Parenting
The Dutch maternity system is built on a simple idea: birth is healthy until proven otherwise. Independent midwives lead low-risk care, home birth is a normal choice, and after the baby arrives a kraamzorg maternity nurse comes to your home for days — cooking, teaching, watching, reassuring. It is not perfect, and the home birth rate has fallen, but as a model of humane, mother-centred care it remains one of the best examples in the world.
8 min read · Sept 2026
Sustainable Living
Most cleaning cupboards are full of promises and half-hidden chemistry. We searched for a fully natural line that still gets the job done — and found Sonett.
5 min read · Sept 2026
Sustainable Coffee
A practical checklist for anyone building a roastery: green coffee, grinder, cupping bowls, sustainable bags and the quiet tools that turn a first roast into a repeatable craft.
5 min read · Sept 2026
Parenting
Enemas before birth, caesareans without a medical reason, medication to stop milk, early formula and supply, and why night breastfeeding really is harder. What each practice is, why people choose it, and where the criticism deserves to be questioned.
14 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
One pair of oversized merino men's sweatpants from John Merino in Amsterdam, worn from early pregnancy through a year of motherhood, worn into holes, and then repaired with a patch made from barely-worn baby trousers. A small story about circular clothing, repair, and what motherhood actually does to a body and a mind.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
Haemorrhoids after pregnancy and birth are common, temporary and rarely discussed. What they are, why pushing invites them, and the remedies worth keeping in the drawer — eucalyptus cream and the Dutch classic, Curanol.
9 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Coffee
Why a bag of specialty coffee costs several times a supermarket one — picking, altitude, yield, processing, and the difference between fair trade certification and the way specialty coffee is actually traded.
8 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Coffee
There are only four real ways to take caffeine out of coffee, and only a few dozen plants in the world that do it. Here is the index of methods, an honest chemical-versus-not assessment, and a directory of the known facilities by region.
14 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
Breast milk changes by the hour, by the day, and by whether the baby is ill. Night milk is not day milk. Milk fed to a sick baby is not the milk from a week before. Here is what is actually happening, and why pumping cannot reproduce it.
9 min read · Aug 2026
Parenting
A personal review of breastfeeding clothing that does not rely on zippers, with a recommendation for Latte Mamiato in Antwerp.
5 min read · Aug 2026
Habits & Lifestyle
Not a cure-all, but the closest thing I have found to nudging the body back online — and a quiet recommendation for Gil Ton at AcuMed in Amsterdam.
4 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Living
What menstrual products are actually made of, what the evidence does and does not show, and the reusable cotton setup we would recommend to anyone starting from scratch.
8 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Alcohol-free brewing stopped being an apology about five years ago. A short guide to what actually improved, how to read a 0.0 label, and the Dutch shop we order from.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Living
Most mattresses sold today are petrochemical foam. Here is what the evidence says about emissions, heat, durability and end of life — and three makers working entirely in plant and animal fibre.
11 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Small tins, named harvests, shops that answer questions. A practical guide to buying matcha in Europe without wasting money or tea.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Mould versus yeast strands, vinegar batches, going on holiday, and when to stop. The part nobody writes because it is not photogenic.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
A chasen, a wide bowl, a sieve, and water at the right temperature and hardness. What to buy, what to skip, and how to keep the whisk alive.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Sustainable Living
Sluishuis is one of Amsterdam's most photographed sustainable buildings. We put it through the four lenses — materials, waste and repair, energy, ethics — and then ask the harder question: how does it feel to live in?
9 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Most bad matcha is not bad matcha — it is good powder treated like instant coffee. Grade, water temperature, sieving and whisk technique, explained.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Kombucha is sweet tea fermented by a bacterial and yeast culture. The method is simple; the failure modes are where the learning is.
8 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Kefir asks less of you than any other ferment: milk, grains, a jar, a strainer, one minute a day. Here is how to keep it alive and tasting good.
5 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
A starter is flour and water. A loaf is four ingredients and a schedule. Everything else people tell you about sourdough is decoration.
9 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Two to five days sealed, 10–20% flavouring, and a plastic test bottle. How to get fizz without shrapnel, and how to reuse bottles safely.
7 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Grades are marketing. Harvest date, origin, cultivar and milling are the facts that predict the cup. How to read a tin, and what silence on a label means.
7 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
A 3-litre jar, swing-top bottles, loose tea and plain white sugar. The kit is trivial; the sourcing questions are not.
7 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Before the jar: what the SCOBY is, what the two ferments each do, and the small number of facts that make everything else make sense.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Food & Drink
Before method, before gear: what separates matcha from green tea ground up, and why shade, steaming and stone milling change the cup.
6 min read · Aug 2026
Frogwise
Seven criteria, applied the same way every time, published in full so you can disagree with us.
6 min read · Jul 2026
Parenting
Foam, latex, springs and certificates — a plain reading of the evidence on what your child sleeps on for ten hours a night.
8 min read · Jul 2026
Sustainable Coffee
Compostable does not mean it composts in your garden. A practical guide for roasters choosing a bag.
7 min read · Jul 2026
Sustainable Coffee
What switching from gas to electric actually does to your energy use, your profiles and your costs.
5 min read · Jul 2026
Sustainable Living
VOC limits, mineral paints and why the smell of a freshly painted room is information.
6 min read · Jul 2026
Sustainable Living
Twelve weeks of ordinary family laundry, one set of stains, and a look at each ingredient list.
