LivinginBrno

With Lego one can never get bored, so we made sure to stack lots of various LEGOs for this autumn-winter season, as we spend little more time indoors than during the summer times. It brings a lot of challenges for boths toddlers and preschoolers, even we adults love playing with LEGO. I bring today a few in this article review, as we used, tested and are happy with them, but as time will go by, will add more and more toys reviews on the blog, if I see an interest. 1. LEGO Creator SET , comes in a nice storage box, last well in time, the pieces are so easy to handle and really puts the kids' patience and imagination to the test. Make sure to watch the video presentation  for better overview of the lego classic set. Note this set is not suitable for kids under 3 years, so always supervise the kids during play. 2. LEGO DUPLO Farm and Animals SET - this one has amazing pieces, colours and the farm animals, accessories are simply lovely, easy to handle, our younger kid ...

This post didn't come out easily, did a lot of thinking before deciding to write or not write about it. A few years ago I could not imagine to write about such personal experience, but now here it is, I feel it might help others in my situation, as I know I would have few years ago. Coping with gestational diabetes in pregnancy is something that some of us have to do, even though the statistics say we are few moms in this situation, every year I hear of more and more cases.          I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during my 1st pregnancy and now at my 3rd also. At the 2nd pregnancy there was no gestational diabetes but my feeling is that I still had it, as baby no.2 was born big, however thank God he was born in good health and no other problems and both kids are growing nicely, in good health and a lot of appetite for life and activities. What are the steps to follow when having GD?        This time around I am again lucky th...

I gathered all details and necessary documents for requesting a refund from insurance company VZP and will summarise all steps here, on the blog, for future reference and easy use. Is possible to request an yearly maximum of 2000 czk from the VZP klub, under the mother section - this includes also vaccinations, special dietary needs, exercise during pregnancy, dental hygiene or the initial screening during first trimester. In my case, I will submit a request for the initial screening and this tutorial is how I did it using the czech postal services. As you know, you may request it by post or in person at closest VZP branch. Is not guaranteed that money will be refunded but they usually do it, withing 1 month - at least in all my previous applications the money were refunded. It helps a lot, as the 2nd or 3rd trimester special morphological screenings are not covered by insurance, so at least you can cover one of the 3, in case you go for all special screenings. With my first 2 boys, we...

As you already know, our son got accepted into the state kindergarten as of the school year 2019/2020, so we had fun these days with translating the list of rules and all requirements from our kindergarten. As the lists come in czech language and it really can get confusing, I decided to store here a few details, a translation of the list and my own comments or photos whenever necessary. 1st part:  What kid needs for the classroom activities:  This list of requirements is received from kindergarten at the beginning of September and in our case it looked like that:  Translation in English of the above list requirements: toilet paper (8 pieces) - 1 pack paper napkins in a box - 2X paper napkins for nose (10 pcs) - 1X liquid soap in reserve white, regular cleaning paper napkins (100 pcs) plastic bags for snacks/sandwiches (2 packs) paper bags for snacks/sandwiches (1 pack) coloured pencils, non-breaking, hard from the brand koh-i-nor black mark...

I'm on blogger platform for a fairly short amount of time, under one year. Today will share with you a few details about who is reading my blog. I am honoured to see my audience comes from various countries like: 1. Czechia 2. Russia 3. Romania 4. United States 5. United Kingdom 6. Ukraine 7. India 8. Austria 9. Germany 10. France What about the gender of my audience? It seems, according to statistics, that majority are male readers. This was a little shocking for me, I was really expecting more women/mother readers, but is only at the beginning, for sure the balance will soon take its course. Is only a 6 months old blog, wait till it reaches 'toddler' age:) Most read topics in this blog are about: - English speaking doctors' recommendations - paperwork and tips for social services/parental support - advice for finding rent - my birth experience and help for state kindergarten enrolment Thank you for being here, my dear readers, motivators and exp...

