Am I a parenting expert who has all the answers? No—like you, I regularly feel like I’m on the steepest “learning by doing” learning curve of my life!
But am I bilingual (English / German), a QEKK-trained course leader, a parent of two children, and do I have a great network of English-speaking service providers who like me, endeavour to help parents to make the most of their parenting experience in Germany? YES!
And that is the key to success when you don’t speak fluent German but are pregnant/a parent here in Germany. You need the support of those who know how things work here, complemented by a “German village” of friends who understand what you are going through – including all of the challenges, worries and doubts as well as the countless wonderful moments and joyous milestones. And that is where I come in. Not only can I provide you with answers to many of your questions about how things work here in Germany, I can also hook you up with other English-speaking professionals who provide support in English to parents here in Germany (specifically the Frankfurt / Taunus area), and most importantly I also faciliate contact with other international families to help you build your network of friends and acquaintances here in Germany.
My latest project is the Mums* Midweek Meet-Up, which is designed to bring mums & bumps together with mums of babies and mums of toddlers for an empowering midweek hour of fun and support.
The idea was born thanks to a mum at my Monday “Minis & Moms*” playgroup who was pregnant with her second child and now brings her baby along to what is officially her two-year-old’s playgroup. And it works brilliantly! I realised that while it sometimes makes sense to limit activities to certain age groups, there are also benefits to letting moms (and dads) at all stages of early parenting get together, share their experiences with one another, see what to expect when their children are a few weeks / months older, let their babies / toddlers interact with other young children – such a different experience from interacting with adults, and at the same time get answers to questions they have about navigating parenting in Germany.
Parenting is hard enough in your native language in your home country surrounded by friends and family. But when you are an international family or an expat family, it adds a whole new level of challenges to this ultimately amazing experience. We are lucky here in Germany that you can often survive with English when it comes to simple daily tasks – especially here in the Rhein-Main area where many global companies have offices. But when it gets down to the nitty gritty of understanding information for parents, or interacting with paediatricians, childcare providers (daycare, kindergarten, school, etc) or even other parents, things quickly get difficult. Nowadays we are lucky that technology is a great help – we can auto-translate websites, use apps to instantly translate texts or even conversations for us, and – in theory at least – access a wealth of information online. BUT, firstly you have to know what you are looking for, and secondly technology is still a poor substitute for human contact, personal experience and intuitive advice.
And that is where I come in! Having been through it twice (my littlies are now 5 and 9), and supported countless English-speaking (i.e. non-German-speaking) friends through their parenthood journey, I am excellently equipped to help you! And if I don’t know the answer to a question, I always know where to find it!
I really hope to meet you at our Mums* Midweek Meet-Up – or one of my other groups / events. Because the feedback from everyone who has been to (or still comes to) my groups, is that this unique combination of networking and support is invaluable and significantly improves your parenting experience!
To date, I have welcomed mums and dads from Oberursel, Bad Homburg, Bad Soden, Eschborn, Kronberg, Königstein, Schmitten, Frankfurt, and even Friedberg to my groups. Where are you based? Will you come and discover the Familientreff in Oberursel (and the lovely cafés, restaurants, shops and playgrounds in the town)?