9 min read · Jul 2026
Parenting
What is Lotus Birth? Lotus birth—also called umbilical nonseverance —is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after childbirth, allowing the baby to remain attached to the placenta until the cord naturally…
7 min read · May 2025
Parenting
How I Found Out About Pain-Free Birth & 2 Short Birth Stories Everyone around me seemed convinced birth was going to feel like a marathon… in fire. I nodded politely, but in my head I was thinking: Surely there’s a…
5 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
Home birth—the decision to deliver a baby in the comfort of your own home—is experiencing a quiet resurgence. While still relatively uncommon in many countries, the Netherlands offers a shining example of how this…
4 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
🌸 Top Books for a Beautiful Birth & Empowered Postpartum Journey Whether you're preparing for your first birth or looking to enrich your knowledge for a more empowered experience, diving into the right resources can…
2 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
The most natural way for labor to start is when a woman’s body decides the time has come. A surge of hormones sets contractions in motion, pain is eased by the body’s own chemistry, and birth begins in its own rhythm.…
4 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
Childbirth is universal, but it hasn’t always looked the same. Across centuries, continents, and cultures, birth has evolved—shaped by beliefs, tools, traditions, and power. Here’s a brief walk through the history of…
4 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
Recently someone told me that since labour carries the meaning of hard work, birth must be a hard work. In English ... however, birth goes beyond language. So I was curious what does labour translate into in other…
3 min read · Apr 2025
Parenting
A German-Engineer-Dad Compatible Guide to the Chaos of Tiny Humans Who Just Discovered They Have Opinions. Part IV of the Manual for Julian.
2 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
The first night, the foggy days, milk, cramps, nappies, the witching hour and the first tooth — the newborn half of the manual, on its own.
7 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
A German-Engineer-Dad-Friendly Field Guide to birth itself: contractions, the placenta, the water, the hospital, and the case for staying home.
8 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
The edition that was promised: the nine months before the birth, written for a father who wants to know what is actually happening and what he can usefully do about it.
9 min read · Feb 2025
Parenting
💡 The Magic of Shared Resources As a start, I’d like to say—I’m a huge fan of the sharing economy in many cases. Sharing resources helps us consume less and build stronger communities , since trust and care are at the…
4 min read · Nov 2024
Parenting
How to Thrive (Not Just Survive) Pregnancy isn’t just about growing a tiny human — it’s about discovering your instincts, your power, and maybe even your sass. Yes, there will be nausea, aches, and mood swings. But it’s…
3 min read · Nov 2024
Parenting
👶 So What Happens After the Baby Comes? One big change: I connected deeply to my other mom friends. There is so much uniting in the experience. And no matter my attempts to keep connected to the non-mom friends too,…
3 min read · Oct 2024
Parenting
Potty Training: A Process, Not a Sprint Potty training is one of those developmental milestones that comes wrapped in expectation, trial, and the occasional puddle on the floor. Contrary to the modern Dutch trend of…
3 min read · Sept 2024
Parenting
Why Barefoot Shoes Are the Best Thing for Kids' Feet Picture this: a toddler sprinting across the grass, toes splaying, feet flexing, every step a perfect little dance of freedom. That’s what barefoot shoes were made…
3 min read · Sept 2024
Parenting
Why Time Abroad Sets the Scene for Creation A spermatozoid, an egg, and a frog walk into a resort… There’s a saying that surfaces with a wink and a cocktail in hand: “Babies are made best on vacation.” And if life is…
2 min read · Aug 2024
Parenting
Watching a baby discover the world is one of the most magical parts of parenthood — especially seeing their vision sharpen month by month. But what can a baby actually see in those early days? and how can they interact?…
4 min read · Aug 2024
Sustainable Living
Gut Health, and Colics For centuries, kombucha — a naturally fermented tea — has been celebrated for its tangy flavor and probiotic benefits. In recent years, science has begun to uncover how the living cultures in…
6 min read · Aug 2024
Sustainable Coffee
Sexy Sips during Pregnancy & Breastfeeding Miss coffee but still want that cozy ritual or completely ready to replace it? These dreamy lattes are warm, safe, and satisfying during pregnancy and postpartum. Each one…
1 min read · Jun 2024
Parenting
Strava is on running mode. Yet, when I try to run, I have to support my boobs with both hands. They’re in the active breast milk production stage. So, I’m mostly walking. Right now, I'm even squatting to write. If…
3 min read · May 2024
Parenting
Drip, drip, drip… Strange. I'm a bit too far from the sea. The waves can't be sprinkling me from there. Yet there is definitely something wet. Mystery. Maybe she peed on me. Maybe she is peeing on me. Ah well—natural…
1 min read · Apr 2024
Parenting
Happy Cow, Happy Baby Have you ever been asked the question: “Why are you breastfeeding, don’t you feel like a cow?” I was asked. It was a strange question as I never considered it to be a cow-like thing. Now I have…
3 min read · Mar 2024
Parenting
The fourth month… after the birth is a tricky one. The “fourth trimester” is over. The baby is bigger now. Smiley. Probably deliciously chubby. The constant adrenaline rush to keep them alive is fading. Still there in…
1 min read · Jan 2024
Parenting
Because the frog is there—at the edge of water, at the edge of life. From Egyptian goddess midwives to Indigenous birthing songs, frogs carry the stories of birth, change, and becoming. This blog follows their path,…
2 min read · Jan 2024
Parenting
The Secret Behind Our Happy Baby: A Peek Into Parenting People often say, "You have such a happy baby!" But no one’s ever asked why ... until now. So, I’m embarking on a journey to explore the factors that contribute to…
1 min read · Dec 2023
Parenting
Take Your Time: The Power of Slowing Down "Take your time" – we hear this so rarely nowadays. Other words like stress resistance, fast pace, and efficiency dominate in the modern world. But do they actually make us more…
1 min read · Sept 2023
