Die Kaffeestube - German and Austrian cyber Kaffee und Kuchen

[admylin]

Kaffeeklatsch for anyone in a German speaking country or interested in German, Kommt herein und setz euch!

ploom yes, they take turns bashing and then cry as they get hit by hard chocolate bombs dive for cover when the thing breaks (in my vast experience of having seen one piñata in action!) Actually the combination of extremely well-constructed Lightning McQueen replica and flimsy cardboard tube suitable for 2yo to bash with didn't quite cut it, and my friend had to pull it open at one edge.

I quite fancy making one myself (papier maché on outside of balloon, paint to look like a fish), but maybe it would be better this year to buy one and then I can involve DD in the Bastelarbeit next year. My parents are coming over for DD's birthday, so maybe they can bring one if they are much cheaper in the UK - thanks for the tip, admylin.

You can get pull string pinatas! (Don't have any symbols on my netbook!) Little children don't have to bash with a big baseball bat, but pick a string to pull and then the right one pulls the door open and the sweets come flying out. It can take forever with a normal one, especially as they are supposed to be blindfolded. They're all over the place here, as you can imagine!

Every other teenager here also has braces and orthodontists are not usually covered by insurance. They do payment plans though. Hope they are successful and not too uncomfortable. Good luck with all the naps too. S is currently falling asleep in his lunch and if I take him upstairs, he'll have two hours! This is the best it's been in months. Come on Henry, give your Mum a break . Gator, it's such a lovely age, isn't it? Love the first communion photos, Linzer. Sorry about the late night partying, too, admylin.

I have been reading everyone's posts, but was so busy at the weekend, I've forgotten what you've all been up to, sorry. A has her two hour stint at school today so just have a short time to catch up. Had a proper Central Oregon weekend. Skied Saturday morning, (it was so hot I didn't need gloves, to do my coat up, burnt my neck etc!) cycled down to a local Earth day fair with S in the trailer in the afternoon and went to a local brewery for dinner in the evening. Days like that make me really appreciate living here!

Hope everyone is having a great week. Less MN, more doing!

DS appears to be having a lovely long lie-in this morning, so instead of rushing about getting us all ready, breakfast done, washing on etc, I'm lazing on the sofa with a cup of tea and the laptop.

Ploom Did you have a nice chat with your friend in Malaysia?

admylin Did you manage to catch up on some sleep? I don't mind the neighbours being loud at the weekends but during the week is a big no-no and drives me mad.

silken Making your own pinata sounds fun! I remember they used to have them in Asda for about a fiver, but they were all pink donkeys if I remember rightly. I haven't seen them here but I've never really looked for them. Inviting the neighbours' kids sounds like a nice idea.

jenny Sounds like a lovely weekend!

Ah, someone appears to be awake!

Sounds like bliss, Gator - well, up until the moment you wrote that someone had woken up. Your DS is making impressive progress; it's amazing how quickly they grow and learn new things at that age.

Jenny That sounds like a great weekend. I never went to the dentist in the USA as our insurance plan didn't cover it, but it was doable as we were only there for two years.

admylin Grr at your neighbours. We're quite lucky in that our next-door neighbours have three children the same age as ours, so the evenings are always very quiet and we don't need to worry if the DC play a little noisily in the garden as theirs are very often out there with them. They'll all be hitting the teenage years at the same time too!

silken None of mine would know what a piñata is, I'm sure. We managed to hold off with birthday parties until DD1 was 4, but of course the other two had seen her having parties so we had to start a bit earlier with them - not until they'd started KiGa though (at 3).

Ploom I haven't heard of Viber but must admit I'm not a huge fan of the phone, anyway; I never use Skype either.
The running is going much better now, thanks; the brace and/or gait analysis really seem to have helped my knee, so I'm optimistic about being able to complete the Stadtlauf in June! (And hopefully being able to run faster than last year.)

Thatis I'm afraid I was one of those mothers who insisted on nap time at home and would try not to go out unless it was absolutely essential - all three of mine would only sleep for about 20 minutes max. in the buggy or car (and then be grizzly afterwards), whereas they'd nap for a couple of hours in their cot. However, I'd never have completely turned down an invitation because of nap time - I'd have put them down half an hour earlier/later, woken them a bit earlier than usual, etc. - although might have turned up a bit late (having warned whoever had invited us beforehand, of course).

