Family Life in Spain

We love our family life in Spain.  We believe we have chosen a great place for our children to grow up. Right now, we couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

By adapting to the Spanish way of living, you are able to integrate easier and reap the rewards of their relaxed and sociable way of life. Family first and happy children are just some of their priorities.

However, it isn’t always easy. You often have to change your chip. For starters, banish any thought that starts with the words “But in the UK … “

We will take a more detailed look at obstacles that need to be dealt with and overcome in another post. However, for today, we’d like to share some humorous observations about life as a mum in Spain.

So, here are our suggestions of signs that you’re adapting to life as a mum in Spain… 

1. You introduce yourself as “la madre de  …”, (the mother of…), more often than your real name.
2. You know your “barra” from your “bocadillo”, from your “pitufo”, from your “sandwich” …
3. When the children ask for “jamón” (ham) you need to check whether they want “Serrano” or “Cocido” (Spanish cured or boiled).
4. You no longer flinch when Spanish radio and TV play the explicit lyrics of UK / US songs and videos.
5. You’re not upset by people saying “Adios” (goodbye) when they meet you in the street.
6. Your phone contacts are :  Barbara Madre; Barbara Padre; Roberto Madre; Roberto Padre; Violeta Madre …(you get the gist  )
7. You buy clothes instead of toys as birthday presents for children.
8. You stop dreading the arrival of the 12 weeks school summer holidays.
9. You no longer feel guilty helping the children to finish their homework … especially when it’s colouring!
10. You can throw together a full fancy dress outfit for a school dance with less than 24 hours notice.
11. You need a trolley (or a hubby!) to carry all your stuff to the beach.
12. You are totally unflustered when you receive a note on Friday evening telling you that it’s a one week school holiday … starting on Monday!

Here are a few more suggested by friends, who have adapted to life as a mum in Spain on Twitter:

From @carolmarybyrne

• You can throw together dinner at 10pm for 16 kids, without even blinking.
• You can make up an extra 6 beds because it’s fiesta (this weekend) luckily breakfast just involves throwing packets of pan de leche at them.
• You can be summoned to a reunion or Ampa (parent’s) meeting 5 minutes before it starts – no notice – and relax, you know it’ll actually be 2 hours late actually starting.

From @soc1albutterfly   

• You don’t bat an eyelid at keeping your children out in bars and restaurants until well after midnight.
• You go outside to find a pool full of children…and most of them aren’t yours!

From @Louise_Brace

• When I started to call my daughter ‘la niña’ instead of Nuria !

From @Casslar

• You are sad for your friends and relatives in the UK who love your pics of school shows and events, and are not allowed to take photos of their own kids’ big moments
• To their English grandparents’ horror, your children do not possess any wellies

I’m sure there are many more to add to this list. Please add your comments below or Tweet them to us via @FamilyInSpain.

BTW I still can’t manage one of the signs listed from 1 to 12. Can you guess which one it is?