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

[tadjennyp]

Well done Grinchette! That's really courageous. So sorry about the Christmas do. It sounds like it would have been lovely. Hope your dh gets better soon so you don't have to nurse him too. The three and a half years between my two dss also feels a bit weird to me, given the small gap between the first two. I We had to actively try for him though. There is no Christmas do here though I think the men in the office (no women scientists here ) go out for lunch together at some point. Hope you got the dcs down easily grinch.

[outnumberedbymen]

cheas I hope you have a lovely weekend with your dsis. How often do you get to see her? I had my youngest brother here last weekend. I always feel very lucky to not just have siblings, but siblings I get on with well - as well as their wives. I think my brothers are much closer amongst each other than I am to them. But then, I am the only girl and, more importantly probably, was always the one who lived abroad. They did move away from home to go to uni - but they all then went to the same uni! Anyway, have lots of fun and I am sure your dd with love it. our boys love having my brothers here, it's always something special.

nutella all three of ours ended up mainly occupying the right side of my tummy. the stomach muscles on my right side are still weaker than one the left for that reason!

advent it really is absurd for your dh to be classes as a new employee! and after the mistake became apparent, you would have really expected his boss to have rectified it. If you count on that Christmas money and then dont receive it, that must be really tough! I am glad he is clearly showing what he thinks of them by not going to the work do. I am sure his own little Christmas party will be much more fun.

antique sorry of I asked you before nd forgot...where are you moving to? and from where? I hope the heating is working now!

jenny yes, dh was made redundant mid september and has been at home since he is still receiving his full salary untuil end of January (thank god!), but as he hasnt got a new job yet, it's starting to get very frightening. however, these past few days he has been given dates for 3 or 4 phone interviews, so please keep everything crossed for us. one of the jobs is in Munich grinch, however as we are so settled here support and pre-school wise, we would probably stay here wherever the new job may be and have a Wochenendeehe. Not that I am looking forward to that prospect. we've done it before (admittedly before I have had any support or even diagnosis for the boys, so I guess it would be easier now) but it's not easy for a relationship. I just remember weekends being filled with arguments and hope it wouldnt go back to that.
I hope your cough will get better soon, Jenny! And I cant believe you've only been once to Crater Lake. I took beautiful pictures with my SLR and have a large print framed. I cant believe that was 7.5 years ago we were there!
I never got days off for writing reports?! we had to do it at home or in free periods!

Linzer I mum here in our neighbourhood actually said herself that she doesnt want a third child and, from what she has gathered, third children are never planned anyway. I must have looked to surprised as I kind of felt she was implying that my gorgeous ds3 wasnt planned . It's lucky really that your third was a ds then, wasnt it?!!

for our ds1 a Ganztagsschule has been suggested for when he starts school next year, as it has a very structured daily routine. From what I have understood I think they will only have lessons until noon, then lunch, and then some free play time and AGs. Definitely more structure than a Hort which would not work at all for ds1. and I simply cannot have him at home with the others from noon. It sounds horrible and I feel guilty and for thinking it, but it's true. as much as I love that little boy, his behaviour is very very challenging and I'd be a mental wreck again very soon. The only thing that puts me off that school is that someone described it as a Soziale Brennpunkt Schule, and that ds1' behaviour would not get noticed so much because of it. But I obviously dont want ds1's behaviour to not get noticed because other children - without a disability - behave much worse. I want him to learn NOT to get noticed for his behaviour in a NORMAL environment. sigh.

grinch you must really trust your ILs to move into a house only they had seen and you had no idea what the house or the area was like! I do understand about the dc being settled and not willing to move into a flat in order to be closer to munich. I could not live in a flat, although it has its advantages having everything on one level. with our dcs it can get VERY noisy and I would hate to be always thinking about upsetting the neighbours. I'm a bit in between - I love the country, love going for walks, love the woods etc. but at the same time I want shops, schools, kiga, town centre nearby too. where we live now is almost perfect really. it's a detached house in a lovely neighbourhood. I can walk to Lidl, post office, hair dressers and pre school and a short drive into town. BUT it's expensive. we actually had the opportunity to buy a lovely house a few houses down and were 2 days from signing the contract...just when dh's employers dropped the bombshell that he was being made redundant!

also, grinch I had to smile at what you said about your dd. how sweet her playing the recorder in front of the pre school group. and bless her for being so upset about that exciting night away in a posh hotel. she must have been so excited, as I am sure were you and your dh. I hope he feels better very soon. not a good way to start the weekend!