We've now enrolled DS in the Vorschulklasse and I think we've made the right decision. He's still very young for his age and I just can't imagine him having the patience (or even ability) to sit down and write lines of letters, for example. Everyone I've spoken to (apart from one friend) has been very positive about it - I'm definitely starting to understand that "gönn him that extra year" attitude, which I didn't always before.

The DDs are going to a friend's straight after school today so I'm going to be child-free until nearly 3 pm - but making up for it then, as I postponed Tuesday's English lesson with the KiGa boys until today. Two of the three boys were ill on Tuesday, but I'm assuming they're all back to their usual "lively" selves today.

DH got him up and made his bottle so I just stayed where I was for another few minutes before the usual morning rush started.
He's currently making investigating the legs of his high chair and staring intently at the radio. He can't crawl properly but it's quite impressive watching him slowly make his way across the room sideways & backwards via various objects of interest. Bless!

Enjoy your child-free time this afternoon, Linzer! I hope the KiGa boys are better behaved this week.
It sounds like the Vorschulklasse was the right decision in the end. Are you feeling a bit better about it now? You sounded quite stressed about it before.

Does anyone here have a Blackberry phone? My brother has said I can have his old one when he upgrades so we can message each other for free with their messaging service, but I'm not sure what the phone is like. I wouldn't be paying for it so no money wasted if it turns out to be awful. Are they ok to use?

Morning! Both my dc are at 'work' for Zukunftstag! Was funny seeing all the adults on their way to work with 2 or 3 dc in tow!

Silken if your mum can carry one over, they're certainly cheaper in the UK. Like Gator, that's where I saw them in Asda and back in the days of Woolworth before they all closed. Why does everything except food seem more expensive over here?

Jenny sounds like you have a great lifestyle over in the US! No time to get homesick atleast!

Linzer did you have any more feedback from the school? Sounds as if it's a good idea for your ds if he's shy - we all know how much weight mündliche Mitarbeit has on the grades! Hope the english lesson goes well.

Gator sorry no idea about phones. haven't even got a smart phone of my own yet! The dc and dh have one but I don't see the need for me yet seeing as we all have pay as you go and no contracts so surfing the web would probably be expensive out and about (although it'd be great for all those times when I'm sitting about waiting to collect dc from sport etc).

It was my turn to collect the girls from hockey last night at 7:30pm, my own and 2 others. one of them was in a match so we had to stand around waiting for an hour longer than pick up time. No one told me though so I was yet again sitting in the car for ages waiting then went in search of them across about 5 playing fields. Tonight I'm on collecting duty again so I hope they're all finished at the same time.

Quick post as have to take the car to get its summer wheels put on at 11.

gator DH has a Blackberry. I hate trying to surf the internet on it, but I don't know how much that is down to being used to Apple touchscreens - with a Blackberry you have to press more firmly on whatever you want to clck on and I find t doesn't seem to respond even when I think I've clicked very precisely. Other than that, there aren't as many apps available (although I'm sure there are enough) and DH's phone regularly crashes/switches itself off (this happens with every phone DH buys, though, not only the Blackberries). Still, DH is now on his 4th(?) BB and refuses to buy himself an iphone, so they must be ok!

linzer sounds like you've made the right decision. I was just thinking this week how noticeable the differences in maturity between my two Vorschul English groups are - one group contains mostly the older kids from the year and the other the younger ones. I guess even the younger ones (with the odd exception) will cope and adjust to being at school, but a lot of the older ones are clearly ready for school in a way that the others aren't yet and that must give them an advantage.

Leaving now - horrible day, involving tyre change, jazz rehearsal, an afternoon of piano teaching and organising a delivery to the new house without actually being there (it is not the 19th KW, Möbel Höffner!)

admylin I just have a normal payg phone too. I don't really use it enough to justify a contract but my brother & I do text each other a lot. He's not too happy where he is at the moment so I think it helps him. I wouldn't normally pay out for a smart phone but as it's free I thought why not.
Do you think they just forgot to tell you that you'd have to wait around last night? I hope you don't have to do the same tonight (otherwise a smart phone really would be worth it!)

silken I think there is a lot of brand loyalty around when it comes to smartphones. I just remember all the managers in my previous job messaging each other under the table & giggling during meetings & I think that's what puts me off a bit. Management was a boys club though, full of middle-aged men who thought they were still 25 and cool. Hideous!

All these developments are making DS very grizzly and wanting to be held and carried around all the time, but he's having his morning nap now so I can sit down with my (now lukewarm) cup of tea. Aaah! :)

silken I meant to add - I hope your horrible day turn out better than you expect.

