Wenn es im Winter stürmt und schneit, haben wir eine Flasche Glühwein allzeit bereit - life in Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

As I couldn't find a suitable poem mentioning Glühwein, I composed my own. Please don't laugh.

All welcome - anyone living in Germany, Austria or anywhere else who would like to chat.

I've never heard of him either Linzer!

I think my dc are coming down with something - they're both asleep! Ds got in from school at 3pm today (his long day), had some hot chocolate and a Lebkuchen then went to read on his bed, dd was at the dentist to have a tooth out at 4pm then at 5pm when we got back ds was asleep, now dd is asleep as she said her tooth hurt and she was too tired to do her homework (French vocab revision).

*admysteltoe I hope your kids are ok this morning - I always hated French vocab revision - don't blame your dd or not feeling up to it after having a tooth out! There are 4 kids off school from dd's class of 24 according to her, and my 3 have had 2 consecutive bugs spanning a few weeks, so there are a lot o0f viruses about I think!

I have already had a dreadful morning and it is only 5.38am - there has been poo and pee all over me and the sofa, I had to give H a stand up sink bath, I grumped (quietly) at the older 2 or getting up and coming downstairs at 5am... All my fault as Henry has been up most of the night and at about 4.45am I finally decided to sit and cuddle him on the sofa and read so as not to disturb DH, who has to be up at 5.45am anyway, then when he filled his nappy thought I'd change it where I was - big mistake...

Argh

Later I hope you have a better day today with ds...

Oh 5more - that is a proper nightmare at such an ungodly hour! Will you be able to have a nap once the older ones are out?

I'm impressed with all these claims to fame although I'm with linzer - I hadnt heard of some of them. I've heard the name Gareth Ma lone but never seen a photo of him. But I am beyond impressed that ladder was on wetten dass. Even if you were miming - who cares! You were still on tv!

I have no good celebrity spottings - I used to work in Liverpool so often saw footballers but since I know nothing about football it was wasted on me. I treated one who people said was a legend but I had to google him to read about it.

Ds2 is having a great time at my IL's but to make my temporary easy life more difficult, i've volunteered to have ds1's best friend all afternoon cause his mum has to go to a seminar. He's not trouble like ds1 but he talks incessantly - he is exhausting. And she's not picking him up till 6 - i'll definitely be needing wine by then.

Hope all the poorlyness gets better soon - i agree with 5more - there's lots of it going round.

Oh and after reading the posts about Christmas cards, I managed to get the effort to rewrite my wrong shape ones. Thanks for the motivation. Now need to sort out the presents this morn and see who still needs what. Bought dh some long johns yesterday - such a romantic present!

It's better than nothing Canella - I'm still stumped by what to buy for DH! I may have to give up and ask him... Hope you survive the afternoon; DD1 has got a couple of friends like that and it's quite exhausting. The constant "What are you doing?" is particularly draining, particularly when I'm MNing (my excuse is that I'm "working")!

5more I initially thought you'd given your DH a stand-up bath (as some people use H when they're not particularly happy with their DH), but quickly realised that was highly unlikely! Hope you're able to get some rest today; you must be exhausted.

admylin Hope your two are OK this morning and were just tired rather than coming down with something.

DH has decided to work from home today, so I've sent him on the school run and then to the post office to get me some Christmas stamps! It will be good to have him around this afternoon to help out too (legitimately, as he theoretically only needs to work until midday on Fridays - not that this ever happens when he's actually at work). We've got quite a busy afternoon ahead of us: English lesson, then a friend of DD2's here for lunch, followed by DD1's dyslexia lesson, a Montessori workshop for DD2 and DS, and finally the DDs' piano concert. Am glad the weekend is almost here!

linzer - DS2 being Henry - H - as you worked out, not Husband! I post on a private forum where we all use all real names (we splintered off from another site and most of us have met, and everyone has met somebody so nobody is a total unknown now if that makes sense) so I often forget to use MN code on here!

