Good Day
I've shelled out another $25 to have the internet for a 24-hour period. It's totally worth it. I think I might pay $50 if they wanted it. However did we survive without the internet? It's such an addiction. My friends at J Crew, Gap and Gymboree were missing me...I don't want to think of all the great deals I missed out on while I wasn't connected.
We had an OK weekend. Remember I said that we were going downtown to Stuttgart's shopping district, the Koenigstrasse? Oooooh, that was so not a good time. First of all, Hans and I were dumb enough to think that Josiah and Annika could do without a nap for one day. Silly, silly, silly us. We should have enough experience under our belts to know better than that. They were good on the train, but got crabbier and crabbier the longer we "shopped". They were probably feeling the stress of Mommy and Daddy, too, because duh--who goes shopping with a preschooler and a toddler two weeks before Christmas? Every store we went into was absolutely packed, the sidewalks were packed. We were carried along in a sea of humanity and if we dared to stop, the flow just walked over us. No, not really. We didn't stop. We were too afraid to.
That being said, it was still enjoyable to ride the trains and get to see downtown Stuttgart. I'll definitely want to go back down there (and when I say "down there", I mean it really is set deep in a valley) and shop on a weekday, not a weekend so close to Christmas. There was no reasoning with Josiah and Annika...and of course, the wailing, whining and protests all ceased the moment we got back on the train. Maybe we'll just ride around on the train a lot.
I've been told that the Germans don't really bring children in Josiah and Annika's age range out of the house. Maybe there's good reason for that. We haven't been here for very long, but I have to admit that I haven't seen very many toddler/preschool age children out and I certainly haven't heard any carrying on either. I was warned by our sponsor that we might get some looks from older German women, who supposedly expect children to behave with impeccable manners in public. I can verify that we were certainly getting looks. I was nearly overcome by shame.
We had a dinner date for Saturday night too, and we almost cancelled due to residual dislike of our children after shopping. It takes a lot of energy to maintain even a shred of decorum in the face of their pitiless onslaught. Anyway, I told Hans (using Morse code, we can't let them overhear our battle plan) that I didn't think we should let them win and cancel dinner. So we went. To a Chinese restaurant...it was a little bizarre. The kids actually did OK. There was an elaborate koi pond that kept them busy for the majority of the time. Of course, this meant that I had almost nothing to eat because I had to make sure the huge koi didn't eat either of them. Anyway...they did well until it was time to go, then suddenly they started getting a little noisy. By Josiah and Annika standards, it wasn't that bad. I wasn't that concerned. Until the German matrons seated behind us started shooting us the look and clearing their throats in a very, very noticeable way.
Think I'm going to have to develop a thicker skin. Or perhaps adopt the European custom of keeping the children home until they are old enough to reason with.
In other news. We have a place to live and it's where we wanted and is available pretty much right away. We went to look at it today. It is a little small, but it's big enough to suit us and our furniture and is so close to work, the gym, the commissary, the child development center. There is a nice park right in the backyard. It's pretty nice, not crazy nice, because hello, it's military housing, but it has a nice wood floor throughout the living and dining area and nice new cupboards. A US-spec washer and dryer! In the apartment! No more lugging bags of dirty laundry around or waiting three hours for the German dryer. Hans will go to the housing office tomorrow and find out when we can get in. It already has loaner furniture in it. Our household goods still aren't here...I guess the shipment has until the first week of January to show up. Our first express shipment is here, so we would have linens, blankets, pots and pans, dishes and silverware, even our microwave, a TV and a toaster.
In other, other news. Hans came home with a box today, saying that he had bought the family a Christmas gift. My first thought is: PS2 or some other techno-gadget. Kind of like Homer buying Marge a bowling ball. But...he bought us a German Christmas pyramid. I'm not sure what we call them in the US or if I can do a good job of describing it...these are the wooden structures that look a little like they have a propeller on top. You put little candles in it and the heat makes the propeller turn around. Ours has a little wooden nativity scene. I'll have to post a picture. The bottom line is that I was highly touched that it wasn't a PS2.
He can still surprise me. And that's a great thing.
