Wind, Obst, Wein und Spaß - living in Germany and Austria: the autumn edition

[LinzerTorte]

A thread for all 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 (particularly as the previous thread has been so quiet recently).

The thread title comes from this song btw - they're not the first four autumnal German words that popped into my head. (It could have been worse; I did briefly consider "Nüsse auf den Teller, Birnen in den Keller".)

Nutella today I caught dd pulling the little step over to the kitchen drawer, with the express purpose of pulling it open and removing the knives.

I swear I need eyes in the back of my head. The child is afraid of nothing

Outer DS has only recently twigged that he can move the chairs & make use of them to climb something he couldn't normally. He is driving me bonkers! He especially likes to do this trick when I'm feeding DD

Ah the joys of the climbing toddler! MIL keeps telling me not to worry, DS would never do anything like that, he's far too sensible. Normally as I'm trying to grab him down from some unstable, usually slippery structure. I'm not sure whose DS she thinks she's talking about, but it really can't be mine! Saying that, he has calmed down a bit lately blocks out memory of him sampling all the berries on the bushes in the play park a few weeks ago

at the cost of school supplies! DS turned three last week, so if I start saving now we might just be ok.....

FrauEnglisch Definite eek! How are you feeling? I think you are due a week or so before me, aren't you? How is DD feeling about the baby?

Linzer A belated thank you for the new thread! As usual, I've been lurking but haven't had time to post.

outer Well done for sticking up for yourself in German! It's so intimidating when things like that happen in a foreign language, isn't it.

sue I'm actually feeling really good at the moment! I keep forgetting I'm pregnant, until I try and turn over in bed or make the mistake of thinking I can be more than 50m from a toilet at any time DS loves Kiga, I think he's. A little bit in love with his Erzieherin, which helps. She is lovely though and absolutely brilliant with him.

I'm finally feeling a little more prepared now - I thought I was going into labour on Sunday, which would still have been too early for my liking, and that has spurred us into action, digging out the car seat, setting up the cot, washing, washing & more washing. I even started too pack my hospital bag this morning, but I think a lot of this has been triggered by boredom now DS is in Kiga.

Hello to everyone I've missed!

woolly that's great that ds is liking kiga. Dd has had to switch groups to be with the other Vorschulkinder, the fact that she likes her new Erzieherin so much is helping a lot. It's still quite a lot of upheaval in a short space of time with the arrival of a new sibling, though, isn't it?

Are your parents coming over to "help" early on (are they helpful)? Mine are coming when DH goes back to work. I'm hoping dd will get lots of attention from them and then will be distracted by the build-up to Christmas. She is very excited about her brother coming though. Yesterday she brought a pile of old board books back from PIL's and read them very loudly to my tummy. And she's picked out her favourite skirt to go in her bag to take to PIL's. It's just answering her questions about childbirth in an age-appropriate way that's sometimes tricky. Fortunately she thinks the idea of Mummy suddenly getting wet trousers hilariously funny (and she knows to tell me the baby is on its way if she notices my trousers are wet ).

All this talk of climbing toddlers is worrying me. Dd has always been the sort of child who needs encouragement to push herself physically and seemed to develop risk-awareness alongside her desire to climb. Our house really isn't designed for dc2 to be a fearless monkey-child...

Hello, I've just found this thread and wanted to ask a question (hope that's OK!)- and I see you are talking (a bit) about what I wanted to ask anyway .

We moved to the Rhein-Main region last year, about 14 months ago. I didn't buy any special winter clothes for the DC, just stuff they'd had in the UK anyway, and I was busy settling in and didn't really take note of what everyone else was wearing or what was available in the shops. The winter was very mild and we didn't need any snow stuff or anything. In fact we didn't even need hats.

Was this just a blip? I've been seeing all this stuff appearing in the shops - astoundingly expensive, hefty winter coats, snow suits and long underwear and thermal boots and leggings lined with fleece and balaclavas etc. Are winters usually really cold, or is it just a German being-well-prepared and not catching cold thing. (I appreciate that some areas are really cold, having been to the Christmas markets in Berlin and Munich!) Is the Frankfurt area generally that cold in winter to justify all these specialist clothes?

