Dam Parenting

Dam Parenting Podcast
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

Parenting in the Netherlands as an international family can feel overwhelming — but you don’t have to do it alone. DAM Parenting is a weekly podcast supporting international parents through pregnancy, birth, and parenthood in the Dutch system. With 175+ episodes, we explore everything from giving birth in a system you may not fully understand to raising third-culture kids in multilingual homes. Featuring real birth stories, expert insights, and honest conversations, this is your space for clarity, reassurance, and community. You are not alone.

  1. 2d ago

    They Couldn't Find the Right School. So They Built One.

    What do you do when the school you want for your child simply doesn't exist? If you're Tim and Camilla, co-founders of Seeker — you build it. Seeker is a brand new private bilingual Dutch-English Montessori primary school opening in Eindhoven this September. And the children starting now? They are the founding class — the ones who will set the tone, the culture, and the standard for every child who comes after them. In this episode, Eva talks to Tim about what was missing in Eindhoven for international families, what it actually takes to open a private school inside the Dutch education system, why the inspectie only shows up after you open your doors, and what it means to ask families to trust something that has no history yet — because it's about to become history. A short, feel-good summer episode about the audacity of building something from nothing. Find Seeker at seeker.education Eindhoven | Bilingual Dutch-English | Montessori | Ages 4–6 | Opening September 2026 Part of Dam Parenting's ongoing series on schools, systems, and raising children in the Netherlands.

    They Couldn't Find the Right School. So They Built One.

  2. 5d ago

    Is My Child's Dutch Getting Worse Over Summer? What Multilingual Families in the Netherlands Need to Know

    You're away for the six weeks of school holiday in your home country. Maybe you dropped your children off and came back to work. Or you're staring down the new school year starting soon with a child who has barely spoken Dutch all summer — and a quiet worry that something has slipped.This episode is for all of it. Eva sits down with multilingualism specialist Mimi from Growing up Mulltilingual for a wide-ranging conversation about the language anxiety that follows multilingual families through summer — whether that's a child who goes quiet in the home language when they arrive at the grandparents', a child returning to the Netherlands after weeks abroad wondering if their Dutch is still there, or a family heading into September with a child who has barely spoken the school language in months. They cover what actually happens to language when the environment changes, why reduced activation is completely different from language loss, what the silent period really means, and the BICS versus CALP distinction that reframes what fluency actually looks like in a child. BICS (Social Language): The conversational language used in casual, face-to-face, or everyday interactions (e.g., chatting on the playground, ordering food). Because it is highly contextualized, learners typically master this within 6 months to 2 years of immersion CALP (Academic Language): The specialized, context-reduced language required to succeed in classroom subjects and professional settings (e.g., reading textbooks, writing essays, solving math problems). It takes significantly longer to develop—typically 5 to 7 years. Mimi also has something important to say about the child who compares themselves to monolingual cousins and feels behind — and why that comparison is never a fair one. For multilingual families in the Netherlands navigating summer, the homeland, and the return to the academic year.

    Is My Child's Dutch Getting Worse Over Summer? What Multilingual Families in the Netherlands Need to Know

  3. Jul 22

    You're Allowed to Be Exhausted: A Reality Check Before the Summer Holidays

    Feeling like an exhausted parent before the summer holidays have even started? You're allowed to be. This short, one-take episode — no editing, no polish, on purpose — is a reality check on parent burnout, the mental load, and why holidays with young kids are not actually holidays (they're taking the show on the road). Recorded at the start of the Dutch summer break, this episode gives you permission to rest before you crash — because burnout doesn't send a calendar invite, and the signs of parental exhaustion are easy to miss until someone points them out. Consider this that someone. Inside: a four-question burnout self-check you can do on the bike, why the gap between how you're doing and how you say you're doing is the first warning light, lowering the bar for the school holidays without guilt, and why five minutes a day beats the 5K run you keep not doing. With a little help from Brené Brown's Daring Greatly and Leonard Cohen's beauty of cracks. Part of DAM Parenting's ongoing conversation about what it actually takes to stay well while raising kids far from home — because parents don't need fixing, they need conditions where they can function.

  4. Jul 15

    Why Does a Hand Lotion Calm Me Down? Nervous System Regulation with Elif Durgel

    You catch a smell. A lotion, a tea, something cooking. And in under a second — before you've even thought about it — you're home. That's not nostalgia. That's not weakness. That is your nervous system doing something remarkable. This week we're joined by psychologist and cross-cultural specialist Elif Durgel, founder of Roots and Wings Academy in Eindhoven, for a warm, science-light conversation about why smell bypasses the thinking brain entirely and connects directly to memory, identity and emotion — and what that means for international parents living far from where they started. We talk about: Why smell hits faster and deeper than any other senseWhat nervous system regulation actually feels like from the insideThe invisible extra load of living between cultures — and why July makes it louderWhy so many of us quietly deny ourselves the things that helpWhy going to the expat shop isn't retail therapy — it's something more real than thatWhether you're heading home this summer, somewhere completely new, or discovering the Netherlands in July for the first time — this one is your permission slip. 20 minutes. No jargon. Just a really good conversation. Find out more about Elif: rootsandwingsacademy.nl Come tell us yours on Instagram

