Our family recycles plastic, paper, bottles, and food waste. We don’t own a car. The house electricity is on 100% wind-power and we keep the temperature low enough that everyone needs to wear a sweater and put a blanket over their laps on the couch. Every year, I tackle another aspect of our family’s environmental footprint and this year is the time for food. Let’s talk about sustainable eating.
As the holiday season approaches, it’s important to know that it’s alright if you’re not feeling the joy that you’re “supposed to”. Though the holidays are meant to be a time of joy, the pressures and emotions that come with trying to fulfill that expectation can sometimes have the opposite effect. Add to that the isolation of being an expat, parenting responsibilities, workplace demands, social obligations… This can quickly become a formula for the worst time of the year. Read on to see what you can do to help relieve those holiday blues.
Read More »The not-so-merry-and-bright side of the holiday season: The holiday blues
Uprooting your life and moving abroad is often an isolating and all-consuming experience, no matter how many times you may have done it before. The highs are high, but the lows are sometimes lower than you could have ever fathomed.
Change is the only constant, as the trite cliche goes, but when life throws changes at you left and right, there’s little comfort to be found in dusty old cliches. That’s where I found myself before my conversation with Eva Amaral – weary and a tad emotionally disheveled after yet another move. Albeit, this time it was within the Netherlands, but far enough from Delft to register as a move away from “home.”
Little did I know that an interview in which I was supposed to be finding out about Eva’s coaching business was just what I needed to go back to the core of what I want. Because that’s what Eva does, with warmth, honesty and a gentle nudge – she helps her clients make sense of their values in the midst of topsy-turvy lives.
Read More »Delftian Entrepreneurs: Eva Amaral of Multipaths Coaching
Next in our Delftian entrepreneur series, Delft MaMa Natalia Moreno sat down with Gemma Rubio, the energetic entrepreneur behind Define The Fine. Join us as Gemma talks about her business and how she strives for a healthy work-family balance, especially as a single mother.
Read More »Delftian Entrepreneur: Gemma Rubio of Define The Fine
Increasing numbers of refugees entering the EU has sparked debates about helping them to successfully resettle into their new communities. Last year, Delft Mama Julia Candy interviewed some refugee families about their integration and how other Mamas could help on a more individual basis. Join us as Delft Mama Hagar Taha provides an overview of some organizations that serve refugees. She also shares an interview with the head of one such organization, Unity in Diversity.
Read More »Unity in Diversity: A Fresh Voice In Refugee Work
Welcome to the first blog post after the summer hiatus! Caroline Kappers brings us a thought-provoking piece about choosing to have, not have, or stop having, children. Each couple’s choice is an extremely personal one, and I thank Caroline for being open about their choice. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and happy reading. We look forward to hearing from you about this topic in the comments!
Read More »Deciding to stop having more children: A parenting story
Agashnee Bodos stepped in as coordinator of Delft MaMa’s revamped SLiDe programme earlier this year. SLiDe, short for “Soft Landing in Delft”, was originally designed to provide mentorship for newcomers to Delft in order to ease their transition. We’ve asked Agashnee to explain a bit about the revamped programme, what she expects to see in the future, and how you can help.
At the moment Agashnee is on maternity leave with her first child. We wish her all the best, and look forward to her return later in the year.
In May, Meredith Mull Aggarwal replaced Marie Kummerlowe as the new Delft MaMa Chairwoman. Delft MaMa has made many changes in the past few years as it takes on more activities serving the expat community in Delft. What does it take to steer the DMM ship? Lynette Croxford sat down with both women to talk about their experiences “behind the wheel”. You can also see Marie’s recap of 2018 here. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the new year will bring. I wish the best of luck for both women in their roles!
