Any Polish mums in Telford?

[joanna2]

Hi,
I'm Polish and have been living in Telford for 4 years but haven't met any Polish mums yet.

[nitta17]

Hi, I am not a Polish, but a Hungarian mum. That is very close:-) Would you like to chat with me? I live in Staffordshire (approx. an hour from Telford).

[Frizbe]

don't know if this is any help, but Nottingham has a large polish community, might be worth searching online for any groups? (as not too far away from you?!)

[joanna2]

Didn't know there're many Polish people in Nottingham. It is a bit far away from Telford, but thanks a lot anyway Frizbe.

[joanna2]

Yes, I would love to chat with you nitta17. Haven't got much time though. My 2-year old ds keeps me occupied
How old are your children? Whereabouts in Staffordshire do you live?

[nitta17]

We live in a place called Rugeley between Lichfield and Stafford. My dd only turned 1 ten days ago - she keeps me busy, tooI have been living in England for 2 years being married to an English man. Are you married to one, too?

[joanna2]

My husband is Polish. We got married in Poland and decided to come to England because we like it. We used to come to England for holidays when we were students.
I think we were passing Rugeley last weekend when we went to Cannock Chase. Is that right? We really liked it there and planning to go there again soon. Maybe we could meet in Cannock Chase one weekend? There is a lovely play area there. Don't know if your dd enjoys swings and slides, but my ds does. He turned 2 in March and he can't sit still even for a minute...

[nitta17]

Hi Joanna,
It would be lovely to meet up and go to Cannock Chase. To be honest we live here right next to the forest but we never go out to see it. Shame I am sure my dd would enjoy swings and slides just like your ds. She has already sat in a swing once and she loved it It is great how you came over to England together. Your ds will definitely be bilingual then with speaking only one language at home. We speak in English with dh but I still teach dd Hungarian.

[joanna2]

I'm sure my ds will be bilingual, but at the moment he's mixing up two languages. We normally speak Polish at home, although ds likes to say some words and phrases in English. And I always speak English to him when we are out. He goes to a nursery part-time and sometimes speaks Polish there. Never mind...
Have you got any Hungarian friends or family in England? Has your dd been to Hungary yet?

What's the best time to meet up for you? Does your dd sleep once or twice a day?
Our ds has a very strict routine and we have to follow it, otherwise he gets overtired and very miserable. We always try to go somewhere nice on weekends and we usually go either just after lunch (about 12.30) so ds can have a sleep in the car (it's normally when we go somewhere far away) or when he wakes up (between 3 and 3.30 p.m.). We don't go too far in the morning because he gets tired between 10-11 o'clock.

[nitta17]

Yes, thankfully, I have got some Hungarian friends not far whom we can visit every so often - and it is good for dd to learn Hungarian, too, and with the cheap flights coming in we have had the chance to go to Hungary a couple of times and my parents came over, too. Do you often go to Poland?

Sounds like your ds's routine is almost like my dd's. She sleeps around 10-11 in the morning and in the afternoon around 3-4. (But she sleeps at the childminder's house 4 afternoons a week since I've started a part-job.) She is the most active after lunch. We are free most weekends if that is what suits you. (I am also free on Wednesdays which is my day off.) You you work at all?

[joanna2]

My ds has been in Poland 3 times and we are going again at the end of June. The first time we took him to Poland there were no cheap flights yet so we went by car (he was only 4 mths old then). Very long and tiring journey. Never again! We usually go to Poland once or twice a year for about 2-3 weeks.
Haven't got any family in England. Have got some Polish friends but they live quite far away so don't visit them very often.
I work part-time at a nursery so ds goes there with me (not in the same room though... He always plays up when I come into the toddler room). I do supplies so only work when they need me (when someone is off sick or on holidays). Sometimes it may be 4 days in a week, sometimes just 2 mornings and from time to time no work for a couple of weeks.
The best time to meet up would be a weekend since I don't drive and I'm quite busy in a week anyway. Do you drive?

[nitta17]

I drive a little Fiat which I really like and I need to get to work. I do 16,5 hours in a pharmacy nearby. Only started 3 weeks ago and I enjoy it a lot. It is not what I am trained for - I am originally an English language teacher, graduated in Hungary but I am not sure about going into teaching in England. Plus I wanted a part-time work. (I still do the GSCE though just in case I do decide to go into teaching later on.) Weekends are fine for us to meet. Are you planning to visit the Chase again soon?

