Are you planning a trip to Dakar with a toddler and wonder how to keep them entertained? After having visited Dakar with our first born when she was only 2.5 months old (see How to Travel to Senegal with a 2.5 months old baby), CoVid had kept us from going back until she was well…
“But they are so slippery!” From comedians to male but also some female friends – this and the concern of how to safely bathe a new born baby was one of the main comments I received when expecting my first baby. Participating in the “Mama Papa Class” in Japan might have been the best way…
Are you doing your pre-natal yoga, drinking your raspberry tea, doing your stretches, etc.? Are you wondering if there is more that you can do to prepare for a fast and easy delivery of your baby? Good news: There is! A hayflower steam bath. Sorry, the baths are way less glamorous than in the picture…
How do you prepare a maternity leave plan that your employer will love? When you look for maternity leave plan guides, templates or recommendations there are many articles and experience reports from the perspective of the momma-to-be. I have yet to find an article from an organization or a manager talking about how they would…
Throughout my pregnancy people would often say to me “But isn’t it scary to have a baby in a foreign country?” I have had all three of my daughters in Japan. Therefore, a pregnancy in Japan is the norm to me and I hope my experience can put other expecting mommas-to-be at ease. During my…
You just found out that you are pregnant? Congratulations! And welcome to a whole lot of planning, organizing and deciding. Among the things you have to decide is how much time off work you want to take. With my first daughter I went back to work after the end of maternity leave (8 weeks after…
Jealousy? Tantrums? A hurt newborn? Who doesn’t want to avoid these from their toddler as they are bringing a new baby home. When I was preparing for my first management role I also looked into change management and its theory again. There’s the common perception that humans don’t like change but that it can be…
Are you pregnant and still considering your birth plan? Do you want to have a natural birth but are not yet feeling 100% confident about it? Do you worry about what will happen during labour? Hypnobabies offers a complete birth education course to prepare you for it both mentally and physically so that you can…
Taxes – the one thing no one likes but we all have to do. If you’re like me, you have never spent too much attention to your taxes unless for the obligatory year end tax filing. As an employee of a Japanese company the attention became even less as they are handling all tax payments…
There are many different forms of financial support for the pregnancy, birth and baby journey. I have been seeing many different articles and posts talking about some or the other. However, I have not seen a complete list with all the benefits my family is receiving. My experience is based on having two babies as…