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

outnumbered I'm sure you're right and the teacher just didn't want to risk it; I could completely understand her point of view. I was just a little annoyed that she completely dismissed what I was trying to say about the tummy ache being an excuse. It's so much easier with the girls as I know that when they say they're ill, they really are ill!

Hope you had a better night's sleep last night. I was planning to have an early night after my 3 am start, but didn't get to bed particularly early in the end; I'm feeling much less tired today, though.

The snow is coming thick and fast here, so I'm glad I don't have to go out until late afternoon - DS's friend's mum is doing the school run today. Am selfishly hoping that most of the snow will be gone by Christmas as I don't want it to affect our journey back to the UK.

Guten Morgen!
Linzer do you think you'll get a cherry on time? Is it for Christmas? I had a look at them online and they are cute, especially the cherry but at the 300? to get a free one.

outnumbered hope you got some sleep and no bad dreams. You probably have so much stress and worry about everything that it comes out at night when you're asleep as you just don't have time during the day, you just have to get on with life. That's what I find anyway, I often have bad dreams when dh has had a bad week and threatens them with walking out and starts sending off job applications for jobs that he's miles to highly qualified for so would never even be offered an interview, and then I check our bank balance and there goes a good nights sleep!

platanos sorry your dh is having to work so much. Can't help much with tips as we've just started planning everything without him and if he happens to join us, OK, and when not then we weren't expecting him anyway! My dh has promised ds to attend his table tennis Christmas eltern-kind-turnier next week but I'm going to have to remind him 10 times over the weekend so he can plan and be home early.

No Christmas shopping started here except for some sweets and treats for the stockings that are already hidden in my wardrobe! I'd better start soon but will probably do it next week!

Nutella you did right not going out in the snow, now is not the time to go falling over. Thanks alot for that info by the way, I messaged you!

Dd gets her fixed brace today, just on the back teeth for now to push them back to make room for new ones that can't get through due to lack of space. This is the first round of private braces as they're meant to work in 3 or 4 months rather than 12 months for the Krankenkasse versions. Lets hope it will be worth it. She's coming down with something as well, was extremely tired and grumpy this morning (more than her usual teen stroppyness).
Last night I endlich got my glühwein! It was just right after a busy day to sit down with a warm mug of wine instead of a cup of tea!

Glad you finally got your Glühwein, admylin! I could do with one to warm me up, but can't cope with alcohol in the middle of the day so had better stick to coffee instead. Hope your DD gets on OK with the brace and that it works quickly. I was amazed that DD1 only needed hers for about a month; you'd think it would be quite painful for it to work that quickly, but she never complained.

Hmm, not sure what to do about the cherries. I was hoping that DS would decide on one of the other fruits after we'd been round all the Billas in the area, but no - only the cherries will do. platanos Did you say you could send me one? Although I'm assuming you probably don't have 300 points to spare even if you can still get the cherries in Vienna. I could always ask DH to have a look when he's back, although I'm not sure if he works anywhere near a Billa.

Back to printing out 20-odd handouts and bingo sheets... I'd normally ask DD2's teacher to photocopy all the handouts I need for the week's English class, but I really need them in colour and the school only has a black and white printer.

linzer I just had to google Billa as I had no idea what it is. and why are sticker albums banned?? hope your ds gets his cherry

I can understand you being annoyed with the teacher dismissing your concerns! when ds1 was at his first pre-school (pre-diagnosis and it was a horrible set up for him there) he used to have terrible tummy ache, to the point where I actually took him to the drs a couple of times and evetually they did an ultrasound - nothing was found. it must have been because that pre-school was just sooo stressful for him.

advent it sounds hard for you and your dc with your dh working so much. are the dc just used to him usually not being there or do they miss him loads? I am so worried about how ours will cope when dh gets a new job elsewhere as they have got used to him being around a lot. Since he had started his job here in KL he was home every night at 6.30 the latest (with only a couple of business trips) and home every weekend. ds3 in particular misses dh a lot when he's not there. in May me and ds3 went to the UK for a week and he was constantlxy asking for Papa. same when we were at hospital the other week.

