot to offer.  (It was actually even built before Disneyland.)  It was charming, not crowded, and really inexpensive, while still offering and endless array of attractions, thrill rides, shows and FOOD.  The kids loved it too, and it was really laid-back.  In fact, we probably should have amped-up our intensity because we were there until closing and didn’t get to do some of the things we wanted to.  

It was about an hour and a half drive from where we were staying, and we hit some bad traffic so we got there about thirty minutes past opening.  But there was no queue, so we just parked and walked right in.  The weather was nice- it was overcast but not cold or rainy or windy. 

Richard knew that the Fairy Tale Forest would be a big hit with the kids so we went there first.  After a quick stop to see this amazing diorama. 

Fairy Tale Forest included a lot of fairy tales we were familiar with (Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Tom Thumb, Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and The Emperor’s New Clothes.)  

But there were several others that were new to us.  It’s probably just a matter of time before Disney gets their hands on these tales.  The Six Servants.  The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids (Another Big Bad Wolf story.)  The Red Shoes.  (Pretty creepy.)

I had read on TripAdvisor that the food at Efteling was really affordable so I didn’t even mess with packing snacks.  In Fairy Tale Forest we stopped for a snack of waffles and doughnuts and saw this beautiful peacock and got photo-bombed by a pigeon.  Sorry Eli. You really are a part of our family. 

We finished Fairy Tale Forest just in time for a show called Raveleijn – it was in Dutch but the special effects were pretty impressive.  Horses, trick riding, some Cirque-du-Soleil type maneuvers, a massive animatronic fire breathing six-headed dragon, and some sword fighting dramatics.  Just the kind of stuff kids love.  

I put my camera away during the show and then for awhile afterward.  We did some more rides including a monorail type ride for the non-thrill seekers, my favorite- the swings, a couple playgrounds and then this carousel. 

We took a break for lunch, which included a lot of frites, and then went on to the more adventurous attractions. 

We split up for a bit and Richard took Cameron on a roller coaster while I took the other three on some of the rides we had already done and knew they liked.  Then Richard took the kids on a couple rides while I went on a roller coaster by myself.  (It was rad.)  

There was a ride with an international theme that resembled Small World.  There was also one that was probably the kids favorite that was easy going with just the right amount of twists and turns, it was like Toad’s Wild Ride or the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland, great things to look at while you wind through the darkness.  

There were two or three other rides we really wanted to do, but sadly we ran out of time.  So we bought cotton candy and watched a really fun fountain show they play as the park is closing.  In the summer months the park is open later, but Richard and I decided that we probably got to do just as much as we would have in the summer because we rarely had to wait in any lines, and when we did they were just a few minutes.  So in other words, one day just wasn’t enough.  

I took Cameron and Eli to Disneyland with my family when they were little and I remember someone saying to me

“Why do you take your kids when they are so young? They will never remember it.” 

I know they won’t remember it.  But I’ll remember it.  I know it sounds cheesy, but I’ll remember their smiles and giggles and excitement and nerves and euphoria and delight.  Mim and Si likely won’t remember Efteling, I think Cam and Eli will probably remember, but I know Richard and I definitely will. 

After the Peace Palace we walked the remainder of the way to our car and drove up to Zaanse Schans, a place everyone (everyone on TripAdvisor, that is) said we should go to get the real “Holland experience.”  

When we first stepped out of the car there was this overwhelming aroma of cocoa.  There was a cocoa plant nearby and the smell of it almost made you feel warm, it was so divine.  

Zaanse Schans is really just a well-preserved neighborhood on the Zaan river, that exists now primarily for tourists.  It definitely has charm. It was really windy but we had a good time.  The first thing we did was learn all about the wooden shoe.  It was really fun to see how they were made and how once they were dried, they actually weigh very little. It’s mostly moisture in wood that makes it heavy. (My kids, and even Richard, were skeptical about wooden shoes so the presentation and mini-museum were my vindication. Someone might have said “Wow. So they actually wore these.”)

After observing and discovering the world’s first crocs, we went to the pancake house for lunch.  Richard called these pancakes, “Pancrepes” because they were a cross between what Americans call pancakes and what the French call crepes. They were as big as the plates, but thinner than a pancake and thicker than a crepe.  They were really yummy.  Eli had honey, Richard and Cameron had nutella and “slagroom” (Dutch word for whipped cream), Simon had apples and cinnamon, Miriam had chocolate sauce and I was the only one to go for savoury, with bacon and cheese.  Mmmm the best cheese on a pancake I’ve ever had. 

