Is Possible to Raise Kids Without the Extended Family Nearby?

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 I realized all I have is my husband and I and that is the best I can hope for, is really good enough.

In time, I learned that friends are precious people to have around like a family. Raising children is already difficult, being expats makes it even more challenging.
I cherish all the people we managed to welcome into our lives since we live in Brno, Czech Republic and consider them as family.
The idea of having a nearby aunt or grandma were to run and simply cry or entrust them with our children for even 1 hour is still a far fetched dream that will never be a reality for us. I still envy other parents for the amazing support they get from their parents and extended family, but I try to correct these thoughts because I know it gets me nowhere.

It is possible to raise great family without support nearby. What helped us:

- stay in touch with people and always try to make new connections, put constant efforts into human relationships and friends;
- I try to ask not how many friends I have out there but to how many people am I a real friend?
- Brno has many amazing activities and nature corners to explore with little one, so we stay outside as much as possible;
- be grateful for every little help
- not being afraid to ask for help
- investing in a dishwasher and cloth washing machine
- take advantage of support from kindergarten if it offers service like private day care, extra hours to babysit
- be organized and try to keep things simple
- declutter and get rid of unwanted things
- cook meals at home
- reduce stress and coffee intake

These are just few of the things that made our lives with small kids easier, feel free to share your tips!