I completely understand what you said about the age gaps with your dcs, grinch. that is the one things worrying me whenever we consider having afourth in few years time if - BIG if - things get eaiser here. the others have 1.75 years between them. so if there's a dc who has let's say 4-5 years (or even more??) to ds3, would that fourth one always be the odd one out, pretty much growing up like an only child?

I think Weihnachtsgeld is pretty common. dh had it in the job previous to his last. in his last he didnt have it but they gave a bonus kind of mid-year (but dh didnt get it . I know my dad always had Weihnachtsgeld. He's a professor at uni, thus a BEamte. For BEamte Weihnachtsgeld was scrapped completely some years ago though. Luckily all of aus children had already fled the nest by then. Still, to think that the government can simply scrap a bonus like...

ds3 is still coughing loads. I just hope that it wont make him sich again and that we all get a better night's sleep. At least tomorrow is MY morning for a lie in

[tadjennyp]

I hope your dh finds something appropriate really soon and it's close to where you live. [fingers crossed emoticon] I would also hate a 'Wochenendehe' and realistically if dh's office here were to close, Portland would be the closest place to find a job which is over 3 hours' drive away and Silicon Valley of course. That is over 8 hours' drive away so even the weekend would seem a luxury! With only 2 or 3 weeks' holiday a year we would probably have to move so I feel that moving to the UK would be a better option for us as a family. Thankfully it is not likely at the moment.
I always had to write my reports in my spare time too. Whereabouts did you teach?

[outnumberedbymen]

Hi Jenny, thanks for your words if it wasn't so extraordinarily good what we are receiving for the boys in terms of support, and if I didn't know how unlikely it is to find it elseshere, I wouldn't consider a Wochenendehe. If dh find a job in e.g. Hamburg, he'd also have a 7 hour journey! Although moving back that way I would actually consider as I know it well, have some friends and my dad there and would at least know where to turn to for support, which schools are good etc.

I used to teach in Reading, but trained in Cardiff. How about you? How long have you been in OR?

[TheUKGrinchImGluhweinkeller]

Good luck on the job hunting front for Jenny and outnumbered's DHs - and Advent's too!

Everyone is asleep except me, and I feel as though I should go to bed too - I am tired, but I've not long got DS2 to sleep (the big 2 were asleep by 7.30pm - they generally go to bed without problem, aside from a bit of squabbling and brief attempts to argue negotiate for longer downstairs, but DS2 is another story and its still anyone's guess each evening how long it'll take to settle him.) I just want a bit of evening rather than to go to bed within 15 mins of DC3...

I used to be a school teacher too Jenny and outnumbered - never heard of teachers being given time off for report writing, though one of the 2 schools I worked in the UK used to allocate some ludicrously short token amount of time on an inset day to it (45mins to bridge an awkward gap between interactive-whiteboard training and lunch or something), but that would usually be used for a department meeting about report writing rather than actually getting on with it...

[TheUKGrinchImGluhweinkeller]

Outnumbered much as I'd love you to move to Munich and be my new English speaking friend (you could come to our toddlers group) :) I don't think provision for special needs is very good here... that's just grapevine rumour not real knowledge though. There are also very few Ganzentagschule as far as I'm aware - the Hauptschule which is the sister school of DD's tiny Dorfschule actually does offer some full day provision, but it seems very random and only some year groups have it, I assume based on whether there was demand each year as the years that do are scattered (for example 2er Klasse, 5 Klasse und 7 Klasse... though I don't actually know which) anyway it doesn't seem a very reliable option!

[TheUKGrinchImGluhweinkeller]

Got 2 ill boys now, spending the day and part of the night last night cleaning up other people's sick and poo, not quite what I had in mind... DS1's temperature is very high and he is sleeping a lot - I want to know why DS2 manages to be the only small child I have ever heard of who doesn't sleep any more than usual when he's ill, instead he sits on my squirming and unhappy rubbing his tummy and saying "'t-urts, t' 'urts!" but there's not much I can do about it as he's had medicine and won't let me keep the hot water bottle or cherry stone cushion on his tummy... Argh!

[outnumberedbymen]

Oh grinch so sorry to hear that! What a rubbish weekend I hope everyone feels better very soon and that you and dd don't catch it!

Not much time to write now, will check in again later.

[itsMYNutella]

Grinch sorry to hear about your boys and DH being poorly! Wish them all a speedy recovery and that you don't come down with anything.

outnumbered fingers crossed for your DH and his job hunt!