I know Germans have a bit of a thing about wrapping up warm - incidentally I've only just realised that those little cowboy neckerchiefs the kids at the Kindergarten are all wearing are scarves! In the Autumn! I thought they all had a problem with dribbling or were messy eaters!

DC still fit into last years winter coats, they have scarves, hats and waterproof gloves (somewhere). Fleece liners for their wellies. Should I be thinking of getting lots more stuff for them? Or indeed for myself? DH doesn't even have a winter coat and thinks he'll be fine without. But I'm guessing if I don't act soon all the affordable stuff will sell out.

Nice username BRG welcome to the thread! How old are your DC?
Last years winter was really mild. The year before winter went on forever and we didn't see a daytime temperature above 0 until sometime in late March/ April.
And yes, Germans do seem to like being wrapped up very warm.
But I am looking for a decent winter coat / snowsuit for DS. He turns two in January.

Actually, does anyone have any tips on what jacket to buy where? DS is super active, average size. I don't mind paying a bit more for something that will keep him warm and be relatively hard wearing.
Thank you!
Also tips for winter boots/wellies for DS.

Thanks Mrs Nutella :)

DC 1 is 7, and DC 2 is 3.

Below freezing until April is pretty bad! (Although that was a cold winter in the UK too if I remember right.) Dh may have to buy a proper coat then. He got teased by his colleagues for being an eccentric Englishman last winter, but got through it with just his leather jacket.

Snow trousers (schneehose) are very useful and essential for a kid at kiga. Lots of kids have all-in-one snowsuits, but I prefer to get an 3-in-1 jacket, ie. one with a removable fleece inside as that does most of the year, and the sort of schneehose that are like dungarees.

Dd currently has a jacket from Vaude. It was painfully expensive, but has lasted 18 months already and still looks great. Plus it's green, so can be passed down to ds unless something unexpected destroys it over this winter.

Schneehose, OK.
Actually our Kiga provides racks of "mash hose" - (don't know how you spell it) waterproof dungarees - and wellies. Though not sure how to teach dd to put on the right size when there are loads of identicl ones hanging up, so it might be better if she had her own anyway.

Oh, that's good if they provide Matschhose. They'll probably provide Schneehose as well then, but it is handy to have your own as you can then just dress them in leggings or tights underneath. It's quite common to see even the boys at kiga in tights and t-shirt inside, but some parents take jeans to put on over the tights - looks better but must be fairly uncomfortable imo.

Last winter our kiga demanded fleece-lined wellies and put up signs saying that non-lined wellies would not be put on our kids and we should take them home. Yes, last year when it wasn't even cold.

I tend to end up spending way too much on the last available pair of winter boots for dd (same with sandals in early summer) as Germans are far more organised and the shops don't restock when they sell out. Kamik are very highly regarded - dd had a pair one year which were fine - but last year she had a pair of girly boots with visible fur, etc, which were also fine after being treated with waterproofing spray. I'm rather fussy about sole flexibility and hate buying winter boots for that reason, but I think pretty much everything on sale here will do the job of keeping feet warm and dry (especially if you're not German and don't check the temp of your child's toes every time they take their shoes off).

Hello!

I dress my 3 in Aldi's finest snow-wear and it does the job admirably :o The first year we lived here when I only had a pfb I spent €60 on snow boots for then 2 year old DD and the zip started to stick and then broke before the end of winter - can now kit out an entire medium sized child (snow jacket, snow trousers, boots) from Aldi for less than that - and DS2 wears DS1's hand me downs despite DS1 being very rough on clothes - they last well too due to being made of indestructible never ever to biodegrade cheap artificial fibres probably

I do all in one rain/ snow gear pre toilet training (less drafty esp when sledging) but definitely separate pieces once toilet trained, esp important for the not long toilet trained for obvious reasons!

Ha, I nearly posted that I thought I remembered you saying you got all your snowwear from Aldi, mrT. The problem I would have would be organising myself to get to Aldi before they sold out...