    Why Does a Hand Lotion Calm Me Down? Nervous System Regulation with Elif Durgel

  5. Jul 8

    What Is Trauma? Big T, Little T, and Why It Might Be You

    Have you ever reacted to something and thought — why did I react like that? Or carried a weight you couldn't quite name? Today we're breaking down what trauma actually is — plainly, warmly, and without the jargon. Because if you're living in the Netherlands as an expat or immigrant, building a life far from home, navigating a foreign healthcare system, raising children in a second language — this conversation is for you. We're joined by Adina Petre, clinical psychologist and trauma therapist , who will be joining us monthly to help us understand ourselves a little better, one episode at a time. In this episode:— What trauma actually is (and what it isn't)— The difference between Big T and Little T trauma— Why the nervous system doesn't grade on a curve— What happens when we stay in survival mode for too long— And why your experience is real, because it happened to you — and that is enough Share this episode with someone who needs the words.

    What Is Trauma? Big T, Little T, and Why It Might Be You

  6. Jul 1

    Obligation Sex Is More Common Than You Think — Here's What It's Really Costing Your Relationship

    This episode is brought to you by MamaSocial, who connect mums across the Netherlands so you actually have a community to lean on. Brunches, mingles, networking, whatever you need — MamaSocial will be hosting something near you. Check out their website and Instagram to find your nearest one now. Have you ever had sex because saying no felt harder than just getting it over with? In episode 3 of DAMSex, Eva sits down again with sex and intimacy counsellor Debby Poort to talk about obligation — or "duty" — sex, and what it quietly does to you, your partner, and your relationship over time. They unpack what's really happening when one partner is having sex out of guilt rather than desire, and what it does to the partner on the receiving end of that obligation — most of whom don't actually want it that way. Debby introduces responsive desire, a concept that explains why "wanting" doesn't always come before "willing," and why that's a completely normal, healthy starting point — especially for parents whose spontaneous desire has quietly disappeared since having kids. They also get into the orgasm gap, what a healthy "no" actually sounds like, how to respond to one without it becoming a wound, and how to keep this conversation going with your partner without it turning into an accusation. This episode is part of the monthly DAM Sex series — sex, intimacy, and connection for international parents in the Netherlands, and honestly, everywhere else too. Brought to you this month with thanks to MamaSocial, supporting our community of mums across the Netherlands. Find Debby Poort: yellowwood.nlGot a question for Debby? Send it via Instagram DM or email damparentingpodcast @ gmail.com

    Obligation Sex Is More Common Than You Think — Here's What It's Really Costing Your Relationship

  7. Jun 27

    Queer Parenting in the Netherlands: Why One Dad Built a 250-Family Community From Scratch

    When Aldo's daughter arrived via surrogacy in Canada, he looked around and realised he'd spent 10 years focused on becoming a dad — and forgotten to build a community for her. So he started a WhatsApp group for four or five families. Within months, it had grown to 250 members from every corner of the Netherlands. In this episode, Aldo — founder of Queer Families NL — talks about what it actually takes to raise a child in a rainbow family here, the gap between the Netherlands' progressive reputation and the lived reality for queer parents, and the moment his two-year-old daughter came home from City Hall and said: "Mama — baby Sophia haved two papas. Kaya haved two papas." Whether you're a queer parent, an expat family finding your footing, or someone who simply wants to raise their kids in a more open world — this one's for you. Find Queer Families NL on Instagram: @queerfamilies.nl Tiktok @queerfamiliesNL and Aldo and Kim on @2GayDadsinNL DAM Parenting is the podcast for international and expat parents in the Netherlands. New episodes every week.

    Queer Parenting in the Netherlands: Why One Dad Built a 250-Family Community From Scratch

  8. Jun 24

    Raising Bilingual Children in the Netherlands: What Summer Travel Really Does for Heritage Language Development

    Your child speaks the school language all year without thinking. Your language — the one you grew up in, the one your parents use, the one you hoped would just stick — has to fight for space. And then summer comes. You get on a plane. And suddenly the whole dynamic shifts. In this episode, Eva talks to multilingualism specialist Mimi about what really happens to language development when families travel home — and why most parents underestimate how significant that window actually is. They talk about the child who understands everything but answers in the wrong language, why love of family isn't always enough motivation, and how to have the conversations that actually help your child build a relationship with their own multilingual identity — not just manage it. Practical, honest, and grounded in lived experience as a multilingual parent herself, Mimi brings a warmth to this topic that cuts through the anxiety and gives you something real to do. For international families in the Netherlands navigating language, identity, and belonging.

    Raising Bilingual Children in the Netherlands: What Summer Travel Really Does for Heritage Language Development
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About

Parenting in the Netherlands as an international family can feel overwhelming — but you don’t have to do it alone. DAM Parenting is a weekly podcast supporting international parents through pregnancy, birth, and parenthood in the Dutch system. With 175+ episodes, we explore everything from giving birth in a system you may not fully understand to raising third-culture kids in multilingual homes. Featuring real birth stories, expert insights, and honest conversations, this is your space for clarity, reassurance, and community. You are not alone.

Information

  • Creator
    Dam Parenting Podcast
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    216
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dam Parenting Podcast
  • Show Website
    Dam Parenting

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