I'm feeling worn out at the mo. I can't seem to get a proper sleep, an hour or two after I get up I could really do with a nap! Yesterday we were out in the owning and then the afternoon was busy and by bedtime I was so far behind tired I couldn't sleep so forgive me for not posting much, I'm lingering but just feeling a bit platt.

[itsMYNutella]

But here I have the list of everyone's guess the weight. If I've missed someone or got it wrong let me know :)
In order of weight guessed;
jenny 2900g (6lb 6oz)
hupa 3300g (7lb 4oz)
Santa 3333g (7lb 5oz)
Advent 3348g (7lb 6oz)
Ploom 3458g (7lb 10oz)
Linzer 3600g (7lb 15oz)
Nutella 3650g (8lb 0oz) :o
cheas 3800g (8lb 6oz)
outnumbered 3950g (8lb 11oz)
Antique 4000g (8lb 13oz)
Grinch 4100g (9lb 0oz)

DP still hasn't guessed a weight but he reckons the baby will be early on the 23rd.... I doubt that very much, I'm sure punktlichkeit is genetic and in my family it is missing entirely which means there is a 50/50 chance of Nuttelachen having any hence of being early / on time.

[outnumberedbymen]

grinch how are you all now?

i had to at the prospect of moving to Munich and being your new English speaking friend. What you say about special needs provisions is exactly the reason why we want to stay put. But then, if only seeing dh on weekends turns out to be a real strain on our marriage, or really difficult for the boys, we will have to reconsider. Anywhere we'd move to would be a little bit like playing the lottery wrt special needs provisions - although not as much as it would be in the UK.

which subjects did you used to teach? do you miss teaching?

nutella interesting what you say about punctuality being hereditary. myself and my family are all VERY punctual to the point of rather being there 15-30mins early than being late. dh' family isnt quite THAT punctual, but not often late. all three of our dcs were early, so maybe you are right!

[itsMYNutella]

outnumbered DP has had to learn about what time to tell me he wants to leave. :o For example, DP would say he wants to leave the house at 11:15 am and I will do my best & be ready at 11:20. Which is good for me . But DP wanted to leave at 11:00
So we've had a few fights and he now knows he just has to lie and tell me he wants to leave at 10:50 if he wants me ready by 11:00 :) we're getting there...

[outnumberedbymen]

I used to tell my children a wrong submission date for coursework... Say if I really, really wanted everything in on a certain day ( so that I can e.g. mark it over half term, I'd tell them the submission date was a week earlier! It took me a while to work out how to get coursework in on time ( especially as school's attitude towards coursework dates and marking of it was far too lax) but I got there in the end ... Just like your dp

[outnumberedbymen]

Children?!? Students, it was meant to say! Bedtime for me, I think.

[WhatWouldSantaDo]

We have snow! It's so wonderful!
I am feeling very festive, we've been to the Christmas market a couple of times, built a snowman and a snowdog, made gingerbread men and cookies, and watched some Christmas movies. I wish December went a bit slower.

Hope all the poorly ones are better soon.

[outnumberedbymen]

santa lots of snow here too! we had to clear the paths three times today!

Dc are loving it and this afternoon we went to the Uni round the corner where there's a hill perfect for sledging. Ds1 had a little accident and went into some bins with his sledge - which left the sledge partly broken and his lip very swollen! I was incredibly proud of him though because - after some tears - he got back on the sledge. First time he asked me to get on with him, and then he was confident enough again to go by himself. His accident did have a positive effect as it taught him now that he must use his feet for steering and stopping

It's been incredibly quiet on here this weekend! I hope it doesn't mean lots of you are ill/looking after poorly dc and dh!

[WhatWouldSantaDo]

outnumbered, what a brave little boy you have!
We are looking for a hill! We also need a sledge!

I think everyone is busy in the snow, and eating cookies!