This post is not about us and our lovely day today at the Zoo. This post is not about how happy we were today and felt like the luckiest parents in the world. This post is not about recording our second boy's first visit ever to the Zoo. This post is not about how my husband felt like a child during the train trip at the wonderful Zoo and I was again falling in love with him, for the billionth time. This post is not about how our sweet 5 year old boy showed courage and lots of patience during some obstacle game, meant for little older kids. This post is for the curly haired 5 year old boy in the swing. I could see you looking at your parents with your big, clean, curious eyes, who were sitting on a bench just 5 steps away from you. I could hear you asking them to look at you and listen to you. I could hear your silence. I wondered how a 5 year old sits so calm in a swing, for a fair amount of time. I again heard your silence yelling at your parents. I could see your sad...

Being close to our kids during their early childhood has always been a priority, but due to limited contractual restraints from work, back in 2014 I had to return to work fulltime with our son since he was 7 months old. While that helped us a lot financially and triggered the rapid healing of my postpartum depression, I admit those were the most difficult 2 years in our lives. I had a possibility to work a lot home office, husband the same and my tasks were always fulfilled daily, even if they were during 18.00-23.00 hours or at 08.00-15,30, they had to be covered, there was some sort of flexibility that allowed me to be there present at home and also perform work. Thanks to helping for kids' grandparents, who were basically living with us we managed to keep our kid at home and also work fulltime. However it was demanding because we had to be there for him, I had to also cook and clean, do the usual mommy stuff and also work fulltime. As I had some possibility to work at home offic...

The optional vaccinations in Czech Republic are being covered by parents' own funds and while they can get quite expensive, there is still a small amount refunded back to parents for certain vaccinations, yearly in fixed sums, like maximum 500 czk/vaccinated child. Is called the prevention fund and these discounts are not fixed or guaranteed every year, but still, we managed to withdraw it for every child at the right time. 500 czk is not a fortune and it will not make you rich but is better than nothing. In my  last year tutorial  I managed to gather all links and it helps every time I go for that vaccination, for each child. Now that we expect our 3rd child, I was thinking it will for sure help me to have all the steps written here on the blog, so I am just keeping them for future reference hoping it will maybe help other parents. Steps how to request a refund of vaccination from the VZP prevention fund: 1. Register your email here as a member of the club. This...

As you probably know, we already applied for the state kindergarten and on 13th May, the school director already gave me an answer via email that our son got accepted, earning enough points and they called me to the office to pick up the admission confirmation paper. Next step is that we must bring a filled in paper from a pediatrician at the kindergarten, somewhere in June 2019. We are truly happy and grateful that he got accepted, as you can see in  this vlog . Here  you can listen to the enrollment process as experienced by us this year or read it  here . Thank you for reading.

Is not a secret that the Czech Postal Services are working great but for newly arrived expats it might be something easily disregarded. Will be starting a weekly series with short step by steps guides on how to ask some paperwork via email from various Czech based offices. I am doing it first for me, to have these details in future, in case someone asks me or I might just forget and is handy to have it here. If you are on a maternity leave and the term for your Parental Leave start is close, you might need a paper from MSSZ office which states you are on a maternal leave.  If you are Czech native speaker, this guide is not for you and you might even find it funny, this guide is just for new expat moms of Brno - sorry to say it:  exhausted moms, like me who really don't wish to make that trip to Gajdosova street and wait in line to take the paper. First, you can call them but I haven't try that as I cannot speak Czech on that level or any level... if it matters. ...

Finding a free place to a state Czech kindergarten is quite difficult , not only for us as expats but for the Czech people as well. I do trust there is no difference between czech and non-czech kids in this country, the people of Brno and Czech Republic in general, really respect and put children on the first place. I try to think and trust that we are not competing against czech families because I have seen how difficult is for them, as well. Now, that we know we have equal chances, how do we enroll our kid to the state kindergarten. Except for few broken pieces of information available on hidden Facebook groups there is little to almost no information available for the non-czech speaking people.  Maybe you work fulltime and don't have time to read all FB group discussions, that information stays buried there as opposed to having it on a forum or blog. It's odd to me that no other expat parents made such information available to help the rest of us, there are many out...

