«Our faith helps us to find confidence»

Esther and Matthias Zaugg-Maag, both 39, have three children: Noah, 5, Malia, 3, and Tim, 1. Esther works 40 per cent as a nurse and Matthias has an 80 per cent job as an electrical engineer. Looking after their children requires a lot of organisation, partly because Noah has trisomy 21. The family lives in Thun BE.

Esther: "If you had asked me last year whether we as parents have our own needs in mind, I would have replied that it's hardly possible. Tim, our third child, was born a year ago. At the same time, the two older ones also had to get used to the new family situation. Noah needs more care anyway due to his Down's syndrome. In recent years, he has had several operations with several days in hospital. He has various therapies every week. We look after our children at home and we both work, I work shifts. For example, if I have the children until 2 p.m., Matthias takes over afterwards and I work at the hospital until midnight.

Thanks to a course we attended together, we know and feel our boundaries better and communicate openly about them.

Esther Zaugg-Maag

All of this is organisationally and emotionally challenging. Last winter, we were able to take an online course that focussed on relationship issues, communication, individual needs and forgiveness. We took a few evenings off work for this. We left the huge pile of laundry and the to-do list behind and put off tidying up. This has really strengthened us as a couple and we have also developed an awareness of what we need - for example, short time-outs. Socialising is important to me and I'm now involved in a choir project. Matthias enjoys working alone in our garden. We know and feel our boundaries more and communicate openly about them."

Matthias: "Among other things, we ask our parents for help. The two pairs of grandparents are very supportive and look after the children regularly. They not only take the pressure off us in our day-to-day work, but also encourage us to do things together. Thanks to their help, we went skiing for a day in the last few months, went on a canoe trip in the summer and went out for dinner in the evening. These are islands of relaxation that do us good. And when we plan a trip into nature as a family, we don't overload it with unrealistic expectations, but enjoy the little things.

God loves us in our imperfection. The biblical stories are full of examples in which not everything runs smoothly.

Matthias Zaugg-Maag

We now also have the support of a special education student who comes to us for four hours a week. We were able to apply to the university as a family and this young woman chose us. That's a huge relief. What also helps us is our faith and the connection to our church community. God loves us in our imperfections. The biblical stories are full of examples in which not everything goes smoothly. Our faith helps us to find peace and confidence."