Schenk ein den Wein - as autumn comes to Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

Der Nebel steigt, es fällt das Laub;
schenk ein den Wein, den holden!
Wir wollen uns den grauen Tag
vergolden, ja vergolden!

A thread for all those living in Germany and Austria, and anyone else who would like to chat.

Always good to have an excuse to open some , and this poem seemed quite appropriate!

Later I seem to have Amazon parcels arriving every day at the moment. Nothing very exciting, though - yesterday it was some toothbrush heads and a charging cable for my iPod.

I don't think I've ever had to pay for things like that from my dr - she just hands stuff out, as does my midwife.
Good luck with the DCs!

Hupa I've never been geocaching either but I hear it's fun. I'd love to know what it's like if you do go :)

hupa yay for good parents eve

We have a geocash! DH and the kids hid it a couple of years ago, it's walking distance from our house and we go and check on it every so often as well as dh following it online. We also sent a small metal dog called Sidney on a mission to Sydney via geocash when my sister lived there.... Very geeky but DH doesn't do a lot with the kids and it is their "thing" and has the good side effect of exploring places locally where we'd never think to go. I've only been a couple of times as it's nice dh does it with the kids, but it is a good; interesting alternative to just going for a walk! Do you have a hand held gps?

Big kids are playing with home made playdough in the kitchen but I hear a melt down starting...

hupa I've never heard of geocaching, but hope you have fun (will google in a spare moment).

Linzer and Later I'm another Amazon junkie, but here everyone seems to do loads of mail-order shopping (no decent shops nearby), so I hope I don't stick out. One of the regular postwomen says "du" to me though...

Canella I go through phases of drinking very little caffeine and I definitely notice when I've had more than usual - horrible. Coffee just tastes too good to give up altogether, but I can live without tea no problem.

I don't know if that's true about drs not being allowed to sell medication. My FA suggested I go on depo while bf and said I could buy it directly from them as they got a discount for buying in bulk. Maybe alarm bells should have rung for me, but after nine months of sleep deprivation I wasn't really thinking very clearly. I hugely regret it now, as my cycle still isn't back to normal and I would like a second child NOW at some point. The dr certainly didn't tell me about how long it could take to return to fertility, but if she was trying to shift her bulk order then why would she?

Later this is where DH gets my tea supplies from:
stores.ebay.de/Asia-Food-Center/_i.html?_nkw=PG+tips&submit=Finden&_sid=198546177

Silken that's very unprofessional of your FA! How infuriating that her/ his unprofessional / financially orientated advice might have affected the spacing of your children!

Thanks for the link, 5more.

Silken that's awful! Have you been back to the Dr about your cycle? Maybe you could bring the issue with buying from the Dr up when you go and see what they say.

5more I sent you a message about that US/UK list.
I've only ever been given free stuff at the doctor's too. I think if I'd got all the way home I wouldn't have rushed back either Linzer! Hope teh afternoon goes well with all the dc. I'm looking forward to a nice cosy afternoon as none of the c have any trips or visitors, table tennis training is cancelled.

Just had a phone call from the Kinderpsychologin to say she had managed to speak to dd's teacher about the dyslexia and she could convince him to start the Ausgleich atlast. She is much better than me at explaining it all. That's good news for the next dictation in 3 weeks.

Dd wants to go to the Weihnachtsmarkt tomorrow in the city. I've over spent for the week already so hopefully the Kinderglühwein isn't too expensive!

admylin what's the Christmas market near you like? (Which one is it, if you don't mind me asking?)
Good news about the Kinderpsychologin!

Our Sternschuppenmarkt finishes two days after my brother arrives so I think we'll head down for a Glühwein and a Bratwurst then. If we go during the day it won't be such a hassle with the pram - that's my cunning plan, anyway.
I did think about using the BabyBjörn (which isn't evil, after all - it's actually really handy) but my SIL told me about a baby who froze to death in a BabyBjörn at a Christmas market when the parents just thought it was sleeping. It might not be true at all but it has put the fear in me, so the pram it is! Plus DS can't really be bashed about too much in the pram if it is crowded.

Of course I don't know for definite that that was a major motivation for her in recommending the injection to me. I'd possibly given her the impression that we didn't want more kids, or she'd projected that onto me, having an idea of DH's age and level of work commitments.

I only had the one shot in the end, as DD started sleeping through and I started feeling like I woud be able to cope with another. The dr told me at that point (June 2010) that my periods would return within a couple of months, but that if they didn't go back to normal I could take the pill for a few cycles and that should do the trick. That was the last time I saw her, as she was diagnosed with bowel cancer and sold her practice shortly after.

The next dr I saw (in Nov 2010) said taking the pill wasn't the best option and to wait six months. I'd only had two periods eight weeks apart at that point, but from January I started getting them every 2 1/2 weeks. After a few months of that I went to another practice (the dr I saw in Nov had left again), was told to wait it out again, but I finally demanded the pill in August (on the advice of a midwife friend), and the new dr agreed it was worth trying.

