Andy: “Within our group of friends we are usually the ones who organize something. Especially when we didn’t have children yet, we invited everyone to our birthdays. We also came up with a party to connect friends from different professional backgrounds, Crossing Wires. Just something different than a brown bar where you could go on Friday evening after work, but with quality DJs.”
Fre: „When we have given a party, we also say: ‘What a mess, we really don’t do this anymore.’ A month later it’s the World Cup and we say: ‘Maybe it’s nice to get everyone here again.’”
Andy: “Afterwards we think: Jesus, what a hassle.”
Fre: “A year and a half ago we moved to the Bijlmer. The neighborhood has given us so much that we actually want to give something back. We’ve actually wanted a bar for years.”
Andy: “Or a hostel.”
Fre: “Or a movie house. We actually wanted a living room-like place where all our friends could come and where we would curate fun things. Now we have plans for a bar, Complex, but not just any bar, we want it to have a social purpose. Why invest time in something that has no impact?”
Andy: “If you get it right yourself, then you have to make sure that you can get other people on the same level.”
Fre: “My brother used to have that too, then he invited half the asylum seekers’ center to his graduation party.”
Andy: “For me that is actually the reason you live, to take care of other people as well.”
Fre: “As soon as I left school, I always did volunteer work. If I don’t do it, I also wonder: what are you adding?”
Andy: “We have helped refugees, set up a benefit exhibition for Sint Maarten, and we have also helped some people individually.”
Fre: “We live here in the Bijlmer, where you really see people struggling, especially young people. That fueled the fire for us to do something for young people in the area.”
Andy: “At Complex we want a copywriter or designer to tell you what they do, to show young people in the neighborhood that there are also opportunities for them. But we also want to organize portfolio evenings where young people can get feedback from an expert. Young people from the neighborhood often do not know what kind of jobs there are in the creative industry and do not immediately see opportunities for themselves.”
Fre: “The events we organize are intended as accessible parties where young people who want to do something creative can mix with the commercial side of the Bijlmer. Ultimately, we also want a co-working space and a hub, so that it becomes a big ecosystem, where you run into people. A kind of Soho House, but not so premium with difficult ones memberships for 1,000 euros a month and a swimming pool on the roof, haha.”
Andy: “We were able to participate in Boost je Buurt, a process for companies with a social goal from the municipality. We were chosen from 45 organizations. Then we did all kinds of assignments for three months.”
Fre: „We do spinning as a hobby on the side. In May we were playing every weekend.”
Andy: „Once a month we play in club Radion, we have had a wedding, we have been at a design fair and played in a cafe. Sometimes it got too busy.”
Fre: „We sleep super late, that is crucial for us. On average we go to bed at half past one.”
Andy: „Regularly also at one o’clock and once in a while at twelve o’clock. When the kids are in bed, we both still have a strong urge to do something for ourselves.”
Fre: “At nine o’clock we have another revival, we choose our hobbies sooner.”
Andy: “Sometimes Fre really has to push me to start these kinds of projects. I started a new job five months ago, when Quinn was only four months old. We played every weekend during that period.”
Fre: “We had a baby who still woke up twice a night.”
Andy: “It was just way too much.”
Fre: „I am also a night person. Then I say, ‘We’re going to eat, Andy, and then we’ll have to get to work.’”
Andy:“ Sometimes I really don’t feel like it and I say that: ‘I’m up.’”
Fre: “Then we’ll squabble for a while.”
Andy: “Quinn wakes up between six thirty and a quarter to seven.”
Fre: “Sammy wakes up at seven thirty.”
Andy: “One of us starts and gets up first with the children. The person who wakes up later helps to get dressed and to the nursery around a quarter past eight. Who gets the early shift also depends on who had ‘off’ the night before and who has already got up three times because Sammy was awake.”
Fre: “Sometimes there is a bit of discussion.”
Andy: “We are at the crèche between nine and a quarter past nine. We are always the last to bring and collect. I often wash the children and put them to bed on my own, so that Fre has an evening to herself.”
Fre: “We have a great nanny. She is so fantastic that I dared to leave Quinn with her at three weeks.”
Andy: „We take the children away by car, which is also something we are comfortable with. Even if we have to pay parking fees, we put everything in the car and just go.”
Fre: “Some parents have always made sandwiches and frozen meals. We always wonder at six if we have food for Sammy that night and what we are going to cook. We do that alternately, but Andy is a better cook.”
Andy: „It always works out in the end, but something’s got to give.”
In Rush Hour, couples and singles tell how they combine work and private life. Participate? Mail to [email protected]
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of August 6, 2022
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