[TheUKGrinchImGluhweinkeller]

House of ill here, I've got it too now, only DD hasn't had it, but I think she may have been flighting it off before any of us got it, as she's had on off tummy aches. DH has gone to bed leaving me with DS2 in his newly developed late evening manic phase :( He did put the older 2 to bed earlier when I was asleep though, and I slept part of the day.

outnumbered well done to your DS1 for being brave

Glad you've got the snow you wanted Santa

We have 4 sledges between 3 kids, but one of the plastic ones with brakes is cracked at the front (though still usable) and one is just a "po po rutcher" thingie, DD won the traditional wooden one in a drawing competition run by our local bank last winter. Even though we have 4 all 3 kids really want the black one with the steering wheel that technically belongs to DS1, I think next winter we are going to have to get another 2 of those! We have a sledging hill right opposite the house, which is cool because when DS2 has had enough I can take him in to warm up and DD and DS1 can stay out, and their freinds call for them to sledge too. The much older children go to a bigger hill outside the village, but the one opposite our house is the main one for most of the Kindergarten and Grundschule kids in the village.

[LinzerChristkindlmarkt]

Morning all,

Just a quick post while DS is playing in his room - I have a sore throat after reading his Star Wars sticker book (in German, making the names even more unpronounceable) to him for half an hour. He was complaining on the way to school that his best friend (walking with us) was teasing him, then announced he had tummy ache and didn't want to go to school. I went in to school with him to try to explain to his teacher that he usually complains of stomach ache when he doesn't want to do something, but she immediately said that he looked pale and ill, and I should take him home so that he could drink hot tea and spend some time with me. Of course, as soon as we got home he announced he was better and is absolutely fine now.

I'm exhausted as I've been awake since 3 am and then had to get up at 4.45 am to drive DH to the station, as he's gone to the UK for a couple of days. I think DS is particularly clingy when DH is away, but didn't get the chance to explain that to the teacher either.

Grinch Hope you're all better soon; it's so exhausting having to look after small DC when you're ill yourself.

outnumbered and WhatWould Glad you're enjoying the snow. We've had some here too, but not enough to do much with - although at least it means the roads and pavements were clear fairly quickly.

outnumbered It's usually extremely quiet on the thread at the weekends; this weekend was unusually busy.

Must go and deal with the washing now while DS is still entertaining himself, as I'm not sure how long it will last.

[adventkerzylin]

Morning Linzer hope your ds goes to school happily tomorrow. Will he miss much today? Mine used to hate being off as they didn't want to miss anything! Roll on the holidays, everyone is ready for a break I think.

I've also just put washing on, would you believe I've just caught up this weekend with the backlog from when I was ill. I'd have been quicker if I had a dryer I suppose so I'm abit of you all with your dryers! I wouldn't say no if I had the chance of having one.

Plenty of snow yesterday but it has started to melt today after I spent ages clearing my drive and slope to the garage. Typical! Oh well, I couldn't risk not doing it as I need the car today.

Hope you are all feeling abit better Grinch.
Nutella hope you had plenty of rest. I think this sleeplessness is maybe nature getting mums ready for the enforced sleeplessness that is to come.
outmumbered sounds like you made the most of the snow and your ds was very brave to not give up! Hope there are not too many bruises andcuts today.

[itsMYNutella]

advent that's how I'm viewing it bye bye sleep! I remember reading about it being quality of sleep rather than simply quantity that makes you feel refreshed and ready for a new day and it's bizarre dreams and broken sleep that seem to be catching me out at the moment... Oh dear, that's not a very positive start is it....

I made loads of biscuits yesterday that we were supposed to take to our friends but when we got out in the street it was all slippy, slidey and not gritted* so I felt like a total angsthase... it's a bit less than 10mins walk to our friends house but being pregnant and slow and in the snow it was ridiculous. I had a bit of a whinge and DP ended up ringing them and getting them to come to us I feel like a total wimp!

*we had snow and then it rained so there was loads of slush. Also we were on our way to our friends at about 4pm which meant that the walk home would be over slightly more frozen slippy slush.... the bean can stay where it is a bit longer I don't like the idea of falling on my large bottom in the wet to encourage it out!

[WhatWouldSantaDo]

Oh no, Grinch, take it easy, and get well soon.
'Tis the season to be poorly, huh!

Aw, Linzer, hope your DS is ok and not worried about school. Hope he was just trying his luck at a day off!

Nutella, I would have done the same if I were you, certainly at this stage of your pregnancy. Don't feel like a wimp.

Snow's mostly gone now, boo. Really glad we got some on the weekend so DH could play with us.

[platanos]

nutella- you are no angsthase - it is no fun to walk on ice when heavily pregnant. I have some of those anti-slip things to put on the soles of my shoes and put them on as soon as there is the slightest risk of slipping. can I guess 3,700 or are you no longer accepting bets?

linzer - sounds rather strange incident with the teacher sending him home....is he okay? hope you get some rest before the dds come home.

