5 THINGS THAT SHOCKED ME ABOUT RAISING MY KIDS IN GERMANY🇩🇪 New Zealand mum

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My daughter really wanted to help me cook when she was 2 or 3. She was given the biggest, sharpest kitchen knife (better grip, less risk of slipping) and I showed her how to use it as well as I could. She liked to carve and do handicrafts. - She cut herself for the first time when she was 8 (not bad). She told me the reason was that she got distracted. I was very proud of her for that realisation: lesson learned.

Stumpfe Messer stellen eine größere Verletzungsgefahr dar als scharfe Messer: Man drückt viel stärker und rutscht beim schneiden eher ab! Meine 4 Töchter und meine Frau haben alle ein Schweizer Taschenmesser und ein Opinel

German father here. When watching your son climb, I got the impression he very well knows what he is doing and how to do it. Lessons learned. The only problem my daughter ever had was when she climbed up some structure and did not know how to get down again. That happened exactly once. After that the only problem was explaining to adults that she knew exactly what she was doing and there was no need to "rescue" her from trees or light poles

There is a german saying that expains it all: "Kinder, die nichts dürfen, werden zu Erwachsenen, die nichts können." (Children who are not allowed to do anything will become adults who are unable to do anything.)

Depending on the region, the weather here in Germany can change very quickly in spring and you go outside early in the sun and freeze yourself off at lunchtime. Therefore, it takes a little longer for German parents to trust the weather and act according to the motto, you can always move out a bit. You can't wear what you don't have with you.

The "overdressing" in changing seasons is this: It's called Zwiebelprinzip. In spring and autumn in the mornings often it's chilly cold, so the kids get dressed so that they can take off things. Like a zipper/cardigan on top of a tshirt instead of a sweater (like in winter) and a hat or shawl for the way to school in the early morning.

end of march you can have 0 degree in the morning and 23 degree in the afternoon. so winter gear makes sense for part of the day if they go out to school at 7am when its cold. I remember facing the same issue as a child. its not really the parents fault its just the change of the season where you get summer and winter on the same day.

Antoinette German playgrounds are checked by TÜV and approved to ensure that they are safe for children! Most playgrounds with plastic stuff are much more dangerous than German children's playgrounds with lots of loose sand. The sand ensures extra safety even to prevent injuries. The Germans' golden rule is when the dormouse is over, it's time to dress properly for summer.

German mom here. I think our take on raising children is to show them, teach them, encourage them to do things themselves safely, from a young age. Kids don't need to be scared of handling a knife, helping with cooking, lighting a candle, etc. if they have the proper tools, have been taught(and are age appropriately supervised) and confident in their abilities. In my experience accidents on playgrounds are rare not only because the playgrounds are designed to be safe, but also we allow our kids to trust their instincts and their abilities and not spook them by being overly cautious. Mine are teenagers now, and the only "serious" injury my daughter ever had was a broken arm from falling awkwardly with her inliners - and yes, she had protective gear. As for the candy at the doctor's office -I was asked if it's okay with me. If it hadn't been, the reward would have been a small toy or sticker.

Mom of 2 german boys here. Our oldest got his first tool box with actual tiny tools (all wood and metal, no plastics) for his 2nd birthday. It had absolutely everything you would want in a tool box including a saw (Fuchsschwanz in German) and a hand drill (like a screw for wine bottles) which we both put in a safe place and gave those to him only when supervised. For that birthday He also got his opinel kitchen knife which is a sharp knife which cuts carrots and peppers. He got his first pocket knife at 5 I believe and now at 7 he is using an axe to help his father chop wood. Needles to say that his 2 1/2 yo brother doesn't stand around watching. They have both cut themselves with knifes as it happens to anyone from time to time while cooking. Bandaid on, little song and a cuddle and all ist well again. They know those tools are sharp, demand focus and are not to be fooled around with. If the school would ask for the Kids to bring knifes I would assume they mean sharp kitchen knifes, because they do have butter knifes in house the kids could use. Playgrounds and outdoors: There are playgrounds where I as a mom can not understand why they are built like that. 10m high climbing nets and there are kids that climb to the top and then decide to hang there upside down because it's fun. I have turned away from those kind of situations countless times. There is a saying "If mum doesn't look, nothing happens". Just because we aren't running around screaming doen't mean we're not scared. We just try to not project it on our kids. There have been countless times where I thought "one slip will earn us a ride to the ER and I'll feel like the stupidest parent on the planet" - has never happened so far *knock on wood*.

German mom here. 😀 You should have seen my daughter, when she decided to wear her skiing trousers to kindergarten in June! 😂 I really tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined, so I let her. Some things must obviously be learnt by experience. 🤷😄 She wore them on the way to kindergarten and also on the way home, but she never did it again during summer. Normally, my kids would kick off their shoes and everything wintery as soon as the sun got a little warmer.

I asked my mum about it and she said I started using scissors at age 2.5 and kitchen knives at 4. Totally normal, all the kids in my German family do so. The worst that could happen: a tiny cut, tears for a minute, life lesson learned. Won't happen twice. ;) And the dangerous playgrounds are the only ones that are fun! When we were kids we climbed up the fir trees, like 10-15m high.. in fact I spent half my childhood high up in trees. Nobody ever fell. Let them enjoy it.

As a young boy I went on many hiking tours with my parents and grandparents. I think I was around 6 or 7 when my grandfather gave me a Swiss army knife as a gift eager to show me how to use it safely and what I'd be able to do with it. However we do have a saying: "Messer, Gabel, Schere, Licht, sind für kleine Kinder nicht!" (Knife, fork, scissors, light, are not (allowed) for small children) Here, Licht (light) stands for fire as well as for electricity. Usually "kleine Kinder" (small children) means children up to an age of 4 or 5 who are still struggling at controlling the movements of their limbs possibly.

The trick is to let them make mistakes that are big enough to learn and small enough to not seriously damage.

German dad here. I rather have my kids (5 and 9) climb and experiment on the playground where it's relatively safe (soft ground, no sharp metal edges etc) than finding them on the roof of the school building or run off to play on an abandoned factory or construction site (well, I did as a kid and had a few narrow escapes). For us it's even pretty normal to let our kids go to the playground on their own - it's not far from our house (no dangerous roads to cross). My son loves helping me in the kitchen, so he got a kitchen knife for his fifth birthday - it's got a sharp blade, but a rounded point and a handle fitting a kid's hand. Easier and safer to handle for him than one of mine. Did he cut his finger? Yes, it happened twice, but never really badly, nothing a colourful band-aid couldn't fix...

Well, I don't remember using a knife for preparing meals in school, but we have done some woodwork, which includes using a saw, hammer and nails - and that was in the elementary school. So, yeah, using tools for young school kids is quite normal in Germany, I guess. I also think learning to use such tools is safer when they learn this with teachers/parents opposed to playing around with such tools when no one is watching (and they will try sooner or later)

I am German and worked in a Kindergarten, and yes, for us it is totally normal to teach the children to cut with a sharp knife. How shall they learn to do it without practice? And concerning the playground-video. What will happen, if your son slips? He will fall in the sand and I am pretty sure he won´t hurt himself too much. And by the way: Why should he slip? I think it is only a little bit dangerous if someone pushes him.

Children learning how to safely use knives as tools grow up automatically regard knives as tools, they develop a safe and healthy mindset. Knives are no longer forbidden dangers, they have legitimate purposes. I bought my first Swiss pocket knife when I was 10 years old and I've carried one ever since, with 2 or 3 minor accidents in half a century.

8:00 To be fair/precise: The "little bag" of gummibears contains about 5 or 6 bears. 😊