When my baby started Krippe last fall I thought I was ready. I was distracted with moving apartments, loads of typical German paperwork and internet disasters. We had steeled ourselves for our baby spending time away from us for the first time. We thought we had this....
The GW Expat Blog
Tag
childcare
Food at German Schools
Every morning I scramble around our kitchen, looking for appropriate snacks for a 15-month-old. Cucumber? I think she is eating that lately. German roll, or rice cake? Blueberries are always a yes. Is Würstchen trying too hard? Blearily, I stash these goods in her...
Preparing your Child for Preschool in Germany
Do Germans have a saying for "When it rains, it pours"? After months (and months) of house hunting we finally got a place, only to be offered another Wohnung right after that. Now we just need to find a Nachmieter (a renter to take over our current lease), move, clean...
Babysitting in Germany
It was not that long ago that the concept of babysitting (das Babysitten/Babysitting; Kinderhüten is the old-fashioned term) was little-known in the German-speaking world. When it did happen, it was usually Oma, a neighbor, or one of the older children watching over...
Take my baby! Please? Applying to Krippe
About two weeks ago I found myself sitting in a school office with my husband and 4-month-old in her most respectable onesie. We were applying for a spot in next fall's class and doing our best to look like an upstanding family they would want in their KiTa. But -...
Being “Normal”
Tonight I had dinner with a friend who has been living here in Germany for about as long as I have. We first met virtually through a Facebook post of a mutual friend and discovered we were both in Heidelberg. The commonalities continued when we talked on the phone for...
All Day School (Ganztagsschule)
Here in Eppelheim (near Heidelberg), there has been a lot of controversy about the new Ganztagsschule that started this school year. There had been talk of it for ages, but it finally came to fruition for this school year. However, many, many people are unhappy with...
What, you work full time?
Both Jane and I have mentioned the concept of the Rabenmutter, which is defined in the Wikidictionary as "A raven mother, a loveless, heartless, cruel, unnatural, or uncaring mother; a bad mother who does not take good care of her children." Now no one has dared ever...
The Cult of the warmes Mittagessen
I feel like mothers are enslaved here in these provincial parts of southern Germany by what I call the "cult of the warmes Mittagessen" or the cult of the hot lunch. (I'm not even going to try to stretch the truth by saying parents instead of mothers. It's pretty...
KiTa Kids
We toy sometimes with the idea of returning to the UK (by that we really mean London). For our careers and old friends and family, it can seem very tempting. Very tempting indeed, until we start talking about childcare. Berlin's plentiful offering of affordable places...
Laternenfest – Lantern Festival
It was during our second winter in Berlin that I first became aware of Laternenfeste (lantern festivals). We had little twin babies and, despite early heavy snows, I spent much of my time traipsing icy streets pushing the pram whilst they slept. There was a period in...
Moving Back to Germany
I have an announcement to make. We are moving back to Germany next month. The timing of the move was a bit of a surprise, but it was always in the realm of possibility. We were away for two years, and as I've started the arduous process of organizing another overseas...
Finding Childcare in Germany
I mentioned in my previous post that spending the first year of baby's life with him or her at home is common and expected in Germany, at least in the west. On the other hand, it isn't so easy to go back to work within the first year or before age three because of the...
More German than the Germans
Slowly, we've found ourselves integrating into our non-German lives here in America. Instead of hearing the phantom ring of our default Siemens ring tone melody, I've gotten attuned to hearing our Uniden telephone gently playing the Star Spangled Banner. Something I...
Living the German Way in San Diego – Part 2
The sun is still shining here in San Diego. After 6.5 weeks of being homeless, living in hotels and staying with my parents in Pennsylvania, my family and I are finally installed in our own house, which we now call home in a neighborhood called Kensington. We are...
Raising “Free Range” Kids in Germany
I'm concluding my Christmas holidays now here in America, so it's natural for me to once again think about how different my life would be if I were living in America instead of in Germany, especially as a mother. Despite all my good intentions to not shop as much and...
The Instant Expat
Because I have to go back to work earlier than anticipated thanks to the recession, we had to think about childcare for the little ones earlier than anticipated. With two kids under three, daycare (Kinderkrippe) was not an option due to the cost involved. Although an...
Recent Comments