Hope your busy day goes well

Canella can't you banish the boys upstairs saying you are working (when you are actually MNing)? I often banish Dd and her friends esp if they don't want to include DS1 in their game (she has to in the living room but not in her bedroom) or if they are disturbing DS2. I hate feeling like DD's friends are watching what I am doing, I always wonder if they report back to their mums! DD's best friend all the way through KiGa was super nosey, and I had to put her in her place when she told me I needed to hoover my stairs once! Thankfully they have grown apart a bit now and no longer play at each other's houses every week as they used to, though they are still friends. (We recently discovered her family are Creationists when the little girl told my dd that god put the dinosaur bones in the rocks when he made the world, and they are there to test us, when DD was telling her about the fossils she saw at an exhibit DH took her to, so I am rather glad they are no longer inseparable for that reason too - thought those people only existed in America!).

Oops baby is waking - that was a 17 minute nap then, sigh... Good job I didn't try to lie down, I'd have just fallen asleep (as happens all through the night...)

5more what a nightmare start to the day! We had an incident recently where I'd taken DD's nighttime nappy off and put her pyjama bottoms back on without any pants, so of course she did a poo. I was in the shower at the time and had just lathered up my hair. Cue scenes of me trying first to force DD to sit on the potty in case any more came and then to stand in the shower, which she is scared of, without getting poo on me or my towel (and trying not to drop it on the poo-covered floor). However, at least the bathroom is moppable. I can't imagine how high my bp would be if I had to deal with a poo-on-sofa incident!

Ok, so GM doesn't seem to be a household name. He's still a hero in my eyes, though, for bringing classical music to a wider audience.

Linzer I had no idea who GM was either!

Admysteltoe I hope your DC aren't ill this morning.

5more What an awful night/morning! You need to send DH or a friend or someone to the shop with instructions not to return unless they have the biggest slab of chocolate in the whole of Bavaria! (If I wasn't so far away I'd bring you one myself.)

Canella Good luck with DS' friend!

Well it's a case of one step forward, two steps back again this morning!
My amazing midwife spent all of yesterday on the phone to various toxicology/breastfeeding/ante-natal istitutes to find out how we can sort my long list of bf problems. She had a really detailed plan of action with various medicines etc to sort everything - it seems the thrush is probably the underlying cause of all the other problems - beat the thrush & everything else should go away too.She even offered to speak to my Dr (who last time just sent me iff to buy yet more nipple shields as she said I was just sore) to explain everything. So, I called the Dr yesterday afternoon to give my permission for her to discuss my case with the midwife & to make an appointment for today. So far so good. The doughnut of a receptionist offered me an appt in February, then wouldn't give me an appointment at all until the Dr had spoken to the midwife to see how urgent it was, as it's almost Christmas & they are closed for two weeks soon. She wanted to call me back last night.
I spent all afternoon sitting by the phone & have spent all morning trying to call but nothing! Aaaand just to complicate things, I think DS is now getting a side order of blood with his milk from one side & promptly spits everyhting back up once he has drunk from that side. Grrrrr! My patience has finally run out. I'm very tempted to just march down to the Dr's surgery & sneeze my coldy germs all over the lot of them.

DH made me a big flask of tea before he left this morning & there is a piece of cheesecake in the fridge with my name on it, so things could be worse :)

Oops, x-post, Ladder! Eurgh - that sounds like a nightmare!

Oh, you poor thing Gator - you really don't need the stress of dealing with numpty receptionists who don't answer the phone on top of everything else. I hope you manage to get seen and the thrush sorted out asap.

Ladder Sorry to hear about your recent yucky start to the day too. Am glad to discover I'm not quite such a philistine as I first thought - or that if I am, I'm in good company on this thread.

5more It was only for a split second that I read H as DH, although the stand up sink bath should have given it away immediately! I'm the other way round and have to stop myself writing DH, DD1 etc in e-mails to friends who aren't MNers; I even find myself thinking of DH as DH rather than his real name occasionally. Definitely a sign that I spend too long on here!

As DH is at home today, he suggested that he films today's English lesson (discreetly) - I was a bit at first, but it might actually be a useful exercise. And I can ask him whether AIBU about the children's behaviour (although we'd really need to film the Tuesday lesson as the Friday group are fine most of the time).

Will you then post it on YouTube so we can all watch?

