Der Nebel steigt, es fällt das Laub - a German and Austrian autumn thread

[AntiqueMuppet]

A thread for anyone living in Germany or Austria, or anyone else who fancies a chat.

Previous thread here

Hello everyone. I've got an hour before I have to collect ds at table tennis, wish someone would make me a cup of tea!

linzer well done to your dd for her English test. Was she pleased? I noticed today, we went to dd's dyslexia class and showed her latest German test results ( she got a 3) which I had praised her for as she had hardly any spelling mistakes. Well the therapist really congratulated her and shook her hand and said it was so good. I have to remember to praise her more, as it sort of pushes her mood down when her brother always gets 1s and 2s.

Better go and make my own cup of tea.

oh if you were nearer I'd make you a cuppa admylin. Dh came with me to take the boys to tennis so we left them there and went for a coffee & cake - was a nice treat on a Friday afternoon. They're now at football till 7 but the trainer brings them home so there's only dd at home with us and she's in her room doing what 11 year olds do.

A 2 is still a good mark linzer but I can see why you're a bit disappointed when it wasnt her English skills that got her the mark. But I agree with admylin that I'm not always good for praising 3s where a 3 isnt a bad mark. I always use my married name even in the UK and just take the teasing that comes with it. Just never changed it on FB - not sure why. Good idea about recruiting platanos back to the thread - I really enjoyed her posts.

nutella - about your dishwasher - you're right its such a 1st world problem but they are one of my all time favourite inventions - it just makes life so much easier. We've ended up with 2 dishwashers - we brought ours with us when we moved and then bought one when we had our new kitchen put in. So now the old one just stays in the cellar never getting used .

Its been fab having dh at home this week - despite it keeping me off MN! sometimes we get so caught up in doing work, dc and house stuff that by the time everything is done we're too knackered to talk to each other. Been nice to have a whole 5 mornings just the 2 of us - will be looking forward to his next holidays [soppy emotion].

Ploom Aww, I love a bit of soppiness :) Glad you had a nice time with your DH at home. I misread your earlier post and have just spent a good 5 mins pronouncing your FB surname in all different ways to try and work out how it sounds rude How was your takeaway? I really fancy a chinese takeaway right now.

admylin Did you get your cup of tea in the end?

Nutella You can totally eat out of mugs.... Hope you get your dishwasher sorted soon. I hate washing up with a passion (although hand-washing baby bottles etc doesn't bother me in the slightest). at the racism. It's always a bit unsettling to realise attitudes like that really do exist, isn't it.

Linzer Congrats to your DD for getting a 2! It's so frustrating when you lose marks for mistakes like that. I hope she's pleased with her 2, I would be!

I was going to post that the documentary was way past my bedtime, world, but I was still jiggling a very wriggly DS around until almost 1am.

DS still has the runs but otherwise he's a lot better. I called the Dr yesterday and the receptionist said not to bother taking him in as he's his normal self, just to make sure he is eating and drinking enough and to let it pass. The teeth still haven't broken through but we must be almost there.

Antique soon, very soon and it'll be better

admylin DD1's dyslexia tutor was always so positive and used to praise her a lot; I used to think it was a shame that her teacher at school couldn't do the same, as it would really have boosted her self-esteem. Having said that, I don't think I praise her enough and have to keep reminding myself to do so. Yes, I think she was quite pleased with her test result - it was only me who was a bit disappointed (and not so much with her grade itself, more because I don't think it really reflected how well she'd done).

Ploom It would drive me mad if DH was at home the whole time! No, it is actually quite nice to spend time together when we're actually awake enough to talk to each other and it doesn't happen enough. We usually just collapse in front of the TV most evenings.

Antique at you spending a good five minutes trying to get Ploom's surname to sound rude! Glad your DS is on the mend now and that you were able to get advice from the receptionist; how's his nappy rash now?

We've just had our Friday night film/TV evening; after watching half of Around the World in 80 Days and an episode of Fawlty Towers with the DC, DH and I have just watched half a film set on the Isle of Man that I bought myself for my birthday (I chose five or six films on Amazon and bought them for myself, theoretically for DH to give me but he forget!). Was quite surprised to see Sebastian Koch (from Das Leben der Anderen) turn up in it and it took me a while to place him.

Hello, hope you have all had a lovely Friday evening. I read all the posts hours ago now that I've forgotten what everybody said. Sorry

Have a great weekend!

