Cyber Glühwein und Lebkuchen - the German and Austrian advent thread

[admylin]

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

Happy first Advent to everyone!

Previous thread: here

Thanks for the new thread admlin. Am on my phone at the in-laws so just msrking my place.

Happy birthday outnumbered's Ds.

We've had plenty of snow since Thursday, snowmen have been built and lots of sledging has occurred. Went to a Christmas Market yesterday, don't want a tree this early though. Kids are very pleased with Playmobile advent calendars.

Happy first advent everyone!

Woke up to a small amount of snow on the rooftops, but nothing settled on the ground. I really need snow!

Saw the snowman on fb english, looks like you had quite alot of snow. It keeps trying here but it's melting as it hits the ground which suits me just fine for now!

morning afternoon everyone!

DP is enjoying our advent calendars. We bought one at the market a few weeks ago with little pouches that you fill yourself. I've filled the even days for DP and he has filled the odd days for me :) Then on Friday DP got given a chocolate "Hannover" advent calendar, so that is working the other way round and means we both have something to open every day!!

Had a few manic cleaning urges the last few days... the bathroom, living room, nursery (sent a little video to my Mum who thinks we shouldn't call it the baby corner - I suppose it does sound odd) and our bedroom are spotless. You could eat your dinner off most of the surfaces :o although depending on what dinner is that could be tricky

I'm not bothered about cleaning the office (that is mainly DP's responsibility - translation : I don't want to get into trouble for tidying it so much that he can't find stuff) and the kitchen... well I'm sure the urge for tackling that will come; not that it is really that dirty...

I need to catch up on the rest of the chatter; but have a lovely 1st Advent everyone!

nutella good that all the nesting is done! Have you got a well stocked freezer too? Get as much easy to make/warm up food as possible and if you drink bottled water, stock up on that too then you're set!
When I had dd I splashed out on having my drinks delivered so I got crates of water, juice and beer delivered to the door, one of the few luxuries I decided I needed to survive the first half a year.

Have any of you tried the Lidl Glühwein? Do you just pop it in the microwave? Would be nicer than a cup of tea on a cold evening wouldn't it (well on a night that I didn't have taxi duty for one of the dc)?

Adventkerzeryn are you admylin? I heat ready made Gluhwein up in a pan on the hob, but then we finish the bottle between us, it never even occurred to me to make single mugs....

I like baby corner Nuttella, nursery sounds very Victorian to me, amd like a large room with a nurse maid that the child rarely leaves til its sent to boarding school :o

Ds2 sky dived off the arm of the sofa at the in-laws, yelling "jump!" joyously the split second before, and his tooth went through his lip :( I'm We're driving home now and he's fallen asleep, but the 1stball advent visit ended in nlood and tears :(

Thanks for the new thread admylin. We've just come back from the neighbours', where I had three glasses of Sekt on an empty stomach, so I won't post much now as I fear I may not make much sense. Just wanted to say the Lidl Glühwein is very nice and we've always just heated it up in a saucepan. Will try and come back later with my finished post from this morning!

funny everyone is talking about the LIDL Glühwein. We have a bottle here and me and dh were going to have a mug this evening. Last time we heated up the mugs in the microwave (we are both complete lightweights and would be drunk if we had more than one).

We didnt have lots of snow, but enough for the boys to excited about it. They did build a snowman, but it is very small

The weekend overall was hard work, but nice nontheless. This coming week is going to be another tough one as we have a few appointments as well as the dreaded talk at ds2' pre school.

Hope everyone is well again now? (admylin and your ds2, english?)

english one of the best bits of advice I have been given was from a someone who works at a Waldkindergarten. She said she always carries little sachets of sugar with her at work. If one of the children splits their lip or has a wound (bleeding) in their mouths, they get one of those sachets. It stops the blood almost instantly and cleans the wound at the same time. I have had to try it a few times since, and it really does work! It stops the crying within a nano-second because of the taste and really does seem to to stop the blood as well.

Found you! Woke up to snow this morning and after breakfast we cleared the cars parked in the vicinity to build a snowman. Am delighted for DD but slightly concerned about getting to work tomorrow morning (40 mile drive, first day at work). I'd also like to be back in good time as DD has a mini part in the Kiga advent play tomorrow night.

