Kindergarten in German is Kindergarten

In Dallas, Charlotte had been attending pre-school four days a week at a small facility run by our church. She loved it. She loved her friends. She loved her three teachers. She thrived on the routine and was making great progress on her social skills.

When we came over for our visit back in February, we were excited to find a small international school just across the border in Switzerland which would support a global education, in English. It is also an IB school, so we knew the academics were going to be good too. When we visited, the staff spoke about that the students come from 31 different countries and that there are at least 29 languages spoken by students & staff. We were really excited for Charlotte to be able to grow in that community.

When we visited, it was the school’s ski break (yeah, that’s a thing here, you get a week in February to go skiing and then another week in May for Spring Break). But it allowed us to walk into all the classrooms and take pictures since there were no students on campus. I took a few pictures of the kindergarten classroom and play areas in hopes that Charlotte would also get excited.

You know what she was most excited about? The pirate ship. That’s what she talked about for three months. “I’m going to go to a new school with a pirate ship playground”

In fairness, I would too.

Fast forward to us living here now.

The school is year round, meaning they didn’t finish the ‘21-‘22 until the end of June then started ‘22-‘23 in mid-August about the same time US schools started. The school allowed us to enroll her early to finish out the last 6 weeks of classes so that she could get a little flavor for the routine and also make some friends. We thought that was a great idea to help her get settled in. So off we went to the unofficial first day of Kindergarten.

On her first day, we also happened to hit the monthly bake sale / PTA fundraiser so we ended up buying a brownie to celebrate our first day. Needless to say, she thought this was the best school ever. Also, please note the state of her knees at the end of the day - she had a GREAT day on the playground.

As we got to know the school more, we realized how much they taught through nature and exploring. The main lesson or “unit of inquiry” as they term it for the last six weeks was on mini-beasts (or small bugs as I eventually figured out). The class would often take a hike to explore a field and look at what bugs they could find. One day a farmer let them all pet sheep. Charlotte came home so excited that she’d found all sorts of flies. GRRRREEEAAAAT!

They also are not afraid to get messy. They filled the sand pit with water one day and let the kids play in the mud.

My washing machine will never be the same.

Potentially Charlotte’s favorite day was when they brought in a small pool and told all the kids to bring a swimsuit as part of PE. Bless the teachers who got them back after “swimming” and feeding them ice cream pops.

We’re excited to see where “real” Kindergarten takes her next year.

Keepin' it Clean

Y’all. This is a moment about the mundane.

We have a washing machine. Our landlord even provided us with an instruction book. The book is in German.

Today, when this little red cross warning light came on after I did a load of laundry, I panicked. But I found the book and looked it up to see if I could figure out what was wrong.

I’ve translated this for you.

A free bratwurst to anyone who can figure out the English to real English translation on this one.

Settling In

Let’s talk about Olivia’s daycare.

Olivia is 18 months old and has never been to day care. We’ve been lucky that both our jobs have been largely remote lately and have afforded us some pretty great flexibility so she has stayed home with us for all of her life. We’ve had a few nanny’s here & there when we needed extra support but for the most part, she’s seen big sis go off to pre-school every day and she’s been at home. With me working over here and the world returning to whatever normal is going to look like, we decided that we needed full time care for her. Plus, Olivia is really our hope to learn German first - she’s just starting to use English words and I think she’s probably in the best position to absorb a new language.

In Lichtenstein there is a state run program centers called “Kita”s. Some are traditional daycares, some are more focused on after school or summer care for school age kids and some are a mixture. Based on the 4 that we’ve visited, all are super clean and have very friendly people working in them. We are also super excited that there is one across the street from my office. When we registered for it, however, we were waitlisted until August :( So we went in search of plan B. We toured a couple other locations and even some outside of the Kita network, but very few of the locations liked the fact that we just wanted care for May - July, the response we kept getting was that it went against the pedagogic system of the schools to only have short term care then switch locations. Aside, several places used the word ‘pedagogic’, which I admittedly had to look up what it meant the first time - it’s the educational philosophy of the daycare system in case you wonder.

