Confessions of a Working "Mum"

So far, we've all been able to juggle work, school and everything in between while I adjust to life in a Swiss office. I was greeted with beautiful flowers on my desk when I started, and everyone I've met in the office has been very welcoming and friendly. There are some things to get used to. For example, I actually clock-in and out, which I've heard is typical workplace practice here. And my European keyboard will take some getting used to: the 'y' and 'z' are switched, so my "thank you's" sometimes come out with an accent ("thank zou"). The punctuation is also different than what I'm used to, so I have to hold my excitement for a few seconds while I find an exclamation point.

Nearly everyone in my immediate department is French, so I'm learning quite a bit about foie gras, the Alsation region, and good French wine (some will argue French wines are the only good wines). French and German are predominant languages in the office, although the official business language is English. I'm sure that at least overhearing both languages so often will help me to learn more.

The kids are thriving at school. Landon is loving learning about math and spelling. Willem is coming home with more and more German, and gives me detailed reports about what he ate during the day. There are some things that make me sad about all the school time: Willem accidentally called me by his teacher's name tonight, which was a reminder that their waking hours are more at school during the week. However, I think they'll both be more independent because of it. And for a while, I'm sure their fingernails will be longer than they should, we'll be running late to swim lessons, and we'll occasionally have cereal for dinner. C'est la vie, right?