leise rieselt der Schnee - for all those lovely people in Germany and Austria or whoever wants to join us!

[Canella]

a new wintery thread in honour of Hupa's first snow of the season!

ad, yes, zerstreut is scatter brained, think streuen, to strew things about. Glad the appt went ok, good luck with the gazillion forms.

We are buying a flat just for us to return to. We considered it to rent out, but I think it'd be very stressful, especially with us not being there to keep an eye on it, and having to pay management fees etc. Anyway the flat we chose doesn't allow holiday lets, so it takes the dilema away. Dh has wanted a holiday home for ages. I kept stalling as he was talking about the mountains, Germany, Austria, and I didn't think we'd use it enough. But in Brighton, we'd be close to family (equidistant from in laws in Kent and my mum in Dorset) and I think the kids should return to the uk more, so anyway, it's going ahead.

The surveyor is not allowed to lift up flooring, so if he went now, he couldn't do anything even if he wanted to. But I phoned the estate agent and asked him to ask the vendor to move the washing machine and the lino. If he refused I would have serious alarm bells going off. As it is, he has agreed, EA just called, so I now just need to arrange the survey. Fingers crossed nothing too serious wrong.

Do any of you happen to have a baby doppler I could borrow, rent, or buy off you?

Sorry, no doppler here.

Can I ask fur help if possible - urgent!

Ds has got to do a book presentation tomorrow. He has to produce a poster (thanks mum) , talk about the book ( ) but start off with a game ( )

Some kids have done a guessing game with book cover, but that doesn't work with his. Others have done hangman.

He thought of doing charade, but I don't know if german kids know this or if they have the same system.

Can anyone else offer an inspired easy idea for ds to do some sort of game as an apetiser for the classmates to want to hear all about it. (they are 11) ish.

Thanks!

Twenty questions? about the main character or the whole book
or
a word search? Easy to find generators online!

that seems like a good idea if you can afford it ernest - i think i would go back to the UK more if we had somewhere to got to - i dont have much family and they definitely dont have space for the 5 of us and hotels really add on to the price of the trip! hope you get the surveyor sorted - i'm not any use sorry!

Bebe - no doppler sorry!

Bananamad - welcome!! never been to Wiesbaden but you're right there was another poster looking for info about it! maybe she's still lurking and will spot your posts!! are you from Manchester? I lived in on the outskirts of Manchester for 8 years before we moved here - i wasnt overly excited with where we lived (place famous for a pier thats not a pier!) but loved shopping and everything else in Manchester!

Bananas - hope your dd settles tonight! is your dh away long!!
Yeah the story was in the paper today and the photo is quite flattering!! the story was about how the numbers of people going to the library is increasing!! since there is so little news round here, the story filled nearly a whole page!!

wordsearch. perfect, thanks

yes canella, we don't go back so often cos of $$$$$, and this was it means we have a base, we don't have to go to rellies (they are great but feels often like imposition) and dh want to invest in something relatively risk free so seems like perfect all round solution.

I have no idea what a baby doppler is but I guess on that basis I am unlikely to own one!!!

Bebe, those baby dopplers definately seem to be cheaper in the UK. Wonder if you ordered one from UK and got it sent over, you'd need an adapter but could work out cheaper. When you get your insurance sorted you can also maybe get a midwife, I had one throughout pregnancy with dd and she even came to the house when ds was ill or I didn't have the car.

Ernest, great idea about doing the wordsearch. Did you use a German programme to make it? I have used this one to make one for dd once recently but I had to use ue, ae, oe for the umlaut letters. Which book did he do? I bought the dc 2 new books yesterday, one called Alabama Moon which is a good one for boys but dd is reading it as she can't stand girly books, and another Alex Rider one for ds.

Canella, what's it like being famous?! The paper sounds abit like our local Blatt, if a shop has a sale on there's a full page report and when a teacher retired at Gymnasium there were photos and a report in the paper!

it was enttarnt, similar to Alex Rider. he's just read all the yopung james bond and now reading skullduggery pleasant.

got vordak the incomprehensible for ds2 and wass clearly written personally for him it is hilarious

Vordak looks cool ernest. Will put it on amazon list, wonder if it's better in English or German...