I've now finished the three month supply of the pill. Things don't seem totally normal as I had some spotting about three weeks into this cycle, but I can't say whether that could be related to a bout of cystitis I had at the time, or an ovulatory bleed. I'm going to give it until March in any case before going back to the dr.

Sorry if there's TMI in that essay. I've spent too much time on the Conception board over the last year, although I try to avoid it now to prevent me obsessing.

admylin I can't believe it's taken the school so long to get their act together re your dd's dylexia! I hope the school work she's done so far this year doesn't count towards anything important.

Wow Silken - that sounds really stressful. Having your periods messed about with is knackering, and with a young DC and trying to conceive on top - I really hope things settle down & it all works out for you soon.
Is a little spotting not normal when you go start (or restart) taking the pill?

silken How frustrating that the doctor didn't let you have all the information that you really should be given; even if she assumed you didn't want any more children, she should have mentioned how long it takes for your cycle to get back to normal. I remember my gynae telling me that it could take up to 10 months when I had the 3-Monats-Spritze six weeks after DD2 was born, but I wasn't too concerned as I didn't particularly want to get pregnant again for at least a year. After the first injection, I relied on bfing as a contraceptive (it was very effective for 1.5 years after DD1 and DD2, but there was no way I was relying on it after DS as there was no way I wanted a fourth!). I really hope you manage to get it all sorted out soon, anyway. My gynae told me that spotting is quite normal in the first couple of months after starting the pill but that it really should have stopped by the third month (can't remember whether that was the end of the third month or not, though).

Btw DH was very suspicious when he was driving my car once and the postman waved to him in a very friendly manner, obviously not having seen who was driving it! Some of them do greet me by name when I'm out and about, but sadly I'm not on du terms with any of them.

Later That sounds like the kind of story my MIL would tell! Surely the baby would be kept warm by its parent's body heat, unless it was virtually naked?

admylin Good news that your DD's dyslexia has finally been recognised; it must be a huge relief for you.

The English lesson actually went OK in the end. One of the girls can be a bit difficult and will only do what she wants to do, but I generally ignore her when she's playing up so it doesn't disrupt the lesson too much.

So what does everyone think about a new thread?

Quite possibly, Later. I wasn't really expecting or hoping too much from this cycle as my last "period" was just the withdrawal bleed from the pill.

Linzer apparently it can take up to two years, not 10 months. I'm up to 20 months now in any case, although I was still bfing until May this year, which could possibly have had an effect (although the dr seemed to think it unlikely). I really wish I'd relied on bf and fertility awareness as contraception, but no-one tells you about FAM and everyone tells you bf is not an effective method of contraception .

Re the postwoman - I don't know her name, but she greets me with "Ah, die Silken!" when I come to the door . Maybe she assumes I am much younger than I am / the au pair (since she's seen me with DD enough times)?

Silken that sounds really frustrating not knowing when you'll be getting a normal period again. Hope you got some good advice on the board on MN.

Yes, linzer we need a Glühwein winter thread! We've had a schneeräumen one once I think - any other ideas?
Later this is our Weihnachtsmarkt in Hannover. Dd wants to go to the historical market.

Admylin glad the teacher has finally listened to somebody about your dd's dyslexia! Thank you for that list too!

Silken lucky you looking so young :) But the whole messed up cycle business sounds a real nightmare, hope they are regular again soon.

Later daytime Christmas market sounds good as long as it's not mega busy - I went with my mum and sister to the biggest one in Munich when DS1 was 3 months old and it was an absolute nightmare, due to being hugely crowded... That was made much worse though because my mum wandered off with dd, who was only just 2 then, into the a crowd - I had agreed she hold dd's hand but not that we separate - my mum doesn't know Munich at all, nor does she speak German, and she has flakey tendencies (she thinks it's a funny story that she lost me in a lift at an airport when I was that age - I was in the lift, she was faffing with my younger sister in a pram - I am sure it can happen to anyone but she appears to think it is something perfectly normal, not an omg it could have been terrible but thankfully worked out fine) which have only got worse with age and dd didn't (doesn't) know her that well so I was panicking. Minus the 2 year old and flakey (and very short so not easy to spot) granny it might have been less of a "never again" experience!

I do love small - medium Christmas markets but won't be going to a big one again in a hurry!

I am on a bit of a mum rant as I just called her trying to be nice and she spent most of the call trying to make me say I wish we could be with them for Christmas - their Christmases revolve around church and set rituals/ itineraries and thinly veiled stress over everything happening in the "right" way - I don't remember ever enjoying them (though I am sure I did as a small child, when I must have been oblivious to the behind the scenes stuff). I should lie shouldn't I and pretend I wish we could be there, but much as MIL is irritating me beyond belief too atm at least thier Christmas is relaxed and boozy towards evening, and much more enjoyable - and I vastly prefer having the 24th in my own home without extended family.