I have no idea where my nearest Aldi is.... Hmmmm. I'm certain I won't be organised enough to get there in time for the necessities this winter not unless I become superwoman.

I had a two part thing last year for DS from H&M that did a good job and was lovely and warm. The patterns I've seen this year are hideous though

I was planning on getting Tchiboo stuff because then I can just pick it up in Rewe. Whenever I have tried to get things in Aldi it has already been picked completely bare by the time I arrive.

V good point on the toilet training, will take note of that!

Hello Black! Like MrTumbles, I've always bought snow gear (trousers, jackets and boots) from Aldi or Lidl and been perfectly happy with it. But of course, you do have to get there early enough. I've also bought thermal underwear there, but we haven't needed it much; DD1 has been skiing with school a few times and worn it then, but we haven't found it necessary for normal playing-out-in-the-snow activities where the DC are just outside for an hour or so.

It's hard to say what the winter will be like beforehand but we've needed snow wear most years and it's definitely worth stocking up in advance; you'd probably end up paying a fortune if you waited until it actually snowed. Plus I've also found that the DC have often been able to wear snowsuits/trousers two years running (I possibly have very slow-growing children, however!) and have always bought very neutral colours so can pass most things down. We also get hand-me-downs-from SIL in truly hideous colours and designs. (She does quite a lot of shopping at H&M Nutella - I've often found nice stuff in there, but our tastes differ quite significantly!)

I quite want to go to H&M now to see the hideous colours and designs .

Do school aged children wear snow trousers and snow boots? If so, where do they put them while they are in lessons? Surely it would be uncomfortable walking around in them all day, and you'd get wet melting snow over the floor of the classroom, but DD absolutely insists she doesn't have a cloakroom or a locker at school , or a peg, and she just hangs her coat on the back of her chair in her classroom .
Do they normally do the indoor-outdoor shoe thing at school?

They have house-shoes for school Black - you'd know for your school as they are on the equipment list.

Our school has pegs to hang coats on, definitely not back of chair. Each child has named led with a shelf underneath for shoes. There's space for sports bag, coat, boots and snow trousers. They would not be allowed into the classroom in outdoor layers, whether boots, snow trousers, coat or hat/ gloves. DD worse snow trousers ifit was snowing hard in year 1 and 2, but don't remember her wearing them last year when it was an unusually mild winter. Sometimesher year 1-2 teacher took them sledgi g on a Friday, so they ddefinitely needed snow trousers. Kids round here still go sledging into early teens, so all have snow trousers even if they don't ski, but secondary kids don't seem to wear them to school.

*named peg not led

Ok, I'm going to find my nearest Lidl and Aldi and keep my fingers crossed....
Linzer I know what you mean; some H&M stuff is nice and some.... Yeah... Not so much.

It's worth registering online with Lidl/Aldi as you can get an email alert for what will be on offer a week ahead of it being in the shops - that way you can be prepared for the rush ;)

Our Grundschule has indoor/outdoor shoes - left on a rack under their coat pegs outside the classroom - no going into class in outdoor shoes......

Not been there yet for a cold winter so not sure what the norm is - we have been informed though that DS1 needs a coat with a hood / hat on swimming days and he wont be allowed to swim if he doesn't have it with him - heaven forbid he goes outside with wet hair - eek!

hmmm...surely H&M isn't that bad? (Have you seen C&A?!) There are some perfectly plain snow trousers and jackets among the patterned ones. Though I am looking at older children's stuff (7years and over) so that might make a difference. Buy something soon, BRG. The first year here, I waited too late, all cheap stuff was sold out and I ended up having to pay 50€ on a pair of snow trousers for dd1. They are still in use, 5 winters and 2 children later, but it hurt to spend that much. I have since bought stuff from Tchibo and Hofer (aka as Aldi in Germany) as well, both good quality. Snowboots have also been good from there. Rather strange but we don't do wellies anymore, go from snowboots to waterproof shoes.