Before even thinking to start typing an email to that real estate agency for renting a place in Brno, take the time to sit back and relax for a little. To think. What are you searching for? How do you choose and find a place to rent in Brno? Here are my tips, feel free to add more to your own list or use them as a starting point: 1. First, plan your budget and state your maximum  (not here on my blog but to your own attention and notes) - how much are you willing to pay for renting a place in Brno? Write the number down and take into consideration an 8-10 % yearly increase because of the energy recalculation that are counted every 12 months. It might be minus 8-10 %, for us it was always plus (we cook a lot at home, work from home and so on). To that, the landlord might increase yearly around 2% but that is always negotiable and must come with real improvements to the living space. Always try to negotiate 2. Brno is divided into 29 city districts - use online information like...

Being a parent is already hard enough, but parenting your cute, precious little energy bombs in a foreign country brings a little extra to the situation, of course the great things outweigh the bad, at least that is what we think so far. I searched online information about how the expat parenting is done, what are the common traits of expat communities and, particularly, how to the parents living in foreign countries are different from those who live in their native country.  I strongly believe the expat parenting has some peculiarities that are more prominent, we are a different segment of society groups and even if we prefer the global type of thinking and living, our behavior as parents is strongly shaped by the socio-economic context of the country we chose to relocate to. As not much information is available online - for example, statistics or real life opinions about the differences between the two groups, I came up with my own view on this. Far from me to label people - I t...

Trying to learn Czech since 2011 but without much success and results, I quickly stopped my efforts. Now my son goes to kindergarten and cannot procrastinate anymore. I am learning from and for him this amazing, tongue tickling language - the czech language. The text bellow for sure known by most preschoolers in Czech Republic and here is my own, free interpretation in English (in yellow highlights): Hody hody doprovody, Sing this holly holiday Dejte vejce malovaný, Put/bring the painted eggs Nedáte-li malovaný, If you don't have painted eggs Dejte aspoň bílý, Bring at least the white ones Slepička vám snese jiný The hen lays another egg V komoře v koutku In the hen roost corner Na zeleným proutku. In a green nest. Proutek se ohýbá, if the nest will break Slepička kokrhá. Then the hen crows Dejte ji jísti, So take and eat the eggs Dejte jí píti, Give the hen some water Dejte jí semence, Feed it some seeds Ona snese tři vejce. She will mak...

We went to the veggies and fruits market on Saturday morning . It was our first visit this spring and kids were delighted about Brno city appearance, the market, honey bonbons, and gingerbread Easter eggs. I wanted to publish for you a detailed list of the prices on the Saturday farmers' market but was unable to find all I had on my list so here are the ones I got: -  2 branches of medium sized tomatoes - 80 czk (about 120 czk / kg) - 200 g walnuts - 23 czk / 100 g - 200 g goji seeds - 23 czk / 100 g - gingerbread Easter egg (kids were delighted) - 45 czk/ piece - 2 garden flowers in a pot - 15 czk / pot - fresh parsley - 15 czk - 500 g strawberries - 20 czk I wanted potatoes and fresh salads but these were not to be found on the market today. Maybe next time, as the season is not yet fully opened and with the latest freeze session maybe the crops were already damaged. Anyway, hope the cherries will survive this season. What are your thoughts on the farmer markets? Where ...

So, you washed your IKEA cover mattress despite the clear instruction on the label to not do it. Well, I did it because...I have a toddler and had to try and save it. I also washed the cover in a 3h program on 50 degrees Celsius. it did not shrink but I had a very hard time putting it back on. I would do it just once in a mattress' lifetime and only if necessary. If you are in the same situation, do not give up and run to IKEA for a new mattress...If I could put mine back so can you. Here a few tips: - turn the cover inside out and start pulling it on the mattress from one part slowly - grab small parts of the cover so it slides onto itself, allowing thus a smoother pulling on the mattress surface - pull each side at a time, with patience All operation took me about 8 minutes, here I share a video showing my struggle, you might find that helpful: Putting Back On the IKEA Cover Mattress

In 2014 when we had our first son I remember wanting to know other expats' birth experiences but at that time not much information was available online like these days. However, I still don't find an existing online presence where mothers share their expat adventures, except for few meet-ups or facebook groups. So, here it is - documenting for you both in video and text format my own experience with giving birth in Brno. If it helps at least one expat mother to be, my mission is accomplished. The birth of bot our kids took place at Brno FN Bohunice hospital. In this country there is no private maternity hospitals, in case you are wondering about the possibility to give birth at a private center. The public health systems works well enough so all births can be covered by the insurance. In the last 2-4 weeks gynecologist explained me we need to start the special weekly scans and check-ups at the hospital where I want to give birth. Based on her recommendation, I went to Bohun...