Hello

finally managed to get back into mn

hope everyone is well

Hi Cinders, lovely to see you again! I e-mailed you a couple of months ago but had the e-mail returned as undeliverable. I was going to text you but then realised I'd forgotten to take your number last time I saw you - maybe you could send it to me sometime?

silken Thanks so much for the DVD, which arrived yesterday - am looking forward to watching it. Hope you survive your stressful day. A piano and flute teacher has an advert up at our KiGa and I've decided I'm in the wrong career as she's charging ?35 per hour! (Admittedly, I could get that much if I had seven children in a group - although I bet she doesn't have to do an hour's preparation.) I was wondering whether she gets many students at that rate. I worked out a few days ago that we're paying ?1200 a year for the DD's piano lessons and we only pay ?15 per hour at the Musikschule.

admylin What a pain about the long wait after hockey. Did you at least have a book with you? I must admit that I've been reading less since I got my iPhone; I always take a book with me when I go to pick the children up for English or when I'm waiting for DD1 at her dyslexia tutor's, but seem to end up on the Internet half the time (although I suppose it means I'm getting more value for money for my phone!).

We've cancelled the meeting with the head as we've enrolled DS in the Vorschulklasse; she said that if we decided beforehand that Vorschule would be the best option for him, he wouldn't need to be reassessed. Now we just have to wait until July for the list of things he needs (I have the feeling that having three DC at school is going to be rather expensive, but am hoping they need slightly less in the Vorschule).

I'm definitely feeling more positive about it now, Gator - initially I was a bit about DS needing to start a year later "just" because he was shy, but having talked to his KiGa teacher, Montessori teacher, etc. it's become clear that he'd probably be better off in the Vorschulklasse (more because of the problems he has with writing/drawing/holding a pencil than his shyness though). DD2 can also be extremely shy so I was quite worried about her before she started school, but I needn't have been; her teacher does say that she's quiet in class, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. I don't think she was half as clingy as DS is when she was the same age, however.

I've no idea about Blackberries, I'm afraid; they don't seem to be very popular here so I don't even know anyone who has one. DH used to have a Nokia that looked quite similar to a Blackberry and I just couldn't get on with it at all; I think that even he has been converted to iPhones now that they're standard issue where he works.

Thanks for the advice Silken. Luckily my German is proving to be enough to deal with estate agents, although I do sometimes feel stupid asking questions which must be so obvious to the average native- but it's usually because things are done slightly differently here to the UK. I will, of course, be getting English translations of anything even remotely legal or contractual. And no, I don't think I would have fallen for the idea of trying to get around any of the standard payments. I'm surprised people would even attempt that in Germany.

Well, we're here (east of Frankfurt), have been here since Sat, and I feel like I have not had a moment to breath. We've only got a week to look around and try to work out what we can afford, and where we want it. It turns out that both DH and I are quite fussy, and we really can't work out how much we can afford, because we still haven't been into a bank to ask about mortgages. We have until Sun, and then we head home again. I really hope we have made some decisions by then, but at least we have learnt a lot. The actual move doesn't take place until August, but we were hoping to have a house underway by then (we've kind of set our hearts on a Neubau).

Hello to everybody. I'll try to get back on here with an update at the weekend. And good luck Nohun with your search for a place.

Hello everyone!

I meant to post here and got distracted by another thread about moving to Germany.

Good luck life begins, sounds very ambitious wanting to buy a plot and start a new build when you don't live here yet!

It's 6.15, need to wake DD, have been up ages, should have started to post earlier!

DS2 had lots of birthday presents yesterday, the top hit being a Happy Land Rocket from the UK (recommend strongly to anyone with an under 4 - DS1 loves it too and he is 4.5), and I have managed to arrange his party for Thursday, a week after his birthday. I now have too many people coming if anything, stupid of me to consult with people to try to arrange a time and day people would come, as once I set a date everyone said they would come after all, including those who definitely couldn't on that day/ time... Argh. Oh well! It's happening now. Need to clean before in-laws come for the family birthday coffee and cake tomorrow too...

