Dam Parenting

New to Sinterklaas in the Netherlands? Or is your young child just old enough to start discovering the magic?
For international parents, Sinterklaas can raise a LOT of questions: Why does he arrive from Spain by boat? Who is the white horse? Why are children putting shoes out with carrots? What is the Sinterklaasjournaal? And why does everyone suddenly seem to be eating kruidnoten?
In this episode of DAM Parenting, Eva explores Sinterklaas in the Netherlands — not just the traditions, but the magic behind them. From the November arrival and the Sinterklaasjournaal to putting out shoes, pakjesavond on 5 December, presents, songs and chocolate letters, we look at what makes this Dutch tradition so exciting for children.
There's also the history behind Sinterklaas, the connection to the Santa Claus many international parents grew up with, and the question of how to bring Sinterklaas into an international family alongside your own Christmas traditions.
If you're raising children in the Netherlands and Sinterklaas is new to you, you don't need to know every rule or recreate someone else's childhood. You can simply join in, create your own traditions and let your child discover the magic.
In this episode:
What Sinterklaas is and where the tradition comes from

The Sinterklaas arrival in the Netherlands

Sinterklaasjournaal and why children take it so seriously

Putting out shoes, carrots, kruidnoten and small presents

Pakjesavond and the 5 December tradition

Sinterklaas and Christmas in international families

How to create your own family traditions in the Netherlands

Perfect for international, expat and immigrant parents raising young children in the Netherlands — especially if this is your family's first Sinterklaas season.
You are seen. You are not alone.

You and your partner might love each other, share a home and be raising children together — but when it comes to sex, you could be working from two completely different rulebooks.
Why? Because what we learn about sex starts long before our first relationship. Family, culture, religion, school and all the things nobody talks about can shape how we think about desire, pleasure, intimacy and what we're supposed to expect from each other.
In this November episode of DAMSex, Eva sits down with Debby Poort from Yellow Wood, a sex and intimacy counsellor working with international couples in the Netherlands, to explore how those unspoken lessons follow us into adult relationships.
What happens when two different sexual rulebooks meet?
We explore the messages we grow up with about sex, the assumptions we carry into relationships, and what happens when partners finally compare notes. Because sometimes, what feels like a relationship problem is actually two people who were taught very different things about what sex should be.
And does the Netherlands actually get sex education right?
The Netherlands has a reputation for being open and progressive about sex. But what does that really mean when it comes to what children learn, what adults understand, and how prepared we are for real-life intimacy?
Whether you're in an international relationship, navigating different cultural expectations, or simply curious about how your upbringing shaped your sex life, this conversation is an invitation to get curious rather than judgemental — about yourself, your partner and the things neither of you may have realised you learned.
Because you can't compare notes if you don't know there were different rulebooks in the first place.
ABOUT DEBBY POORT
Debby Poort is a sex and intimacy counsellor at Yellow Wood, an integrative psychotherapy practice supporting expats in the Netherlands, based in Amstelveen and offering online sessions.
Find Debby and learn more about her work:
https://www.yellowwood.nl/
Explore her sex and intimacy counselling resources:
https://www.sexandintimacycounseling.nl/podcast

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MAMASOCIAL
MamaSocial creates welcoming opportunities for mums to meet, connect and build friendships across the Netherlands. And while some conversations are easier to have in person, others can start right here, privately, while you listen.
Find a MamaSocial meetup near you:
https://www.mamasocialofficial.com/

KEEP EXPLORING DAM PARENTING
Browse episodes by topic and find the conversations most relevant to your family:
https://damparenting.nl/listen
Find DAM Parenting on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and more: https://pod.link/1714151581
Have a question you'd like us to explore in a future DAMSex episode? Email Eva at ask@damparenting.nl
DAMSex is part of DAM Parenting, the English-language podcast for international parents navigating family life in the Netherlands.
Follow the show for more honest conversations about sex, intimacy, relationships and the realities of raising a family far from home.

Your child has a cough for three weeks already. You're in the Netherlands. The Dutch huisarts has told you this is completely normal and will last six to eight weeks. You've been to the Etos and Kruidvat and you have no idea what to buy. You've stood in front of a wall of bottles with names you don't recognise, from brands you've never heard of, for types of cough that — according to a Dutch ENT doctor — aren't really different types of cough at all.
In this episode of DAM Parenting's translating Dutch consumer investigations for our international parents — Eva breaks down what Keuringsdienst van Waarde found when they put cough syrup in a lab. The answer will surprise you. And save you money.
This episode covers: what cough syrup is actually made of, the expat experience of navigating an unfamiliar pharmacy, what the RIVM says to expect this autumn/winter, how often kids actually get sick (the numbers are genuinely wild), the science of why parental presence and rest matter more than any syrup, and what old wives' remedies are backed by evidence.
Plus: how to survive the six-to-eight-week cough as a parent without losing your mind — and why going to bed at 8pm is actually a completely reasonable strategy.
Sources: Keuringsdienst van Waarde Season 26 (Jan 2026), KNO-arts Emilie Dronkers, KNMP, RIVM 2026 respiratory season data.
Find the full archive at damparenting.nl

Does ADHD make learning two languages harder? And should you drop your home language if your child has ADHD?
Multilingualism specialist Mimi Potvin closes ADHD Awareness Month with what the research actually says, and why ADHD, a language delay and simply being new to Dutch can look the same from the outside.
We also get into the school advice to “speak more Dutch at home”, whether Dutch screen time helps, and what happens to your family language plan when it’s the parent who has ADHD.
For parents raising bilingual and multilingual children in the Netherlands.
Mimi Potvin, multilingualism specialist, Growing Up Multilingual
Instagram @growing_up_multilingual
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ADHD parenting hacks: what actually works when you're already overwhelmed?
If you have ADHD and you're raising kids, you probably don't need another person telling you to wake up at 5 a.m., buy a planner or just be more disciplined.
You need things that actually work for your brain.
In this ADHD Awareness Month episode of DAM Parenting, Eva sits down with Liam from Dads do Art, for an honest, funny and very real conversation about parenting with ADHD. Between them, they've tried the planners, timers, routines and productivity tricks. Some help. Others end up in the ADHD hack graveyard.
So they're putting the popular ADHD hacks to the test, giving them honest scores out of ten and talking about what it's really like to use them while raising young children.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why planners, time blocking and endless phone reminders don't always work.

Preparing for the school morning

Habit stacking and making boring tasks a little easier to start.

Visual timers

Dopamine snacks

Body doubling:

Sensory kit

Sleep, emotional regulation, ADHD paralysis and the pressure to be a more disciplined parent.

But this conversation is about more than lunchboxes, forgotten appointments and getting everyone out of the door.
It's also about the shame that comes with feeling as though you should be able to do things that seem easy for everyone else. It's about understanding your own brain, finding the support that works for you, and learning that being kinder to yourself is not the same as giving up.
Because ADHD is not one-size-fits-all. A hack that transforms one person's morning might become another person's abandoned purchase. The goal isn't to become a perfectly organised parent. It's to build the support and systems that make your own life a little easier.
Parenting with ADHD in the Netherlands?
Whether you're raising children in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Haarlem or elsewhere in the Netherlands, doing family life far from your original support network can make the hard days feel even harder. You deserve practical support and a community where you don't have to pretend you've got it all together.
This episode is for parents with diagnosed or suspected ADHD, and for partners who want to understand what life can look like alongside it.
🎧 Listen, find the hacks that work for you, and leave the rest in the graveyard.
DAM Parenting: You are seen. You are not alone.
Find more about DAM Parenting and listen on your preferred platform at https://damparenting.nl/listen