 Welcome back to my YouTube channel guys. Today we're going to talk about what it's like to be parents in New Zealand. Yes, we're going to talk about parenting, specifically those early years. Those years before your kids go to school and what are some of the differences. You're going to like this video. You're going to want to stay tuned all the way to the end where I make some reflections on what I think about parents here in New Zealand. So here we go. Now if you're not familiar with this channel, we are a family of six that have moved to New Zealand from the US and we have been here for five years. So probably before I dive into what it's like raising a kid here in New Zealand, I have only been here for five years. So keep that in mind. And these are the ages of my children when I first arrived. A two year old, a five year old, a nine year old and an 11 year old. And so I didn't ever have any of my babies here in New Zealand, but I did have some ones that weren't in school yet and then have gone all the way from primary, intermediate and to secondary school here. So I have kind of the whole gambit, but today let's focus on some of the cool things that they do here in New Zealand and some of the differences when you first have your babies here in New Zealand. Now I don't know everything. Okay. And like people keep bringing up things like, oh, I didn't know that. Well, because I've never had to go through it. But what I'm going to go through are the things that I do know. And then please comment below and share your own stories and just kind of let me know what I'm missing because that's honestly the best way I've learned through this YouTube channel, through my social media. I've learned so much about New Zealand, things that I thought I knew and just the depth is greater because of you guys. So please comment below. I really enjoy that. Now the first thing that I would talk about is now I didn't have babies here, but I have friends that have had babies or coworkers. And so I've, and I've heard things. So I've looked into it a little bit. They have what they call this best start program or no matter how much money you make or what your family situation that whole first year, they will pay you just to kind of support you. The government gives you just some support because you're having a baby. How cool is that? I think it comes out to around $60 a week or $240 a month. And it's for your whole first year of having a baby. So you don't need to qualify this by being low income or other factors, but it can continue until they're like two or three years old if you are in a more low income situation or you could use some extra support and there's just some stipulation around that. But everybody gets it for the first year. You get support money from the government because you know, things can be expensive. Food can be expensive. Baby stuff can be expensive. But you know what guys? It can be expensive everywhere. Even in the US, having kids is expensive. Okay. Not to mention how expensive it is to have babies in the healthcare system. And I think I've talked about this in other videos. I can link them above in terms of like what's it like to have kids in the US and how expensive is it because two of my kids were holding 20 grand. So yeah, that's a big expense and you don't get the support by the government in the US. But how cool in New Zealand that first year of life you get it then after that when they are like preschool age, they get another, okay, I don't know, it's like early childhood education. So they can go to what is called like a candy here, like a kindergarten, or just like a daycare, or I don't know, there's different names for everything. My two year old did do this and the government subsidizes so they'll pay 20 hours. So let's say you need 40 hours if you work full time and 20 hours the government will pay for for free for you to go to have your kid go to kindergarten and you can just send your kid part time. They don't have to go like the whole time. So what like that's amazing. Daycare in the US is very expensive. And you know, I know that different states have different low income programs for single moms of people with kids. So there isn't like there isn't that support in the US. I am not saying that. But like how cool like across the board that you can just kind of take your kids somewhere. So I took mine in to a Bernardo's here. And for just the 20 hours. And because I wasn't I was only working part time anyway. But it was just so nice. I was like, oh, you know, just even talking with people like, why are we given this, you know, like even if you're not working, you can use it. It isn't like there isn't a ton of rules around it. Like it's just given to you if you have a kid that's not eligible for school yet because of their age. And so yeah, they're like, well, because moms need to go food shopping and moms need to do this and like, wow, like to me that was like a whole new concept that someone that you could get some child care for free. So that you could just manage life instead of dragging them around with you everywhere, which was just my experience. But in addition to all of these government things, the parents of New Zealand have gotten together and they created this thing called play center. And kind of every like little pocket of New Zealand has their own play center that is created by parents, built by parents, run by parents. And it is a great, great concept. Okay. And I'm sure there's places in the US that have this, but if you don't, you should copy this idea. It's a great idea. And so basically, like, so every like little township will have like their own play center. So the concept is that it would be like walkable or something that you would get too easily with your child. And so this is for children that are not in school yet. Okay. And basically there's like these little centers, so there's just kind of like build these buildings, they don't they're not fancy or anything with like a little playground and like a little art area and kind of whatever the parents can work out and that people just volunteer time to build this and do this. And it's very cool. And so basically the concept is this is that it's big and it's run by parents. So if you come and you volunteer like a day or two a week to run the play center or help manage it or do activities with the children, then you can drop your kid off for a couple of days and you don't have to be there. So it's kind of like that sharing of the responsibility realizing that it's really exhausting and that we can support each other and have places where kids can learn to socialize really well. And that's a really cool concept. So they have this play center here. And so my son went to play center as well, the one in our area, and you would just go for like a couple hours in the morning and it would just and each community is different and they set it up differently and whatever makes sense for the parents that are involved in it. But how cool? Like they just kind of created this concept. There's a whole history behind it. I've read it. I don't remember it off hand, but other parents are just kind of coming together to support each other because in the US you basically have play dates where you kind of make, you know, time to get together with other parents. So like you can have an adult conversation and the kids can play together. And then there's, you know, like little programs here and there, but nothing like this, nothing like this with the concept of like, you