After lunch we spent a couple hours walking around the village, looking at the windmills up close and taking a lot of photos.  There were also other “exhibits” and presentations including one about cheese, complete with samples. 

We left Zaanse Schans with plenty of time to drive back to The Hague and make a trip to a grocery store to buy food and prepare dinner.  But we didn’t account for a lot of things.  We didn’t account for the fact that grocery stores are hard to find in the heart of a city like The Hague.  We didn’t account for the fact that most grocery stores don’t take Visa.  We didn’t account for the fact that at least three cash machines would be broken.  And of course we accounted for, but underestimated our ability to find said stores and cash machines even with a smart phone.  All of these oversights made for an adventurous two or three hours, that included the help of a really nice man named Mustafa who escorted me all around a dodgy part of the city while Richard drove around with the kids in the car and we couldn’t communicate because I have no cell service outside the UK.  It was such a nightmare and I was so grumpy by the time we finally made it to a store, cash in hand, that I made Richard do it for me.  

Needless to say, by the time we got home, cooked dinner and put everyone to bed I was exhausted.  

First things first- it wasn’t until we moved to London that I had a few things clarified.  Some are obvious, some less obvious.  The Netherlands is the name of the “kingdom”/country as it exists today.  Holland is the name given to the provinces of North and South Holland, which is where most of the population lives, and economic and political activity occurs.  (Rotterdam, The Hague, and Amsterdam.)  Holland is also the “brand name” for the country, and is the name most often associated with tourism and travel. The people and the language are Dutch and The Netherlands still has a monarchy.  

The Hague is the political capital of the country, where the Parliament and Supreme Courts reside, and also most of the international embassies.  The Hague also has a headquarters for the United Nations.  But Amsterdam is the official capital, the financial center of economics and culture, and the Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in the world.  

Let me back up a bit.  When planning our trip to the Netherlands I looked at flights and they were really inexpensive.  It’s true what they say about flights around Europe being really cheap. (As low as £15 one way.)  But what we’ve discovered is that it’s NOT cheap to rent a car big enough for the six of us, and it’s not convenient to haul car seats through airports, let alone the four children.  A friend from work told Richard that when traveling to the west coast of mainland Europe, the EuroTunnel is the way to go. It worked out really well.   Flying to big cities is fabulous if you plan on staying in the city and using public transport.  But I knew we would be going all over the country and we would need a car, so we just took our own!

We left on Wednesday afternoon, the kids were in between terms and on holiday for two weeks and Richard had the Friday before and Monday after Easter off work for bank holidays.  We put everything in the car and didn’t have to mess with kids or luggage until we got to the apartment.  Soooo nice.  It took about an hour and a half to get to Folkstone where we board the train.  We had booked a reservation in advance but it wasn’t crowded and since we arrived early they put us on the first train going out.  We drove right up, and drove right on to the train. There are bathrooms on the train and you can get up and stretch your legs.  The train goes down into a tunnel underneath the English Channel and in only 35 minutes we were in Calais, France.  

From Calais it was about a four hour drive to The Hague (Den Haag) and we drove into the city just after dark.  It’s a really beautiful city.  I completely forgot to take pictures of our apartment but it was nice. It was in the heart of the city, which was great for atmosphere and charm, but inconvenient for parking.  Fortunately Richard worked out a good system and would drop us off, find a place to park and then walk back.  The apartment did have big windows that opened out over the street, which made me a little nervous with the kids.  And the stairs were SO steep, just like all those flats we used to see while watching House Hunters International.  It was so funny, when we got home and the kids were walking up and down the stairs they were laughing about how their muscle memory in their legs was telling them to take higher steps than they needed to.  

It’s always nice to stay in a place with more than one bedroom and a kitchen to make some of our own meals. With websites like HomeAway and AirBnB it’s been pretty easy to find reasonably priced places to stay for a family.  After the kids explored the apartment and claimed their beds (I totally remember doing these things when we traveled as kids) we all went to bed. 

Richard said he had seen a neat building on his walk back from parking the car the night before so in the morning we decided to walk to the car and see some of the city.  It was really cold outside, really windy so it was hard to really enjoy it, especially for the kids.  