I had a much better sleep last night and we spoke to the Jugendamt this morning about Integrationshilfen for ds1 and ds2, and the BEamter (who's been dealing with us before as well) seems optimistic that we will get both. so fingers crossed for that!

still home as ds is still a bit poorly, better but not 100% . building work all around so rather noisy and the only way to get him to rest was to put "the lion king" dvd on...so, some time to post

Linzer- once i am allowed out of the house I shall check some Billas for you - there are 3 near here and one near my work. I don't know how many points I have though - I still have a paper (rather than plastic) reward card, and have had ever since I got here. In fact I shall phone up and ask what that is about and how many points I have. If I have enough, I am happy to use them on cuddly cherries to make a 6 year old happy - or his mother. Hope your english lesson goes well!

Thanks for the kind words on dh's work. It just feels a bit lonely. But there is plenty to do in Vienna with children over the holidays and I am sure we will have a good time.

advent - hope the brace fitting goes okay. Dh got a fixed one recently and it hurts for the first couple of days - but I have heard it is easier for children. He eats pureed food at home - reminds me of the dc's weaning stage.

outnumbered- hope you got a better night's sleep? sounds like you have a lot on your plate at the moment. I have bad dreams as part of my PMS.

ds being ill has caused all sort of organised logistics to go haywire. dd has a concert on thursday evening and is meant to go to a rehearsal tomorrow. I had offered to take another couple of children along but have had to warn the mothers about the possibility that I might not make it. Luckily the offered to take dd if I can't take her.

off to the shower...really making the most of a day at home.

x- post outnumbered good news on sleep and integrationshilfe.

LinzerI have just rang up. they sent a card in the post in 2010 but I never got it. I always defend the austrian postal system when people complain about it...but not any longer! Anyway, I have two points - will that get me a cherry?

Linzer that is insane ?300 (really miss UK promotions... I used to have at least a dozen "loyalty" cards :o ) for a soft toy ! DP has a habit of collecting the stickers at the supermarket and it drives me nuts because then they just sit there! But I have managed to remind him to take them with him today to give to a lovely colleague in Nürnberg. I remember when they launched Nectar points (from Sainsburys I think) in the UK and I used to use the vouchers for going to the cinema and it worked out at crazy £££ per trip but I had no other use for the points...

Thank you all for being so kind about the snow - I still feel like a terrible whiner though :) (if only there were prizes for wingeing!)

platanos of course I will add your guess to the list :) I'll edit and re-post - otherwise I'll lose the bit of paper where I've written the list.

advent hope the brace fitting goes well and doesn't cause too much pain and discomfort! Also hope that DD's moodiness is short lived

Yesterday was my last Drs appointment the nurse managed to write down that I'd gained 10kilos in the last three weeks and stabbed me so hard in the finger for blood I still have a mark on my finger (at least it isn't bleeding anymore). As lovely as my Dr and all the nurses/staff are I wont miss the regular pin cushion sessions and being prodded and poked! But it makes the impending arrival of nuttelachen seem suddenly very close

MW appointment next week and then between Christmas and NY I'll either a) have a baby or b) go to the hospital/see the MW every other day for a check up.

EDIT: I haven't put on 10kilos in the last three weeks - obviously ... but I have gained another 3 ah well, all being well I will lose weight in the NY....

nutella how many days/weeks left (officially) until the big day? Did they say nutellachen's position was OK?

Loyalty cards and decent promotions probably won't make it to Germany for another 10 years or so I'd say. From what I've heard it'll be 15 to 20 in Austria!
Oh well, thank goodness for cheap flights to the UK, not that I've taken advantage of them for ages, I could really really do with a shopping trip home.

platanos no, the dc are so used to dh working or studying (he was doing his PhD when they were tiny) so they don't complain too much! I always remember when ds was born dh had abit more time as he was just starting at uni but when dd came along he was doing a course, full time and working at the weekend and if he did come home when she was awake she used to cry when she heard his deep loud voice! She was just used to her brother and me being around all the time. She must have been about 5 or 6 months old when she 'got to know' him better and now she's his princess of course!

