Streupflicht und Schneeschaufel - Winterliche Unterhaltung im Deutschem Eck

[admylin]

All welcome, Austria & Switzerland & any German-speaking Leute too

Snow and more snow here in Hannover! Lucky for us we have a Hausmeister to do the Schneeschaufeln every morning.

[admylin]

Hmm, there aren't many of us left in Germany maybe?

School was cancelled yesterday but we went, didn't think to listen to the radio in the morning and the Telefonkette obviously didn't work either so we drove there for nothing. Today it was even worse on the roads but school was on, who decides these things?

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

We're in Switzerland, but only until June (ish). Our snow has melted where we live but at DD's school there is still about 30cm. I udnerstand that we are due to get your snow storms at the weekend and . With the days getting longer I had managed to convince myself that spring was on the way.

[admylin]

Where are you moving to?

We move some time in Spring, but only to another part of Hanover!

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

New country. Belgium. DD is not a happy bunny, she loves skiing and her friends and her school etc. this is the fourth move she's had to a new country.

[admylin]

Oh dear, it can be hard on the dc can't it especially if they have settled and made friends.

My 2 are so happy in their present school and have made lots of friends, they would go mad if we had to move again (we're also on 3rd city in their short lives)

[canella]

oh a new thread!! i like it!!

i know its hard for kids but they are so adaptable - its easy to make friends when your a kid!! not so easy for us grown ups but i suppose its our choice!

really testing my german skills this week - ds1 is a "kann kind" for school in September so the whole process is in full swing - he's had an Untersuchung at kiga and then had his U9 at the Kinderarzt this morn! really struggled to understand some of the questions in the form they gave me to fill in - had to phone dh to translate them! all this and we're probably not going to send him till next year!!!
then dd has an appointment at the orthodontist this afternoon - its all go with us this week!

But i've started going 2 full mornings to a German course this week - its set up for immigrants but only 2 of the 9 people there are new to the country - everyone else has been here a while and just want to get better at speaking german (thats def me!!)!
Also been good to get out the house and do some formal learning - think i'm a geek really - i like learning! so maybe my german will start getting better quicker now!

Admylin - hope the house/flat hunting gets going now its a new year and the weather will hopefully get better! cant believe all this snow! we're so rural as well that i think they've given up clearing the streets!

[westvan]

Hi everyone!

Yes, funny about the schools being closed in some places in Niedersachsen and not in others. We just heard it by chance on the radio yesterday morning and then checked the school's website so we found out in time. They keep the schools open anyway in case there are children who arrive and can't go back home. Monday the buses will be striking so I'll have to drive my two. Thank goodness they have the same hours that day. But it means hundreds of parents all dropping off and picking up their kids at once. It was chaos last time there was a strike.

Anyone else feeling really tired? I've started exercising on the cross trainer every other day and it seems to be making me more tired rather than giving me energy. Could be the tail end of the cold I got at Christmas, I suppose.

[ErnestTheBavarian]

Morning everyone, Long time no see.

been a bit disappointed how little snow we've had considering the amount of drama. Mind, as I am the one who clears the snow, I suppose it's also a good thing. A futher bonus is the doctor on the corner has treated himself to a snow plough and often pootles past our house too which is a result!

Kreecha, sorry you're having to move, poor dd, it's so hard.

We have promised ourselves this is the last move. I know kids are adaptable, but moving so much is really really tough for them. We thought we were going be stuck here to give them consistancey, but we've had the brain wave we could move to the next village, as that's where the gymnasium is, so I am also tentatively starting the house hunting process. How's it going with you Ad?

[admylin]

We will have to be ready on time on Monday then Westvan, I hadn't thought of that. We're usually just getting to school a few minutes before the bell goes but there will be mega Stau for sure.

Ernest, how is school going for your 2? Is the dreaded 4th year going well? We're having to really work hard on maths with dd, she got a 4 in her report and German is OK except for spelling but as that knocks marks off too she has to do extra work.

Hopefully next week we'll get some feed back from the house owner of the great flat we found as they have to renovate first. Ground floor with own garden.

[hupa]

Hello everyone,

I haven´t been on here for ages. I promised I´d use January to sort out paperwork, cupboards etc. and didn´t log into mumsnet as I knew I´d waste the whole morning and get nothing done. Now I`m sorted I´ve got time to waste again.

Hope you get the flat sorted admylin. It would be great to have your own garden in the summer. Mind you it´s hard to imagine summer with the vast amounts of snow around at the moment. I did buy some daffodils the other day in an attempt to feel more spring like.

Ernest - house hunting sounds serious. Let us know how you get on.

Westvan - well done for getting on the cross trainer. I´ve got one, but only seem to use it in the summer. I just can´t motivated to do any exercise in winter.

[MmeLindt]

Hello all. Thanks for the new thread, Admylin.