Linzer I'd be comatose after 3 glasses of Sekt on an empty stomach. I did enjoy a glass of Gluehwein at the Christmas market in Friday though and made some more for last night. I made it with those teabag thingies called Gluehfix, a bit of sugar and some nice red wine I picked up cheaply.

English your poor DS, hope he is not too sore later.

Advent Thanks for the new thread. Gluehwein is ok to microwave but I prefer to warm it slowly on the hob (really missing my wood burning stove today which was handy for warming mulled wine)

Nutella baby corner sounds delightful and well done for being so organised. I second the filling up the freezer. I did not get much done at all the first few weeks trying to get bf established and DD seemed to be latched on to me most of the time when she was not sleeping.

Whatwould hope you get some snow soon!

Waving to everybody else and hoping you had a lovely first advent.

I need good vibes as we have applied for a flat we would really like. The landlord handles all applications himself and I have heard on the grapevine that he is a bit of a fuzzpot. I just hope he deems us worthy.... We need to clear out the UK house by 12th Jan as a tenant moves in....

Think I've sobered up enough to post now. I have no alcohol tolerance either, outnumbered - two glasses of anything is usually my limit (actually, one is sometimes enough).

To answer a few questions from the previous thread:

outnumbered I bought our elf (package including book) from the Book Depository, which cost around ?25 but it's gone up to about ?40 now. However, I also saw elf-like figures that would have been suitable at Libro (which I don't think you have in Germany - it's a book and stationery store) and at the Christmas market yesterday, which would have been much cheaper and also slightly less creepy looking than the original elf.

admylin We do have one or two little gifts lined up for the elf to bring, but on the whole he'll just be hiding (he was in with the tortoises today) or getting up to mischief (he'll be decorating the tree with the DC's pants tonight).

platanos It's so annoying when people automatically assume that when the children are having problems at school, it must have something to do with them being brought up bilingually. My MIL sees English as an additional "burden" for DD1, even though she's generally quite positive about the DC speaking it.
Have you decided on the Gymnasium for your DD now? I found the whole school system a bit of a shock to the system, even at Volksschule - how much extra work parents do with their DC outside school, for example. DD1 has complained a few times that we're the only parents in her class who help her, but I know friends with children at Gymnasium also do quite a lot with their DC.

English Poor DS; hope he's OK now. DS split his lip open last year and it looked awful for a few days, plus he could hardly speak; I think mouth injuries are among the worst (I always worry about their teeth too).

Bienchen Good luck with your first day at work (and with the drive) tomorrow and also with the flat. Will you be going back to the UK to clear out your house? I've seen those Glühfix teabags - must try them sometime, as I'm sure it would be cheaper than buying ready-made Glühwein.

We've had quite a relaxing day here, although I had rather an early start when I woke up and suddenly realised I'd forgotten to hide the elf so got up to do so and it hardly seemed worth going back to bed afterwards. I took DD2 and DS ice skating this afternoon while DD1 stayed at home to revise, and then we all went over next door to drink Sekt prepare for a meeting with all the neighbours later. DH has gone there now; he was hoping it wasn't going to go on too late, but I can't see it ending very early somehow (he's already been there almost an hour).

ooops should have had some gluehwein first, it is fusspot of course although he may well be fuzzy....

Lol, Fuzzpot is a good one bienchen! Hope you get the flat. Did you have to hand over lots of documents and proof of this and that? We had a nightmare in Berlin the first time we went flat hunting as we didn't have any of the hundreds of documents and it was a complete waste of time without them.

Linzer sounds like you have a nice neighborhood there. Wish our house was like that, no one speaks much and some don't even say hello.

outnumbered I'm the same, one glass/mug of Glühwein would put me to bed nicely although dh could probably drink the whole bottle! I'll put it on my shopping list for tomorrow at Lidl

english hope your ds isn't suffering too much with his lip (yes, it's me admylin).

My flu is on the mend, just coughing abit still, but what a difference to have a tiny bit of energy. Have got through 2 weeks worth of ironing today and am still up at 10pm so I must be better!