Sorry, it was outnumbered who was asking about the dc missing dh! I'm not with it today! Trying to organise the next couple of weeks in my head and trying to get in the xmas spirit...need glühwein but it's too early and have to drive later!

Hello from the house of ill! First vomit free day so far today, although I am only letting DS2 eat Zweiback and Kinder Apfel Keks and Grissini, plus water - anything else seems to make him vomit, but he is really pining for milk and yoghurt and keeps pushing the step stool to the fridge to get them himself they would cheer him up for 10 mins then he would be sick, so he's going to have to wait til tomorrow! The big 2 seem better pretty much, though DH is still suffering erhem - effects and I have pretty bad stomach cramps and headache, though the fever and nausea have receded (I got it last). I've only been washing vomit covered stuff since I got the bug, but there is loads of it as DS2 in particular has a talent for maximum coverage of throws, bedding, my clothes, his clothes, cushion and sofa covers... My laundry mountain may officially qualify as an Alp now :( Can't let anyone down to the basement :(

Linzer the saga of the ?300 cherry sounds crazy - wouldn't your DS like something else... a Cararra Bahn, the massive Lego Starwars deathstar, a (real) pony???? :o The teacher not wanting to listen to you is annoying isn't it? I once went in with DD to tell her teacher she been limping mysteriously since she woke up but hadn't hurt herself as far as we knew and DD was worried she would be laughed at for it, but her teacher just asked me to write a note... bit redundant by then, but I assumed it was partly a polite way of saying go away and don't bother me first thing in the morning when I have setting up to do, and partly a bureaucratic "must have note" response.

Nutella the not walking on ice when heavily pregnant is common sense, not over anxious! Glad your friends understood!

We have a huge amount of snow and it just keeps snowing, no idea how much, but its really, really deep! Maybe the kids will be up to playing out in it this afternoon (not Ds2 though he is still really not right).

Oh advent good luck with ds's brace, and plantanos get well soon to your ds - hope your logistics get sorted!

Grinch Glad to hear you're over the worst now, although I don't envy you all that washing. DH is always very strict about not letting the DC having any milk after D&V, which I always used to think was another Austrian myth, but then someone who used to be a nurse in the UK confirmed that milk is best avoided.
Oh yes, DS would love any Lego Star Wars - more than the cherry - but the problem is we'd have to pay for it! (Although you have to spend ?300 to get the fruit, it's money that we would have spent on food anyway.)

admylin We do have supermarket loyalty cards here, but they don't offer anything exciting - you need to have one to take advantage of some of the offers (usually something like 20 cents off) and you get sent a 10% off voucher on your birthday, and that's about it.

Nutella It's definitely getting excitingly close now! Actually, if you're updating the list, could you up my guess to 8 lb 2 oz (whatever that is in grams) - I think my guess atm is a bit on the low side, but it was only seeing all the lb and oz that made me realise it was; grams don't mean as much to me!

platanos Two points, you say... I think the promotion ends on Saturday, so I'm sure you can manage to spend ?280 between now and then, can't you? I actually find the postal system pretty good; I've only ever had one thing get lost (but it was worth about ?100!). I've had a couple of things sent via Australia, but I think that's the fault of the UK post office rather than the Austrian one.

outnumbered Sticker albums have been banned as it was decided that it made children influence their parents' decision about where to shop. Which the soft toys don't do at all, oh no. There was something about an imperative ("Hol dir dein Stickeralbum!" or some such thing), which I didn't quite get but basically it was forcing people to shop at that particular supermarket. Or something.
Good news about the Integrationshilfen; I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

It took me 40 minutes to shovel all the snow this morning. 40 minutes! It's partly our fault for buying a house with a long path down to the road (part of which is shared with two neighbours), but I also did the big area in front of the communal garage, the pavement and the path up to our elderly neighbours' house on the other side (as agreed at our meeting with the neighbours a week or so ago). I don't actually mind doing it, but there are three other neighbours at home during the day and somehow it always seems to be me who ends up doing it.

