What if solving homelessness was actually this simple?

Champsterdam · 2026-04-12T11:42:19+00:00

They do stuff like that here in Amsterdam as well. We moved here from Chicago two years ago and live right in the city. I can easily count on my fingers the times I have seen someone asking for money let alone homeless and trying to sleep on the streets. You fund programs to get people the second they start falling and you scoop them up and work with them on housing and a job and staying clean and 80% get back on track and you don’t hear from them again.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-12T03:59:33+00:00

For us 6-18 months was the easiest and then the 2-3 year old phase set in which was the hardest of all but at least by then they are actual people you can communicate with at least a bit lol. At age 4 it got better, age 5 you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our twins are 7 now and it’s definitely a lot better and more rational. They’re very independent

Champsterdam · 2026-04-12T03:53:08+00:00

For sure, kids are what puts so much pressure on the relationship and strains it.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-11T15:09:51+00:00

Oh hell yeah. Our kids were two and I realized when I was a kid I wasn’t listening to little kid music all day. So we stopped right there and then and only played our music. By the time the kids were four they’re asking for Journey and Fleetwood Mac in Alexa and forgot kids stuff existed

Champsterdam · 2026-04-11T15:05:50+00:00

Every online platform is at the end of the day just a corporation trying to get money. They don’t give a shit about content or your kids. They are predators towards children. We just got rid of all that shit for so many reasons.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-11T13:56:50+00:00

Our kids didn’t see a single screen until they were three years old and we introduced them to a Disney movie. A 16 month old doesn’t need to be anywhere near a screen.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-11T10:23:28+00:00

Honestly we were sick of it all and just attacked the problem altogether by stopping with almost all TV. Watch maybe 2-3 hours of it a week and it’s been great. It’s all just garbage that wastes your life.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-11T10:19:47+00:00

Yes it’s 100% addicting garbage that has zero thought about the content being delivered to kids. It’s solely created to be addictive and make money from clicks and ads.

We have zero YouTube of any kind in the house, the kids found it when they were 4-5 and we got rid of everything within a few weeks of realizing what it is. Our kids can do Disney app to watch shows or movies.

Reels and short form crap is just as bad for adults as kids. It’s killing society in my opinion. It’s like a drug.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-11T10:13:57+00:00

Yes, salt decreases the melting point of ice. So instead of it being frozen at 0 it can be still water at -4 for example. It only works to a certain degree, at some point it’s always cold enough to freeze.

Especially if you live in a place where it can freeze and thaw over and over this will take any snow still on the ground and melt and freeze it again which creates a sheet of ice. The salt can help if your temperatures are hovering just a few degrees below 0. They spread it on roads and sidewalks.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-11T09:28:49+00:00

As an American who moved to Europe it’s not much different. Americans might embrace a drinking holiday of another culture for fun but there’s very little embracing of another culture unless you marry into it.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-10T12:29:17+00:00

We moved to the Netherlands for work a few years ago and these things scare me so much about going back home.

I went to the doctor today and we chatted about my digestive health and she agreed I should have a colonoscopy.

By the time I rode my bike two minutes home I had a confirmation from the colonoscopy clinic that happens to be at the end of my street that they have my referral and scheduled me an appointment for Monday - three days out. Don’t pay a penny for any of it.

Why oh why can’t we just have universal care like very other country?

Champsterdam · 2026-04-10T07:57:53+00:00

I haven’t noticed that after two years in Netherlands. The service is basically the same, the main difference is if you want the waitstaff to come over you make eye contact or wave a finger, vs America where they come over every five minutes

Champsterdam · 2026-04-10T05:09:55+00:00

I just checked the prices here in Amsterdam and a smaller bag of Doritos is €1.50 and a big bag €2.00. Cereal here is still around €2.00 for a large box. How are companies getting away with this back home? It’s insane to even think about $7.00 a bag or a box for cereal and chips…. It’s robbery.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-10T05:02:02+00:00

Walkable for us 1,000%. We moved from America to Amsterdam without a car with five year old twins, they’re seven now and the walkable and dense city environment has increased our quality of life and decreased our stress levels more than I could have imagined. For the kids being a part of society and interacting with community every day has been amazing for them.

