Family time. Caribbean style in a European way

It has been a while since I updated this blog, and it has a reason, no excuse, but a valid reason.
In 2013 my daughter was born, and my wife and I are raising her alone in The Netherlands. This takes quite some dedication and time. We do it with love and enjoy it. Now she is almost 2 years old, and we have entered her in daycare and soon she will enroll in pre-school. This will provide us with some free time.
Since our daughter entered our lives we often talk about the difference between living and raising a child in the Caribbean compared to in our case Europe. We have visited both Aruba and the Dominican Republic to let our families meet her. The biggest difference between the two regions is the role a family plays in your child's life and upbringing. In the Caribbean I feel much more dedication from relatives, and a more pro-active approach. In Europe people love the child, will help out from time to time, but it is more an exception to the rule.
In Europe things are structured and organized. What they expect you and your child to do from birth till her 18th birthday. And the child will enter into this system, which has its benefits and downsides. Time will tell in our case. We do miss our families even more now that we have a child and realize even more the value of having, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. To be fair, the problem in Europe is that relatives often live far apart from each other, making it more difficult to just drop by or letting you bring over your child to them. In the Caribbean, distances are shorter, and very often relatives live next to each other or in the same neighborhood/village.
Therefore I think it has also to do with the geography of the Caribbean, having a positive effect on family situations. From a European perspective one could argue that the proximity of relatives brings a lot of social control and pressure. Relatives who meddle in your family situation for example.
As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side. I Think raising a child in both regions has benefits and challenges. For now, we are making the best of the European advantages and coping with the "missing" Caribbean culture. I just wonder what culture my child will tend to go for more. Nevertheless I think having both, she will be able to reap the benefits of both. Time will tell.