Endlich Sommer - and time for a new Kaffeeklatsch thread...

[LinzerTorte]

... for those living in Germany or Austria or anyone who just wants to chat/ask a question about living in or visiting this part of the world - all welcome.

Previous thread here

I took, not I've took

Fussy where is your DS of to in France? I'm in the SW, might be able to help again with squash searches if he's going anywhere near me!

Hi AllSWornout he'll be in the middle of nowhere! St Jean Pied de Port looks beautiful but a tad small and isolated. So it's Bayonne/Biarritz I guess as although Pau is a similar distance I can't see any way to get there. The juice issue will no doubt loom early on!

Ooh that is in the middle of nowhere! But you're right, it's lovely. If he likes walking he'll be spoilt for choice.

Around here most of the big supermarkets have an English food section and squash general features. Biarritz is probably his best bet, or Bordeaux if he can catch the train up for the day.

Although I've heard the "syrops" that are sold in all supermarkets here are good - you dilute then like for squash but i find them a bit too sweet for my taste. Probably worth him giving them a try though.

Anyway, I'll stop derailing the thread now

Thanks All I'll let him know. He had bought a French syrop in Hamburg so thought he should be able to get something like that in Carrefour.

He likes walking and has just got into cycling so that's all good. After Hamburg I think he'll find this a bit isolated - he's been offered accommodation in the school which he is keen to take so he doesn't have to worry about finding a flat. I thought living in Bayonne or Biarritz might be a better choice but not my call - only time will tell!

Hello ladies!

Tumbles sorry the dog is causing you problems. We dog sat a couple of weeks ago and that made me realize that it will be a long time before we have a dog!

linzer oooohhh a weekend in England at a hen party all by yourself? Sounds great!

fussy my mum is 20 minutes from St John Pied a port. If he needs some English cooking she would gladly oblige also the supermarkets around there usually have a decent English section. I bought some digestives when I was there.

To all those interested, the wedding planning is slowly falling into place but it is of course more expensive than we thought it would be. We are paying more to have Inge done professionally because we don't want the stress of doing it ourselves on top of looking after T and organizing our families.

T is growing at an alarming rate! He is almost sitting on his own and has started to pull himself up on things. It is all happening much too fast for me! We lowered his bed today after we found him looking out of it at us when he was supposed to be napping.... He has two teeth at the bottom and two coming through at the top. It looks like more bottom teeth will follow shortly.... We're wondering if he will be walking at our wedding... I think it's a possibility...

itsMYNutella he'd love that I'm sure. It's curry tonight - not very English but a firm favourite in this house along with most of the UK population!

MrTumbles Hope your new dog settles down soon; sounds like it must be quite exhausting at the moment! I mentioned your DD's birthday to DD2, which reminded her that she owes your DD a PM so she's tapping away on my phone as I write.

Nutella When's the wedding going to be? (Apologies if you've already said.) A wedding planner sounds like a good idea; I remember how stressful organising everything ourselves was, with half the guests coming from abroad, and that was without a baby/toddler around.

fussy Enjoy your curry! We went out to an Indian restaurant on Sunday and they remembered us from last time (which must have been several months ago), mainly because of all the dishes we took back for our freezer I suspect!

Just when I thought I'd got all the lists out of the way, DD1 has been given one for scouts - she has to have a "be prepared bag" (€17.50) containing everything from a compass and matches/lighter to a €10 book. Am also feeling highly confused by all the different items of uniform, although she apparently only needs a Knotenschnur - whatever that is. The scout shop is handily open for 15 minutes (about now in fact) every evening except the one that she's there - not a time of day I particularly want to go out, so DH is hoping he'll make it there in time on his way back from work.

itsMY Sorry was cut off in mid post - good luck with your wedding plans - your little one sounds a honey - my DS was such a lazy baby he didn't walk until he was 16mths. Not a lot has changed over the 20 years Only joking

Linzer got to cook mine myself but do love a proper curry from a curry house.

Linzer I'm serious, she often has people round for dinner unexpectedly too, her partner/sort of husband (they signed a PAC which is like a civil partnership) is an artist so she is fairly chilled and loved meeting new people. She's here next week - I can't wait!!

Linzer I wish we had a wedding planned, that would be awesome! Sadly I mean little things like paying a florist to bring everything & take it away again we are meeting our photographer too later this week. I'm really hoping we get on with her! But I think we will.

