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Grandparents often do not live in the same location as their grandchildren. Substitute grandmothers and grandfathers can be a reliable and time-flexible alternative for childcare in this case. Many parents already appreciate substitute grandmothers and grandfathers; the demand from young families is steadily increasing. Workshops by famPLUS and ElternService AWO in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and other German metropolises aim to encourage interested older people to make themselves available as substitute grandmothers or grandfathers. Additionally, already active substitute grandmothers and grandfathers are given the opportunity for exchange and further training. The first workshop in Berlin took place in November with great success.

A supermarket where you can pay with tissues or cookies, a cafeteria and a shared kitchen, green space and a sensory garden amidst several residential buildings with shared apartments, where residents can furnish the rooms to their taste and are not subjected to the schedule of a nursing home – up to this point, everyone actually likes the "Alzheimer's Village" project.

She's almost falling asleep in the office - lately, Carola Eberle* has been sleeping poorly more often because she's worried about her elderly parents and her son's transition from kindergarten to elementary school.

As part of the "Bayer Family Care" program, BAYER employees in Leverkusen and Wuppertal had the opportunity to sit down personally with advisors from famPLUS on October 21 and 22. In collaboration with the HR department, famPLUS offers competent advice and assistance on questions concerning relatives in need of care, to enable employees to better balance work and family life.

An important person, sometimes the most important of all, is seriously ill and in need of care – this is an extremely stressful emotional situation. But the physical burden on the relatives is often very high. 

Many parents are familiar with spontaneous emergencies in organizing childcare, such as when important meetings are scheduled at short notice, schedule changes are unavoidable, or regular childcare is unavailable. Since June 1, 2014, the University of Regensburg and the University Hospital, together with the family service provider "famPLUS," have supported working parents with a new pilot project.

When one's own parents become weak, many people are like paralyzed. Very few know who to turn to," explains Christiane Wissing (38) from the Eldercare Team of the Family Service famPLUS. The trained pediatric nurse, like her colleague Anne-Kathrin Schulz (32), is also a qualified nursing educator, and both have been helping families out of trouble for over two years when their parents can no longer manage on their own.

I never dared to hope that famPLUS would help me so quickly and also find such great care for Fabian!" Carola Schmidt is delighted. The 38-year-old mother was worried about not finding a suitable daycare for her son after her parental leave. "It also had to be feasible in terms of travel time and somewhat financially reasonable," adds the business economist and mother of two. But even after the half-hour initial consultation with the experienced customer advisors at famPlus, Carola Schmidt was quite optimistic: "They listened well, asked questions, and gave me the feeling that they were handling it competently. It was great.

It was love at first sight," recalls Angela Miksch from Berlin about her first meeting with her future surrogate grandchildren. The 61-year-old takes care of three-year-old Elias* and his 6-year-old sister Leonie Fritzsche* two to three hours twice a week in the afternoons while mom and dad are still at the office.

Where to put the child if a last-minute important training session is scheduled, overtime is needed, or a change in the work schedule disrupts the parents' logistics? Since June 1, 2014, employees of the University Hospital Regensburg have had the good fortune to participate in a pilot project aimed at promoting the compatibility of family and work: For the duration of one year, the employer actively supports them and sends qualified childcare to their home during bottlenecks.

When 28-year-old Paul Weber* became a father in December 2012, he noticed that his previous employer no longer suited him as a young family man. "I switched relatively quickly because it was no longer working for me," says the account manager. Weber specifically applied to the personnel service provider emagine in Munich, known as a family-friendly company, where he has been working since April 1.

When the white phone rings at Elisabeth Müller's home in Mönchengladbach, it is usually a father or mother with more than three children calling; because Elisabeth Müller is the chairperson of the Association of Large Families in Germany (KRFD); and in this country, a family is considered large from the third child onwards.

There is no better way to learn a foreign language—unless you have the opportunity to spend an extended period in the foreign country. The new language tutor program in collaboration with famPLUS is a great opportunity, especially for students or professionals.

Angela Schmidt from Hamburg, herself a mother of a 4-year-old daughter, provides emergency childcare with the Emergency Moms who are trained, child-friendly, and available within 2 hours for parents.

I called on Friday and explained that I have a childcare issue because my parents fell ill unexpectedly. They were supposed to look after Paul for three weeks. So, I need childcare for one week starting next Monday.