Nervous about move abroad

[mumhum]

DH has a great new job in Switzerland. We will be moving as a family in February 2016, DS1 will be 5 and DS2 10 months. Just fretting a bit about all there is to do, how will we settle in etc. Please tell me to calm down and embrace the opportunity, and give me any tips about moving abroad with DC.

Where in Switzerland are you going. I lived in Zurich for a while a decade or two ago. I loved it. Since then I've lived in the US, Germany, home in the UK for a while and now I am back in Germany.

This travelling thing is well worth the effort. There is so much to learn and experience and it will be brilliant for your kids. My DDs (3 and 7) LOVE being in Germany. They love the fact that they are learning German (which they seem to regard as some form of secret code) and they are treating the whole thing as a grand adventure.

For your 5 year old, I'd recommend that you find out how schooling is going to work and start discussing it with them. I made sure that as little as possible (except for her lack of German) would set my DD1 apart. From making sure that she had all of the school equipment she needed the day she started school, to working out what the other children were going to be wearing and making sure that she had something similar. The ladies on here were really useful and helped me find this all out. I'm sure there are mums from Switzerland here too who will be just as helpful.

Thanks MrsM. Off to Schaffhausen, so very near Zurich. DH's package includes international school for DS1 if we wish, and we have the help of relocation agents too. What age were your DC during your moves?

We moved to Switzerland for a year. Came home 5 yrs later. We didn't have children then, so can't really help with that.

I found a book called The Expert Expat really helpful.