I second Ladder's YouTube suggestion!

I third Ladders suggestion! Its a good idea but if it was me I'd hate to watch myself.

Well I'm about to go quietly mad with ds's friend. He's been annoyingly loud since he came in. I've made mash with beans, carrots and mince and gravy. I didnt expect him to eat most of it but his mum said mash is his favourite dinner but he has made such a drama at the table. Shocking for a 7 year old really. And I know fussy eaters - dd is one but she would always have eaten her favourite food. But he said at home he's allowed to eat as little as he wants - and I believe him. We finally came to a compromise and he's eaten 15 tsps of mash! And thats despite eating nothing since breakfast (his school Dose is still full). I thought I had it bad with dd but its making me realise she's not as bad as I thought.
(rant over!)

Oh gator - you're having the worst time. If you'd decided to stop BF would it be easier to go cold turkey? I did that with ds1 and altho my boobs were hard for a few days, I just kept wearing breast pads and just massaged them myself. They settled down within a few days. But I'm no BF expert - that may be the totally wrong advice. Hope you got through to the doctor.

Canella I'd have gone mad by now! I think you'll need wine before 6pm.....
Actually, if the mum seed you glugging wine (preferably out of the bottle, for effect) then maybe she won't let him round again!

No luck with the Dr. She hasn't contacted the midwife either so it's cold turkey for me! I've just been to the supermarket & stocked up on sage tea to reduce milk production (on the midwife's advice) so will see how we go from here. The Dr's is closed now for the weekend so will call & harrass them first thing on Monday.

Thoughts of new bras, wine &PG Tips are getting me through! (And of course thoughts of a pain-free life)

Good luck with today's lesson, Linzer.

The sage tea tastes like stuffing & is making me feel all christmassy

I wonder if your guest will be asking for sweets or cake very soon canella! I I've only had good eaters as guests so no experience but I guess if you atleast have offered food and you tell his mum when he gets picked up then it's not your problem.

My dc weren't ill yesterday, one emerged at 7:30pm, had a bacon and fried egg sandwich and then went to pack his school bag and off to bed, the other emerged at 8pm and had some soup (due to having her tooth out no hard food) then went straight back to bed!

5more, hope you have managed to get some rest after your bad night. Why do your dc get up at 5am though - it's still pitch black outside? If they're naturally early birds they'll be fine when they're older and have to get up really early for school atleast!

Gator, hope you feel better soon, it's really taking ages to get sorted, you must be so fed up. Sage tea is quite nice actually, we drink it alot with abit of honey in when we've got sore throats.

Sorry, but I have no idea how to upload videos to YouTube. I'm not sure I can bear to watch it myself, actually; I think I may just get DH to watch it and give me some constructive criticism! The lesson went OK, anyway; DD2 was probably the least well behaved of them all, so I'll have to have words with her later.

Visiting children's food fussiness drives me mad too, Canella. I now serve either pasta (with sauce, but that generally doesn't get eaten), pizza (although it really annoys me when the topping is scraped off) or fishfingers as it's not worth the hassle of trying anything more adventurous - particularly not something that I've put time and effort into cooking.

Gator That's so annoying about the doctor. Good luck with going cold turkey and just think of all the you'll be able to indulge in! Perfect timing for Glühwein too.

Finally got my first two Christmas cards today - I'm usually quite surprised to get the first in late November, so was feeling a bit neglected this year! I've only just sent my first few cards off though, so can hardly complain. I sent a square one to Germany, so thought of you Canella.

Gater what a stupid receptionist and dr! Glad the mw is so lovely and sage tea tastes nice!

Canella what an annoying little boy that friend sounds, with his loudness and drama. Mind you I never make visiting children eat, as long as I put the food in front of them and its got elements they normally eat I do think I've done my part and it is up to them and most fussy eaters do it for the - well, the fuss and attention! I would explain to the mother if an invited guest chose not to eat - dd's friend often invites herself if she just happens to be here at meal time, and I don't bother for her. I don't make my kids eat x amount, on principle - having been brought up to clear my plate with desert as a bribe, and with a mother who pandered ridiculously to one of my sisters who used extreme fussyness to control meal times - I think it encourages eating beyond appetite and not listening to your body (I know its my own fault I am over weight, but I also have a recovering anorexic sister and one who was and possibly still is mildly bulimic, so I don't think the approach can have been good). I just put food on the table and if they object to it tell my kids they can only have fruit until the next meal if they eat nothing/ very little. They do have to sit nicely at the table til the majority of people finish but don't have to eat.