Ok Linzer I'll let you have a revised guess. Just this once :)

Ooops Linzer I've just converted Platanos' guess and that's also 8lb 20z... would you like to stick with what you have or take a new guess???

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)
platanos 3700g (8lb 2oz)
cheas 3800g (8lb 6oz)
outnumbered 3950g (8lb 11oz)
Antique 4000g (8lb 13oz)
Grinch 4100g (9lb 0oz)

advent I have another 2 weeks ish till due date. I think official due date is 27th, I have tempted fate with a haircut on the 28th and reckon baby might hold out until the new year... dum dum dum oh and no it is very unlikely that it could turn. Of course anything is possible but it is very unlikely. I think also because it is baby 1 my belly isn't as errr accommodating as it might be if it were DC2 or 3 if you see what I mean :)

Nutella I almost added the caveat "unless that's what platanos guessed" to my last post! Hmm, what to do... Can I go for 3750 g / 8 lb 4 oz instead? (I'm going to be so annoyed if Nutellachen turns out to be 3600 g after all that!)

Linzer Done. (on your own head be it )

Then here is the final list ladies:

jenny 2900g (6lb 6oz)
hupa 3300g (7lb 4oz)
Santa 3333g (7lb 5oz)
Advent 3348g (7lb 6oz)
Ploom 3458g (7lb 10oz)
Nutella 3650g (8lb 0oz)
platanos 3700g (8lb 2oz)
Linzer 3750g (8lb 4oz)
cheas 3800g (8lb 6oz)
outnumbered 3950g (8lb 11oz)
Antique 4000g (8lb 13oz)
Grinch 4100g (9lb 0oz)

nutella thanks for putting mine in too. where are you giving birth? given how close the bets are, we will have to officially check when the scales were last calibrated and just how reliable they are you mentioning the cinema reminded me of when I turned tesco clubpoints into two nights at the Hilton in central London - now that was a great scheme. Though I always shiver at the thought because we left the dds asleep (in cots and they were good sleepers at that stage) in the bedroom and went to dinner downstairs (you could hear into the bedroom from a phone in the restaurant). This was before Maddy McCann- I would never do that now. I know the chances of something like that happening are remote but still...

grinch - poor, poor you. It sounds dreadful. Last week we had one evening/night when we all threw up (my lentils were off, Rabenmutter me) but that was only one night. horrid when it goes on for longer and also fever. Hope you feel fully recovered soon.

linzer - there is something very wrong with my billa card if they think I have only spent 20 euro there in the last 2 years. 280 euro by the weekend would be perfectly normal (we live off champagne and oysters - all vegan - you know!) but unfortunately ds is ill and I can't get them online . do you not take turns with the snow shovelling? no rota or anything.

ds breathing like Darth Vader and got a fever - poor pet. I think I should take him to the drs tomorrow. don't want to end up in hospital like the last times and he has been ill on and off for a long time. No fever but coughs and colds.

Nutella I am now absolutely positive that Nutellachen will weigh 3600g. But don't worry, I'm not asking you to change it again. This is all quite exciting - we definitely need more thread babies.

I would start taking bets on how many parents are going to turn up to the Adventmarkt get-together that DH has organised for DD1's class, but I suspect we'll be lucky if more than one turns up. According to DH, a few parents said that it was a good idea but I still think it's just going to be us and the teacher.

platanos Good idea to take DS to the doctor's; I put off taking DD1 years ago when I was in British "it's only a cough" mode, and she turned out to have bronchitis.
The toy fruit promotion started in mid-September, so you'll only have been collecting points on your Billa card since then. The previous Aktion was for Ice Age glasses, which you could get for a bargain 10 points (?100), but it only lasted for about a month so we only managed to get one thank goodness.
And no, no rota, but tbh I'm not sure one would work as only I and our next-door neighbour are reliably around (and she works a couple of half-days). I'm hoping it will earn me some brownie points - the NDNs invite everyone over for food and drink far more often than we do, for example - but I'm not sure anyone will actually have realised it was me. I need a signature snow shovelling style.