DS has been a bit of a whinge today. He slept for all of 20 mins this morning and was falling asleep in his lunch (I did laugh and take a picture). I managed to get him to nap again at 3 and he slept for about 1hr 20 mins he normally has a 30 min power nap!!
Hopefully my happy smiley baby will be back tomorrow. On the ferry DP had accidentally booked us "club lounge" seats... It was very posh! We ate as much of the free snacks as we could and on the trip home one older couple actually commented on how good DS had bed during the trip. They said he didn't cry once and they were rather impressed. I was a very proud mummy, normally DS is a happy chappy but it is nice when other people tell you that too.

Oops, the first part of my post was to fussy

Hmmmm.... Seems I killed the thread... Hellloooooo

Hellooo

I'm busy working so hoping that the thread stays quiet until next week, as I don't need any distractions (no self-control), but didn't want to ignore your post Nutella! Hope your DS is back to his normal happy self again now.

Yoni - If Germany is anything like Austria, you will need the less than 6 months copy + apostille stamp + translation. It's tedious but not worth losing the time doing it twice, just allow loads of patience for the beaurocracy stages! In Austria we also needed a translator for the civil wedding service- didn't have to be accredited but did have to be non-family. Luckily my now-SIL was only GF status back then, so she did it. (In France, where DB got married, it had to be accredited translator)

hupa - DH is Austrian... but left here aged 5 and now his accent sounds at best North-German and at worst Dutch to the locals! He has had the indignities of the Austrian Air stewardess reply to him in English, colleagues at work in Vienna repeating themselves slowly in HochDeutsch to him and the Kiga head said "Vestehst. Du. Mich. Mr. DD-name" in front of a group of parents when she was talking at the parents evening!

MrTumbles - DH elder brother is just north of Munich- Vierkirchen. We stop over and get lifts to the airport from them now and again. Munich airport is a lot better connected than Vienna I find. Hope your dog is settling in by now.

Linzer - Please tell me there is a decent local Indian restaurant! You would make my year- DH tried to get me a nice Indian last birthday from the SCS Indian but it was only mediocre sadly. It is my most-missed thing from home.

Kiga are still trying my patience but DD is adjusting and still wants to go so we will keep at it and not pull her out. They say they put something in place for naps last week but, based on DD tiredness levels, she certainly isn't sleeping there yet.

On other fronts, we finally sorted out getting our upstairs windows replaced, from the useful tradesman finder ww.myhammer.at if any of you have a use for that sort of thing.

Hello all! I've been meaning to return to the thread so many times, but just never knew where to start. And I didn't want to return by adding another one of the me-posts.

There is absolutely no way I can comment on everything that's been going on here. But...

bavarian how's the dog oing now?

nutella how exciting, planning your wedding. Congratulations :)

My dad is getting married in October, and tomorrow I am heading into town to try and find a dress.

linzer and platanos dh will be in Vienna for one day next week. He got very excited when I told him about a good Indian restaurant. Is it that good that should make time for a visit there? And is it centra-ish?

Anyway, dh and I are going out with another couple tonight. I met her through dogs- they also have a young retriever, and him and Charle absolutely live each other.

Right, ds2&3 starting to annoy each other, and ds1 about to get home o better go....

Hello to everyone else :)

There are quite a few Indian restaurants in Vienna; our favourite is this one in the 4th district (so yes, central-ish). I was quite annoyed to see they have a Gutschein-Aktion on at the moment though, as we could have saved ourselves €15 last weekend! I don't think there's anywhere more local unfortunately C4ro; at least, there is one here in B. but we went there once quite a few years ago and weren't very impressed.

outnumbered I've also been looking (online) for a dress to wear to a wedding - summer weddings are so much easier... Hope you have a lovely night out with your friends!

C4ro I think the bureaucracy was the main reason we decided not to get married in Austria! (Actually, avoiding ballroom dancing was DH's main reason for avoiding a traditional Austrian wedding.) I also find Munich much better connected than Vienna, which is a bit rubbish unless you want to fly to London - we're flying from Munich at Christmas, in fact.

So much for not getting distracted - DH is home and getting the DC something to eat, so I'd better get back to work.

nutella - your mum sounds great - hope you are enjoying having her around, bet she's really happy to see your little one. Only have my DS with me for another 6 days then he's France bound. He's living in the school with meals Monday - Friday which is great but only has access to a microwave in the staff room at weekends as the kitchens are closed . Bit of a strange arrangement but I'm sure he'll survive.

outnumbered congratulations to your dad!!! That's really lovely to hear. How are you with it all? I remember when you were meeting his lady friend; I hope it all goes well & you have a lovely time.