Do you like living in Telford? Is it a nice town? (Rugeley is not exactly the most amusing town in the country.)

[joanna2]

Hi again,
How was your weekend? We've been quite busy as usual (never stay at home on weekends). Yesterday we went to visit our friends in Ross-on-Wye (Herefordshire), quite far from here so were a bit tired when we came back. Today went to the soft play centre because it was a bit windy outside. Our ds loves ball pits and big slides... We noticed that he's quite confident there now and didn't have to follow him everywhere (he used to be very accident prone). Just left him in the toddler area and could relax for a couple of minutes.
I quite like Telford, because you can easily get wherever you want and we've got a lovely big park here with lots of children play areas. And if we ever want to have a quiet relaxing weekend we can go to Wales since it's so close.
You know what? I'm an English language teacher as well,but I wasn't sure about teaching English people English (thought that would be a bit ackward...) so decided to get a job at a nursery. I really enjoy working with children.
Are doing anything next weekend? We may go to Cannock Chase if the weather is nice...

[nitta17]

Hi,
We had a busy weekend, too, but we did not go anywhere. Time just flies with gardening, shopping, housework etc. sometimes. Sounds like Telford is a great place to live in.

We are meant to be away on Saturday and DH has a load of marking to do on Sunday (another reason why it is not worth being a teacher) so unfortunately we cannot do this weekend. How about the weekend after? Do you think we could meet then? We just have to order a nice weather

[golds]

gate crashing your thread, just to let you know I live in Stafford. Brought up and went to school in rugeley. Quiet often at Bridley Bank or Marques drive. Hello by the way

[golds]

forgot to add - I'm not Polish though

[joanna2]

Sorry for taking so long. Worked most of the week because lots of staff were off (some on holidays, some ill...). Ds has had some problems with falling asleep recently as well. Yesterday he fell asleep at 9.45 p.m. and up at 6.30 this morning, very miserable all day!
Hope the weather will stay like this till next weekend and we will be able to meet.

[joanna2]

Hi golds,
Are there any nice places to go in Stafford? We try to go somewhere nice every weekend, but have been everywhere around Telford so need some new ideas. And Stafford is not that far away from Telford...

[Jagienka]

Hi,
I'm a Polish Mum but not in Telford - in Derbyshire. If you want to have a chat (in Polish!) about living in the UK come to the forum on gazeta.pl
forum.gazeta.pl/forum/71,1.html?f=591
although I don't recall anyone from Telford, there's lots of us all over Britain.
Pozdrawiam
Jagienka

[nitta17]

Hi Joanna,

Hope your ds is ok and sleeps well again. You must have been tired, too, when he did not sleep. My dd is due her MMR tomorrow - hope she'll be ok afterwards. It would be lovely to meet at the weekend Would you like to activate your C-A-T thing so we can send each other e-mails rather than talking here? Take care, N

[joanna2]

Hi nitta17,
I've activated my CAT so you should get my e-mail address soon. Don't worry, your dd will be fine tomorrow.
Speak to you soon,

Joanna

[joanna2]

Czesc Jagienka,
Bardzo dziekuje za link. Weszlam juz na ta strone gazety i bardzo mi sie podobala. Niestety chyba nie mam tyle wolnego czasu zeby byc na biezaco. Ale od czasu do czasu moze tam zajrze...

Pozdrawiam,

Asia

[Jagienka]

To fajnie, ciesze sie.
Na forum gazetowym zawsze mozna sobie fajnie pogadac, ponarzekac w polskim stylu lub sie poradzic!(zabrzmialam jak jaks reklamowka...)
Pozdrawiam
Jagienka

[paulinka]

hi
i am in birmingham, anyone here? where is telford by the way?

[joanna2]

Hi Paulinka,
Telford is not far from Birmingham (about 40 min) between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury. How long have you been living in Birmingham? Are there any nice places around Birmingham where you could take a 2 year old?

[Jagienka]

Hi,
I wanted to recommend you a great book called "Let's go with the children" : www.cubepublications.co.uk/lets_go_homepage.asp - you can order it for the area that you live in (ie West Midlands) - lots of ideas where to take the kids!
Pozdrawiam
Jagienka