by Jenny Scheer The notion that I would offer up parenting advice is laughable considering the way I struggled with the transition to motherhood when I had my firstborn in Uganda 20 months ago. I considered writing a blog post about how hard the first 3-4 months were. Not one of those posts about how … Continue reading 6 Reasons to Add a Nanny to Your Village
by John Walsh When friend and family visit you while living overseas, it can be a tremendously uplifting time of re-connection, support and encouragement. It also gives you an opportunity to show off your adopted country to your loved ones. But, frankly, these visits also have the potential to be exhausting. The pressure of entertaining … Continue reading 10 Ways to Host Friends and Family Well
by Tanya Crossman My first post in this series explored a “lesson” TCKs learn through growing up internationally: that everyone leaves. Next, I paused to address a very common response: “what about the internet?” The internet allows for relationships to be maintained long-distance, which is so very helpful! But it doesn’t actually solve the underlying problem. Now in … Continue reading TCK Lessons: After “Everyone Leaves”
by Tanya Crossman In part one of this series, I explained the lesson “Everyone leaves.” This is something most TCKs “learn” through their experiences growing up internationally. I chose to leave space at the end of the piece to reflect on how this “lesson” affects TCKs, rather than jump straight to solutions. When we skip straight … Continue reading TCK Lessons: “What About the Internet?”
by Tanya Crossman The experience of living overseas as a child is very different to the experience of living overseas as an adult. The impact of childhood experiences last a lifetime. They are formative experiences – they teach us how the world works. We all internalise ‘lessons’ from our childhood experiences. TCKs grow up between … Continue reading TCK Lessons: “Everyone Leaves”
We can tell a lot about each other by looking at our autocompletes. For instance, start typing “I can’t find my” into a text message and see what it thinks will come next. For me, it’s “keys,” “wallet,” and “phone.” That’s pretty insightful: I have a car, I’m a guy, and I’m absent-minded enough to have my … Continue reading Moving Abroad Can Sure Mess with Your Autocomplete
This post originally appeared on The Culture Blend.com “I AM NOT A RACIST!” The Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan Donald Trump Bill Clinton Malcolm X (and practically everyone who has ever been accused of racism) This post is hard for me. Here’s why. I’m not that kind of blogger. I’m not an … Continue reading I Am Not A Racist — and other things I wish I knew were true
I felt my face grow hot. I was in a small town shopping at a smaller store when a well-meaning woman stopped and asked me about the purse I had with me. “That’s a beautiful purse” she said brightly. “May I ask you where you got it?” “Oh” I said, a smile lighting up my … Continue reading “So – Is that out of state?” And Other Questions We Navigate
by Lauren Wells It is important for parents raising children anywhere to be continually engaging and checking in with their kids. When you are raising TCKs, this is even more important. TCKs are privy to struggles that mono-cultural children don’t often have to face, so being aware of that and taking time to routinely ask … Continue reading 10 Questions to Routinely Ask Your TCKs
By Lauren Wells The topic of TCKs and grief is one that circulates often on online forums about TCKS, and there is a good reason for this: we know that TCKs deal with a significant amount of loss. In fact, they experience more losses in their first 18 years than most mono-cultural adults do in … Continue reading 7 Ways to Teach Your TCKs to Process Grief
(this is a repost from Djibouti Jones) Myth 1: Adventure I’m an expatriate! Cue the Indiana Jones soundtrack, give me a whip and a cool hat, and let’s have an adventure! Okay my husband does have an Indiana Jones hat and I have used an Ethiopian whip, but life as an expatriate is not all … Continue reading 6.5 Myths About Expat Life
By Lauren Wells When you become a parent, you quickly realize that there are a plethora of strong opinions about just about anything regarding the rearing of your children. When you are parenting TCKs, the voices are even louder. TCKs often have unique challenges that make parenting far from straightforward, and this is particularly true … Continue reading Should TCKs Take Their Parents to College?