The building Richard had seen turned out to be the Peace Palace.  You have to pre-book tours of the palace itself, but there was a visitor center next to it and we were so cold we jumped at the chance to get indoors.  We were given audio guides (my kids LOVE audio guides) and spent about an hour inside learning about the peace palace. 

I won’t get into the history of it, I definitely suggest reading about it, but the palace is a monument to world peace. I loved it so much. I also won’t get into my ever-growing inclinations toward pacifism, but I consider myself a huge advocate for peace.  (I suppose most people do.)   The palace is also home to the International Courts of Justice, (very interesting to read about) The Permanent Court of Arbitration (also interesting to read about), The Hague Academy of International Law, and the Peace Palace Library. The library was a request/demand of Andrew Carnegie, who more or less funding the building of the peace palace. 

We celebrated Cameron’s birthday on Eli’s birthday with dinner at Pizza Express and gifts at home.  Cameron had asked for new football cleats (they call them football “boots” over here) and we threw in some new socks that match his school football kit. (He plays occasionally on Saturdays for the school team.  And a “kit” is another name for uniform or jersey.) Baca and Grandpa Hall sent Cam some books and Baca and Grandpa Bird sent him a March Madness t-shirt.  

On Cameron’s actual birthday we were driving to the Netherlands and ate our dinner in the car.  I didn’t take a single picture of him until he was in bed and asleep and I snapped one with my phone for Instagram.  Feeling pretty guilty about that… 

A bit about Cameron. 
 
Cam has an amazing memory. He can lock away sports facts and trivia like it’s nobody’s business, but he can also recall events from his life and memories from his earliest years.  This makes me grateful and hopeful that he’ll be able to retain a lot of his experiences abroad. 

I have to be careful with Cameron because I can easily exploit his desire to please others in my discipline.  Shame-based parenting is really effective, it always gets me exactly what I want from him, but I worry about the cost.  I might crush his budding self-esteem in the process, if I’m not careful. 

He loves sports.  He has completely embraced football here, he “supports” Chelsea Football Club, but can also tell you all the other teams in the premiere league.  He has also still kept up with American college football and basketball, being just as excited about March Madness this year as any other year.  In fact, he won the Hall Family bracket challenge and took second place in the Bird Family bracket challenge.  (Losing to Jess, who seemed to benefit from the same beginners luck I had the first time I did a bracket and knew nothing about any of the teams.)  At any given moment you can find Cameron playing imaginary sports, (football, American football, or basketball) and announcing them as he goes along, complete with sound effects for the crowd/fans.  

Cameron is really bright and does really well in school.  He doesn’t love to read, but does it willingly when he gets his hands on a book he likes.  He is like Richard in that he can do all kinds of math computations in his head and loves it when Richard tries to stump him with “mental maths.” (Another British term.) 

We are lucky to have Cameron as our first, he has so many trademark firstborn traits, he is responsible and ambitious, albeit a little bossy. But he really is an easy kid, with a sincere heart and genuine desire to do the right thing.  

We have a family rule/tradition that you get to have a “friend birthday party” when you turn five and when you turn eight.  Eli being the introvert that he is, doesn’t have a big group of good friends, so he decided that for his birthday he just wanted to invite Kayden to go to a movie and then out to dinner with us as a family.  The Saturday before his birthday Richard took the four boys to see Home and I begged Miriam to go with me to see Cinderella.  After the movie we went to Nandos for dinner.  

I did a thoroughly lousy job of taking photos for Eli AND Cameron’s birthdays.  But we celebrated them together on Eli’s birthday because Richard had a meeting on the 31st, and on Cameron’s actual birthday we were driving to the Netherlands. 

We went to dinner at Pizza Express in Greenwich and then came back to the house for cake and presents.  Eli got a Manchester United jersey from Richard and I, a solar system model and a watch from Baca and Grandpa Hall, and a set of scriptures from Baca and Grandpa Bird. (A birthday tradition for 8 year olds.) 

A bit about Eli. 

Eli is a really thoughtful and introspective boy.  You can see in his furrowed brow that the wheels in his head are constantly turning.  He is a sponge for knowledge and loves to learn trivia type facts and data, particularly about religions and civilizations.  He will often come to me with a “Did you know…” statement as if it’s the most exciting thing he’s learned so far.  