Do others operate mostly on lies and half truths with their mothers to keep things harmonious (the worst thing is her re-invention of the past, which she seems utterly to believe is genuine memory), or is there no need? I am sick of feeling so antagonistic towards her but can't seem to help myself! It's not like anything terrible happened in my childhood, it's mainly that she is so convinced we loved everything and she re-writes every conversation and encounter (with anyone not just me) to put herself in the best light within hours of it happening...

5more my mother does exactly the same! Everything was rosy (not that things were bad, but she does like to re-write things to suit her) and she appears in the best light possible - she is generally lovely though so I just ignore it and either don't comment or just mutter something non-commital.
Your Christmas market experience would have had me in a right flap! I can just about cope with DS being in a different room if he is with DH. I left him with my (more than capable) parents for 2 hours when I had a dr's appointment when he was 7 weeks old and I hv never cried so much! I grabbed him back the instant I ran through the door.

I'm not quite on Du terms with the postman but have discovered that his name is Elvis, he wears a polar bear hat in the winter and one of his old teachers who lives in the next street has the same name as DH!

Silken Lucky you with your youthful looks :)

5more I can imagine teh feeling you had at the market in Munich. And your mums lift story brings back memories. We were in a big hotel once meeting dh's brother and ds was around 3 and going up to our rooms BIL stepped out of the lift on his floor and ds just followed thinking we also had to get out but we were 2 floors up and as the doors closed all we could hear was screaming. Ds didn't know BIL at all. Horrid feeling anyway, even though ds was safe if not distressed.

I've been putting off going to visit my parents for over 2 years now. I've also only just realised that I have the right to say no we don't want to come for Christmas, until now I've always made other excuses thinking it'd hurt their feelings. The fact that they're retired and well off and fit enough to visit us (but haven't) makes me think why should we feel guilty?

I'd say, with a baby Later the best time to go to the market is when it just opens. Ours opens at 11am so dd and I aim to get there for around that time and atleast she gets to see the stalls and we take our time looking. By about 12 it's getting busy but still not packed. Afternoons and evenings aren't enjoyable when you're with small dc as they just get pushed and you have to hold on to them the whole time.

My parents hardly ever visit us either, admylin - they're also retired and could afford it, although it must be said that my Dad isn't in the best of health, finds travelling very stressful and usually ends up being ill when he goes away anywhere. Could you invite yours to come to you for Christmas instead? If they don't want to, I don't think you need feel at all guilty about not going to visit them.

Later Lol at your postman called Elvis. When DD1 started school, there were photos of all the 1. Klassen in the local newspaper with all the children's first names, and some were quite, um, different... there was an Elvis among them too.

5more The set rituals and stress if things don't go exactly according to plan/things needing to be done the "right" way sound all too familiar. I constantly feel guilty about the fact that my DC don't behave perfectly when we're back at my parents' (don't finish their dinner, have tantrums, etc.). It's true that I was very well behaved as a child (I wouldn't have dared be otherwise) but I think they forget that my brother wasn't - they even talked to a child psychologist about him at one stage.

silken Two years, really? I never knew that. I never realised that it would take so long for my cycles to get back to normal after coming off the pill either; it took nearly a year for my periods to return. I'm sure the bfing could have had an effect too, despite what your doctor said - my GP in the UK said that some women are very sensitive to even the smallest amount of bfing. After both DDs, my periods only returned when I cut the one remaining feed down to a couple of minutes - I took the minipill for three months after DD1 was born and had one 3-Monats-Spritze after DD2 was born, but otherwise didn't bother with contraception as we wanted a second/third anyway so it wouldn't have been a disaster if I'd got pregnant slightly earlier than planned, and I wanted to make sure my cycles returned to normal in time after my experience with the pill.

admylin A Glühwein thread sounds like an excellent idea - we should continue our wine theme! Anyone have any ideas for a title? I'll have a think too.

Not sure this is title material but it made me smirk whilst googling Glühwein-related poems:

Rudolph hat ne rote Nase, ihm drückt der Glühwein auf die Blase

(I admit it, I am 5 years old...)

That made me laugh too, Later. I also saw something about Glühwein and rote Nasen when I was googling, but have failed to come up with anything decent yet. My best effort so far is "Mit Glühwein und (something else - Plätzchen? roten Nasen? Kinderpunsch?) sind wir für den Winter bestens ausgestattet." Hmm... not particularly catchy, is it?

I was quite excited as I came across a load of poems by Christian Morgenstern (the linguist in me loves his werewolf poem) but none of them seemed right & didn't mention Glühwein anyway.

German radio really loves Phil Collins, doesn't it!