Linzer well done on making the Vorschule decision, once the decision is made it is a relief - it's the same with deciding whether to send or keep back here, with children who are on the youngest/ oldest boarderline (both my older 2)!

waves to everyone else and runs to wake DD...

dh has gone off to a scienctific retreat congress for a couple of days....


why did I marry a Vet

Thatis your ds2 is sooooo cute! Happy first birthday for yesterday and good luck with the party! Hope the weather holds then you can use the garden too. What's on the menu?!

lifebegins good luck with the house hunting. Will you both be working? You can be proud of your German skills, well done!

Linzer how did the dc behave for their lesson this time? No I had typically forgotten to take my book to pick-up at hockey as I wasn't expecting to wait, I thoughtthey'd be ready to jump in the car as I pulled up andnot have an hour to sit around!

Gator sounds like it's worth trying the phone if he's giving it away! A smartphoneis on my list of things I would like to have!

cinders - where have you been so long?

We have 28° forcast for the weekend and the dc have a day off school on Monday to make the long weekend worth it I suppose. I really must get the tyres changed.silken did you have a long wait for yours? How much was it? Hope the delivery, rehearsal and lesson went OK.

Good morning everyone. I´ve just been catching up on all the news. We had a problem with our internet connection this week which has only just been sorted. Mind you, it´s amazing how much I´ve got done without the distraction of the computer

Thatis A belated happy birthday to your ds. I´m glad he enjoyed his presents.

Linzer Your piano lessons sound like a bargain. I pay 20 Euros for 30 minutes and that seems to be standard here.
I´m glad you´ve made the decision about ds. How does he feel about the Vorschule?

Gator your ds sounds so cute. I think it one of the best ages when they suddenly come on in leaps and bounds.

Jenny What a fantastic way to spend a Saturday.

admylin I think driving and collecting dc is one of the biggest negatives about being a parent.
We´ve already been told that ds will eventually nedd a brac, so I better start saving now. I´m surprised at how many dc in dd´s class have braces as they´re only in the 3. Klasse. I remember being at secondary school before being aware of friends having braces - not that many did.

Waves to everyone else I´ve missed.

Morning all,

It's definitely getting hotter here - I was absolutely boiling during my run and searching (mostly in vain) for some shade. We're all very envious of the children who have their first communion on Sunday as the forecast is so good; the first two classes had awful weather (although at least it didn't start pouring with rain until after ours).

We had parents' evening yesterday, although I needn't have bothered going to see DD2's teacher (in fact, she'd been expecting me to go into English as she'd got the weeks mixed up and said she'd been going to tell me I didn't need to come to the parents' evening) - all fine, no problems, she's quiet but it doesn't seem to be an issue.

The first thing that DD1's teacher said to us was that she'd only just scraped through the cycling proficiency. Her teacher managed to persuade the policeman to let her pass on condition that she told the parents (i.e. us) that we shouldn't let her out on her bike on her own, as she thought it would be very demoralising for DD1 to be the only one to fail. I'd already decided that I wouldn't feel comfortable about letting DD1 out on her own - which I told the teacher - as even I find turning left a bit stressful sometimes, but it still came as a bit of a blow to find out that she had virtually failed. She can be quite unsure of herself in new situations and also seems to be in a world of her own sometimes, so I don't know whether those were the reasons - she's usually quite sensible when we go out on our bikes.

hupa I've also been amazed at how much more I can fit into the morning without the distraction of MN. This thread is the only one I spend much time on now.

admylin It's a long weekend here too, as 1st May is a bank holiday and we're taking the DDs out of school on Monday so that we can go to Playmobil land.
Winterreifenpflicht ended here last Sunday and we paid just over ?50 to have ours changed; I'd be interested to know how much it costs in Germany as everything (with the possible exception of piano lessons at the Musikschule ) seems more expensive here.

The boys' behaviour at yesterday's English lesson wasn't great - DS and one other boy were OK, but the other two were their usual nightmarish selves. One of them knocked some plastic grapes out of my hand (on purpose, I think) and the other one was deliberately ignoring my instructions just to pretend to bite the fruit and trying to put them into his mouth the whole time. I've definitely got much stricter with them, but I'm still and a lot of the time that they don't automatically do what I say and at how little respect they have for me. I was talking to a friend who teaches yoga to KiGa children and she said it's just the same there; if you turn away from them for one second, they're jumping all over each other.

Cinders Sympathies - DH has just come back from a couple of days at a spa in Burgenland (in theory he was at a management seminar) and was telling me how wonderful his room was, with a bathtub in the middle of it. He was in Bucharest at the start of this week, but I don't think that was quite such a luxurious trip.