Linzer awww thank you for replying. DS is a bit more predictable now (and I've learnt how to look after him better I suppose) so I'm hoping I can pop on about more often. I didn't mind killing the thread but when its quiet I sort of miss catching up with you all.
We had Indian take away twice while we were in England. It was ok but not great. Need to expand our search next time. I should have gone to visit my Indian friends in East London

fussy my mum is a great grandma but a little scatty as a mum. She is one of those mums that my friends either think is great because she is so different, or they see the lack of structure and guidance that I have long struggled with. It's a long story and has a lot to do with her ex husband. But honestly if your DS needed company or a tasty meal she would be happy to entertain him. We bought them UNO last time we visited and had a lot of fun teaching it to everyone .

DS pulled himself up to standing for the first time today! We better get to ikea to buy some different furniture.
He has been gradually building up to it over the last two weeks... Wonder what he'll be up to in another two weeks! He is almost 9 months old...

nutella thank you :) I have to say, it's a bit strange seeing my dad with another one. She is lovely, no gold digger but very independent, got divorced 5 years ago due to her h cheating. The main thing is that my dad is really happy, and he so deserves happiness. These past 10 years have been so hard for him. First my mum's illness, then her death. And I have been very worried about him. And although I am sure it's going to be a lovely wedding, it's going to be hard as the memory of my mum will always be there with us.

We were worried how stressful the wedding is going to be with ds1 and ds2, so we are now taking our babysitters with us! We are paying their expenses, but apart from that they are doing it for free. We re very lucky...shame they are nearly finished with uni. Apart from helping with ds1&2, they will also be providing kids entertainment for all 22 young children :)

linzer thank you for the link. Dh says that it's not far from where he is, so may be able to go there for lunch!

Hi Everyone

I am up with DD, who has an ear ache - I tried medicating her and then sleeping in her bed with her, but after 2 hours of her sobbing and howling despite all the medicine it is safe to have and a cherry stone cushion on her ear I have brought her downstairs to watch English toddler TV, which starts at 1.30am UK time. Dreading when that satellite moves in a week or so and we lose free UK TV :/

C4ro Vierkirchen is on the S bahn line we take into Munich - our stop is the very last one on the line :) Not far away, though I've never been there except passing through on the S bahn. Glad your DD is still wanting to go to KiGa even though it is tiring for her - I wonder if there is just too much going on for her to feel able to get into the quiet sleepy mood to nap even if they have now provided a place for her to? Especially if nobody else does?

Linzer thanks for getting your DD to message mine - I pointed the message out to her, but will remind her when this ear ache is sorted! She's not doing great atm as we thought she'd broken her thumb at DS1's birthday party on Sunday, but it turns out its only sprained... The party was a success otherwise - I put all 6 little boys in bright orange T shirts (€2 per T shirt Amazon purchases) which made them very easy to keep tabs on at the fun park :) )

Nuttella yay for your DS! I love really teeny toddlers - DD only crawled for 2 weeks and then walked at 9 months 9 days - and she only had 2 teeth at the time too! :o People are always full of dire warnings about them walking, but I found it easier as at least they can walk outside which makes playgrounds etc. so much more rewarding. DD wasn't wobbly for long, also despite people saying they are if they walk early-ish - she was very steady indeed on her feet by the time she turned 10 months.

Yoni congratulations - I am afraid I know nothing at all about the mechanics of getting married in Austria! Good luck with the bureaucracy.

Outnumbered congratulations to your Dad! Hope the day isn't too emotional for you - or only in a good way.

Sorry - dog rant coming up, feel free to stop reading here!