I am liking fuzzpot! Good luck getting the house, Bienchen.
Glad you are better, advent.
Aw, bless you getting out of bed to move the elf, Linzer!
English, hope your little one's lip is ok. Monkeys, aren't they!
Nutella, so, this is the month! How exciting.

Off to bed, dreaming and hoping for snow.

Thanks for starting the threadadmylin. I´m glad to hear you´re feeling better.

English Mouth injuries always look so bad because of all the blood, but they usually heal very quickly. How is ds today? I´ll definitely try out outnumbered´s trick with the sugar in future.

Bienchen Good luck with the flat. Is there a lot of competition for flats where you live?

Nutella you must be getting really excited now that we´re into December.

I think I´m the only one on the thread who doesn´t like Glühwein. I was really ill the first time I drank it and now the smell just brings back horrible memories.

We´ve got quite a bit of snow here and more forecast for later. Dd was beyond excited yesterday, but ds would rather stay inside in the warm, just like me.

Morning.
hupa I have something similar with Schnapps, worst headache and hangover I ever had and I can't touch it now. Speaking of Glühwein, I've just got back from my Lidl shopping trip and what did I forget...?! Typical! Also typical, the dc's Nikolaus present arrived while I was out so I will have to go to the Packstation at 7pm to pick it up, great.

Santa I'm sure I saw snow forcast for your area this week! Hope you get some.

Well, off to start baking a round of Plätzchen of some sort, probably almond something or other.

For anyone considering/due to get braces for their dc, I can tell you that the first few days are really bad, dc can't eat properly and mouth hurts, you have to stock up on soft food. You get some little sticks of wax to put over the wires too so they don't rub, this will be swallowed now and then and has to be replaced and you get a little mini brush and dentist mirror to see how to clean under the bits that are cleanable, and the dc will have to spend ages brushing teeth. Just so you know what's coming!

I wrote a post then lost it, poo, and I wasn't allowed to use ü in my name and it was too long if I kept English... grumble grumble

DS2 is fine this morning, lip is a bit red and swollen but not bothering him. I will try to remember to buy sugar sachets though, thanks for that idea outnumbered

Good luck with the flat and work Beine

The braces sound a nightmare Advent, really hope they're not inevitable for everyone ...

Linzer was the meeting with your neighbours a regular thing or for something in particular?

Hope you get your snow Santa

Argh I've not long got DS2 to sleep but I have to go and fetch DD from recorder in ten minutes so I'm going to have to wake him to take him in the car... this morning has disappeared, all I managed to do was tidy the basement craft room a bit and do some laundry, and I'm not quite sure what possessed me to start with the basement, which nobody sees and I didn't get finished anyway due to DS2 having discovered how to say "Mummy do a cuddle NOW" and saying it every 12 seconds, and expecting a cuddle - he's discovered the pleasing cause and effect of asking for things with words, I want to encourage him to express himself clearly but it was only really sweet for the first hour... :o

Hello everyone! I like the festive name-changes... but I haven't thought of one yet

English Grinch I think your DS sounds really cute :) how is his lip? Hope he is ok, and a little less inclined to leap off of furniture.
My little brother got bitten by a family dog through his lip - it was his own fault for checking what dog breath smelt like on a hot day... needless to say it didn't put him off feeding the dog polos a few days later and checking again.

Thanks beinchen and advent for the freezer tips... I need to sort through it and chuck some old stuff out organise it a bit better.... do you think biscuit dough frozen last December would be any good??

whatwould and hupa I suppose exciting is one word for it... just found out though that they don't have gas and air on offer for labour here since I know opiates are likely to wipe me out I'd rather not experiment with them which means water and if that doesn't work... epidural yikes! I was kind of looking forward to some gas and air :o

Linzer you can drink my share of Glühwein :) We went out for dinner last night (after a very successful day ticking off todo lists) and I had a little glass of wine with my meal, it was delicious! :) Food was nice too.

Had my first midwife checkup today (Dr got all funny about it and wanted to be extra sure that baby is ok before she'd even let me alternate appointments between Dr and MW). Really like the midwife, she makes me feel totally at ease.

Yippee, we have snow!!! We went out in it, it was lovely! Nice medium-sized flakes, enough to settle on cars, but not on the road.