Nutella, are you all set with baby names? Care to share?

Wow, Linzer, all that snow shovelling, quite a workout. Ours is all but gone, and I am hoping so hard for some more! LOL @ signature snow style!

Are Santa's Grottos not the done thing here? I have not managed to find one yet. I need my yearly photo of DS with Santa!

advent, hope DD's brace is comfortable for her, and does the job swiftly. It is crazy that so many people have too many teeth for their gums (or not enough gum for their teeth!)! A design flaw!

platanos, hope your little one gets well soon.

Geeze, Grinch, what a time of it you are having. Hope you get it all cleared and out of the home soon, so you can all snuggle up in time for Xmas.

I agree with Linzer about not having milk - but obviously I would say that! But truly, it is mucous-forming, and does not help people get over coughs and colds. Well, that's what I believe anyway.

Hi to everyone else!

Morning! Have a million jobs to do but decided that MNetting was much more important since I've not been on for a few days .

grinch - Glad the parcel got to you so speedily and thanks for the money. Hope your ds1 likes it. How's the poorly house today? You've really had a bad run of it - nothing worse than everyone being poorly at the same time.

advent - how is your dd with her brace? I didnt realise you could have them on for such a short period of time. The KFO told dd that she needs a train track one and she was really upset as she thought the nighttime one would stop her needing a it. We've to go back in January so will know more then. At least you've got experience after your ds - have you got lots of soup at the ready?

linzer - are you out snow shovelling again this morning? Its blizzarding here again but at least that gets me out of going out now to shovel. Still no luck with the cherry? Thats a crazy deal where you have to buy 300 euros of shopping for a cuddly toy! Think the tesco clubcard deals were much more reasonable. Have fun at the adventmarkt get together - hope people turn up.

platanos - the drs sounds like a good plan for this morning. Hoep he feels better soon. I've also left the dc in hotel rooms in the past but now think "what was I thinking!!". But in my defence the doors were always locked and we had a baby phone with us. Still not right though.

Eeeeeeee nutella - not long now!! It really is too exciting. I agree with linzer - there should be more thread babies but they definitely wont be coming from me - would be making more than this face if I found out I was having the next thread baby .

outnumbered - that sounds like positive news about the Integrationshelper and glad you slept better .

santa - have never seen a santa grotto here - have only ever seen a santa/nikolaus man walking about the Christmasmarkt giving out sweets to the dc. My dc were always petrified of santa in the grotto when they were little so its not something I miss.

I went to the GP last week about my foot - he was really lovely but I'm not entirely sure that he knew what was wrong. I did explain that I had been a physio in my previous life in the UK and he asked me what I thought was wrong then kind of agreed with me. But he gave me the plan of treatment that I wanted - I'm having 10 sessions of ultrasound - have had 2 already and off for the 3rd this morning. Thankfully he has a machine in the practice so the nurse just switches on and lets me carry on doing it myself. Just wanted to telly ou what he had recomended grinch in case that might be of use for you.

DH has 5 days off after today - will send him out snow shovelling tomorrow . It has now snowed all 12 days of December so far but that bodes well for our cross country skiing holiday on the 1st of January. (Although the weather forecast is for warmer temperatures and rain from the weekend ]. Hope the snow comes back in time for Christmas - it never feels Christmassy when its raining.

Whatwould I´ve never seen a Santa´s grotto here I´m afraid. Maybe you´ll have more luck near Frankfurt because there´s so many ex-pats around.