Eli’s quality that is both endearing and infuriating is the way he is perpetually distracted.  All day, every day it feels like I’m asking him to focus or reminding him to stick to the task.  Simple tasks like getting dressed or putting his dishes in the sink seem to take ten times the appropriate amount of time. But it’s that same trait that  causes him to notice details in everything and appreciate and observe the little things. 

Despite lacking a bit in the patience category, Eli is the most sensitive to his siblings needs and feelings.  His compassion runs deep for them, and for humanity in general.  He doesn’t like violence or destruction or trauma.  He loves playing video games (FIFA ’15 and other football/soccer games) and could easily be the kid who never leaves the couch if we’re not careful.  He also likes board games and playing sports with Cameron so long as Cameron plays fair.  Nothing ticks Eli off more than someone who breaks the rules.  He loves hearing and telling jokes, and especially loves anything that is mysterious or magical.  (Card tricks, illusions, brain teasers.)

Eli’s introverted personality brings such a nice balance to all the extroverted personalities in our other children, and we love him so much.   

Simon’s immune system was not prepared for what London has thrown at him this winter. It seems he’s been sick more than he has been healthy.  Fortunately on his birthday he was feeling well enough to go to school because he was really excited about taking treats to his class.  

We let him open his presents in the morning because I wanted him to be able to use his gift on his birthday.  He has been asking for a scooter for awhile, and he specifically requested red.  He was so excited about it when Richard brought it down.  He also got a book and a torch (flashlight) from Baca & Grandpa Hall.  I’m starting to really believe in this simplifying of birthdays/holidays.  One gift from us, one from his grandparents, and he was a perfectly happy boy.

Simon’s teachers at school aren’t always sure what he can eat and what he can’t eat, (it’s hard to know what treats have milk in them) so they usually just give him a piece of fruit instead.  He’s a good sport about it, but he was go glad that for his birthday he could bring a treat that he could eat too.  

I asked Simon no less than a dozen times where he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner but he could never quite nail it down.  He would either say whatever restaurant his siblings whispered in his year, or McDonalds.  So I chose for him. a place called Giraffe in Blackheath.  It’s really kid friendly and has tasty food too.  

After dinner we came home. ate the rest of the doughnuts and sang to our birthday boy.  

A bit about Simon. 

Simon is delightful 90% of the time, but the other 10% of the time it is clear he is the youngest.  I don’t hesitate to admit that the child is spoiled. How do you NOT spoil your youngest? I suppose we could have another baby, but at some point there has to be another way…

Simon is very honest and matter-of-fact about his mistakes and misbehavior, which is both endearing and infuriating.  He has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh at his older siblings’s jokes.  He hates to be alone, he doesn’t play well by himself, but he makes a great companion for me.  He is super adaptable to my whims and adventures, although he does also appreciate routine.  He loves to come home from school and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and watch a cartoon.  His favorite cartoons are Fireman Sam and Team Umizoomi.  He loves sweets, almond “milky” and hot dogs.  

He loves his scooter and for days begged me to take it everywhere with us, even in the car.  He has gotten really good at riding it and loves to take it to the parks and to pick up the kids from school.  He isn’t into sports so much, unless it’s the only way to get some attention from Cameron.  

He still loves to snuggle with me, he loves Richard’s teasing and “Dad jokes” and he very nearly worships the ground Eli walks on.  He has a love/hate relationship with Mim that I think is typical of siblings closest in age, and he looks up to Cameron too, although they are far enough apart in age that they don’t have as much in common.  

Simon has probably had the least trouble making the transition to London life, and in fact said the other day that he never wants to move back to the United States.  Eli asked 

“You want to grow up and be a beefeater?” (British Guard)
“Yep!”  

Living in London has made me aware of all these days that I never knew existed before.  I love that London is such a multicultural epicenter, always “in the know”, so to speak, to international celebrations and events.  I’ve already mentioned International Women’s Day, then there was the International Day of Happiness on 20 March, but before both of those, on 5 March was World Book Day.  Apparently this is a big deal in the UK, and it is tradition for school children to dress up as their favorite book character.  In fact, I found an article on netmums.com (a site I refer to occasionally to help me figure out what the heck I’m doing regarding all things British) about how stressed mums get each year trying to think of new costumes at the last minute or meet the requests/demands of their children. 

“If it’s your first time as a mum facing World Book Day then you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. It sounds like such a fun lovely day to encourage a love of books and reading. Doesn’t it? If you’ve been through it before then you’ll know why it brings some mums out in a rash.”

Ahhh mommy competition spans the continents.  