Nutella, I knew about gas and air here, I had it with DS, as I really wanted to avoid all other pain relief of possible, and it was good stuff. I have told DH that if we get pg again, I want to give birth in the UK, as I can't be doing without gas and air. I would love to know why they don't use it here. Let me know if you find out! By anyway, however baby Nutellachen comes out, it is exciting and will all be worth it!

We've had snow here too, although not enough for the DS to go out and play in it (DD2 and DS did go out to shovel it earlier, although I don't think there was really enough to shovel either).

Gas and air isn't used here or in the USA either; I've no idea why and feel like I missed out. Could definitely have done with some when DD1 was born, although I wouldn't have been able to for either of the others (DD2 arrived too quickly and DS was a C-section).

Nutella I'll happily take your share of Glühwein, thank you - and anyone else's who's off alcohol/doesn't like it. Glad the checkup with the midwife went well; will she be attending the birth?

Grinch Glad your DS is OK now. We get together with the neighbours fairly often, especially the ones living right next door to us (a family with three DC the same age as ours) - it's usually a spur of the moment thing. Yesterday was half spur of the moment and half preparing a strategy for the evening's meeting with all the neighbours, called by our retired neighbours who have too much time on their hands and who, as DH feared, wanted everyone to go through their entire Betriebskostenabrechnung as they object to paying even a cent too much. They're also not happy with the amount of leaf sweeping that everyone does or with us sweeping the leaves onto the road.

advent Hope the biscuits turned out OK. I was never quite sure what that wax was for that the orthodontist gave us, but I must admit we didn't bother with it too much as DD1 didn't find her brace too painful.

I seem to be very disorganised at the moment; DD1 reminded me on the way to school this morning that she needed one of those round cheese boxes for today, and I also realised that I'd completely forgotten to give DS the apple, toothpicks, walnut and cotton wool that he needed (goodness know what they're going to bastel with that lot). Luckily it turned out that it's OK for both of them to take the things in tomorrow, so we duly bought a cheese box this afternoon - only for DS to break it about half an hour ago. Fortunately DH works near to quite a few shops, so he's promised to buy a new one on his way home.

Oh, I was going to ask whether anyone has any ideas for a Secret Santa present for an 11 year old boy. Didn't your DC do a Secret Santa at school last year, advent? DD1's class is doing one and, while I'd find it fairly easy to buy for a girl that age, I have no idea what to get for a boy (she said she could either make or buy something).

oh no, I only just go the hang of your names on here and now have to remember the new ones...my memory isnt what it used to be [old lady emoticon]

bienchen how was your first day at work? and how long did it take you to get there? Good luck for the flat too! here in KL it's a nightmare getting a decent rental property, as most landlords perfer having an American family living in their house, knowing that rent will simply be paid by the army straight into their account. I still dont know how we managed to get this house really, as apparently our landlors had 300 parties interested in it. I guess our advantage was that we could tell him we are after something long-term, and the Americans will only stay 3 years max.

Nutella I had ds1 in the UK and did use a little gas&air. BUt I hated it as it just made me feel lightheaded but didnt do anything for the pain. The only thing I found was that it helped me concentrate on the breathing, but you dont need gas and air for that! with ds2 and ds3 I didnt have any sort of pain relief- I had hoped for water births (with all 3!) but didnt get to have a single one for different reasons each time. Try not to worry about things like pain relief. All I can say is I much much preferred my birth experiences in Germany to the one in the UK!!! My favourite one was the one with ds3 as I had a Beleghebamme who was just brilliant!

Linzer thanks for the info re the elf. I did end up buying a very cheap one at Dänisches Bettenlager today and introduced it to the boys. ds1 squealed with delight and tried to get it to speak all evening. too cute!

Glad everyone is getting some snow. I do much prefer it to rain, just hope we dont get too much of it like 2 years ago. We have a Eckgrundstück thus has to shovel loads of snow. We also live on a Spielstaße and have to not only remove the snow from the footpath but also all the way to the middle of the road (the council does not send their snow ploughs through our estate) it's a nightmare when there is lots of snow as you dont know where to actually put it. we end up putting it in our front garden, and I guess the dcs are happy about it as they have a little slope for sledging

I am in the middle of making the third round of cakes. first round on Saturday for ds2' actual birthday, second round yesterday for ds2 to take to kiga, and third round now for his little party tomorrow arvo.
At his party we will be baking biscuits with the kids, so more baking coming up. Definitely not the season for weightwatching!

