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How to Identify Your Family’s Unhelpful Patterns

Communication between mom and daughter

Children often have their own unique ways in making connections with others. A child may express a certain need through behaviour to their parents, and it can be a challenge to read between the lines. Perhaps you have a similar experience, which is why I would love to share my story with Delft MaMa. In my practice as a Parent Coach, I help parents and children identify unhelpful patterns and find workable alternatives. I would like to warmly invite you on a journey in the form of a case that one mom shared with me.

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5 Tips for Mindfulness and Yoga with Kids

little girl, freedom, angel

We all feel the need to do something to calm our monkey minds. This also applies to kids and teens. In fact, our minds are continuously distracted by various stimulants. When we are distracted more than our limits, our minds will take it as stress. The issue of stress can also occur in kids and teens. However, our little ones usually do not recognize it by themselves and they need us to relieve it. That is why we need to support ourselves and our kids for a healthier mind, body and spirit. The most working methods to combat the issue of stress both for kids and adults are found to be mindfulness and yoga practices.

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Swimming Lessons in Delft: A refresher post

A hot topic on any school yard. When, where, how…waiting lists…. A challenge for any parent, but for our international DelftMaMa parents it must be a nightmare I can imagine. I’m Marjolijn, voluntary swimming instructor at swimming club d’ELFT and mother of 2 boys. Because I know how challenging living abroad can be, I am a member of DelftMaMa. Since I joined DelftMaMa, questions on swimming lessons came by on a regular basis and I replied multiple times; hence time to write it down in a blog.

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Legal Mom Column: Child Safety Online

Let’s face it—whilst being a supermom, there are some things that are completely out of our control. Child safety online is a constant worry for many parents. The Internet is the one place where a multitude of things can be hidden (from you) or given away to strangers by other people (including children!) who do not know any better.

In association with DelftMaMa, we have undertaken to deliver some practical tips and insights on what parents can do to protect their children online.

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Infant Communication via Baby Sign Language

Have you ever looked at your baby and thought, ‘I’m sure you can understand every word I’m saying’?

Tiny babies want to communicate with their parents. But for the first year they lack the means to speak with us, in their first months they physically aren’t ready to produce words yet. What happens when your baby wants to tell you something but cannot get their message across? They get frustrated, they cry and tantrum.

 Read on to find out how to improve communication with your baby.

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Deciding to stop having more children: A parenting story

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!

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A tale of two tongues: raising a bilingual child

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.  

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Sinterklaas traditions and expat observations

As most children in the Netherlands prepare to celebrate the period of Sinterklaas, some of us expats can be left overwhelmed with this uniquely Dutch tradition, without understanding the history behind it. Some aspects might be shocking (blackface), others might be endearing (leaving carrots in shoes for Sint’s horse). Join us as Delft MaMa Anitha Raj, hailing from India, shares a little background on Sinterklaas followed by her observations of this annual tradition.

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How Delft MaMa saved my sanity

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.

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