In any case, since it was our first time the kids were all pretty excited, and I didn’t stress too much about how little prepared we actually were on the actual day.  So we made the best of it, and all the kids were pleased with the results.  

Cameron: Harry Potter
Eli: Sherlock Holmes
Miriam: Fancy Nancy
Simon: Fireman Sam

All in all I think World Book Day did in fact turn out to be a lovely day meant to encourage reading and a love of books. In fact the kids were each given a token that they can redeem for a free book at UK book retailers.  

Unfortunately World Book Day fell on School Picture day, in a major scheduling disaster (and yes, you can pronounce that shh-eduling if you like to read my posts with a British accent.)   I got a text about half-way through the morning informing me that school photo day was that day and the next.  I hope no one lost their job over that one.  

So the kids school photos weren’t anything spectacular, except the photo company did do sibling photos on the second day, when the kids were all dressed normally, and it turned out really great.  I’ll post it here when I get my prints.  

Happy [Belated] World Book Day everyone!

Last week I looked through our cards of City Walks With Kids and picked out a few and then Richard read through them and chose one for a Saturday outing.  He doesn’t get to see as many museums because he has that inconvenient obligation we call employment, so he picked the Museum of London card, which also suggested Smiths of Smithfields for lunch, Smithfields meat market, a stop by the old Roman London city wall, and the memorial wall at Postman’s Park.  (The cards are self-guided walks that usually include a restaurant, landmarks and museums or parks and are all in a small enough area for kids to walk. I highly recommend them if you live near New York, San Francisco, Paris, Toronto or Washington D.C.) 

We walked through Smithfields, the only working meat market in London, but it was already closed. I was so confused why it would be closed on a Saturday, I mean the place was completely shut down.  But my friend Nimmi told me that it was just already closed for the day.  It opens at 5:00AM and is all finished up around 9:00AM.  I’m disappointed we missed it, we’ll have to go back and see, it sounds kind of cool.  

From there we walked to the Museum of London. It was a really fun museum- really kid friendly.  They had little booklets for the kids to answer questions and play a sort of “I Spy” through various exhibits.  Cameron and Eli picked one for older kids so we split up, and I took the littles to a different exhibit with a different activity booklet.   

I only took a few photos (with my phone) because sometimes carrying my camera can be such a pain, and taking photos can be so distracting, and because most of the exhibits don’t allow photography.  As usual we only saw a small part of the museum, but it was one of my favorites so far. 

We left the museum and walked around the remains of the Roman city wall.  It was built around the city of London in approximately 200AD and was used for over 1,000 years.  There are just a few remaining areas of wall, including this one just outside the Museum of London. 

You can read about the London Wall here. I thought it was really interesting. 

From there we walked to Postman’s Park, where we had promised the kids they could play football.  The park wasn’t fit for football games, but we did get to see the memorial wall, which turned out to be my favorite part of the day.  I’m going to write a lot about it- because I liked it so much. 

Part of what made this such a moving experience for me was that we happened to be at the park at the same time as a guided walking tour.  So while Richard corralled kids, I selfishly piggy-backed on the group and listened to the tour guide give the history behind this wall.  

George Frederic Watts was a Victorian artist who had an idea for the celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, and suggested the building of a wall to commemorate heroes who died giving their lives to save another.  He first suggested the idea in 1887, but his dream wasn’t realized until 1900.  

The idea for the memorial came at a time where interest in the lives of the British poor was growing, and the media was also advocating for more awareness and need for social change.  Watts believed that art was a powerful force for such change, and he also believed in celebrating role models to help improve character among British citizens.  One story in particular inspired the public and gave momentum to Watt’s dream, and that was the story of Alice Ayers. 

Alice lived with her sister and brother-in-law in Southwark, and shared a room with her three nieces.  The story is told that one night a fire broke out in the paint shop beneath the home, and Alice acted quickly to save the lives of the three little girls. (Ages 5,4 and 3.) She brought one of her nieces to the window and released her to the crowd below, who shouted at Alice to jump as well.  But she went back, and returned to the window with a second little girl, throwing her to the crowd below as well. Again the crowd begged Alice to jump, but she went back for the last of her nieces, lowering her down the crowd once more.  Then at last she attempted to climb out the window, but being overcome by fumes passed out, and fell limply to the ground beneath.  She died two days later in hospital.  