The dog is still driving me insane in all honesty, DH and I have talked several times about returning her to the foster home but the only thing really stopping us is the message that sends the kids. She doesn't like DH and barks at him, I wake up to barking, we come home to barking, and sometimes to mess due to her weak stomach, DD can't let herself in as she used to if she beats me home from school by 10 minutes, so has to sit on the door step in the rain, because although not aggressive the dog goes wild and it is too scary for an 8 year old. I really didn't need her here an hour ago when I brought DD down, which sent her into a barking frenzy... she's settled on the sofa now but it took a while and I had a crying DD to deal with, didn't need the dog to be taking all my attention. :(

She is "good" with the kids in that she is very tolerant of them, but she largely ignores them and is absolutely velcro to me, I can't move without her jumping up and she is always at my feet and trying to climb on my lap and push herself between me and DC3 if he wants to be on my lap or I am helping him get his waterproofs or shoes on or anything. TBH I find her needy/ clinginess to me very frustrating esp as she still won't let DH near her, so he feels like an unwelcome guest in his own home, and the older 2 children have largely lost interest in her as she ignores them. DC3 still fusses her a lot, and her saving grace is how tolerant of him she is...

The constant barking is driving me absolutely insane, and her very weak stomach means a whole lot of disgusting cleaning up for me if she manages to eat anything that is not dog food (and she is absolutely food obsessed and can steal food in the blink of an eye so it is very hard totally stopping her getting anything she shouldn't in a house of small children) which I really don't need. We never used to shut doors in the house but now the kitchen door has to be shut all the time, and the older 2 were getting nicely independent about getting themselves drinks and even making sandwiches etc. and DD likes to cook only calling me for "risky" jobs, but the dog has put a stop to all that as I have to be on full alert int he kitchen due to her food frenzies... she's trapped DS1 in the kitchen when he's gone in to get a drink and shut the door behind him, and she just stands outside barking and leaping at the door and he's too scared to come out :/ She isn't aggressive she is just focussed on the food, but she is making life very hard. I tried taking her to a training course but it didn't focus on areas we need to work on, was more about dog-dog socialisation, and was also very "treat" focussed (rewarding with food) which had a bad effect on Dog's tummy for 24 hours after... :/ blergh!

mrtumbles oh dear that sounds very stressful with your dog! And constant barking drives me up the wall too!! We are quite lucky, as ours barks (literally once) if there is someone at the door. I quite like tht as I see it as our house alarm. And sometimes, if he is a bit too excited with visitors who don't like dogs much, I put him in the kitchen and shut there door - there he will spend the first minute barking for attention, but then calms down.

It sounds like her barking is attention seeking too? Would you consider getting a dog behaviourist involved? Or approach the organization you got her from, and see if they have ideas?

I have to say, I always admire people taking in rescue dogs, but I couldn't do myself. With a puppy- especially going through good breeders- you have a blank canvas, you can shape their personality and train them from the beginning. It's still a lot of work, time and money required. You just can't know of all the experiences -probably lots of unpleasant ones- those poor doggies have had, and how the memory of those might make them react in certain situation.

Good luck with her!!

How is your dd now? After having had da1&3 at home last week, I now had a phonecall that ds2 isn't well and has gone to sleep. Just picked them up, and had to tell his little friend that she can't come home with us as planned. It was heartbreaking. She was sitting on my lap crying her eyes out. We already had to cancel the play date once lat week, as The others were ill. No idea what he's coming down with, but he's got a temperature and a bit of a cough. Hopefully he'll be back at Kiga by Friday the latest, as I really want to go to Zumba at the gym. Not very selfless, am I?!

Anyway, must go.

hi Outnumbered - hope your DS2 is better soon - poor little girl so upset at not coming to play - still, nice he has a friend who loves him!

DD's ear drum must have burst at 3am as she said it hurt less then and fell asleep (obviously DS2 woke up within half an hour of her falling asleep...) but she woke at 6am with liquid streaming out of her ear, and the doctor confirmed burst ear drum and she is on antibiotics now. She has dozed a lot of the afternoon after spending the morning mostly in a grumpy uncomfortable, tired strop...

Does anyone else's school have no office staff nor anyone else to answer the staff phone? Our school has 4 classes and 4 teachers, no slack so nobody answers the phone. I wrote her absence not at 6.30am but forgot at 7am to dash out and catch a bus child going past so had to drive in to her school to hand in her absence note before the doors shut at 8am... Left me with half an hour before I could drop DS1 at Kindergarten opposite and the choice of driving home and straight back again or asking them to let me drop him early - which led to eye rolling though they did let me... Would be so much easier if I could just phone in and leave a message on a machine even, or text the teacher, or email... or anything!

I actually don't think I can do this with the dog, think she's tipped me over the edge. Have left messages with the lady who had her in foster (who is also a dog trainer and who said we could call her any time for advice). After leaving messages I got through to her once, only a few days after we got the dog, and booked her to come over for a training session, but she didn't turn up and only texted to cancel, never got back in contact. I have just left more messages saying this isn't working and we need wither urgent help or will bring the dog back.