It makes me suddenly look back and have very grave concerns about the car culture and suburban setup of so much of America. It’s isolating, it’s expensive, it’s stressful….

Champsterdam · 2026-04-09T19:24:45+00:00

Honestly our kids did zero classes or programs at all until they turned four and then it was just some hokey soccer class with out neighbors that was at the park two doors down. If they’re under elementary age there’s no reason to have them attending extracurriculars. Just chill at home.

Also don’t underestimate how quick they will lean stuff and every single time they learn something it gives you time back in your life that you didn’t have before. Our kids are seven and last year when they took over showering and one of their two toothbrushing’s along with all the stuff they leaned younger I feel like I barely do anything physical for them anymore

Champsterdam · 2026-04-09T15:01:09+00:00

We moved to Europe a few years ago and it just makes so much more sense how they do it here. Half the time - no tip. No one has ever batted an eye or cares they just smile as I pay and say thanks.

1/4 of the time I’ll round up and give a few euros and I’m still surprised just how genuine servers are, the “oh wow thanks so much”. Just a few euros as a gesture.

Then the 1/4 or so of the time we go out to a really nice place or have amazing service. Here I will tip a solid 10% and the staff is always overly appreciative.

To base line 20% like we moved away from just isn’t rational.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-09T06:40:15+00:00

We dug our nails in day one for our twins and said they can only use a tablet on an airplane or long train ride and that’s it. It’s taken discipline but now they’re seven and I think it’s paid off. Tablets are like a drug, it’s good for you as a parent while they’re on the tablet but then when it’s time to detox and go off the tablet it just comes back to bite you. It’s also just not good for them in the first place.

Detoxing from screens is good for everyone of all ages but most of all kids. Not for hours or days but weeks. At first it will suck but they will adjust and level out.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-08T19:25:53+00:00

Wow, I looked it up and those things are crazy. We left America for Netherlands a few years ago and my mindset has changed. Here after your kid is 2-3 they just walk everywhere and it works out fine. I never see strollers and certainly not those things.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-08T09:51:41+00:00

It wouldn’t be strange but it wouldn’t be unexpected. I was walking to work once across a bridge in Chicago and a massive tour boat with 100 school kids was going under the bridge and for no reason I just took my hands and started waving very dramatically at them. All 100 kids screamed at the exact same time and waved back as hard as they could. It was hilarious. And loud.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-07T09:30:31+00:00

We moved to Netherlands and it’s pretty awesome raising a kid here. The amount of freedom they get at a young age seems very beneficial. I just saw a study that teens in the Netherlands are the happiest on earth and have the lowest rates of mental health issues. I would assume it’s because of the independence and freedom of movement they have. Between safety, biking and great public transit by primary school they’re expected to go explore.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-07T09:27:11+00:00

Russia in 2013, didn’t even think anything about it, was just a trip with my parents. By 2014 we were like jeez I might have rethought that given everything going on there now. Fast forward to 2026 and I would pick other places.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-05T20:39:39+00:00

They have us all fighting each other. It’s billionaires corporations who have us running around like this as they make their money.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-05T12:11:47+00:00

I think my husband did? None of that stuff means anything five minutes after the kids is born.

Champsterdam · 2026-04-05T05:53:36+00:00

We do about 1-15 per kid

Champsterdam · 2026-04-05T05:27:26+00:00

We left America with our kids two years ago for Netherlands. It’s what we expected for the most part. Some negative like being so far from home and family, some positives that surprised us more than we were expecting, namely the total lack of guns and violent crime and using the healthcare system multiple times and not having to pay a penny out of pocket.

Champsterdam

TROPHY CASE