Yes, quite normal for them to be sitting in kindergarten (and even in class on ice-skating or sledging days) in thermals, or even tights. Well, in primary school at least. And outdoor shoes stay outside the classroom here too. I even do that at work too in winter, heavy shoes off and ballet flats on. But I don't go around in my thermals or tights.

ah, ds is poorly, has just woken up from a sleep, and says he is bored. Off I go...enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Not as bad as SIL's taste suenan! (She buys from plenty of other shops too, so I'm not placing the blame solely on H&M). I used to buy most of the DC's clothes from there but I've been finding them increasingly hit and miss over the last few years; well, more miss than hit. I quite like their younger children's clothes but am not as keen on their range for older children. That's not a problem unique to C&A, though; so many shops seem to have nice children's clothes up to the age of 6 or 7 but then it all gets very "teenagery" (esp. for girls) and not to my taste at all (this may, of course, be because I'm not a teenager ).

Black Children here usually wear slippers at KiGa and then Dr Scholl style sandals at school (they all have pegs outside their classroom with room underneath for their outdoor shoes). Unusually, however, DD2 wears outdoor shoes at school. A friend of mine was quite shocked to notice this at the open day (I have to admit I hadn't noticed) and another mother got quite worked up about it at the parents' evening a couple of weeks ago. But according to the teacher, there isn't enough room for all the children to leave their outdoor shoes outside the classroom (the school was built for 600 children but currently has 900 pupils).

Hmm, the school definitely haven't said anything about needing indoor shoes. Maybe I will get her a boot bag and she can put outdoor boots in there if the weather is bad.
Actually Dd's class is an extra one - think they call it a bulge class in the UK. They normally have 2 classes per year group, but this year there's three, so maybe that's why they don't have pegs.

It's as flat as a pancake here, so I can't imagine there'll be any sledging. Or ice skating for that matter. Let alone skiing! Now I am imagining you all living in picturesque alpine villages, sledging rosy-cheeked down the mountain side and skating on glaciers .

Lol at "have you seen C&A".

ah BRG Now that you put it like that, I wish I lived in a picturesque alpine village . Not really - central Vienna, ice-skating is not on no glacier but on artificial ice (mostly, though part of the Danube does sometimes freeze enough for ice-skating) and the slopes are not that steep Substitute rosy cheeks for snotty noses and you get the real picture!

Very strange about the lack of indoor shoes - are you sure you are in Germany?

Linzer I agree on the teenage stuff. Some of it is vile. Unfortunately dd1 likes that sort of thing, so I have had to compromise on a couple of things. Though my very stern "no way, put that right back. It's horrid" left no room for negotiating that rolling stones tongue top she wanted at age 10. Does your dd2 wear old stuff from dd1? My dds have such different taste that I can't hand-down. Though ds wears stuff from dd2, as she is still into boy's stuff.

dd1 came home on Friday saying that she has to do more hours at the Musikschule. She already has one hour clarinet (on Fridays 18.00-19.00) and now the teacher wants her to go (or says she has to go) to orchestra for an hour (18.00-19.00) on Thursday stoo. I find it a bit much, it stops being fun and starts to be stressful. What do you think? I need to speak to the teacher myself, as I find it a bit much that he just communicates through dd1.

Black I'm racking my brains as to whether indoor shoes were actually on the list of things the DC needed for school - but I would have thought that, if the children were expected to wear indoor shoes and your DD didn't have any, you would soon have heard about it.

We're in a fairly flat area of Austria but there's a small slope next to the school where the DC go sledging when it snows. There is a skiing area about an hour's drive away, though, and DD1 has been there three or four times on class "skiing days". They were actually supposed to be going for a week this year but not enough parents signed their children up so they just had a "normal" few days away instead.

suenan How is DS now? Hope his temperature has come down. DD2 had a day at home on Friday; she phoned me from the bus stop about 10 minutes after she'd left for school to say she felt very sick and my heart sank as I imagined D&V going round the whole family. However, it turned out that she'd slipped and fallen as they were running for the bus, and I think it was just the shock of the fall (isn't that a book?) that had caused her to feel nauseous.