If, like me, you struggle to think of suitable presents for your spouse for their birthday, Christmas, father’s (or mother’s) day, how about something different like an activity or experience instead of something tangible? You’ll be amazed at how much there is to do locally. Here are some suggestions for you.Read More »Alternative gift ideas
Our mom of the week, Caroline, invited me to her house for coffee. She was raised by a Colombian mother, so it was an invitation I absolutely had to accept. The smell of freshly baked something good hit me when I stepped in the hallway of her lovely home. Her children, Isabella (3) and Jack (8 months) were playing in the living room under a skylight while she prepared their treats – and mine.
Every time I go to a supermarket, I cannot help but bring at least one copy of each of the free magazines they have on display. It improves my Dutch vocabulary, teaches me grammar structures whilst it helps find the answer to the “what’s for dinner?” question that I ask myself (and anyone with ears) almost daily.
As crazy as it reads, I plan my shopping in accordance with the magazine I got last. Say if I went to the Plus a week ago, next week I will make sure to swing by the Jumbo. If only for a hand of bananas and a magazine.Read More »A refreshing recipe for a hot week (and the importance of reading supermarket magazines)
“I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike…” sang Queen years ago. Statistics say this is what you have to do while living in Holland. There are more bikes in The Netherlands than people. Babies are transported on a bike as soon as they can sit. Cycling in a tight skirt and high heels to work is absolutely normal. Grandmothers do it. Politicians and businessmen do it. So you should do it too. Ride your bike!
Even though our Delft Mama of the week, Lucie, has a BA in English as a second language and she did a master’s in English in women studies, she never dreamed of setting up an international network of moms until she did just that. Our mom of the week is the mother of a 12-year-old Loic, but she is also the founding mother of Delft MaMa. Now nine years, awards and countless nominations later, the group Lucie set up has expanded from twenty moms to several hundreds of parents and her legacy is living stronger than she had ever imagined.Read More »Delft Mama of the week: Lucie
The American couple Lisa and Dan VanBuskirk moved to Delft in 2008, about 350 years after Dan’s ancestors left Holland. The couple have been married for 12 years and dated nearly four years before that. They met when they were both in the U.S. military and it was Dan’s military assignment that brought them to the Netherlands for four years. “We had both lived in the United States our entire lives, though we did travel internationally, including to the Netherlands for work and pleasure. We thought Delft was beautiful when we arrived and for our entire stay.”
I know from my Facebook feed that there can sometimes be a sense of hopelessness and fear when the news shows us so much conflict and tragedy in the world. However I feel we all have more power than we realise as parents, especially when we aim to consciously raise global citizens. Follow that link to an interesting article from Wikipedia, which describes how more and more people are forming an identity with a “global community” above their identity as a citizen of a particular nation or place. This wonderful international community we have within Delft MaMa is full of living examples what it can be like to be a global citizen.Read More »Five tips for raising global citizens
Delft Mama of the week, Agnès, is for the second time on the blog spotlight after her love story with her partner was published last April. Their son, Max, was born in Delft, but Agnès believes that motherhood would have changed her tempo even if they lived somewhere else. “I’m going at half a speed of what I used to. I used to be always on schedule, because I was working and I had an extensive social life in Barcelona where I come from. I had my family there, so most Sundays we had the Sunday roast at my grandparents place. I was always squeezing a lot of things to one. When we moved to Delft, suddenly I had an empty diary. I have been able to fill that agenda with different stuff of my interest, like the Indian Film Festival in the Hague that I am going to take part in the coordination of. But I’m also taking less commitments. I do like to have a slower tempo.”Read More »Delft Mama of the week: Agnès
Delft MaMa has officially inaugurated the long awaited international cooking club.
Thursday the 21st of July, a mixed group of mums and dads gathered together to cook under the guidance and supervision of Anish Patil, who together with Viji Kannan will coordinate the club.
This very first session took us to India, where Anish comes from. We made a culinarily travel along the 7.571 kilometers India’s coastline and learnt how to use a star ingredient: coconut.
Read More »A table for six (includes original recipes from Anish Patil)
This year Kerry and Arne have been married for eight years, but the story of this couple started already back in 2006 in Turin, Italy, where they both traveled as part of the National Speed Skating Team of Canada to join the Olympics. They returned home as national sport heroes and most of all – in love. Kerry and Arne married in 2008 and being in their late 20’s, the couple retired from sport and were given the chance to pursue other goals in life.