Well it turns out my dishwasher problem is more of a pregnancy problem I had turned a nob that sticks out from the kitchen sink tap a day or two ago and made it tight... Seems that was the water supply to the dishwasher... Soooo it isn't broken :) ... Just wish I'd figured that out before washing everything up! ah we'll that should teach me to twiddle things in the kitchen

Antique I have a recipe for making chocolate cake in a mug in a microwave... So I suppose it is totally acceptable to eat from a mug :o but yesterday I fancied quiche for dinner... Not so easy in a mug
Hope your DS feels much better soon!

Have great weekends everyone!

Oh Nutella I did exactly the same thing with our dishwasher when I was pregnant! I remember feeling all pleased with myself for fixing the loose thing on the taps and didn't make the connection when the dishwasher suddenly stopped filling with water...

Glad your dishwasher wasn't broken after all nutella! That would have been an expensive thing to replace. It's also a big hassle if it's a built in one. I had abit of a sob on the kitchen floor trying to fit my new one in and fixing the door panel was the worst part. Oh well, I managed it because we really had no spare cash otherwise I would have got someone in to do it for me.

We managed to get ds a winter coat at the weekend. That's one thing off the long list of things he needs. Today I'm going to get him some new sport shoes for the gym and a bag for his new table tennis bat. The trainer told him he needed a better one now that he's in the team so we got him one but now he's been told that such a good bat needs to be put in a case/bag especially for bats and not thrown into his sport bag.

First day of our 2 week half term today. One evening we're all going to the cinema (first time in years) as the dc don't need to be in bed for school. Dh has expressed an interest in the new German film about Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauß - Die Vermessung der Welt that comes out at the end of the week sometime. Otherwise, dd is planning on going swimming a few times as she has to learn to dive in properly before they have swimming in sport at school. She doesn't want to be one of the few who can't dive in (she hates going under water) so her friend is going to help her. Ds is planning 2 weeks of hibernation in his room but he's made a deal with his dad that if he only plays computer games for 3 hours a week he'll get 50? so he'll have to try and occupy himself.

We're also doing a vegan week of food next week on dd's request as she wants to try it out. I'm looking for info as I will need some ideas for sandwiches otherwise we'll just be having soup most lunches!

admylin What about hummus or a bean spread? (Am sure there are lots of recipes on the Internet.) I used to love peanut butter and banana sandwiches, or you could go all American and have peanut butter and jelly.

Wow, two weeks half term is a lot. It's more or less straight through from September until Christmas here, although we do get quite a few bank holidays etc. over the next few weeks. It's the Nationalfeiertag on Friday and then Allerheiligen next Thursday, plus all the schools close for Allerseelen on the next day and DH gets the day off work as it's a Fenstertag.

DD1 has the Monday and Tuesday of the following week off (schulautonome Tage) but the other two will be at school as normal. The schools don't seem to coordinate their schulautonome Tage at all, which is a bit of a pain; I think DD2 and DS have a couple of Fenstertage off next year, but DD1 won't get those. Our neighbour's DD (same age as DD1 and at Gymnasium) has next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off; it's a shame they're off different weeks as they could have kept each other occupied otherwise!

Linzer all those different random days off would confuse me! I still cringe when I remember the day I set off to Kindergarden and only noticed it was a Feiertag when I saw the bakery and shops were closed!

We've got some peanut butter and dd does like peanut better and jelly so that should keep her going! We're going to a slightly bigger supermarket today to see if we can get some different milk/yoghurt options apart from soya milk which I have tried and didn't like. Rather think I'll just go without altogether at first. Dd has got this whole idea from watching Ellen (also vegan) on youtube.

Still no sign of dc in this house so I'm going to have a cup of tea and then wake them as I want ds to try shoes on and would rather go this morning.

Morning!

admylin - you need vegans to come along and help you. Do you all eat a vegetarian diet at the moment? I think my dc would do ok without meat but they'd be lost without cheese. Well done on getting your ds's winter coat - thats my job with my dd next weekend - hate how it all seems to be at the one time. Enjoy half term - we're only off next week (but happy with that as 1 week is long enough!).

linzer - wow thats complicated with all those different days off. Would be easier if they were coordinated but at least you can then spend some nice time with dd1 while the others are at school. I always think thats hard to do with 3 dc and always feel they really benefit from it when they get some individual time (altho with dd it usually involves me spending too much money!!). Was it a German film on the Isle of Man? I have a fab friend who lives there - its one of my favourite places to go for a few days.

ah nutella - glad the dishwasher isnt broken after all.

Hi jenny - did you have a nice birthday?

antique - at you trying to pronounce my maiden name funnily (altho its not the best name either). Why didnt I marry a man called Beck or Mueller? Life would have been so much simpler . How's your ds this morning? Have his runs settled down?

