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Original poster

Streupflicht und Schneeschaufel

699 replies

finknottle · 05/01/2009 12:45

Thanks Gabster for the inspiration for the thread!

Add your resolutions here & I can slip alongside and pretend I'll make some too.
Still too fragile - my sleep patterns go haywire when I'm home, stay up till 1 or 2am, then awake at 5am (6 here, usual flipping school time) then I come back & keep crashing on the sofa at 10pm and wake up at 4 bright & breezy.

We have snow, very pretty and h is off till Weds so am pushing him out for Streupflicht, bartered it for a fry-up with real English bacon, hmmmmmm.
Forecast is for -12C to -14C tonight - and when the children go back to school on Thursday. Yikes.

OP posts:
MmeLindt · 02/03/2009 21:44

We settled on a wee man holding a Chinese flag.

DH did not see anything wrong with the Chinois aufgabe.

AIBU to find it a bit ?

We had our first French lesson today. Just as well we bought DD the IKEA blackboard for her Christmas, that was what he used today. The lesson was good, I do feel that it is going to be reasonably quick to learn the language.

Must put the CDs on my iPhone so that I can listen to them in the car.

taipo · 02/03/2009 22:03

I think it sounds a bit odd too, unless it was part of a story or something.

Are we Brits a bit sensitive to stuff like this though? I found it a bit odd when I first saw dozens of Indianer costumes for Fasching although I'm not entirely sure why.

Gabster, that's a lovely story about the Rathaus staff coming out to say goodbye

admylin · 03/03/2009 09:34

Did you find out why a chinois mmelindt? MAybe they were learning about different nationalities of the pupils or it was a story?

I have a pile of ironing nearly as tall as me. Where does it all come from? I've started it but it's cup of tea time now. I keep getting tears in my eyes when I think of my gran. Wonder how long it'll take me to get over it. I guess the worst thing wil be going to the grave next time.

Get this: we told h how much we need to go back and visit UK and he said he'd give the money if the dc get good marks at school so dd stormed off to her bed saying that's not fair as she can't do anything about her brother's marks. Ds said nothing but he's deep so he could be thinking anything.

I've really cooled things off with the neighbour. The more I think about it the more I think she's abit nuts. The other morning she was at my door knocking but I ignored her as I was doing something on the computer , sitting quietly and I heard her go down into the wash room where she hangs her washing. Then I heard her come up again and she was knocking on my door again. I find that abit strange. If I call on someone and I get no answer , I presume they are out so I don't call on them 5 minutes later again.

ZZZen · 03/03/2009 09:39

It may be that she thinks you are lonely admylin but sometimes people don't appreciate that even if you are lonely, you still need a bit of space at times.

That was a good idea with the CHinese flag ML. Hadn't thought of that.

admylin · 03/03/2009 09:43

Dd draws alot and at the moment she's doing nationalities. She has a French girl with baguette and chocolate in her hand (her idea) and a japanese girl with the traditional straw hat and a German girl with a glass of beer and a salami! She started an African girl with her hair twisted into plaits, asked her why and she said her school friend has her hair like that! She was fed up as she couldn't think of anything for an English girl but she managed a Scottish one in tartan!

ZZZen · 03/03/2009 09:46

they're doing nationalities at school admylin or she just does it for fun at home?

admylin · 03/03/2009 09:49

She's doing it for fun. She's done a project on vampires and witches, a real illustrated hand book with explanations about all the different types of witches with drawings of couldrons and ingredients for spells and now she's doing international people. She likes to make groups of things and file them!

ZZZen · 03/03/2009 09:55

I like writing lists actually , no idea why. Wehn I was at primary school I used to spend hours designing a house/orphanage/hospital in my mind and decorating/furnishing it room by room. Must have looked like I was half-witted a lot of the time because I would sit there for hours at a time doing that.

admylin · 03/03/2009 10:02

Oh yes, dd has done that subject too! She drew an open fronted house with all the rooms inside and she has a vampire house, a mouse house, a school building and a dog and cat house already filed! Once she did a drawing of a camping site with a tent and someone sitting outside with a camp fire and I was so amazed because as a child I remember drawing exactly the same thing.

admylin · 03/03/2009 10:11

Oh well, tea is long gone so back to the ironing pile.

Have to go and buy ds another book this afternoon. Since the middle of January he's got through 3 big thick books (I don't even consider short books) and he's also read dd's Diary of a wimpy kid book 1 and 2. Took 1 night for book 1 and he's half way through book 2. He's getting the 3rd Bartimäus book then I'll have to find something else.

