A family of six living in a 775 sq ft house. That's 129 sq ft per person to be exact. And one toilet.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Babysitting the Cousins


6 kids


A plate of carrot sticks & red bell pepper strips


5-5-5 deal from Domino's


Half a bottle of Ranch dressing.



We went through half a bottle of ranch in one meal.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Size Does Matter

Taken from the preface of "A Pleasing Birth: Midwives & Maternity Care in the Netherlands" by Raymond De Vries

To the casual observer, these cute Dutch homes (row-houses) are nothing more than practical adaptations to limited space. Had we not lived in the Netherlands, I would have been satisfied by the simple syllogism: tiny country = tiny homes. However, after a few months in our Lilliputian house, I came to understand that Dutch homes are not just about economizing on space; they also reflect and reinforce peculiarly Dutch ideas about the importance of the nuclear family. In accommodating to our new home, we discovered we were spending more time together than we did in our much larger house in Minnesota. Small homes force families to live together in a way inhabitants of large American houses can avoid.