Dh declared he needs a comfy chair in his new office for reading so we're going to look round for one tomorrow, might be able to throw a few lamps and things in too for home as we really need new ones. Dd wants a bean bag - I'm not sure I like the idea but she's set her heart on having one. Suppose she can have a trial sit on some if we see some. Alternatively she wants one of those chairs that looks like a hand

Sorry ladies, so out of it I'm sure I missed some posts...hope you and your families all doing well.

still debating on the baby doppler (finds baby's heart rate for you so you can listen to it) Usually I'd not consider it, but I'm just so uncertain and thought it migh help to reassure me if these silly spotty times keep following me through this pregnancy.

canella sounds like fun being in the newspaper...did you clip yourself your dd out and put it on the fridge

did I say hello to the two separate bananas yet? Hello!

Dress did not go well, didn't have the right material for a lining and tried it without. It's not worked out well around the collar. I've cut the 'bodice' off and am going to make it into a skirt. And Moo asked if I was 'making for Bahnka?' (her baby doll) (Her auntie made her some little nappies for her Cabbage Patch NewBorn (Bianca) so now she thinks that's what sewing machines are for...) so I might use the bodice material and turn it into a skirt or something for the doll.

Vordak is really brilliant. I picked it up and wondered if it would be good for ds2, read the 1st line and knew it was. I could hardly put it down myself. It is miles cheaper in english I think.

Ds1 really enjoying skulduggery pleasant. The woman in the bookshop was really praising it when I got it, I think it's suitable from age 9 but ds loves it.

Just had elterngespräch for ds 2 and she wasnreally praising him, all positive, kept waiting for the bad stuff but none came, I was so proud of him, then ds1 came home with his zeugnis, also really good, 3 1's, then some 2 and some 3, so it has been a good day for a change with my horrid urchins :)

Btw, he got a 1 for the appetizer section (ie the word search) I just used a uk site and avoided words with impairs. I put it on a folie, for the hop for him to do it with the whole class. Teacher liked the idea, so a big thank you :)

Bebe, how many weeks are you? Can you feel the baby? I totally understand, cos I had a lot of bleeding with ds1, and I got a Doppler too! But really, I found it the opposite. Dipole itself doesn't find the heart beat, you have to do it, and sometimes you can't, then you just end up scaring yourself! I really wouldn't recommend it. What I did when I needed reassurance, was to lie flat on my back. Generally baby didn't like it so much,and started wriggling around and got a good, reassuring feel.. Hth

glad the wordsearch went well! :)

Those books are all v. popular with the boys I found (when I worked in a bookstore), also, books by Robert Muchamore were popular.

I'm only 13.5 weeks so movement is not really obvious just flutterings(perhaps)...though I sometimes, when laying on my back, feel 'pressure' and a rolling sensation way down low that really makes me want to throw up more than anything else. Dh has tried feeling anything too, but no luck really. Once I feel movement consistently I know I'll not worry the same. (Moo was such a mover that I was lucky to have a quiet moment ever-tho obviously this baby may not/is not likely to be the same) I can already tell that it's lower than Meg ever was.

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't posted for a while, the last few weeks have been crazy.

I've got a lot to catch up on and haven't read everything yet, but I wanted to comment on a couple of things.

Firstly, Canella, I can really recommend English Grammar in Use if you're teaching. It explains each grammatical point in simple English with illustrative pictures and also has English-only exercises. I use it both as a reference for me and as teaching material.

bebe I don't have a Doppler, but also think it could worry you more than reassure. I had a CTG every week from 28 weeks (standard for the FA-Praxis I go to) and they had terrible problems finding dd until about 32 weeks. Fortunately I could feel her moving at that stage so didn't worry, but if it's difficult for the nurses who do it professionally, it could be hard at home. Have you been back to the dr? I would have thought they would offer regular scans if you wanted reassurance. With a history of bleeding I'm sure the insurance would cover it.

I'm a bit alarmed by the idea of children being let out of school at random times. What happens if their parents aren't home, do they go to Hort early? (I don't have a school-age dc, but am curious.)

Hope everyone's having a fun/relaxing/exciting Friday (delete as appropriate!) :)

Canella - I love Manchester for shopping! When we go back to visit we always take an extra, empty suitcase just for purchases!

Bebe - hello back! Sorry to hear your first few days in Germany weren't exactly positive, fingers crossed things perk up soon.