If you don’t bump into Carolina enjoying the tranquil streets of Delft, you might just see her enjoying her day in Café de Bonte Haas in Wateringen, as she lists the area around Den Hoorn as one of her favorites. She has felt the same way every since she first visited the Netherlands after she started dating a Dutch man who was working with a temporary contract in her hometown of Córdoba, Argentina.Read More »Delft Mama of the week: Carolina
Finally, school is out for the summer! Many of you will be probably traveling to see family or friends, or just to have a break in some exotic place. But for the next 6 weeks, whether you will be around for a longer period or a short one, there is so much to enjoy during the summer break in Delft and surroundings.Read More »Summer holidays are here
The Meivakantie (spring break) was coming and going so quickly that before we knew… now it’s almost time for the Summer break! So I hereby pronounce this the perfect time to brush up on some of the basics of film making.
I just know that not even that deep down (in fact, it’ll show pretty much on the surface) you’ll all cherish your bits and pieces you’ve filmed about your family in the coming years. Now imagine: you can have a fun, short, fresh video that summarizes all those adventures… how fun would that be? Here is how to make a Summer Trailer 🙂Read More »How to film the family vacation
Born in the States and raised in California, our mom of the week, Karen, is a mother of a nearly 4-year-old Isabelle and a wife to Dutch Michel. To reduce paperwork and for the feeling of security, Karen has a dual citizenship after becoming Dutch last year. “I don’t feel any different though. I have a new passport now and luckily I didn’t have to give up my American passport. I’m Dutch these days, but it feels like it’s just on paper; it doesn’t seem real. It feels like no one’s ever going to consider me Dutch and I’m okay with that. If I get to the point that I speak Dutch 24/7, people might consider me Dutch, but at the same time I don’t think that’ll ever happen. I need to hold onto that little bit of me that comes with the language. It’s so important. Your language is a part of who you are. I speak Dutch everywhere I go, except at home.”
Place yourself at the time when to connect to the internet from home, the phone line was engaged for as long as the connection lasted. Remember the dialing sound of the modem as if it were a broken phone? Are you in that soundcloud? Hang in there, as right here is where this story started, far back in 2001, when a teenage Finnish lady was studying in Italy and a Dutch scientist in his late twenties was exploring his career opportunities in Amsterdam.
Five years after they have exchanged their first “hello”, they met “for real”. No word exchanged at the arrivals gate of the Helsinki international airport, a straightforward kiss was the beginning of what turned out to be a family of five.
I asked to meet with Rachelle, because we have known each other for a year and a half, thanks to playgroup, and because she has been writing the most interesting things on Facebook lately. Recently Rachelle went on a retreat for the second time and came back updating her status about all the things that make her happy. To me it seemed as if she was undergoing what I called “a happiness challenge”, but instead of only talking about happiness, we had a long interview during which she talked openly about her personal grief, growth and depression. Listening to her wisdom, I realized seeing the happiness posts on Facebook were her yang, but it all came from her yin. “That’s the thing about depressions that people don’t realize: when you’re depressed, you usually stay at home and the days you feel better, you go outside. Nobody knows there’s something going on underneath the surface. People just don’t see it. I’ve been very open about this, because I think people should be more open about depression.”Read More »Delft Mama of the week: Rachelle
This story starts our new series called Post-Delftian Lives. We look into families who used to live in Delft and have later relocated either back to their homeland or yet another country. We get to hear how the transitioning went, what were the greatest challenges, relieves and what they ended up missing about living in Delft. Our first story tells about a Chilean-Spanish family who spent two great years in Delft and have been back to Chile for over a year now. Welcome to Post-Delftian Lives.
Leticia and Benjamín, moved to Europe after dating for eight months. Their first stop was in France, from where the couple returned to their howetown of Santiago after a year. Little Madgalena was born in Chile in 2012. When Benjamín was accepted to do his masters at the TU Delft, for the second time the family packed up their lives and flew over to Europe, this time around completely unaware of their destination. “We didn’t know much about The Netherlands; it wasn’t a country that we wanted visit or anything, and Delft didn’t exist in our thoughts. After Benjamín was accepted, we saw some pictures, but that was all. We only knew that Dutch people love bikes and cheese, canals and football – the clichés. Of course everything changed when we arrived.”Read More »Delft taught us the kind of family we want to be
Behind each of our Delft MaMa munchkins, there is a father too, and today it’s the day to pamper, spoil them and help our kids make them feel special because it’s VADERDAG.
Read along what makes some of the men in our community one of a kind.
Read More »Fathers on the spotlight – Fijne Vaderdag!