So dh has gone back to work this morning altho I think he's off 2 days next week so I wont be on my own the whole half term with the dc. Too excitingly he bought a new laptop over the weekend - our old laptop has been slowly dying (the "i" key didnt work nor did the battery amongst other problems) so we were definitely due a new one. But that raised the question from dd whether she can have the old one in her room. We've said no but I'm not sure whether I'm being over protective. We watched a terrible programme the other week about paedophiles on german chatrooms for children and its put the fear into us. She's got free access to the main computer upstairs and I've spoken to her about not using chatrooms or logging into the game sites she plays on but I still wonder if I'm worrying too much?

Ploom DD1 has her own computer in her room, but I wander in and out when she's on it and she doesn't use it for much more than playing games. It's also passwork-protected so I know when she puts it on as I have to enter the password for her. I can't imagine her ever going into a chatroom (she's very young for her age and not the slightest bit interested in Facebook etc.), but I know that you can't be too careful. The one thing I do worry about at the moment is the DC finding unsuitable content on YouTube as they often watch things on there - more on my netbook downstairs and on my iPod, though. I keep meaning to look into parental control software, but haven't got round to it yet. Tbh my main concern at the moment is that she spends too much time on the computer rather than what she does on it, but I'm sure that could change quite quickly. Anyway, that was a lot of waffling... I think that, if your DD already has free access to the main computer, you're doing the right thing by saying she can't have one in her room; I would probably be the same. (We don't have a main computer any more, just my work laptop and my netbook, and I'm not that keen on the DC using my work laptop.)

It was a British film - Albatross - which is why I was quite surprised to see Sebastian Koch in it, probably because it isn't that long since we watched Das Leben der Anderen and it was a completely different kind of role. Good film, though!

admylin One Fenstertag, the mum of one of DD2's friends phoned up to ask if she wanted to go over and play - I had to tell her that DD2 was at school as it was open as normal; I think she was quite .

Maybe Vegans will be along later to help with some vegan food ideas! Or perhaps platanos has some ideas, as her DH is vegan (if you're lurking, platanos!).

Indeed reading you...in my coffee break at work, naughty, so must be brief.

admylin - dh went vegan recently and I was surprised with how much DM had on offer. (DM is also in germany isn't it?). They have a good range of milks (different sorts of soya milks but also oat (I like that) and rice (not that keen)). Also a good choice of vegan spreads in jars- chickpea and ginger, beetroot and radish, bärlauch (what is that in english?). Vegan green pesto and olive paste too. Not cheap but they do go a long way as quite flavour intense so only need a little bit. DM also has things like tofu and soya granules.

back to work...hope you all have a good start to the week.

Thanks for the tip about DM platanos just off out the door now to a shopping centre where there is one so we'll have a look!

I'd say, ploom and Linzer to just be honest about the dangers and explain why chat rooms/fb can cause problems or be dangerous and keep repeating it quite often so it sticks. That's what I've always done and both dc are sensible online. Infact I had to explain ALOT when I met up with Westvan the first time! Mum, how could you meet someone from the evil internet?!

Thanks for that advice linzer and admylin. As tall as dd is, she's not old for her years - also no interest in FB etc - just really wants to play games at the moment. Agree honest chatting about the dangers is the way to go. The programme was also talking about the dangers of FB but think I'll be more able to protect dd on there once the time comes because I use FB all the time - I know how the privacy settings work. Its the rest of the internet that makes me nervous. But think all my worries were so in the front of my mind that before I met cheas the first time I was still a bit petrified she was going to be some hairy trucker who was going to kidnap me so can imagine the conversation with your dd admylin when you met Westvan. Thankfully I think our bullshit radar is a bit better developed than the dc so we know when to be suspicious of strangers online.

Hi platanos - hope you're not having to work too hard!

Off to google Sebastian Koch linzer - dont know him.

oh I know his face now! Didnt know that was his name (nearly called ds2 that - I love the name Sebastian but worried it was too posh when lived in the UK).

Yes, Sebastian definitely has posher connotations in English than in German. It seems a lot more common here too; I only know one in the UK (and he's half French, so his name actually ends in -en).

I must admit I've never been worried about meeting people I've met on the Internet, although it probably makes a difference that I've mainly met fellow expats rather than men on dating sites, for example. I met my only English friend here via a parenting website and have met six MNers now too (five from this thread). I think I was only worried in the sense that we might not get on rather than they might not be who they said they were, but I've really enjoyed meeting everyone.

Ploom & Linzer I loved the name Sebastian too, but Dh vetoed it. Can'T remember why now.

I'm laughing out loud at cheas the hairy trucker! (Polar opposite of her FB pics.)

