We’ve got mail

Although the UK newspapers report 25° Celcius as a heatwave, you’ll still find these ex-South Africans swimming at one of the many beaches when the temperatures are a lot lower than that!

My husband, Gary, and I live in Poole, South West England with our two daughters, Chloé and Sophia. When we moved to the UK, we left all our summer clothes behind. Well, were we surprised when we managed to go swimming in the sea the autumn we arrived. Although summer here is shorter, from mid-spring to mid-autumn you’ll find us swimming at one of the many beautiful beaches most weekends. When it’s 25° Celcius, it makes the headlines as being a “heatwave”.

Gary is a web developer, and I’m a paediatric occupational therapist. However, on our arrival, I was a full-time mom, as I still had to do all the admin to convert my degree. While that process was unfolding, I got involved in running a weekly toddler and story group, which meant I could have Sophia with me. And childcare is super expensive here, so the pocket money from that helped a lot. One of the first things we did after finding a place to stay was to look for a church. Here, many of the churches host weekly toddler groups with free toys, snacks and coffee for the moms.

This is the place I had all my mommy questions answered. Most of the libraries also host weekly toddler rhyme and song groups, and we have found our favourite group there already.

When it comes to finding a play school (here they call it pre-school), the service is amazing. They are very strict about the ratio of adult to child for children under 4. From the age of 3 they are entitled to 18 hours a week, free! We enrolled Sophia into a forest school. The kids go on a bus and spend a day with the forest as their classroom. She even got out in the rain and icy weather, falling asleep on the way home, totally exhausted. As an OT, I was thrilled with them playing outside in mud kitchens, swinging in trees and building stick houses.

Health and safety is a big deal.

If Sophia gets a little bump at school, we get a letter explaining what happened. However, finding a family doctor has been challenging. We basically got assigned to a group of doctors – which I haven’t found ideal – but I guess it’s free through the National Health Service; that’s the upside. Although English is the first language here, we have had a few laughs at some of the different words used. I asked where to find tea at one of the supermarkets and got pointed to the frozen dinner meals. I think I finally have it figured out: breakfast is breakfast, lunch is dinner, supper is tea, and supper is hot chocolate and biscuits before bed. My most embarrassing ”word” mistake has to be referring to bringing along an extra pair of ”pants” – I had no idea this meant underwear – to my 6-year-old’s dance class. That’s one way to embarrass your kids! So, now they are either trousers

– I always feel too posh saying that word – leggings or ”tracky bottoms”.

During the summer, they’re on the beach or at one of the lovely parks, and I’m constantly having to keep an eye on the time. With the sun setting close to 10pm in the summer, it’s very easy to lose track. The only way to keep a reasonable bedtime is with very good block-out curtains.

In winter time, it’s beanies, scarves, coats and gumboots (or Wellies). The sun sets close to 4pm, so we’re often snuggled up in our PJs pretty early, and I am so grateful for central heating and heated towel rails in the bathroom (sooo luxurious). Making a move with a young family has been challenging as well as exciting. As a family, we’ve grown closer, and it’s been a great opportunity to teach our girls lessons in patience, gratefulness and the importance of having a good attitude and choosing to make the best of whatever situation we’re in.

Our girls (and us) have been so spoilt to form sweet friendships with cousins they hardly knew before moving here.

Of course, the hardest part has been being away from family (especially grandparents) and special friends who seemed even further away when the world shut down because of Covid-19. We had to get creative with video calls and voice notes to keep relationships close. Although we’ve always treasured holidays and special times with family, I think after 2020 we will hold tighter, hug more and treasure those family holidays packed with quality time together even more. ●