Category Archives: Relationships and family

Raising kids is challenging but in a foreign country, it is even more so. It becomes particularly challenging when you discover that your kids know more than you do about the language and the culture.

What happened to Santa Claus?

Santa Claus, St. Nick, or the Christ child? The figure we associate with Christmas takes....

Hot wine and cold toes

Christmas markets are popping up on every corner in Germany, including the medieval town of....

The 37 Days of Christmas

Germans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but they celebrate Christmas half the winter. Starting at the end....

What happened to my pumpkin pie?

It's not a holiday without pumpkin pie, but what I bake is a far cry....

2 Comments

Celebrating St. Martin from the comfort of the couch

Americans celebrate fall with Halloween, but Germans have St. Martin. Children carry lit lanterns in....

2 Comments

No Halloween? No way. My sneaky and successful plot

Some Germans celebrate Halloween, but not all of them. I was determined to find a....

2 Comments

The nightmare of motherhood in Germany

School has started, a good moment to consider the burden on mothers with children in....

Getting lost the old-fashioned way

Those of us who predate GPS know how to get around without using technology. Knowing....

4 Comments

Germans delight in overengineering, taking helicopter mothering to new heights 

Any foreigner in Germany knows all about the country’s love of overengineering. All it takes....

2 Comments

Knee-high by the 4th of July

I fully expected a lot of cultural differences when I moved to Germany. They speak....

2 Comments

A kindness repaid, 40 years later

After an overnight trip from Spain, I was thrilled to finally arrive at the doorstep....

Bring out the Easter eggs – the kids are coming home

Just as I was getting used to not being a mother, my COVID-harassed daughters came....

Home sweet home – only better

I fantasize about taking my kids back to where I grew up to show them....

The nightmare of motherhood in Germany

Germany has the reputation of having generous social programs, with vivid descriptions such as "cradle-to-grave"....

1 Comment

The French girl who wouldn’t talk

Language class is where you learn to speak a language, but just memorizing vocabulary and....

Emotional baggage: why I pack too much on trips home

I used to feel sheepish whenever I took an overpacked suitcase home on a trip....

1 Comment

The travails of travel, from Mozart to the moon

I was tempted to feel sorry for myself when my plane was delayed by a....

Juggling work and family, German minister drops the ball

German minister for the family Anne Spiegel recently resigned after major errors of judgment. Did....

Bring out the Easter eggs – the kids are coming home

Just as I was getting used to not being a mother, my COVID-harassed daughters came....

Can your dog help improve your listening skills? Yip!

What can dogs teach us about communication? Quite a bit

The Unwilling Stage Assistant

If you raise your kids with humor, funny things can happen

2 Comments

The Secret Second Life of Balconies

Balconies are great in summer, but they can be useful in winter in surprising ways.

Of planes to Spain exploring new terrain

I was thrilled when my daughter decided to study Spanish in Spain for three months,....

The ghost hand

What are all of these mittens, socks and scarves doing hanging from bushes, tree branches....

Studying in Germany is nothing like the U.S.

Nothing prepared me for when my daughters set off for German universities. They have little....

Looking for the elusive blood moon

Determined to see the Blood Moon, we wandered through the neighborhood to get a better....

1 Comment

en_USEnglish