I've got a parcel ready to post if that counts! Don't do cards anymore after, everyone I know has gone digital so it's e-cards usually!
Went to the post office to buy the box and realised I'd left the presents at home so they would have been sent but are now sitting in the post office box in the hall so I don't forget them as I walk past on my way out!

Oh I don't know why my kids get up at 5am - they are crazy I guess!

They are relatively light sleepers and I think heard me downstairs and can't bare to miss anything. Normally they are not allowed to get up til they hear dh in the shower, which is 5.45am on a week day. DS often gets up ridiculously early and plays with Lego on his bedroom floor - short of removing all toys from his room I don't know what we can do to stop that... Loony child.

They have both always been early risers - dd was up at 5am every morning from babyhood til she was 2.5, no idea why, was hard when I was preg with ds1 and he was a baby! I did train her to recognise 6am on a clock at 2.5 and she was relatively good about staying in bed til then, but if anyone got up for the loo or anything that was an excuse and she was up... Until she was about 5 she was ready for the day at 5am given half a chance, regardless of when she went to bed... She has to be up at 6.15am now to catch the bus at 7am, and I only have to wake her about once every 2 weeks....

If I put them to bed later they get up at the same time, they're just grumpier and ds falls asleep on the sofa at 5pm!

I think there are night owls and early birds. I remember dh doing a course at university about chronotypes, it's very interesting and I'm so glad that I got 2 long sleepers! I read somewhere that some schools in Germany actually start at 7am and that would have killed us - thank goodness our primary school in Berlin wa sat 8:20am.

We made the gingerbread house yesterday afternoon, it was sticky and messy and it's sort of leaning slightly but the icing set so it's standing! Photo is on facebook!

Off to dd's first meeting with dyslexia therapist now. Have a nice weekend and 3rd Advent (omg is everyone done with Christmas shopping?)

I was just admiring the house on FB, admylin - it looks amazing.
Hope the meeting goes well. DD1's dyslexia tutor is great; she's always so positive and DD1 enjoys going (fortunately).

I don't feel like I've done much in the way of Christmas shopping, but it's only really my family and DH that I have to buy for - DH has bought virtually all the presents for his family and the DC. We're going to the pottery studio this afternoon, so that will take care of the DC's presents for their grandparents.

DH's friend is visiting today, so the DC are very excited - he's DS's godfather and gets on really well with all the DC. He's playing upstairs with them atm while I MN get the table cleared and ready for lunch (DH has gone to buy pizza).

The house looks good, admysteltoe! (I just had a quick peek on FB.)
How did the meeting with the dyslexia therapist go?

I've done a bit of Christmas shopping, but mostly via Amazon & quick detours to Karstadt on the way back from various Dr appointments. I had to get my parents' presents early so they could take them back with them when they came to visit. We don't do presents with the PIL & B&SIL, just DN on DH's side of the family, so that makes life easier. (Do I win the prize for most acronyms in one sentence?!)

Did you have a nice time with DH's friend, Linzer?

It's still a one step forward, two steps back situation here. No luck with the Dr on Friday & we've been back & forth between breast & bottle all weekend as bf was really painful & he was taking his bottles too fast so spitting half of it back up. Then this afternoon we had a mad dash to the hospital as he was spitting up blood!! All fine, it was my blood that he just couldn't digest - it turns out I was bleeding more than I realised. He's been fine all afternoon & I have discovered a new dignity low-point by sitting the bath and milking (yes, actually milking!) my bad side to try and relieve the engorgement a bit & stop any more lumps developing! I'll be marching to the Dr's first thing tomorrow morning & not leaving until they have sorted everything out.

Not long until my brother is here & hopefully I will be able to have a nice, hot Glühwein - yum! :)