Ploom V. exciting about the new laptop! Good luck with the internet safety chat. I think if you have a main computer then your DD probably doesn't need one in her room, as the others have said. DS is a bit better now. No runs as yet today, bum a little better but the teeth still haven't broken through so I don't want to get too excited too soon. In fact, he's perked up so much that he spends most of the day indulging in his new favourite hobby of blowing big, squelchy raspberries on my arms & face & giggling his head off!

Good luck with the DM shop, admylin. I think vegan week sounds really interesting. Are you all vegetarian the rest of the time? I bet you'll discover some really tasty new things you'd never even have considered before.
There is quite a nice recipe for a bean spread in the BLW cookbook which might be worth a try. Do you want me to find it and message it to you?

Enjoy your coffee break, platanos!

Linzer It must be a nightmare keeping on top of all the different days off at different times for different DC. I wonder how mums who work FT cope. Is it more normal for mums to be SAHM there?

DH has a friend staying this weekend who is absolutely lovely, but keeps leaving wee all over the inside of the toilet lid - goodness knows how. It's something that would bother me anyway, but I have a toilet-obsessed DS at the moment so am having to keep surreptitiously dashing in there to make sure the place is clean. Not really sure how to bring it up but he's going home tomorrow.

A vegan week, admylin! Wow! Wonderful. I'm Vegans, btw, with a Hallowe'en namechange! :) If I can help at all, let me know. I hope you enjoy it.
Here are some ideas for sandwiches: Vegan Sandwich Ideas. Do you have an AlNatura near you? Or, if you are wanting to splash out, there is a wonderful company called Vegusto that do awesome sandwich slices, and vegan cheese and stuff, but you usually have to order it online. It is not cheap, but maybe comparable to a nice deli-type prices. Not hideously expensive. The NoMoo Sauce is delicious. Though do bear in mind that I have not had real dairy cheese in 13 years so I have forgotten what dairy tastes like.

vegusto.de/

I like the name Sebastian, weirdly I have FIVE friends (they don't know each other) who have named their sons Sebastian in the last five years!

Antique, at your weeing houseguest! Yuck!

Thanks vegans there are plenty of ideas on that website, a great help! Dd has also saved a blog by a German woman who did a trial vegan week for some ideas and she says the Ellen de Generes homepage has some ideas too.

platanos we got some nice stuff in DM and not too expensive. Dd chose some different tofu variations, one with almonds and a smoked version and we got some Hafermilch to try so thanks for that tip.

antique the recipe would be great if you can find it! Bet you can't wait until your guest has left, yuck at the splashes on the lid.

ploom it's definately good for your dd to have access to internet for school. We're always looking things up and they have to do quite abit of research for some subjects. For school revision I can recommend abfrager.de and klassenarbeiten.de. You pick the sort of school, year and subject.

Well, we failed at getting sport shoes. Ended up with some sport socks and the vegan stuff. We'll try at another shop tomorrow nearer to us as ds said he couldn't bear to go in another shop today!

Hello everyone! I am shattered today!!
The bean has been busy jumping around the last couple of days... I have no idea what it is doing in there!

Impressed by your vegan adventure admylin
I have the odd vegetarian few days, but I don't think I could do that let alone be a vegan permanently. Although if I'm honest I'd probably be most interested to see what I ended up with to eat at the PIL's.

Speaking of PIL... We were invited to coffee and cake yesterday, FIL had bought two pieces of cake for each of us... two pieces of GIANT cake!!! I had two halves of different cake and was stuffed! I spoke to DP beforehand about not eating too much cake. Only because we were invited out to dinner and I had made cake for our dinner hosts - a very yummy lemon drizzle cake - otherwise it isn't anything unusual for him to eat about three pieces of cake and then complain on the drive home that he needs to undo his jeans
In the end DP came home from dinner with bellyache and went straight to bed... because he had eaten too much... boys, do they ever learn???

Can I have a prize for the most times someone has written cake in a post?? :o I do love cake....

Anyway; if anyone is still reading; I was wondering if anyone has any tips on delicate washing powder for baby clothes? I have had eczema since about 3 months old ish and DP has incredibly dry skin too so I'm not sure on the best route to take with likely delicate skin of Nutellachen...
The baby ecke should be painted over the course of this week and next, then we need a trip to ikea for cupboards etc and then I suppose I should get on with giving the baby stuff I have a wash... only another 9 ish weeks and there will be a person in all that tiny baby stuff!

your poor DS admylin! I can imagine that, DP has a look on his face after an hour or two in town which means "please, please, I beg you, can we go home now?"

and ewwwwww Antique at your weeing house guest! We had some friends visit ages ago (from England) and when I found the lid left up on the toilet I was reminded how lovely it is that germans all sit down :)

Also, saw this on the Hannover 4 English Speakers F.book page today... sooo funny!!