Shopping online was a thing for us, even before having the kids, but shopping our food and groceries is happening since 2018. Planning and cooking our meals at home ie enough time and energy consuming so, buying our food just by the click is really a game changer. 1. First we used online shop from Tesco (Brno) during 2017. For a while everything was fine, great delivery, in time, better quality of products like veggies, bread and fruits than what is found on the shelves. The variety of the online offer was not that much at the time. 2. Then in 2018 we discovered the online rohlik shop  and is our favourite and only grocery shop that we use on weekly basis. It provides fresh veggies, fruits, pre-packed meals, M&S food specialities and even an amazing and always growing variety of local farmers's foods like: meats, spreads, plant based meals veggies and fruits. The Bio/Organic offer is staggering and really very good quality. All you really need is one good grocery shop a...

I vote for staying at home to raise the kids as much as possible and this post is about my experience and reasons why I chose to stay on a longer maternity leave rather than starting to work earlier. 1. I get to raise my own children, rather than working and paying another stranger to do it The private day care costs around 5000-10000 czk/month - by paying this fee, not much of my salary remains, so it simply is not worth it financially 2. These early childhood years are so precious and go by so fast - that is actually the most important reason of all, overcoming any financial or physical demands of raising children 3. I manage to cook healthy homemade meals more than ever - it gives energy to raise them, among many obvious reasons like - less expenses 4. Being stay at home mom might seem hard and it really is exhausting at times - but I still find the time for me and even a hobby - before having kids I didn't care about my hobbies 5. I get more involved in the communi...

I have put together a list of English speaking doctors for Brno area, in hopes it might help expats to find the help they need easily. Most of the doctor professionals bellow are recommended from own experience, for few specialties I had to gather the links from other friends' or expats' recommendations, as some do not accept anymore new patients (like for ex.: my gynecologist, dentist). Urology: Surgal Clinic  -  MUDr. Jan Králík . Private clinic but, as most in this country, it helps and accepts also public insured citizens. Appointments go smooth and you must call or email before just to be sure your specialist doctor is available Bohunice Pavilion X also has Urology Ambulance  (link here) and all doctors there speak English, but is harder to get appointments because the nurses handle the calls, but the medical care is excellent; private Urologic Clinic  -  must pay out of pocket, not for public insured people MUDr Pavel Trojan Endocrinology: MU...

Once per year is possible to withdraw a discount from your insurance company for various extra medical services, nutrition or dietary needs. In my next tutorial I show you how to ask for the refund for optional vaccination and is in amount of 500 czk/ child/ year, maximum, Tutorial is in video format and feel free to ask any questions: How to Request a VZP Refund - Tutorial Note that the VZP club may provide refunds for various other medical needs, just read more at the offcial VZP club page. Thank you for stopping by!

Not much is written on the parenting experience as expats and far less is documented online about raising children without the support from an extended family. I will briefly summarize what it means for us as expats in Czech republic to have a family without any support from the ' village'. In 2014,  we had our first son and I was really scared about the idea of being far away from family and with almost zero support from anyone. I cried many days and waited 2 long weeks to make courage and give my son a first bath as newborn. Although the nurses had instructed me how to do it and there were many online helpers, I really missed some other mom around me - maybe my own mom, just anyone with more motherly experience. In the end, my husband said - 'look I will help, is our son, what can go wrong, we know him better than anyone, let's give him a bath, everything will be alright, no worries.' And we just did it, it was actually simple task. That was crucial moment when ...