Anyone in Madrid?

[eggnog]

Are there any other Mnttrs in Madrid? Been feeling a tad lonely recently....

Hi Eggnog
Home for us is Madrid (Torrejon de Ardoz) but at the moment we are in Ronda due to my husband's job. We will be back in Madrid at the end of Jan '07.
Didn't want to ignore your message as I know how it feels to be lonely (both a tad and much more!) I am due to have my first baby in two weeks time and don't know anybody here in Ronda, not to mention being somewhat scared about giving birth... The last four months have be somewhat stressful to say the least! Where exactly are you in Madrid?

oooh, how exciting, i thought i was all alone on mumsnet from madrid! We are in la moraleja, just north east of madrid on the A1. i gave birth here in madrid 9 months ago so know how it feels to be pregnant in a foriegn place. had a v boring day today, ill baby and no one to have a coffee with not the end of the world, but no fun all the same. My friends here are mostly forces wives and a few have been posted elsewhere for the new year so once again i am watching people disappear off to pastures new. ho hum

btw, giving birth... was happiest day of my life bar none. makes me well up just thinking about his gorgeous little bottom suddenly appearing on my tummy.

Ohhhh - that's so nice! I'm sure all the hard work will be worth it in the end, just fear of the unknown and all that...
Can't wait 'til we move back to Madrid to our own place. I'm really not suited to small town living, although Ronda is very pretty. Sorry to hear your little one is ill - hope he's feeling better now. It must be difficult when friends move on but I suppose that's the nature of the job.
How long have you lived in Spain?

I've been here 3 years and dh for 12. Most of my friends are ex pats- not what i planned, but i tend to find English and American i have more in common with and all the spanish girls i know are back at work full time so not around for coffee in the week). isn't torrejon where the airforce base is? i think it is quite close to where we are, but not sure. Anyway, i have 1 ds who is almost 9months and i am a SAHM so spend far too much time on mumsnet than is good for me. I was pretty terrified of giving birth too, but I shouldnt have been. I was so damned sick and tired of being pregnant they could have taken him out of my nostril and i would have been grateful.

Hi eggnog and bebespain, I am also an english speaking mother living in madrid. My dh is spanish with family living in madrid. I am not that comfortable speaking in spanish so it is not easy meeting other mothers and I worry that my ds (7 months old) will not interact with other kids until he is ready for preschool ie. 2-3 years old. My sister in law living in Hong Kong took my nephew when he was 6 months to Kindermusik play groups, Babygym etc. Would either of you know whether there are any play groups for english speaking babies in Madrid? Thanks in advance.

Hi Maamee

I have been told about an English-speaking playgroup in Madrid, its called "Sticky Fingers" Obviously haven't been myself yet as baby still not born (not quite) but check out the website, I think it looks good...
playgroupmadrid.tripod.com/
Where exactly are you?

Hola maamee! there are a few playgroups. One is at st george´s chapel (nunez de bilboa and ...?- can't remember, in barrio salamanca, anyway) every wednesday at 10.30 am. there is a playgroup our here in la moraleja every friday morning which is english speaking and also me and my mates who get together every week with our babies and have a coffee and let the babies play together on the floor of one of our houses. join in any time! we also meet up in a variety of starbucks and giani rossi ice cream parlours for gossip and generally 'getting out of the house'. where are you based?

Hi Eggnog

Is that an open invitation...??? I'd love to join in once I'm back in Madrid and baba is a few months old!!! I've always had a weakness for ice-cream parlours....

Thank you eggnog and bebespain! That is very kind of you to tell me about these playgroups, and I do plan to visit them next year with ds.

Right now we are in Plaza Espana but we are moving in Xmas to El Pardo....so things are a bit hectic now, organising the move. Unfortunately El Pardo is not as convenient to get to places in Madrid, but the upside is there is a lot of green and quiet compared to where we are living now.

Seasons greeting to you both! I can't believe tomorrow is already the first.. and all the best to you bebespain- enjoy these days before your delivery. Ronda is a spectacular place to start your life!

Thanks Maamee, everybody keeps telling me to make the most of these 'quiet' days before baby arrives although the boredom sometimes drives me mad!
You never know we may meet in person one day in 2007 at one of the playgroups...
Good luck with the move and all the best to you too x

It is so hard to 'make the most' of it when you have no idea what is ahead and you are feeling so huge and uncomfortable... do try to get some sleep though. you certainly wont be bored when the baby comes- you'll be in the middle of a mad love affair. i remember looking at my ds when he was a few hours old and thinking, you have Stolen My Heart. ahhhhhhhhh- wonderful. Maamee, i love El Pardo, it is so beautiful. Keep in touch and GOOD LUCK

Hi eggnog, do you drive in madrid? I am thinking I might have to get my own car once I move BUT the people in Madrid drive like they are crazy. Although I have been driving since I was 19, most of my driving experience has been in Australia- where it is very relaxing. What's your experience?

Yep, i drive. I cant say i like it as the roads are crazy, especially the M30, but i have no choice as i live in the burbs and i have to drive to get almost anywhere i need to go. it is really fine, you just have to stay calm and breathe. i also make sure the baby has just been fed before i strap him in as trying to deal with spanish roads and a screaming baby is tooooo much for anyone!

Thanks, that's good advice eggnog. I think you are every courageous...

I don't know how long your family will be in Madrid but have you started to look into schools for your ds? I've heard that there are long waiting lists at some of the better english preschools/primary schools and they accept registration even if the baby is only 6 months old. Would appreciate any insight you have!