MmeLindt · 03/03/2009 10:19

They dont appear to be doing a project on nationalities, as far as I can find out. I spoke to her friends dad this morning, they found it a bit wierd too, especially as his DD is starting to face comments about why she looks different and children making slanty eyed faces at her. She is adopted and DD asked recently why she does not look like her mum and dad in the same way that we look alike.

I think it was a bit insensitive of the teacher. She could have said, Draw a man. Why a chinese man?

Anyway, she has done her homework early this week so that is something at least. Tonight we have a parent/teacher evening about DD so I am interested to see what the teacher has to say about her.

Admylin
Sounds like a good idea to draw back a bit from your neighbours. She seems a bit too interested in your life.

I dont think that it is fair to say that you can only go back to UK depending on the childrens results. Is he serious about it?

TheGabster · 03/03/2009 12:23

Strange stuff if you ask me Lindt, but then maybe they just wanted something with a strong stereotypical image? Think I would take offence if I was the little girl though. Maybe I am touchy about these things.

Admylin - I second your DDs protest - seems hardly fair on her. Must also say, hoping not to offend, that I strongly disagree with motivation like this. If they perform poorly how is H going to tell the DCs that there is no trip to England? I can see the good intentions by your DH and I am all for bribery at the right time, but like this it would be a negative reinforcement - dangerous ground.

p.s. think you are right - neighbour starting to sound a bit like a nut job!

admylin · 03/03/2009 13:05

No offence taken, TheGabster. This is a big problem that h and I have. He was brought up in a totally different way to me and in India where he was expected to study hard and get good grades, however it didn't matter if it had to be with the punishment or the reward system. H is a physiologist and a behavioural neuroscientist and he reckons, in tests, both methods get the same end results

He's thinking about it but I doubt we'll get home for Easter at this rate.

Off to buy books with the dc now.

ZZZen · 03/03/2009 13:23

wonder if he is experimenting on YOU all the time eh admylin?

Hope you can go, Easter will be a nice time to be there.

admylin · 03/03/2009 14:50

Lol, the ultimate experiment on wife and kids! Wonder if he's writing it all up and publishing it?

admylin · 03/03/2009 14:53

By the way, I picked up two of those big bags of Chio Salt and vinager crisps on the way back from the book shop, yum. We need them every now and then.

taipo · 03/03/2009 15:50

I think it's pretty unfair too, what your dh is proposing.

I'm all for incentives to help them get better results but it seems wrong to punish them for getting bad results and as your dd says it's unfair if one does well and the other doesn't.

ZZZen · 03/03/2009 16:11

aaahhhhhh please don't mention salt and vinegar crisps

oops too late. I'm starting to drool and thinking about nipping out but I MUST not, I must lose some weight, I must, I must.

taipo · 03/03/2009 16:18

I never liked salt and vinegar crisps. Prefer ready salted or cheese and onion. Quite like the paprika ones you get here actually

ZZZen · 03/03/2009 16:47

It took me a long time to get used to the Paprika flavour. Everything seemed to be paprika flavoured. I took to Frit-Stiks quite early on unfortunately and they are paprika flavoured. Now I'm used to and not fussed either way.

It's just if you're used to salt and vinegar or cheese and onion (which I also like), paprika is kind of odd. Works the other way too though obviously

ilovespinach · 03/03/2009 17:15

HI,

just popping in from Stuttgart to say hello I've been in Germany for about 8 years and have 2 ds's born here....

Our local supermarket has got much better at supplying non paprika flavoured crisps. DH favs are English cheddar and onion flavour I think at a cool 2.99 per bag!!!!! I forget the brand but they are one of those luxury type brands....

The wierdest thing has to be the peanut flavoured crisps...yuck!!!!!

Looking forward to joining in with the chat

taipo · 03/03/2009 17:19

Hi ilovespinach and welcome!

Do you mean Erdnussflips? (I think that's what they're called). Dh loves them but I think they're vile. Just the smell of them makes me want to heave.

How old are your ds's?

ilovespinach · 03/03/2009 17:23

thanks

Yep that's the one - they look like Wotsits (I was sooo disappointed to discover they weren't when we first moved here)

My DS's are 2.11 and 14 months

hupa · 03/03/2009 17:29

hi ilovespinach

Those erdnuss flips are truly disgusting. I remember being petrified as Germans tried to get the dcs to eat them when they were babies. I was really worried about them having an allergic reaction, but Germans just don´t seem to be as aware/bothered by peanuts as the British.

I love salt and vinegar crisps. I actually like the Chio ones even though they don´t really taste like proper Walkers crisps. It´s just so annoying that they only sell them in such huge bags. I always end up eating the whole bag and feel like such a pig.

ilovespinach · 03/03/2009 17:41

haha me too and that goes for the Ritter Sports as well