She became wildly popular and recognized as a hero and was one of the first names to be inscribed on Watt’s wall. 

 (I haven’t seen the movie Closer, but the tour guide said that there were scenes filmed at this spot, and Alice Ayers became the fabricated identity of the character played by Natalie Portman.) 

The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice was designed with 120 tiles.  Watts died in 1904, leaving the project to his wife, who eventually lost interest and passed it along to the local Diocese.  But by 1931 it had been abandoned altogether, with only 53 tiles inscribed.  For over 78 years no new names were added to the memorial wall.  

In 2009 at long last another tablet was added. It was in memory of Leigh Pitt, a 30 year old man who jumped into a canal to save a nine year old boy.  Some of Pitt’s colleagues and his fiance worked together to get the Diocese to add a plaque to honor him.  

I found this wall to be so inspiring.  There is an app  now that details the stories of each of the individuals who are celebrated here and I look forward to reading more about them.  Great love hath no man…

We caught the DLR and stopped at Mudchute Park to fulfill our post-museum park promise and let the boys play football. 

These bridge arch supports had so much photographic potential.  But I kept getting photo-bombed. And to be real, it was one of those things that I imaged so much cooler than it really turned out. 

A couple Saturdays ago it was a gorgeous day and we were all itching to be outdoors.  We packed a picnic and took a bus to a place a woman on the train had told me about.  It still surprises me the kinds of green spaces you can find in the middle of the city.  This place is called Oxleas Wood, and even though most of the trees are winter-bare, it was really pretty and green.  

I read that these woods have existed for 8,000 years.  They are one of few remaining areas of ancient deciduous forest in this part of the city.  But like I said, I’m really grateful that any areas of woods still exist at all.  It reminds me of Virginia, where we could walk to the end of our street and be in the woods.  

Severndroog Castle isn’t actually a castle. It is a “folly”, which is “a building constructed primarily for decoration.”  The term became popular because such structures were a little silly or excessive, they were more or less overdone garden ornaments.  

In the case of Severndroog Castle, it was built as a memorial to the husband of Lady James of Eltham, in 1783.  It did seem to serve some practical purpose because it sits atop a hill and from it’s rooftop you can see for miles around Greenwich and Southeast London.  

We found a grassy place to eat our lunch and let Cameron and Eli play football for a bit.  Then we walked and explored and the kids invented all kinds of imaginary tales with sticks and tree stumps and bark and leaves…

Then we sleepily rode the bus home in the late afternoon sunshine.  It was perfectly lovely and no one wet their pants.  

Today is International Women’s Day. I’d never heard of this day until recently, and from what I understand, it is meant to “inspire women and celebrate achievements.”   I wanted to write about someone famous and inspiring, but I’m not really qualified.  So I decided to write about the women I know.  

My sister Lori sent me a quote by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), that I found relevant to my thoughts for today.  

“There are few prophets in the world; few sublimely beautiful women; few heroes.  I can’t afford to give all my love and reverence to such rarities: I want a great deal of those feelings for my every day fellow-[wo]men, especially for the few in the foreground of the great multitude, whose faces I know, whose hands I touch.”  

I’m excited to teach my kids, particularly Miriam, about remarkable women from history.  I want her to be inspired by Joan of Arc, Marie Curie and Amelia Earhart.  But I also want Miriam to know that she doesn’t have to change the world to be a remarkable woman.  She is surrounded by inspiring women, whose stories and examples are worth celebrating today, and every day.  

I asked five women, all from different countries and now embracing life in London, all mothers I’ve met at my kids’ school,

“What difficulties have you overcome in your life, professionally, socially, or personally, so that you could accomplish your goals and make a good life for yourself?” 

“I’ve overcome a personal difficulty by making the decision to move from my home in Ireland, to London with my family. 
The main difficulty I had was the fear of change and what it would bring, not having a support network and starting from scratch was a scary thought.  I can now say that I am happy I made the decision.  
My partner is secure in his job, my daughter is happy in school and I have recently gone back to study myself.  
Overall I feel it was the best decision and I’m glad I overcame my fear of change.” 