Now, I don’t disagree that all of this transition will be hard on Olivia, but at the same time unless a location can open up more slots, I don’t have much of a choice. We need to work at least some before August. So we finally convinced a place to open a slot for two days a week from May 15 - July 15. Again, not ideal, but it’s something. And maybe going to a temporary place for a couple days a week will get her used to the idea of going somewhere for school. The place that accepted us in the complete opposite direction than anything else we regularly frequent. Luckily, it’s a small country, so the “complete opposite direction” takes me an extra 15 minutes of driving. Annoying, but for a temporary situation, not the end of the world.

Continuing with their pedagogic philosophy, you don’t just drop your kid off at daycare on day 1. You have to go through two weeks of “settling in” time. Every day for two weeks, Olivia & I went up to the daycare and for the first three days, I stayed with her, we played, we went on a walk with the rest of the kids, we ate. Then on day 4, I stayed for 15 minutes then I left for 30 (I just went and sat in the car outside) then I came back for 15 minutes. She cried most of the 30 min I was gone. We slowly worked our way up to me being gone for four hours (that time I went to the grocery store – by myself, do you know how amazing that is???). When I returned at the end of the four hours, she was on the patio in one of those Little Tikes ride in cars (you know the red & yellow one with the roof & the door that opens & closes - you’ve all had one). And guess what y’all. She looked up at me and goes ‘mama’ then turned her car and scooted away back towards the other kids. I’ve never been so happy to be rejected.

We are, as of today, officially “settled in” to this daycare. So she’ll go two days a week for the next two months then we get to do settling in all over again at the new facility. My petition to skip it since we’d just done it at the other location was denied…pedagogic nature and all…

All ready for our first official day of daycare!

"I like it here. There's snacks." ~Olivia

Don't teach a 4 year old to yodle...and other things I learned today

The mourning dew clung fresh to the galvanized railing of the patio and the air was crisp with a spring chill as the anticipation that comes with a child's first encounter with the mountains reached peak excitement. Since we told Charlotte that we would be moving to Central Europe we’ve tried to promote the excitement of living someplace different and getting to explore areas we’ve never been before. And as she loves going on walks, hiking in the mountains felt like a really good way to get her interested in her new surroundings. Truthfully, all it took was talking about alpine meadows and fields of pretty flowers and she was in.

So on a cool and bright Sunday morning, Charlotte and I loaded up our backpacks with snacks and water bottles and went up the mountain.

So we made our way up to Steg, a small village on the road to Malbun which we were told has a lake and some nice easy trails to walk through beautiful Alpine scenery. Upon arriving we took some pictures of the little village and then crossed over a stream of snow runoff that was roaring down the mountain! It was surprisingly loud given it’s relatively small size and Charlotte and I spent a good 15 to 20 minutes just watching and talking about the little stream and how it would travel down to larger streams in Liechtenstein before joining with the Rhein that ultimately flows into the Ocean.

We then made our way up to the lake and the dam. One of Charlotte’s favorite places to visit in Dallas is the dam at White Rock Lake so this was a good entry point to our first mountain hike.

From the dam you can look across the lake and see a very picturesque alpine field complete with yellow flowers to match our favorite sundress.

Now fully caught up in the excitement of finally seeing what she and I have been talking about for several months Charlotte was off down the path running, skipping, singing and dancing her way through the Alps. I’ve literally never seen her so excited and frankly that’s saying a LOT for our highly emotive oldest child!

Once I finally caught up with her we stopped for lunch and visited with the local swan population who have taken up residence in the lake.

Like pretty much every other kid I’ve been around, one of Charlotte’s other favorite things is to jump into puddles. Just upstream from the lake is a very shallow area that is flanked by picnic tables, fire pits where several other families were enjoying the day and braving the cold waters. As soon as Charlotte saw other families walking through the stream there was absolutely no convincing her that it was too cold to walk through so baring our feet, and maybe clenching our teeth against the bitter cold a little as well, we waded into the icy water. Charlotte would have stayed in that stream the rest of the day but after 10 minutes I could no longer feel my toes and decided it was probably best if we finished our walk and came back again in the summer for more fun in the stream.

