Hi guys,

Thought Id throw this out there and maybe parents who are 5 to 10 years ahead of us (ie with older children) could give their been-there-done-that input.

My daughter is 3. At home we speak swiss-german (my husband is swiss) and english (me). I work parttime. During this time she is in a local creche that she thankfully loves. She now talks all the time. But its all swiss german.

Recently after reading to her (in english) she was asking me something about the story in swiss-german and I said "darling you should speak to mammy in english" (or something to that effect) and she said "iiiiii kaaaaaaaa nür dütsch rede weiiiiiissssss". It was actually very funny but made me feel very sad. I didnt say anything just went on and answered her question. I suppose Im worried about communication going forward. Im already not understanding her as her german has passed mine. I am doing lessons but they are high german and she is speaking swiss german. Im also worried about the teenage years which are notorious for poor communication even when you speak the same language.

Im not complaining. She is healthy, she loves the creche (which is the other major source of swiss-german), she will go to local school so its great that she is competent in the lingo and I dont have to worry about her settling in and making friends (other than the usual worries) - I suppose Im just lonely for the chatter that could be in english.
Its making me homesick !!!

So, can other parents shed light on what itll be like down the line? We are trying to be very consistent, mammy speaking english, daddy swiss-german. If she asks me anything in swiss-german I repeat the question in english and then answer. So our converstaions are like this:

3yr old: machst du?
mammy: you mean - what am I doing?
3yr old: yah
mammy: Im.....

Sometimes I get her to repeat the question in english but I rarely force the matter. Other than that - any hints. Am I right to be more worried about the teenage years (than I already should be....iykwim)

Input much appreciated