You know you’re an expat mum in Spain when…
There are many ways you’ll find yourself adapting to life in Spain, and when you move with a family in tow there will be a lot of changes when it comes to school and kids in general.
Most of these are positive changes, I can’t think of anything negative, some will just take a bit of getting used to!
Following on from our recent post ‘You know you’re an expat in Spain when’… I thought I’d do a similar one about the differences between being a mum in the UK and and an expat mum in Spain…
- You usually introduce yourself to other school mums as “la mamá de…” (the mum of) instead of using your name
- Other school mums are saved in your phone as ‘Alba Mamá’, ‘Victoria Mamá’, ‘Manuel Mamá’ etc
- You find yourself constantly pasting conversations from the class WhatsApp into Google Translate
- You give money and no cards for birthday presents for school friends
- You know never to turn up at a birthday party earlier than 30 minutes after the start time on the invite
- Google Translate is your best friend when it comes to helping with homework
- You’ve got used to songs with explicit lyrics being blasted in public or on the radio
- You don’t miss the endless dress up days and bake sales from school in the UK
- You love not having to get a school uniform ready anymore
- 6 weeks summer holiday seems so short!
- You no longer find it strange going out after 10pm with kids in tow
- You don’t bat an eye lid at kids drinking fizzy drinks at birthday parties or in bars
- Or at the parents drinking alcohol late into the evening while the kids amuse themselves
- Your children’s level of Spanish is way better than your own
- You have lots of after-school plans because they finish earlier and the weather is always nice!
- You wonder how you managed to amused the kids for so long without a pool
- You get used to friends moving back ‘home’
If you’re an expat mum in Spain, what differences have you noticed? And which ones do you prefer?