I took DS2 to the playground (dogs aren't really allowed and I can't push him on the swing with her on the lead as she gets between me and the swing and barks, and gets hit with the swing!) so I left her in our garden (with water, shade, and a comfy place to lie) - but she can see us in the playground from the house and garden so she barked the entire time non stop - literally 45 mins. When we came back she went nuts as usual springing and barking so I had to put her on the lead, and when I opened the door she trotted in ahead of me on the long lead - and peed in the middle of the living room floor! She is toilet trained and was outside the previous 45 mins! She did the same at the weekend when the parents and in-laws were here - while they were in the house she peed on the floor at regular intervals even though the garden door was open and it was a sunny day. It is clearly some kind of deliberate territory marking or something! Or revenge! I am sure its a stress reaction but it is infuriating on top of 45 mins of solid barking... I've put her back in the garden now after the peeing (can't really call it an accident) and have really had enough...

I can't even clean up unless I shut her out as she runs through it barking in my face and jumping on me

She just isn't the dog we thought we met at the foster family's house, nor the laid back, quiet dog they said she was! She is making every family member not want to be at home - in fact it doesn't feel like home at all with her here biggest mistake I have ever made I think.

MrTumbles Oh dear, that sounds like a bit of a nightmare situation with the dog. I really hope you can get something sorted out soon (even if it does mean returning the dog). Poor DD2 with her ear; she must have been in a lot of pain. It sounds like rather a stressful system for letting the school know that your child will be absent; at our school, you can either phone up (and leave a message if no one answers) or just ask a friend/sibling to tell the teacher.

outnumbered Hope your DS is feeling better soon; what a shame for his friend too. I can imagine that, no matter how well you get on with your dad's wife-to-be and how happy you are to see him happy, you'll have very mixed emotions at the wedding - but it sounds like it will be a lovely day (even more so now that you'll have babysitters on hand!).

Nutella Sounds like your DS is growing up fast! Like MrTumbles, I found it much easier once the DC started walking - everyone used to tell me to enjoy the lack of mobility while it lasted, but I found that the more mobile they got, the less frustrated they were.

I've had a cold for the last couple of days so have been feeling a bit sorry for myself, but have cheered up since our visit to the dentist this afternoon when she said that I could wait another six months before doing anything about my tooth (don't know if anyone remembers, but she suggested a €600 ceramic inlay for a tooth that I managed to chip on some muesli years ago). It looks like some of DD1's adult teeth are missing, however; the dentist going to look into it more next time, although there's nothing that can be done if they're not there (other than implants in about 20 years' time).

outnumbered babysitters and children's entertainment sounds like a fantastic thing to have at the wedding great that you'll be able to relax. I totally understand what you say about the mixed feelings and about seeing your dad happy. My Mum's partner makes her very happy and it's lovely to know there is someone kind taking good care of her.

MrT that is so sad about your dog! It sounds like she needs a lot of work and attention which with small children isn't really fair on your family We had a rescue dog but we were all much older and he wasn't as needy, he had strange reactions to some things.
I think giving her back and recommending a family without children (at least not under 10). I find it hard enough when DS is tired or hungry and he shouts at me, having a dog barking for that long would definitely tip me off the edge! And the situation with your DD's school sounds really silly! That it could possibly be solved by something as simple as an answering machine is well it could easily be solved!

Sorry to hear about all the poorly little ones!! My mum is cooking curry and DS has just fallen asleep he is sleeping better at night at the moment. He definitely has more teeth coming but I can't see which. He also makes lots of "mumumum" noises

mrtumbles how strange with your dds school. At ds1' school the phone also isn't always manned. But they do have an answering machine for when there is no-oe to answer the phone. Having a child off sick is bad enough, especially if there are siblings that need to be taken to places. Hat off to you, because I don't think I would have driven to school!

I hope the ABs work quickly for your dd. earache is so horrible!

If I was you I'd probably return the dog as well, and it sounds like she really does need a family where she can get lots of undevided attention - which is just not possible with three young children!! I do find having a dog on top of three little ones hard work, but then, we knew that. The difference with your situation is that the good outweighs the bad by far. And as a whole he is a very welcome addition to our family who we wouldn't want to miss.

nutella your ds sounds so adorable! and your mum sounds lovely too :)