And though she would never admit wanting to get out of the water she also didn’t fight my suggestion of putting our shoes back on so we could walk back to the car and have our mini fruit pie dessert as a reward for our first successful mountain adventure!

A family again

And we’re a complete family unit again!

While having time and space to get our apartment ready, find grocery stores and get established at work was really helpful it was also incredibly lonely. I missed these faces so much

And getting to watch them explore...

And getting to snuggle

And even a little bit of this attitude

I know Olivia it was a long time to be apart but I’m so happy to see you I’ll let you stand on whatever table you want ... this week! And after that it will be time to go find new places to explore that we can continue to share with all our friends!

A girls trip across the ocean

While Adam had to start his new role in Liechtenstein on April 1st (therefore flying overseas on March 28th) my last deadline for work wasn’t until March 29th and I knew that it wasn’t going to be possible for us to have the house sold & packed and all our goodbyes said and everything else done that goes with an international move in time for us all to relocate together. So, we made the tough decision that Adam would go and then the girls & I would follow in wave two a few weeks later. Let’s just say that I’m pretty sure Adam got the quieter end of the deal.

We also realized how difficult it would be for me to fly internationally with two tiny humans so we asked / persuaded / coerced (you pick the verb) my mother to fly with us and spend a few days helping us get settled in. Thankfully the tiny humans are cute and she said yes.

Mom was booked to fly from Austin to Dallas then join us on the Dallas to Philadelphia and Philadelphia to Zurich flights. Until she was notified the evening before we were to go that her flight from Austin was delayed which meant she would have missed all the connections. Thankfully she saw the notice and spent many hours on the phone with American Airlines service counter to get rebooked. All of which meant she got about 3 hours of sleep that evening.

The girls and I were staying at Adam’s parents house after selling ours and having all our earthly possessions (minus three suitcases and five carryons) packed up to either go to long term storage or eventually float it’s way to Liechtenstein. {Aside: do you know how long it takes a boat to dock in Liechtenstein??} I had spoken with American Airlines earlier in the week and explained that I was traveling alone with two small children and asked if my Mother-in-law could come through security with me to help me get to the gate. Not a problem they replied, just ask for a day pass when you check in and as long as she has valid ID, she can come through. So off we went to the airport. We checked in, they viewed everyone’s passports, they took our bags. I asked for a day pass for my Mother-in-law who was going to help me with the children through security. The worker told me they do not issue day passes except for ADA reasons. I told them of the conversations I’d already had over the phone, they called a manager over, they still decided they couldn’t issue a pass. My Father-in-law talked to the AA concierge since he’s a Platinum member, still no. We were less than impressed. So now I was faced with taking two kids, a diaper bag, two rolling suitcases, a stroller, a carseat & a backpack through security by myself. “Oh, and by the way, the TSA precheck lanes are closed so you have to take off your shoes for you and the 4 year old, but the one year old can leave hers on.” I stared at the guy then looked at Olivia who had just taken off her shoes. It’s funny now that I’m here & writing about it. For the record, it was not in the moment.

We waited it out for a few minutes to try to find a bit of a lull in security but there didn’t seem to be any slowing of people trying to go through so we said our goodbyes to the Powells and headed in. We made it through. I feel for the TSA folks, they tried their best to help us and meet all the restrictions but we were loud, disorganized and had way too much stuff to coral. Thankfully just outside the entrance stood my Mom who was about as nervous about the entire situation as I was. She sprang into action and got the kids something to eat and all around a table so I could walk down the terminal and walk off a little of my frustration.

McDonald's to the rescue!

We found our gate and had a few minutes to kill so Charlotte & I went to ride the SkyLink while Mom & Olivia watched the luggage.