Linzer Have you got backache yet from all the snow clearing? We´ve had an incredible amount of snow here and although we employ someone to clear the path and carpark for the practice, I´m beginning to ache from clearing the path to our garage and clearing the snow from in front of it.
I hope at least a few people turn up this afternoon. We´ve got dd´s Christmas do this afternoon. It´s usually well attended, but I´ll be avoiding the Plätzchen as they are the ones we baked the other day and I don´t want to risk being ill before Christmas.

Grinch I hope you´re all the road to recovery.

planatos The doctors is probably a good idea. It would be great if he was fully fit for Christmas.

admylin How´s it going with dd´s new brace? Dh has finally made an appointment at the end of January for him and the dc to see about braces. Dh´s bottom teeth have become increasingly crooked over the last couple of years, so he´s finally decided to do something about them.

It was Dd´s birthday on Monday and one of her presents was a Just Dance game for the Wii. If any of you are looking for ways to keep fit - give it a go. It´s made me realise how unfit I am. Thinking about it now maybe it was the dancing rather than the snow clearing that has made me ache.

Hello to anyone I´ve missed. I´m struggling to keep up at the moment, it´s so busy on here.

Morning!

Have got the day's snow shovelling out of the way (provided it doesn't snow any more) so deserve a bit of MNing time now, I think. We'd only had a couple of centimetres overnight so it "only" took me half an hour today. My back was aching afterwards both yesterday and today, so I've decided it's maybe not a healthy alternative to running after all!

hupa I've heard lots of good things about Wii Fit, but we really don't need another electronic device in the house for the DC to become addicted to!

Ploom Hope the ultrasound helps; DH had some for his back (along with other kinds of therapy) recently and it did make a big difference, although it's hard to tell how much was down to the ultrasound alone. Where are you going skiing - is it the same place as last year?

WhatWould You don't see Santa much here in Austria, although he is starting to get more popular - which quite a few people are unhappy about as they feel like he's pushing out the Christkind, who traditionally brings the Christmas presents. The only place I've seen Father Christmas here (Germany/Austria) is at the British Christmas bazaar in Vienna; I agree with hupa that you're more likely to find him where there are a lot of expats.

Re leaving children in hotel rooms, I'm going to go against the grain and say I don't regret doing so. We've done so a few times, in Kinderhotels and the like when we've had a baby monitor at the table, but wouldn't do it now as the DC are old enough to eat with us and wouldn't go to sleep in time for us to eat on our own anyway. You see so many couples in Kinderhotels in the restaurant with their baby monitors in the evening, although the fact that lots of people do it doesn't mean that it's a sensible thing to do, of course (cf. all the people I know who leave napping babies to go shopping/do the school run, etc.). I don't feel like we were putting the DC at undue risk, although I wouldn't have done it if we hadn't had a baby monitor.

Morning!

Like ploom, I should be getting on with work, but wanted to post since I haven't for a while.

We left dd asleep several times and went off for a meal within baby phone range even post-McCann. I don't think it's that irresponsible depending on where you do it - doing it night after night in a holiday resort is different to doing it once in a sleepy German hotel - you'd have to be incredibly unlucky for someone sitting or working in the hotel restaurant to spot the baby phone and tip off a contact who was hoping to snatch a child . I'm still glad she's old enough to sit with us in the evenings now - it was never very relaxing to sit in a restaurant knowing she was on her own, however irrational the worry was!

The snow is slowly taking over here. I only just made it back up the hill after taking dd to kiga this morning - had to reverse down the steepest bit and take another route after gettting stuck. If it doesn't stop snowing by lunchtime I may consider walking to the kiga - I have to teach two English lessons and then take dd home - reckon it would take us nearly an hour at her pace though...

Dsis is getting on well with her dissertation and enjoying eating my Plätzchen. I made these chocolate ones yesterday which were very quick to mix and very child-friendly to form - you roll little balls and then squash them with the back of a fork. Whatwould your ds could probably manage the squashing at age 2, I guess .

Sorry for no real name-checking. I hope all the ill posters and dc are feeling better/start feeling better soon and that everyone else stays fit .