We had an OK weekend. Remember I said that we were going downtown to Stuttgart's shopping district, the Koenigstrasse? Oooooh, that was so not a good time. First of all, Hans and I were dumb enough to think that Josiah and Annika could do without a nap for one day. Silly, silly, silly us. We should have enough experience under our belts to know better than that. They were good on the train, but got crabbier and crabbier the longer we "shopped". They were probably feeling the stress of Mommy and Daddy, too, because duh--who goes shopping with a preschooler and a toddler two weeks before Christmas? Every store we went into was absolutely packed, the sidewalks were packed. We were carried along in a sea of humanity and if we dared to stop, the flow just walked over us. No, not really. We didn't stop. We were too afraid to.
That being said, it was still enjoyable to ride the trains and get to see downtown Stuttgart. I'll definitely want to go back down there (and when I say "down there", I mean it really is set deep in a valley) and shop on a weekday, not a weekend so close to Christmas. There was no reasoning with Josiah and Annika...and of course, the wailing, whining and protests all ceased the moment we got back on the train. Maybe we'll just ride around on the train a lot.
I've been told that the Germans don't really bring children in Josiah and Annika's age range out of the house. Maybe there's good reason for that. We haven't been here for very long, but I have to admit that I haven't seen very many toddler/preschool age children out and I certainly haven't heard any carrying on either. I was warned by our sponsor that we might get some looks from older German women, who supposedly expect children to behave with impeccable manners in public. I can verify that we were certainly getting looks. I was nearly overcome by shame.
We had a dinner date for Saturday night too, and we almost cancelled due to residual dislike of our children after shopping. It takes a lot of energy to maintain even a shred of decorum in the face of their pitiless onslaught. Anyway, I told Hans (using Morse code, we can't let them overhear our battle plan) that I didn't think we should let them win and cancel dinner. So we went. To a Chinese restaurant...it was a little bizarre. The kids actually did OK. There was an elaborate koi pond that kept them busy for the majority of the time. Of course, this meant that I had almost nothing to eat because I had to make sure the huge koi didn't eat either of them. Anyway...they did well until it was time to go, then suddenly they started getting a little noisy. By Josiah and Annika standards, it wasn't that bad. I wasn't that concerned. Until the German matrons seated behind us started shooting us the look and clearing their throats in a very, very noticeable way.
Think I'm going to have to develop a thicker skin. Or perhaps adopt the European custom of keeping the children home until they are old enough to reason with.
In other news. We have a place to live and it's where we wanted and is available pretty much right away. We went to look at it today. It is a little small, but it's big enough to suit us and our furniture and is so close to work, the gym, the commissary, the child development center. There is a nice park right in the backyard. It's pretty nice, not crazy nice, because hello, it's military housing, but it has a nice wood floor throughout the living and dining area and nice new cupboards. A US-spec washer and dryer! In the apartment! No more lugging bags of dirty laundry around or waiting three hours for the German dryer. Hans will go to the housing office tomorrow and find out when we can get in. It already has loaner furniture in it. Our household goods still aren't here...I guess the shipment has until the first week of January to show up. Our first express shipment is here, so we would have linens, blankets, pots and pans, dishes and silverware, even our microwave, a TV and a toaster.
In other, other news. Hans came home with a box today, saying that he had bought the family a Christmas gift. My first thought is: PS2 or some other techno-gadget. Kind of like Homer buying Marge a bowling ball. But...he bought us a German Christmas pyramid. I'm not sure what we call them in the US or if I can do a good job of describing it...these are the wooden structures that look a little like they have a propeller on top. You put little candles in it and the heat makes the propeller turn around. Ours has a little wooden nativity scene. I'll have to post a picture. The bottom line is that I was highly touched that it wasn't a PS2.
He can still surprise me. And that's a great thing.
Comments
I have a German pyramid also - had it since Hans was young - so know exactly what you are talking about. You will treasure that.
Kiss the darlings for me, please.
AAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!
Your children will be much more fun after they are out of the house and living on their own. So, in 20 years you may see what great kids they are, kind of like my own. Love to all.