“One of my hobbies is reading and some of my friends will argue that I am addicted to books. However, it wasn’t always that way. As a child I encountered considerable difficulties learning to read. I left primary school unable to read. As a child I felt like nobody at primary school cared about me because I was too stupid and was an illiterate migrant child. Ironically it was my maths teacher in secondary school that taught me how to read. I have always been good in maths but was struggling with my word problems.  She met me twice a week for a year after school. She was so great! Not only she taught me how to read but also empowered me.  I was 14 when I read Vipère au Poing, my first book. I had a great sense of achievement not only in finishing the book but in being about to connect with the hero. Because Miss Turpin was in my school to cover maternity leave, she left after a year. Before leaving she offered me box full of books.  Miss Turpin was such a great person! I owe her so much. She was always patient with me and always took the time to listen to me. Much more than teaching me to read, she taught me that I was capable of great achievements with hard work and lots of dedication. She helped me build my confidence in tackling any challenges in every area of my life. I met Miss Turpin almost 20 years ago and ever since then I believed in myself. I never saw Miss Turpin again but I have always kept her in my memories and my heart.”

“In southeast Asia, it is a massive vibrant community who thrive on getting together to eat and drink. Any time out of work involves hanging out with friends. With Singapore being so small, there is always an element of six degrees of separation where everyone kind of knew each other. When we moved to London in 2007 from southeast Asia, it was difficult to adapt as we had no family and few friends here. I found it a struggle to understand why you had organise to meet up with friends sometimes 6 weeks in advance and not on a whim, which is what I was used to. It took some time to fathom and adjust my mindset.  Once I started meeting people, i managed to develop friendships in different circles with people who were like minded. This not only helped with the loneliness I initially faced when we moved here but broadened our circle of friends such that there’s always someone to catch up with or talk to – and for that I am very grateful.” 

 “In my previous career I was able to accomplish all that I intended too, although not without a struggle. As a Legal Account Manager it took me to prove myself as a woman in a male dominant environment and not only that, a young black woman. I worked in a position surrounded by young white men. I would often be judged and had to prove myself by not only meeting targets but exceeding them. In my first few years I would see people with less experience go up the ladder at a much faster rate and they would get the best clients. I managed to turn things round by taking the least liked client and making them into one of the most profitable. I am proud of the achievements that I made in my career. When I left my position to have my baby, I was the highest earning Account Manager, managing the largest team in my company. This was achieved by not allowing those people who judged me as a young black woman to influence me, instead I chose to prove what I was able to achieve and gain respect from my peers in doing so. 

Being successful in my career was always so important to me but now after having my son, the drive I once had had dimmed slightly. I now use that drive I used to have for work in other areas of my life. Having a child gives you so much perspective. It changes you so much and all of a sudden what used to be so important is now hardly thought about.”

“I never define clear goals, it is more aspirational- it has to do with a tendency I feel to move forward.  I always want to know more, and to do better the things I do.  That is why I am here.  

I wanted to do research on museums. I started my PhD in Romania, but social sciences are not so developed there.  My husband and I started our degrees together, but we decided to do it at two separate universities. The power relations in the family, in every family, conflict with the work relations.  It is always good to have independence. I see work as a kind of freedom. 

Kids. Every time I have had a child, money and prosperity came to me.  It is not an easy thing to do to have kids and work.  I must confess I have moments where I can not cope.  But kids give you wisdom.  For me it has been okay to have kids and to do my PhD at the same time.  I don’t think it is fair for women to be obliged to stay home if the family can not afford to pay for childcare. I think we are living in a world with too much pressure and too much competition.  I think we should all work less, earn less, and spend less.”  

It didn’t seem fair to ask women to open their hearts if I wasn’t willing to do the same. 

“I’ve realized in my life that many of the difficulties I face and overcome, are my own insecurities.  They perpetually get in the way of my confidence, my willingness to try new things, my ability to make friends and my courage to be myself.  I look too young. I have too many children.  I’m not intelligent enough.  I have too much.  I have too little.  I’m too religious. I’m narrow minded.  

Moving to London has given me the opportunity to sink or swim.  Daily I make a choice to stay isolated and protect myself from the [perceived] judgement of the world, or to live honestly and openly and allow myself to see, and really be seen.”  

I believe that in sharing our stories we find that our ability to relate to each other spans cities, continents and cultures.  We are all women. We have more in common than we think.  We have so much to offer, to the world and to each other.  

I’m grateful for inspiring women in my life, those I know up close and those I know from a distance.  I’m grateful to the brave women who were willing to share their experiences for this post, it takes courage and vulnerability.  Like Evans – let’s not reserve our reverence for the women who changed the world only, but let’s give our love freely to those whose faces we know.