can drop your kid off, you can volunteer some days and then have a little break. Even if it's just for a couple hours is amazing. So I don't know. It just felt like when I came here, I had four kids when I was in the US. And when I came here, just like the amount of support that I felt for having those toddler years, which can be very hard and demanding was amazing. So it's very cool. Good job, New Zealand. Another cool thing that they have in New Zealand, and I have to tell you real quick, is they have this thing called a toy library. And it's, you know, for when kids play with toys, I guess kind of probably before school age, right? And you go and it's like, it's like a library that would have books, but instead has toys. So the toys that, you know, they kind of grow on a toys quite quickly. And so this is also generally managed by parents in the area and or like a church or, you know, through some sort of charitable thing, and you come in and you can drop off your toys, you can like check out toys, you know, just like you do a library and then you bring them back. Like you can check them out for, you know, it varies how long you can check them out for, but how cool is that? Like, it doesn't make sense for us to all be buying all these toys that they grow out of and you don't need any more than your whole house is filled with toys. Like you'll see this in the U.S. houses are filled with a lot of toys, but they don't need to be because you just go to the library and like, okay, they've grown out of that. Let's get the next stage item. And there's lots of choices and the kids can go and they can check out things. And it was great. And I, it is really also great when like, I didn't have that many young kids when I got here. So I used it a little bit, but not a ton. But then if I had visitors coming that had young kids or ones that, you know, with toys that I don't really have anymore, was great because I swam to the toy library, checked some out. And then so when you have some people visiting, that's really great. It's a toy library concept. And I've heard from some Americans that they do have it in various states, but I wouldn't say it's an overall very common thing, but so cool. So copy that idea as well. Very good one. Okay, so that gives you a quick summary of what the services and the things are here in New Zealand that I've never seen before or that were new to me and were very cool. I just thought I'd take a few minutes to kind of reflect on what I just think about parents in New Zealand and how I see it differently. Like, yeah, I would say it is different. I would say parents are really relaxed. This is what I really like about the parents here is they're really relaxed. They're very chill. You know, it's very much the New Zealand way. Like no worries. You know, everything's, you know, slow and chill. And that's kind of also how they raise their kids. And so what I really notice about New Zealanders is that there's not, you know, they're not yelling at their children. They're just like, they're always very calm. Like, I just love the calm New Zealand voice. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Like maybe it's because my personality is more of like, but like, it's just very calm. And they're always talking so nice and calming with kids. I always notice New Zealanders are explaining things that go, they take the time to explain things to their kids. And I'm saying that Americans don't. It's just noticeable across the board, kind of what I'm seeing. And yeah, we're, and they're not helicopter parents here. They're not, they know the value of their child exploring and trying new things and digging into this and that, learning their limits on their own. And they're very, you know, it's like when a kid spells or when a kid makes a mistake or everybody's like, no worries. You know, so I really, that was really noticeable to me because I think American culture is more like, more like a right and wrong or, you know, when my kids in school was just like a little bit more strict. And that was fine with me. I didn't know. I don't think that that's bad either. I'm just saying that it was really different that it was like, oh, it's okay. I just really liked that. It took the stress out because I know that I was an anxious kid. And so how nice to grow up in an environment where like, if I make a mistake, it isn't, you know, like I'm going to get trouble. So that's one reflection on QE parents. And they are just like very relaxed. And I just noticed like, you know, they're not like, I noticed in this, there's such a variety of the way people parent in the US. So there's no really comparison and also in New Zealand. But like, yeah, I don't really see helicopter parents here. I don't see people like hovering over their kid. Maybe people that are internationals from other countries, I do see it a little bit more. But in general, like just like, ah, chill, no worries, you know. And another thing that I notice about kids when they're in primary school and I was growing up, what is really noticeable to me was the kids are very talkative in class like, and it's encouraged by the teacher. Whereas like the classroom, my kids were growing up like, you don't talk when the teacher's talking, you don't, you know, it's just very much you keep your mouth shut. And then, you know, you raise your hand and you talk and there's discussion, but it's just a little bit more organized. Whereas here, it's kind of can stand up and say whatever they think. And it was just very noticeable to me, like even a lot of the teachers of my kids have said, oh, I really like having your kids in class, they just sit and listen. Because that's how we were taught, right? That's how you're taught to live. You're not just supposed to just stand up and whatever you think. But it's just very cool because I noticed that kids have a level of confidence that I haven't seen before. A level of confidence in feeling okay about what they think about something and how they're feeling about something and they just talk about it easily. And I like that. And I like that they're just very comfortable sharing their opinion at a very young age. I noticed that in schools, they require that they do public speaking more than stand up and talk and share. And I really like that. Like I really think that that needs to start at a younger age. Maybe it's because I'm a public speaking teacher, but that's another story. So I just noticed that they're just kids are just comfortable communicating. And that was just another reflection that I had about kids in New Zealand. Well, I feel like I could go on and on and on about the subject. So I'm going to stop for now. But if you have questions or comments or things you'd like me to talk about around this kind of subject and education in general, I'm happy to do that. So put that in the comments and I will put it in another video. So I hope you enjoyed this video. Definitely if you are coming to New Zealand or you are thinking about traveling to New Zealand as our borders start to open up next year, you know, reach out to me. I have a consulting business where people can talk to me about, you know, get their questions answered before they come here. Or if you need some help with different things, I'm happy to help things. Or if you just have a couple of questions, I'm happy to help with that. So check out the links below for that. And if you enjoy this content, please subscribe below because we put out a video every week. I'll see you next week.