Kreecher
I did not know you were moving again. It is hard on the DC. I just hope that they have other advantages.

Admylin
Crossing fingers for good news soon on the house hunting front

Ernest
sounds good, the looking for a house. How is the housing market where you are? Are there houses available?

Canella
Do you want DS to go to school this year? What does the kita say?

Things are quietish here at the moment. Lull before the storm. We are off to Paris/Disneyland at half term and my parents are coming over to dog/housesit.

I met some MNetters today for lunch, it was good fun.

[admylin]

Well, I got the dc to school before the mad rush started (thanks for the warning Westvan!)

I dropped them off at 7:30am much to their disgust as they are not early birds, they always just make it on time for 8am! Thank goodness the strike is only for 1 day.

Quiet weekend, hoped there might have been a few flats or houses in the paper but nothing was advertized. It would be nice to have a couple to look at before we decide. Up to now we've only found the one with the garden in the place we want to be near.

[canella]

that was a good plan this morn admylin - there didnt seem to be a bus strike here (well hope not since i sent dd to the busstop as usual!)
shame about there being no flats in the paper - it must be so frustrating!

mmelindt - jealous of you going to Disneyland - i've never ever been and would love to go! i've seen your Swiss MNetters site - you've got a good social life going on with them! i've never met any MNetters in RL - think i like the mystery of what they might look like!

dont think we're going to send ds to school this year - he's managed well in all the Untersuchungs (?sp) he's had so far but he will always be one of the youngest and i'm really realising how hard the Bayerische school system is - just think it will be better for him to wait another year and always be the oldest in the class and he might cope better with the whole system! everyone we've spoken to agrees - think they all know how hard school is here and if he can wait then its prob the best thing!

[MmeLindt]

Uh, strikes. What a pain. Even the Swiss are striking these days. What is the world coming to?

Canella
How is your kindergarten? Will they give your DS a bit of 'work' to do so that he won't get bored? I think that is important. When will he be 6yo? I would go with what the school/doc think. What are they saying?

Yes, it is good to be able to meet some local MNetters. I do have more of a social life here than I have had since I left UK I think.

DD is home today, another urinary infection. I suspect we may have to have her scanned to check her kidneys, she is very prone to infections.

[canella]

oh thats not so good about your dd - she's only little isnt she? they should really scan her if she's had more than one urine infection!

the kiga say they'll give ds some "work" to do next year but to be honest he's unlikely to be bored! he's absolutely no interest in books or learning!! would rather run round and play with cars all day! so another year at kiga will suit him fine! he;s not 6 till October!

[MmeLindt]

She will be 8yo in April. She had a big nasty kidney infection when she was just 10 weeks old, following an operation when she was 8 weeks old. They did check at that time to make sure the kidneys were ok but she has had a few infections since. About 3 or 4 I think.

[westvan]

Admylin - glad you didn't end up in a traffic jam! My husband dropped our two off at 7:30 as well and he said it wasn't too bad. They have to leave to take the bus at 7:15 on regular days anyway so it wasn't too early. I picked them up at about 1:15 an it was pretty bad then. The school doesn't have anything even resembling a parking lot or a lane where you can line up and wait so people just park any which way on the street.

So sorry to hear about your dd, Mme Lindt. I hope you can get her looked at soon.

Canella - They're only striking in specific states and giving plenty of warning so you'll know in time if something's going on. Today it was buses and trams, kindergartens and garbage pick up. Sounds like keeping your son in kindergarten for another year is a good idea. You know him best and some kids just do better when they start a year later.

[MmeLindt]

Back from docs. She has of course no signs of a urinary infection so I am left looking like a neurotic mother. Gah. Perhaps she has flushed it out of her system with all the water I have been pushing at her.

[westvan]

Mme Lindt - did they also check her for interstitial cystitis? I've heard that children can get it too and the symptoms can mimic a urinary infection. Poor little thing - hope she feels better soon.

[aberita]

Hi everyone. We're in Austria, just south of Vienna - lots of snow here too. Every time I think that's it for the winter, another lot arrives... The novelty wore off for me after about 5 minutes, and even the DCs are starting to take it for granted now - although they did enjoy going skiing during the Semesterferien.

Anyone else here in Austria? I did post on another thread (MNers in Austria) a while ago but it was quite an old one, so I didn't really get any responses.

[ErnestTheBavarian]

Morning all.

Paid to reserve a house yesterday, so basically, while we could pull out, that's it, gone and bought a house. So now I have the plans going round and round in my head, trying to divide up the space. It's a mixture of exciting and terrifying.

