Germany

The History of Sleep Training in Germany

May 9, 2011




We’ve all heard people say that babies need to be taught to sleep through the night and that it is necessary to let them cry it out to achieve this. However, the Western child rearing practices of having babies sleep in separate beds (often in separate rooms) and ignoring their cries at night has not [...]

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Playgrounds of Berlin (Wordless Wednesday)

August 4, 2010




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Goodbye Berlin, Hello Canada

July 25, 2010




It seems like just yesterday, I was announcing our upcoming trip to Berlin with my post From Bacon to Bratwurst (and a vegan cafe). Now, 3 months after we arrived in Berlin, we are getting ready to go back home. Having lived in Germany previously, I thought I was well prepared for our visit and [...]

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Adult privilege is exacerbated when children are a minority

July 24, 2010




I’m sure you’ve all heard of white privilege and male privilege. But have you heard of adult privilege? Children are, generally, an oppressed group. They are not treated as equal human beings and are generally not afforded the same rights, respect or consideration as an adult. This is true, I think, pretty much anywhere in [...]

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Neck scarf (“Halstuch”): Fashion or Function?

June 8, 2010




Germans love their neck scarves. They are worn by women and men, young and old, conservatives and alternatives, and everyone in between. These range from a small triangular piece of cloth that is tied behind the neck to longer pieces of cloth that are wrapped around several times. They are worn year-round by some, but [...]

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“Parenting mistakes”: An international comparison

June 2, 2010




‘Tis the season to tell parents what they’re doing wrong, it seems. This past weekend, Amy from Crunchy Domestic Goddess wrote a post called “The 10 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make” – Seriously? Seriously?!! about a post that appeared on Lifescript (an American women’s health website)  listing the following sins of parenting: Top 10 Mistakes Even [...]

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School: Right or Duty? Anti-Homeschooling Law and Propaganda

May 24, 2010




In my reading on parenting and children in Germany, I came across a booklet aimed at children that explains their rights to them. In general, I think it is a great idea to inform children of their rights. However, I draw the line at propaganda in support of contentious legislation. Here is a rough translation [...]

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“Poor cities, expensive day care”

May 22, 2010




In today’s newspaper, I was reading an article called Arme Städte, teure Kitas (Poor cities, expensive day care). Let me (roughly) translate the first few paragraphs for you: It is extremely unfair for parents: Depending on where they live, they will pay very different amounts for day care spaces and often the prices vary significantly [...]

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Breastfeeding and Early Weaning

May 18, 2010




In Canada and in Germany, almost all mothers (more than 90%) plan to breastfeed. However, in both of those countries the percentage of mothers who do end up exclusively breastfeeding is much lower than the percentage of mothers who planned to. Unfortunately, there are still people out there who blame the mothers and who say [...]

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Wordless Wednesday: Don’t Bug Me, I’m Playing

May 12, 2010




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