The plane arrived and the passengers started to get off then Mom & I spotted a paramedic crew standing at the gate with a stretcher. We then noticed them starting to glove up like they were going to go into action. This is when I got nervous again – though to be fair, I’m not convinced I had stopped being nervous all day. We waited what felt like an eternity for all the passengers to deplane then watched the paramedics go down the jetway at about the time boarding for our flight was supposed to commence. Awhile later, the paramedics reappeared helping a flight attendant off of the plane who was holding bandages to her head. We will never know if there was an altercation in flight (I assume no, because nobody that we saw left in handcuffs) or if just something fell in landing or deplaning. Mom & I pushed forward and took advantage of family boarding so we could get everyone in their seats. I took Olivia’s car seat and strapped it into her plane seat in the thought that she would then feel at home and go to sleep on the flight.

She did not.

She kicked and screamed the entire 3hrs and 17min flight to Philadelphia.

All boarded & hoping for sleep...that didn't happen

LeapFrog DVDs for the win!

We were supposed to have about a 90 min layover in Philly which I thought was just about perfect to stretch legs and move to the other gate and get back on the big silver tube for the long flight. Except that we were delayed because of the medical situation then apparently we didn’t have landing clearance because we circled for awhile. By the time we got to the gate we had 25 minutes until boarding of our next flight. Eeek.

While waiting in the plane for everyone else to get off because, oh did I mention we were at the THE. VERY. BACK. we made some friends one of whom said, “how can I make your life easier?” Those words will never leave my mind. What kindness. No assumptions of what I might need, but a genuine offer to help in a tangible way. I asked if he could carry Olivia’s car seat off of the plane so I could just carry her and the diaper bag. We finally got off the plane, the stroller was thankfully waiting for us at the end of the jetway, the kind gentleman placed the carseat on top of the stroller for me then we took off. I pushed the stroller with a full carseat on top, had the diaper bag across me, Olivia on my hip. Charlotte had her backpack full of plane toys and stuffed animals. Mom had the two rolling suitcases and her backpack and purse. We looked like the opening credits to the Beverly Hillbillies. But oh, this is fine, we’re at gate A13 and our next flight is at A24, those have to be fairly close.

Wrong again.

A13 and A24 are about as far away from each other as they can be 😠

We ran / jogged / powerwalked our way across half of Philadelphia. There is only one flight to Zurich a day and I was going to be on it. I figured if I could make it with the stroller, I could stall long enough for Mom & Charlotte to catch up. And thankfully that is just about what happened. I showed up as they were calling Group 7. By the time the gate checked the stroller and reviewed all my passports and covid documentation, Mom was in line just behind me. Somehow we switched and she got ahead of me by the time we were actually getting on the plane – I imagine I was dealing with a child or a stroller or something but to be honest a few memories are a bit fuzzy in this whirlwind. Anyway, the plane was a 787 so it was 3 sets of 3 seats across. The girls and I were in middle and Mom was in the same row in the aisle of the next section. As we started to settle in, flight attendant came up to me and said that we were not allowed to sit in the middle section with a carseat since it’s too difficult to get around incase of emergency, so we would need to relocate to a side section to put the carseat at a window. She also said that the plane was nearly empty so she was going to move us up a section to the Main Plus so we wouldn’t be as crowded. In another act of extraordinary kindness, she also let us sit 2 & 2 behind each other so that Charlotte could also have a window and we had a little more room to spread out. We had dinner on the plane. Either my taste was still messed up from all the nerves and trauma of the day or airline food has gotten even worse, but I picked at some bread; Olivia at the crackers and Charlotte balked at everything and had applesauce packs I’d stashed in the diaper bag.

I think Olivia passed out as they dimmed the cabin lights – poor kid didn’t get a nap & had been through a lot so she was exhausted. Charlotte took a bit longer but was soon sprawled across her seat, the spare seat & most of my Mom’s seat. I’m never going to understand how my Mother managed to stay awake again, but her adrenaline had kicked in and despite only having three hours of sleep the night before, she was awake most of the flight…perhaps it was also the 4 year old kicking her…

We landed and I told Mom we were taking our time getting off the plane, I was no longer rushed to get anywhere and we could get ourselves a bit organized before sprinting around. So we did. We cleared immigration and customs and rounded the corner to the best sight we’d had in three weeks. We were back together as a family!