Alex De Leeuw Returns

Some of you might recall our young guest writer Alex de Leeuw. Alex originally lived in the classroom where my wife taught ten years ago. He’d spend his weekends staying with the children so that they could write about the adventures they had together. One day the children asked me to take Alex home (I was living in Amsterdam at the time) and do the same. That was the start of Alex’s guest appearances on this blog.

Eventually, Alex came home with us permanently (although he has changed a little a few times since then) and continued to write. Then my first child was born and Alex took on a new role. He became a companion, first to my daughter and then to my son. He spent a lot of time hanging out with them, playing with them and comforting them at bedtimes. The change in priorities left him with very little time for writing. It’s been almost four years since his last post.

I’m happy to announce that (since my children are now a little older) Alex is making a return to writing. In his first new post, Alex is going to share with us what he now gets up to on an average day with the children. Alex is Dutch (and quite young). I have provided an English translation to the best of my abilities. Without farther ado I’ll let him take it away.

Hallo. Terwijl ik weg was, heb ik voor de kinderen gezorgd met mijn nieuwe vrienden. Dit zijn er een paar.

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Hello. While I have been away I have been looking after the children with my new friends. These are some of them.

Ik breng veel tijd door met spelen met de kinderen. Ik geniet er echt van als we met de speelgoed auto’s spelen.

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I spend a lot of time playing with the children. I really enjoy it when we play with the toy cars.

Ik vind het ook leuk te kleuren. Ik ben er heel goed in om binnen de lijnen te blijven.

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I also enjoy colouring in. I’m very good at staying inside the lines.

Net als de kinderen heb ik leren lezen…

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Like the children I have also been learning to read…

… en oefenen voor mijn zwemdiploma.

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…and practicing for my swimming diploma.

Als het zonnig is, spelen we in de tuin. Ik hou erg van de zandbak…

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If it is sunny we play in the garden. I like the sandpit a lot…

… en fietsen…

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…and cycling…

… en spelen met de glijbaan (ook al is het een beetje hoog).

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…and playing on the slide (even though it is a bit high).

Hopelijk heb ik vanaf nu meer tijd om te schrijven. Tot ziens.

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Hopefully I will have more time to write from now on. Bye for now.