BTW - does anyone have any advice regarding midwives in DE? I'm hoping to get some from my FA on Tues at my next appointment but thought I'd poll here too.
Do you see the FA throughout the pregnancy or do you need a MW too? Does the MW take the role I'd think of as Health Visitor before and after the birth etc or is that hospital/FA/something else entirely? Am trying to read up a little on the subject but seem to be finding confliting advice so am a little confused!

Also, I second Silkenladder on English Grammar in Use - it was my grammar bible when I was teaching Nachhilfe a few years ago when I was in Germany as an assistant and had some really good exercises too.

bananamad - i've never been pregnant here but a close friend was last year. She went to the Frauenarzt for all her antenatal care and then booked herself in at the hospital where she wanted to give birth (since it wasnt the nearest one to us). She had made contact prior to the birth to a community midwife who then visited her on her first day home after the birth and made every subsequent visit.
But for the regular assessments of the baby after he was born she went to the Paediatrician but think they could also be done by a Hausarzt. For her post natal check up she went back to the FA!

Does that make it clear as mud?

Thanks for the recommendation for the English book! will look out for it!

Got a fab friend coming over this weekend with 1 of her dc! cant wait! she's such a good friend so it'll be a great weekend! hope you all have a good one too!

Canella - funnily enough, that made perfect sense to me!! Thank you :)

Yep, Canella's advice about FA and MW is right on. That's exactly how it works. Your health insurance entitles you to a certain number of visits from the midwife before and after the birth and your doctor can write you a prescription for more visits if you or the baby are having difficulties. Also, your Frauenarzt won't be the one to deliver your baby in the hospital, that's the job of the midwives who work there. If you want your private midwife to be at the birth, you need to pay extra.

You can search for midwives here and find one in your area. It's sometimes good to 'interview' two or three to see how you get on.

www.hebammensuche.de/

Ahh, I just checked that list and the midwife who came to me before and after ds14 was born almost 15 years ago is still on it. She was wonderful. Nice memories.

The kids do get sent out at random times! With Grundschule kids who are at Hort, it's no problem, as yes, they automatically go to Hort straight from school regardless of what time it shuts, so up till now it's not been an issue for me. But now ds1 is at gymi, and there's no Hort.... That's why I got him a mobile phone. Yesterday he was home 2 hours early as the teacher was off sick, so they just sent them home. And today nearly an hour early. No notice, no warning! By total fluke, I was home both times, but if i'd got my arse self into gear I would normally have been out, and a long drive away and he would have been locked out for 2 hours!

In our state we have what you call a 'verlässliche Grundschule' where the elementary school has set hours no matter what happens and if a teacher is absent the children get looked after until the end of the 5th hour every single day. Until they introduced that quite a few years ago, they did just send the kids home and it was tough luch whether someone was there or not. In secondary schools there's no guarantee at all. Mine come home at all hours and both of them have keys (not really recommended for the littler ones) so they can let themselves in if I'm not there.

Thank you westvan & canella! It's all starting to make a little more sense now :)

Bananamad I had dd (20 months) here. I signed up for ante-natal classes at the local hospital and the midwife who ran the class automatically took over the post-natal care for all the women in the group. She came to see me every day for the first 10 days and then once a week until dd was 8 weeks. She also ran baby massage and baby swimming classes and a breastfeeding cafe and the Rückbildung course (post-natal fitness class).

I could have gone to any other midwife in the area, they would have offered similar classes, just it was easiest to sign up at the hospital at the parents-to-be open day. As far as I know, you can choose whether to see the dr or the midwife throughout the pregnancy (or presumably both). The drs tend to do lots of scans, which was nice for a first pregnancy, but I might choose to do things differently next time round.

Post-birth there are fixed check-ups for the child called U1, U2, etc. U1&2 are done before you leave hospital, then U3 is also done in the first few weeks. The gaps get longer then, dd is due for U7 in a month or two, but with all the vaccinations you end up at the dr every four weeks until over a year. Most people here seem to take their children to a Kinderarzt, they see plenty of well children, so can easily judge whether everything is developing normally. That means that health visitors are unnecessary, which going by what some of my friends post on FB must be a good thing. (DD is way under the bottom percentile on the height charts, but the KA has never ever commented on it, since she is clearly perfectly healthy. I can imagine what a HV might say!)

Right essay finished, am going to bed. Hope it helps a bit.

Thank you Silkenladder! These posts are definitely helping with the 'argh I have no idea what I'm doing' feelings.
Have a lovely weekend :)