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“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? ” 
― Mary Oliver

I am grateful that through this blog I met so many inspiring families. 

I  would love to hear from you too!

If you have any questions or you would like to share your story, please feel free to contact me

  • by email at: mothers-abroad@gmx.at

  • or by using this form here bellow:

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Mother-Daughter Time ✨ « Although I have been a school and family counselor for more than thirty years, I have never met a genuinely disobedient child or teen. What I have encountered are myriad disoriented kids.” - Kim John Payne, author of the widely beloved book “Simplicity Parenting” I think there few things that provoke more disorientation in a child than the arrival of a sibling. But what we see is often the top of the iceberg: regression, conflicts between siblings, older children provoking their parents and transgressing family rules, etc.. Or maybe we don’t notice anything or prefer not to see and say “everything is fine”. But then the disoriented child is left feeling lost and unsafe. When my son was born I wondered where is my daughter because I couldn’t recognise her anymore. My sweet little girl became someone else. She was adorable with her brother but defiant with us. At least that’s how it looked like on a superficial level. The biggest picture was that she lost her entire world, her parents who were there only for her. Things changed dramatically when I acknowledged her feelings “ Yes, you love your brother very much. And yes, you wish he was not here.” This is hard to say that because, as parents, we love all our children but it’s even harder for a child to have these mixed feelings. It’s so confusing to love a sibling and yet wish he stayed in your mother’s belly . Not to mention the guilt that comes with thinking something like this . It took us a while to figure it out. But after acknowledging her feelings and making time to be together, just the two of us, every week, my daughter was back to her best self again. Every now and then the disorientation comes back and that’s a barometer for me, telling me we need more time together ❤️❤️
Mothers ✨ Day ✨ How was your Mothers Day? I woke up to this beautiful presents made by my 4 years old: drawings, cards, a visit cards holder and a wallet, everything made by her only using paper and washi tape. I was amazed because she did this without being prompted, just because she found out it’s Mothers Day in Germany. She amazes me every day and I feel so lucky that I was born a mother thanks to her ❤️
Kids in the kitchen ✨ If you believe in a involving children in the kitchen but you feel like it’s not working very well, don’t despair! After a very enthusiastic stage (when my daughter was 15 months old to 2,5 years old ) we had a very chaotic- frustrating stage, where she wanted to cook or bake something together but ended up eating all the ingredients and saying “this is too difficult” not because it was, but because she had no interest anymore. This lasted almost one year. But now she is in a new stage, where she comes to me with her own goals: “I want to make an omelette”, “I will prepare a salad”, “Let’s bake a rhubarb apple crumble”. And it’s fun and delightful again! So if you are in the chaotic/ frustrating stage with your little one(s), don’t worry. Keep the kitchen accessible to them, continue inviting them to be part of baking and cooking. If they only eat the ingredients and play with the flour, that’s fine. If they just stand on their learning tower and watch you doing, that’s fine too. It will come back. They will one day want to do it by themselves again. It will come in it’s own time. In which stages are you with your little ones?
Little hands ✨ Homeschooling my 4 years old + attachment parenting my baby = one of the biggest challenges I took in my life but to see them laughing and playing together makes me so happy. Our plans will change in the next months, due to our relocation to a new country and they will spend less time together but these first months are the foundation of their relationship as siblings and they are filled with so much love for each other.
Montessori Shared-Spaces ✨ Designing a “Montessori Home” for more than one child is not an easy thing. Especially when the age gap is pretty big, in our case 4 years. But it’s still possible. I have written on the blog about him my daughter and son share there spaces (link in the bio) ✨
Things I want to remember ✨ ... this gorgeous garden in spring We are so grateful to have seen this garden blooming in the past 3 years. Now it’s time to slowly, slowly say goodbye to our life here in Germany #thingsiwanttoremember
Little feet ✨ .. discovering/ rediscovering grass
Easter Celebrations ✨ This year we will be travelling for Easter so we won’t be doing dyed eggs but if you are looking for ideas, books to read, recipes for felted wool eggs and naturally dyed eggs, have a look on the blog, link in the bio ✨
On my desk ✨ I used to sit here to write on my blog but I haven’t managed to do so for such a long time. Homeschooling my daughter, attachment parenting my son and preparing for (another!) move to a new country have taken all my time and energy in the past months. Also, I deliberately and mindfully choose to spend just a very small amount of my time on social medias and on my blog. I don’t want my children to think that screens are more important than real life. I don’t want them to see me distracted by my phone or my computer. So I usually write at night, when they are asleep. I do so surrounded by their pictures and drawings as you can see here on this picture of my desk. I wonder.. how do you mums find balance between your time online and offline? Would love to hear your thoughts .. ✨❤️

Mothers Abroad

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I’m Cristina, a life coach and a mother who has lived in 6 countries so far.

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