Thatis We bought DS the HappyLand rocket from the ELC in Bratislava for his birthday last year and he absolutely loves it (he chose it himself in fact, as he spotted it there and really wanted it - we said we'd buy it for him, but he'd have to wait until his birthday, which was about six months later).

Lifebegins We bought a newbuild here, so I probably know more building-related vocab in German than I do in English - although only really basic stuff (Estrich, belagsfertig/schlüsselfertig, etc.); I must admit I did rely on DH a lot during meetings with the developers. Then again, being thrown in at the deep end is supposed to be the best way to learn.

Morning!

I'm crisis cleaning this morning - the crisis being that the flat really really needs cleaning - so I only have 15 mins to read and post.

admylin the tyre change cost 16?, but the place also stores the tyres, which cost 56? and the guy said the price for the change is higher if you don't store them there. We also had two tyres replaced, so the 16? may only have been for two tyre changes - it isn't entirely clear on the bill.

lifebegins I'm sure you would have checked anyway with a lawyer before agreeing to any deal, but as you say, you wouldn't expect anyone to try to circumvent any of the formalities in a country like Germany, which could in itself make a person more susceptible to such a scam. Anyway, good luck with it all, and I hope you've got somewhere nice to stay in the meantime.

jenny I was playing with that baby name thing you linked to yesterday. 3 of the 6 girls in DD's kiga class have names which do not have any matches in the UK .

The timer's gone off, back to the tidying...

On a break again .

Hi again, Cinders. DH also goes to lots of congresses and there are times when it seems he is at one every Saturday, so cannot do any shopping/cleaning/parenting for weeks on end. Bit of a pain, but I quite like having the odd evening to myself.

Linzer I'm definitely being underpaid for my music teaching by the sound of it. I get 15? for 45 min teaching (and it would be 13? if I hadn't convinced them that a BMus is a teaching qualification). I charge 30? an hour for private teaching, though. I guess there's still an Ost/West difference - the music school I applied to recently in Nordbayern would have paid 22.50? for 45 min.

thatis I will have to check out that Happyland rocket thing later. I still don't really know what DH and I are giving DD for her birthday. PIL have bought a wooden toy kitchen and my parents were looking at a slide, so she really doesn't need any other big presents. I was thinking she would love a toy medical kit, but every one I've looked at so far has mixed reviews.

15min passes really extremely quickly on here .

silken we have this doctor´s case and have been really happy with it. It´s really good quality and is still in really good condition after 7 years and lots of use.

Silken ds had a toy medical kit and trolley when he was small and he love it. All his teddies were bandaged up and had plasters on for ages! It was this one and we added a box of plasters and some rolls of bandages!
I suppose it's more of a big present though!
well done on the crisis cleaning.

Linzer I hope to pay something like 20-25? when I get my tyres changed unless they've put the prices up. They earn quite alot for this service as with their tools and stuff it only takes a few minutes per wheel really.

Ds failed his cycling test in Berlin but they had a chaotic teacher who was always ill so really they only had a couple of times out on the bikes before the test. Half the class failed. He passed the theory part though. Dd also missed it somehow so she didn't even take the test back in year 4.

hupa I don't think braces have to cost a fortune and definately go for a 2nd opinion if available. We've decided that as we've got 2 dc needing a brace we have to reduce the costs so we're going to ask him to change the type of brace he has offered. After looking on the internet abit our orthodontist has offered us one of the most expensive versions (only 1 other seems to cost more) and there are atleast 4 or 5 alternatives before we have to have the strap around the head version! If dh had a sure permenant job contract it'd be no problem but we've got to think in terms of the next 2 years are sure and then not knowing what we'll have as earnings to spend incase dh doesn't get a different job/promotion.

A job he applied for in Michigan just turned him down so that's one more off the list. Staying here, London, Edinburgh and a couple in Canada still in the running!

dd

always played being a nurse

and now she is training to be a nurse..

Thanks for the recommendations. admylin, I think DH would have a fit if I got that Smoby trolley! He's always complaining as it is that DD's toys take up so much space. hupa, that one looks great and it's good to know that it's lasted well. I may well go for it.

It doesn't look like it's going to be quite as hot today. Oh well, it was a bit of a shock to the system I suppose.

Silken I agree, it's more of a big present! Ds loved it and I must admit he had the Koffer as well!

It was hot here too yesterday but thank goodness it's cooled down today. I can't cope with the humidity here so I'd rather it stayed well under 22°!