I came here three years ago to teach at a british School, i left after one year as it was so bad! i have been looking into schools for ds, as i live in la moraleja i am concentrating on the schools here. so far i like the colegio escandinavo as it has an international section and is very very good- tiny classes and an excellent approach. as far as british schools are concerned the only one i can recommend is the British Council which i think is in pozuelo- it has along waiting list so get in there and have a look if you might be interested. the other british schools are all privately run for profit and as a result are shockingly awful- not even to the standard of a british state school.

i could go on forever, you have got me on my favourite subject! i have friends with children in the local spanish school and it seems pretty good, they are happy. i am going to look at some more schools round here in the new year, i will keep you up to date if you like.

Dear Eggnog, thanks a million in advance! That would be great if you could keep me posted about your search for a school....My dh actually grew up in Madrid but he hated both his primary and high schools. (He did enjoy his preschool years at Montessory) Schooling is the thing that worries us the most- a good education is the best thing you can do for a child, isn't it? In my own case, I loved the teachers I had in primary school and remember the experience with fondness and I think it would be a shame if my ds didn't have that.

We've heard of 2/3 private ones in LaMoraleja- also as we work outside of Madrid (towards the east) they would be on the way to work, so if you can recommend anything in your area... that would be very useful. I will definitely check out both the Scand. school and the British Council. But as we don't really know much about other Spanish schools, we have been thinking that private english speaking schools are our only option.

I look forward to hearing from you about this. :-)Take care.

If you are planning to go back to the uk and put your LO in school there then it is best to put them in a british school to start off with. but if you are here long term then a spanish school is an option. i dont know anything about the spanish system, though. we have no idea where we will be in the future, so i am just going to the schools i like the most. also depends on how your LO is. the british system suits academic kids as it is pretty full on. the scandi system i like as it is more laid back (i think- i could be wrong) and there is a lot of running about and playing involved. i am making appointments at some other schools here ICS, Brains, BASE, it think to take a look round. which ones were you interested in? it is tough to choose a school here. it is true that you need to get names down early, but most schools demand an unrefundable deposit of about E500 so you need to be pretty sure of your choice or you lose the money!! arghhh

any plans for the puente? we are staying put as usual as too damn lazy to sort out anything exciting.

bebespain-where are you? has your baby come yet?????? i guess if it has it'll be a while before you're back online. Good luck, will be thinking of you

Yes bebespain, right here waiting to hear your good news...

Hi Eggnog,

So far we have only had a look at Kings (new campus at LaMoraleja) and Runnymede- only because these are the only ones we've heard of... you didn't happen to teach at one of these did you? Of course, at this stage, I don't really know what inclination ds is... and we aren't british although both my dh and I have studied in england.

I checked out the Scand school website and I really like sounds of the cirriculum and their motto 'liking going to school'- I also like the idea of kids working at their own pace. We are considering relocating in 3 to 5 years...so it could work well at the Scand international school, as it only takes kids up to 5years old. I guess the next thing to do is to check the place out.

You're right, the registration fees of all these schools are pretty steep to be placing it at more than one...

Nah, not doing anything out of the ordinary for the puente- catch up on some sleep...unfortunately my ds still does not sleep through the night

Are you going away for christmas?

Hi Eggnog and Maamee!

Thank you both for thinking of me! I'm still here, no sign of baby yet but went to hospital today and will be induced next Weds 13th if he doesn't put in an appearance before - fingers crossed eh!?
I was interested to read your driving thread as I know I'll have to venture out once baby is born, little by little I suppose is the key.

Good wishes to you both and to your little ones -enjoy the puente, whatever you get up to x

We are hanging out here too. we are so damn disorganised we never know when the puentes are so they sneak up on us and we never have anywere to go. looks like hanging out an dcatching up on sleep too! my ds still wakes up 3 or 4 times a night at 9 months so i feel your exhaustion!! most of my friends babies also wake up at night too, so i'm not that worried about it, just want some sleep.

I used to work at kings college in soto and i didnt think much of it. also havent heard good things about runnymede, a good friend recently pulled her three out of there as she wasnt impressed. the scandi school has space for 2008, very small classes and a great curriculum. i am thinking of there til 5 then having another look if we are still here- trouble is that it is unlikely schools with have any space as they fill up from age 2 am really a bit stuck with what to do. kings is run for profit and the school suffers for it, same with runnymede. having said that both schools are very popular and lots of parents are happy, so who knows? i have also heard that the new kings school is already full!!

we are off to my family in the uk for xmas, but back for the new year. not looking forward to flying with ds, que horror!! but will be nice to see everyone when i get there. more sets of arms to hold giant child is always wonderful.

bebe, good luck, here's hoping your LO makes an appearance before too much longer, niño or niña? are you all ready? soooooo exciting- really you are gonna WIG OUT when you see your baby hahahahah in the words of my american husband- 'goddamn it, he is so CUTE!!!' we are beginning to think of maybe having another one.... but i need to wean this one and get a few nights rest first.

Hi there Eggnog

WIG OUT - love that one!
Well, I'm ready in the physical sense (bags packed for weeks) but mentally that's another story...still can't believe I'm going to be a mum and have my own baby! We have been told nino but I still have strange recurrent dreams that it's nina, so will believe it when I see it!

Hope bubs comes without any interference, don't really fancy being induced...

Dont worry about being induced, what happens, happens, if you know what i mean. the experience is guaranteed to be incredible whatever happens. remember no medals for a 'perfect birth'. for about 48 hours i was in shock that i had a baby to look after, then i couldnt stop crying for 24hours because i couldnt believe how gorgeous he was. i look back on photos now and think.... he was a bit funny looking, but at the time i thought i had birthed the christ child. i had no sense of humour about it at all. looking at your own baby is so weird cos you have never seen anything so cute and perfect. you will feel sorry for other mothers as their babies are a bit funny looking compared to your beautiful one. anyway, enough ramble, let us know if you go into labour.....if you can