I am also home with ds - he woke up this morning looking ill and teary. He is in bed with a fever. good job I am home and have got two parcels - christmas presents arriving. Yes, I finally got round to doing it.

sorry to hear about other illnesses - how is the grinch household today?

advent-good you have caught up on the washing! did you get your christmas shopping done? Thought of you this weekend - dh has been working through the past 4 weekends, announced he is working through Christmas (taking a grand total of 4 days off) and it is wearing me down. It just means I get no break or quality time as a family. I try to be understanding but am a bit fed up. any tips? sigh.

outnumbered- fingers crossed on the dh job front. Hope something comes up soon that suits you all. are you all healthy now? sounds like you are having fun in the snow. well, not the clearing the pavement bit, I mean the sledging. Like santa, we are also in search of a good sledging hill - should be close, not too steep or crowded. A bit hard in central vienna. But I saw a potential hill this summer (short tram ride away) so waiting for enough snow to test it out - tree in the middle of it might mean the dc have to learn to steer asap.


hupa- i don't really like Glühwwein either (it was you who said that, wasn't it?)- i try and try but I always feel a bit sick after it. i tired the hot orange punch first, but that was worse. One market has hot chocolate (with no lace) so shall stick to that one...

antique did you move?

ah, must go as ds wanting me. wave to everyone else....

[LinzerChristkindlmarkt]

Afternoon,

I'm being driven mad by everything today and lack of sleep isn't helping my mood! We've been unterwegs since lunchtime, taking the girls to and from their piano lessons and visiting every local Billa (in this town and the next) in the hope of getting the cherry soft toy that DS had set his heart on. Sticker albums have now been banned in Austria, so instead we have... soft toys in the shape of fruit. You wouldn't think they'd be hugely popular (you have to spend ?300 to get one free or can buy one for ?17 ), but they're out of stock everywhere. They have a few back in stock, but not the cherries... The Aktion ends on Friday, and nowhere where I asked knew whether they'd be getting any more in. I feel like writing to complain!

platanos Oh no, that's no fun with your DH working so much. It's a shame we're away for virtually all of the Christmas holidays; we won't be back until the weekend before school starts and will probably be having DD1's birthday party on the 5th, so I'm not sure we'll have time to meet up. I was going to suggest a weekend before Christmas but have just realised there's only one before we fly back - and it's DH's employers' family Christmas party on Sunday; where is the time going? Hope your DS is better soon, btw.

WhatWould Good timing with the snow, then. Yes, fingers crossed it's just a one-off - and it was fine this morning as I didn't have to work, but not ideal if it becomes a regular occurrence!

Nutella I don't blame you for not wanting to walk on slippery pavements - it's not much fun even when you're not pregnant. But pushchairs can be handy to hang onto in the snow when the pavements are a bit slippery - if there's still snow when Nutellachen arrives. (Although a nightmare when there's a lot snow if you actually want to cross the road, at least here, as all the snow is piled up on the edge and only enough space cleared for a person minus a pushchair to get through.)

admylin One good thing about DS being in the Vorschulklasse is that they're not expected to catch up when they've been off school; they don't seem to do a huge amount of writing anyway.
Yes, a dryer is very handy in this weather - but even with one, I always seem to be behind with the washing. I only dry things until they're no longer soaking wet, not completely dry, so it still takes a day or two for them to dry completely anyway.

[outnumberedbymen]

linzer could it be that the teacher sent your ds home because there are so many tummy bugs going around and didn't want to take any chances with him complaining about tummy ache? I hope he hasn't actually come down with anything now!

grinch how are you all feeling today? Nothing worse having to be everyone's nurse when you are sick yourself

nutella I think everyone in your position would have done the same. I'm glad your friends agreed to come over to yours instead!

platanos sorry your dh is working do much especially at a time of year where everyone seems to be talking about 'family time'

advent I honestly don't know what I would do without my tumble dryer. With three ds who like to bathe in mud and aren't the cleanest eaters, I seem to have washer and dryer on non-stop. And as we don't have a Keller or utility room- or another space for an airer, I just wouldn't get the others dry. Can you believe, my FIL had been trying to persuade MIL to let him buy her a tumble dryer for as long as I have known them. But she doesn't want it!!

Everyone seems to be ok here, touch wood. Ds3 was back at kiga today. Lets see how long he'll last before he brings home the next bug

I'm off to bed shortly. I don't know why but I had terrible nightmares last night and didn't get much sleep overall.