Read More »Steering the Delft MaMa ship: An interview with the women behind the wheel
Reading this piece, I’m struck by the similarities in behavior between my own multilingual 4 year old and Kathryn’s Lucas. Particularly when I misunderstand something V has said, hurt expression on her face, she throws up her arms and says, “NOOO, Mama! I MEEEEEEEANNNNN….!” and gives a big sigh, looking around as if the right words will pop out of thin air. Our bi/multilingual children are growing up with amazing elastic minds with the ability to move between languages. It doesn’t mean, however, that communication is smooth from the start. How many of you can relate? Join us as Kathryn Roscoe shares some of her own amusing observations raising a bilingual child.
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you need legal advice, but didn’t know where to go? Legal Mom Marisa Monteiro Borsboom writes about one such agency in the Netherlands, the Juridisch Loket, that provides free legal advice. The free advice, however, comes with caveats. Read on to learn how to get the most out of this agency if you ever need to.
Read More »Legal Mom Column: Legal advice always comes with a price
In our blogiversary post last month, Tarja mentioned that Marie’s post about learning Dutch in Delft should be reposted (and updated) every once in a while. There are always new people coming in, and many struggle with the same basic questions, among which is learning the language, she wrote.
There are resources for everyone, no matter their level of Dutch. So, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us as we revisit how to learn Dutch in Delft. Veel leesplezier!
Join us for the second post in our Delftian Entrepreneurs series (read the first post here) as Delft MaMa Julia Candy introduces us to Jie Li, aka the Cake Researcher. Read about this phenom of a woman who balances an academic career, motherhood, and a bustling side hustle.
Read More »Delftian Entrepreneur: Jie Li, aka the Cake Researcher
On April 18, 2016, Tarja van Veldhoven and Agnès Battlori Benet posted the very first post of the Delft MaMa blog. This April we’re celebrating the blog’s 3rd blogiversary!
I talked with some of our past editors about their experiences working with the blog and if they wanted to share some memorable posts for your reading pleasure. As I tried to map a timeline of people who helped run the blog, I quickly realized that while Tarja and later Marie were major coordinators of the blog, there were MANY contributors that helped keep the blog running smoothly. While I haven’t been able to track you all down, know that we appreciate you! Happy reading…
Read More »Blasts from the past: revisiting the DMM blog’s gems
Delft Mama’s own “Legal Mom,” Marisa Monteiro Borsboom, will be leading the “Legal Mom” column for the Delft Mama Blog. In this column, she and her team will address questions submitted from the community about personal or business legal issues. As an extremely diverse multinational/cultural community, we should expect to see very interesting topics for everyone to consider.
Renny Wiegerink of Auryn Acupunctuur en Advies voor vrouwen
Renny Wiegerink works with Dutch and expat women in her business, Auryn Acupunctuur en Advies voor vrouwen (Acupuncture and Advice for Women), which is based out of her home in Delft Noord. From the eastern part of the Netherlands, she moved to Delft 25 years ago. She knows how it feels to have to move around in a strange place/culture. A long-time collaborator with Delft MaMa, Renny values being able to share her experience and knowledge as a native Dutch person with expats. When planning the Delftian Entrepreneurs Series for the DMM blog, I knew I wanted to start with Renny. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us!Read More »Delftian Entrepreneur: Renny Wiegerink
The Delft Mama Blog is growing! We are currently looking for fresh, local voices who are passionate about Delft and interested in sharing their stories. This is a volunteer role, but there are some really fun perks to make it all worthwhile. Here’s what you need to know…Read More »Join the 2019 Delft Mama Blog Team!
Guest Post by Nina Bogerd and Maya Levi Although she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) fifteen years ago, Maya Levi has never let it… Read More »Maya Levi: Determined not to let life be defined by MS
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
Initiated over 2 years ago, the Delft Mama blog has delivered numerous creative, heartwarming contributions throughout the years. Looking back at those earlier posts — in our role as current editors — we realized there were quite a few that we missed. Surely we aren’t the only ones, especially with new members joining Delft Mama each year. With that in mind, we decided to take a look back a couple times each year to recall one of those “Oldies but Goodies”.
Here’s the first installment, a rather recognizable, yet shocking and frankly funny post that speaks to the core of one of Delft Mama’s missions — to help build networks and provide support that makes families (and families-to-be) feel at home here in Delft.