Canella, I think you're making the right decision, absolutely. My ds is almost exactly 1 year older than yours (NOvember '03). Being the youngest in the class can be a *huge disadvantage, and one that stay with them throughout (in the UK studies have shown August born babies do less well at GCSE level, A Level, and fewer go on to university)

I am having a totally unexpected nightmare with my ds re starting school, dunno if anyone has more experience (won't be too difficult). Basically last week we had the elterngespräch. I'd even forgotten about it, trotted along on my own like a lamb to the slaughter, to be told, with no warning at all, that their Empfehlung is that ds won't cope in a normal grundschule and should go to a special school. No warning whatsoever. I am totally devastated. At first I was thinking, Oh, whatever is best for ds, but now I feel very angry, that they didn't warn me, so didn't have dh with me. I also strongly disagree. They say it is because he has poor social skills in a large group setting, and often gets into arguments/hits other kids, so needs the small group size and support of a special school.

I think (be warned tho Canella) he is now totally bored, and actually, re large group setting, I think he would benefit from the classroom setting of kids not milling around jumping in ball pits, but sitting at a desk and using his brain.

To complicate it, but also an advantage, this has probably influenced our house purchace tbh, our new house is in the next village, so he will not go to the local Grundschule here anyway, but I'm really not sure who I should turn to for advice, if I should go with my gut feeling. What do you all recommend?

Oh, and someone mentioned to me that it's possible to get your kids' intelligence tested, sort of the equivalent to G&T, and then the school is obliged to offer more supprt but she couldn't give more details. ANyone know.

Oh, ps, currently having said ds tested for ADHD. Have 'results' convo with doc beginning of March, so, it's pretty knapp, but should I try to register ds with new village Grundschule now, or wait till get docs results? Where can I get advice on this? Blimey, sorry it's been long. You can thank dd for waking me up at 2.30 so I've got it all milling round in my head

[ErnestTheBavarian]

sorry, meant also to say hello and welcome to aberita. How long have you been in Austria? Have you had any contact with DebInAustria? In fact, anyone know, is DebInAustria still in Austria, she was talking of moving back to uk?

[admylin]

Morning, welcome aberita too, I was also going to ask how long you've been in Austria, did you have the dc there?

Ernest I saw your other thread about school. Please go with your gut feeling. When my ds was at Kindergarten he wa sso bored out of mind that he didn't behave as they would expect and I was sure the Erzieherin really disliked him because of that. Have you spoken to your ds? Is he looking forward to school? Does he like his Erzieherin? Ds hated every last minute of Kindergarten and they kept trying to hint to me that he wasn't normal.

Whatever you do, don't send him to a special school, give him a chance - go and look at the other village school too if that's where you will be moving anyway. You don't even have to tell them what the Kindergarten says, he only has to pass the Gesundheitamt Schuleignungs test maybe? Is there a thing like that in Bavaria?

Is your dd better Mmelindt? Do you get that sort of thing from getting cold maybe? It'S good if you can get her to drink alot, that's my constant battle with dd as she has a sweet tooth and only wants to drink juice all the time.

Canella, another vote for keeping your ds out of school abit longer here. I put dd in early and she struggled alot with being the youngest and especially in Year 2 and 3 when they started with school trips and week on the farm stuff, she was just too young to keep up with some of the girls who were over a year and a half older. It is a pain when they get bored in Kindergarten though.

[ErnestTheBavarian]

Thanks, ad, that's what I was wondering, - do I have to give them a copy of their Empfehlung? I am totally f*d off about it tbh. After the Gespräch, I spoke with ds saying they weren't happy with his behaviour, and unless it improved, he might not get to go to the Grundschule, and guess what, since then, he's been perfect. So all it took from me was 1 word in his ear. Why tf couldn't hey do that? Or flag it up sooner?

I want ds3 to stay where he is, rather than have to change schools again, in the 4th class, and I want to keep him in the hort, but it's a neighbouring gemeinde (w. v close links, ie our village doesn't have a 2ndary school, so all the kids all go to the neighbouring gemeinde, it's almost like we are as one, but separate).

So, do I keep stum as long as possible, or ask outright now? I really hope dd doesn't lose her Krippe platz because of this.

ML, how's dd doing today? Poor thing, sounds really painful.

[canella]

Welcome aberita! hope life is treating you good in austria! we had an amazing holiday there last summer!

wow ernest you sound like you're having a hard time with the kiga! sounds like you're ds is a bit fed up at times at kiga which i think is totally to be expected at 6 when they are maybe mixing with much younger kids but he doesnt sound like he's got any additional problems - if you spoke to him about what he was doing wrong and then he changed his behaviour! cant see how that merits a special school!

i'm not any use to you about how the whole system works - but i think admylin is right - i think they have to pass the Gesundheitamt test thingy and then he is fit for school. has he had that already?

you know you're own son - you know what his social skills are, what his ability to concentrate is and whether he'll cope with the learning environment!

can you get your dh to speak to the kiga if you dont feel you're getting your questions answered? Sometimes if your stressed it can be hard to make sure your getting the right point across!