I will have another mug of the Glühwein we opened yesterday. It was quite delicious!

Linzer dd had a boy 2 years running for Secret Santa. She got a stapler and hole puncher desk set thing like this but it was reduced (the limit was 5?) and another year she got a pen, jar with 100 cartridges and a big chocolate Santa. Hope you find something, maybe a shop like Kik would have affordable items if there's a limit on how much to spend.
Did your dd get her cheese box? Do you mean one from a camembert type cheese?

Bienchen did you get the flat?

outnumbered it's really difficult to find a family flat or affordable house in Hannover too. We searched for 2 years until we found this place and we only took it because we couldn't find anything better. Of course if we had another 1000? to spare a month then we could get a really nice house!

nutella great that you like your midwife. Do you think she'll be there at the birth or will she just take over once you get home? Mine was lovely too except that she was shocked that I didn't have the baby wrapped up in lots of blankets indoors and she told me off because dd had bare feet one time that she came.

grinch glad your ds is better, enjoy the cuddles, the cleaning can wait!

Santa are you getting the Nikolaus Stiefel ready for Thursday?

advent the problem is the cleaning's been waiting for 19 months :o

Linzer I would have no idea what to buy an 11 year old boy, older than my kids and their friends and I'm stumped, so I'd probably go for chocolate! Although you get those weird kids sometimes who don't like chocolate... Anything else you can get so wrong if you don't know the child and their interests (some would like lego or starwars, those are the things that spring to mind, but some would have no interest in either so not safe ground), although advent's stationary idea is also good, as it will at least come in useful!

I'm so fed up and tired today - "bone tired" as old people say :o it's not specific sleep deprivation as last night was no worse than usual, in fact slightly better than average, but I just feel so tired of everything and utterly without energy and motivation. I am unsure whether it is related to living here, I don't feel like making the extra effort atm, or just me - my foot has been painful for weeks now and I am sick of not being able to get out of bed quickly and having to take strong pain killers in advance if I know I'm going to be on my feet a lot, I'm also finding myself very snappy with the older 2 kids, who are fighting more than usual and going through a phase of arguing with me over everything and trying to make everything, from getting dressed in the morning and undressed at night, to homework or getting out the door to go anywhere or not being allowed to eat the huge bag of cheap crappy Nikolaus chocolate MIL put into their hands as we left on Sunday til actual Nikolaus day on Thursday... into a debate - especially DD (7). I'm just just tired of everything generally. :(

Oh no Grinch that's how I felt (bone tired) before I came down with that virus. Hope you're not getting something like that. Although I'd feel like that if I had your work load anyway. Can you rest abit today or is another hectic one ahead of you?

Grinch Poor you; you sound so fed up. I think the sleep deprivation on its own would be bad enough, or just being in constant pain - but with everything coming at once, it must really get to you. Can anything be done about your foot (apart from the painkillers, that is)? Did you decide on the ironing service in the end? (Sorry if I missed it.) And would you consider a cleaner?
If it's any consolation (probably not) my three are fighting constantly at the moment and that alone is enough to send me round the bend some days. And don't get me started on ILs and sweets, which are another constant source of arguments here. I keep talking about banning them, but feel like I'm a stuck record. DH has bought them a Haribo calendar, but they don't need a) any more sweets, b) any more Advent calendars. Aargh!

advent Thanks for the suggestions; KiK is a good idea, as they have lots of affordable bits and pieces. I don't think there's a spending limit, but I was thinking about ?5.
Yes, DH got the cheese box in the end and DD2 has taken it into school this morning - it's one of those round cardboard ones that has triangles of rubbery cheese inside.

outnumbered We also have loads of snow to shovel (although not at the moment), as we have a long path down to the road, which is partly shared with some of our neighbours, a big area in front of the shared garage and then a small stretch of pavement. I don't mind doing it if I have time but it's backbreaking work!
Glad you found an elf in the end. DS loves ours (I think the girls are a bit old for it now) and has been telling his teacher all about him, apparently; she's probably wondering what strange Christmas traditions the British have.