Fluoride Debate; Is he 4 yet?; Aahh 80's

Germans love to argue. It's been said that meetings can go on for hours without a single decision being made. That's even if they agree, they just like to argue. One of the debates appears to be about the highly controversal and globally important issue of... Fluoride.

Before moving we knew that water was not fluoridated here and I found online some strong government statements about not forcing 'mass medication' on innocent people. And the study proving that if you feed mice nothing but fluoride in grotesque quantities 24 hours a day they might eventually get cancer - shocking. So what to do? Opinion #1 from our new Pediatrician was to immediately prescribe pills to give the kids daily, which we have faithfully done in paranoid don't-want-black-cavity-infested-teeth fashion. Opinions #2 & #3 came from our new Dentist visited for the first time this week. He said the kids are getting too much IF we are using the fluoridated salt you can buy in addition to the pills. Otherwise kids' toothpaste has enough fluoride. Table salt, it turns out, can be purchased in 3 color-coded packages, one with fluoride - should you choose such a treatment (could be considered Opinion #4) for your family, one without, and one with some other debatable mineral. We can keep using the pills on the kids if we don't buy the yellow packaged salt. ALSO, Kevin and I are supposed to start using a weekly gel treatment to supplement our toothpaste. Opionion #5 came to the other work family we know whose dentist will not prescribe any treatment unless they can prove, by ordering an expensive study, that their water in that particular town, has no fluoride. SO, with the path of fluoride treatment so clearly laid out before us we will probably have black teeth or end up with fluoride cancer.

I love my son. But I liked him very little this week. Open rebellion, screaming fits (new and surprising), and blatant disrespect were constant this past week. We are discussing a new discipline plan as my drill-sargent approach is mysteriously ineffective, praying for God's mercy, and calling my sister for support. She assures me he will turn four and things will change - just as hard, but at least different.

Do you miss the 80's? Of course specialty stations can be found in the states but if you move here you will get nothing but 80's and 90's American rock music on every radio station, in every store, in offices and waiting rooms, and in every restaurant you enter. As many of the shoppers and diners don't know English, the hilarity for Americans is even greater knowing that the music is often completely inappropriate for the atmosphere. For example: Last weekend we were at a hotel specifically targeted to families with young children. The song playing at breakfast in the restaurant/cafe one morning was Def Leppard's 'Pour Some Sugar on Me.' And concentrating on grocery shopping can be difficult when Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' is being blasted through the speakers in the lunchmeat aisle.

The 'Four Month' Mark & Holidays

We're almost there. That magic date when you start to feel like you actually know what is going on (almost) and have something more on your social calendar than 'Dentist Appointment.' We still have some hurdles we've not crossed: finding a babysitter, clothes shopping, eating at a real restaurant. But these things, too, will come. Best of all - somebody likes us! We've had some get-togethers the past few weeks that have gone really well and even a weekend away with our friends the Leinarts. Had a blast in the Black Forest at a kid-oriented fun hotel at the bottom of a sled/ski hill. Much playing in the snow, swimming, indoor playground romping and even mini-golf, all with five kids and two sets of parents. Everyone likes each other and you can see the pics to the right. Mary did not like the wind or sled for awhile but loosened up eventually. Eli did fantastic and was more courageous than last year. Looking forward to getting him in the snow in Switzerland in March.

Growth is Good: I thought we had until our kids were teenagers before they would 'eat us out of the house' and i'm sure they will. But let me tell you, a growing 3 year old and hefty nearly 1-year old can put away a LOT of food. They eat constantly and in large quantities. Mary gets weighed next week. Their bodies are growing of course, as evidenced by the rapidly growing "too small" clothes pile, but also their brains. Eli is doing more reading and some math and Mary is trying to keep up with him. She drives cars and trains (correctly) and is starting to 'read' books. She even programmed the phone for me. I tried for 45 minutes over two days to erase the call log on our inexplicably complicated German-bought phone and failed. Mary played with it for two minutes and cleared the log. Wish she could tell me what she did.

Sweet? I think not: And lest you are mislead by the too-cute pictures to believe, as my sister did, that Mary is 'sweet,' let me be the first to correct you. She is very, very charming and cute and uses her smile to manipulate all susceptible persons but she is NOT sweet. Sweet is tentative, giving, and innocent. At 11 months old Mary is none of these things. Her personality is go-getter, take or yell, and she knows exactly what she is doing. Highly entertaining right now but indicative of the need for a disciplinary plan in the very near future. We love her too much. Her newest tricks are open-mouth kisses and dancing (more like swaying) to anything that resembles music.

Epiphany & The Three Kings: January 6th is Epiphany in Germany, when children dress as the 3 Kings and go door to door singing, asking for donations perhaps, and mostly bring 'luck.' Every house in Germany has this chalked message on their front door: The initials of the 3 Kings in the middle, year of last visit split - on the ends. Our visit this year came while I was out shopping, unfortunately but Eli and Daddy were home. We had wondered what the door label was for many months ago and speculated it meant passing an inspection, perhaps a government requirement, or had something to do with the mail delivery. But no. It is practically required but only means that you'll have 'good luck' in that house. Read a bit more of the history here: http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/christmas/epiphany-three-kings.htm

Fasching - last week of January: Think about New Orleans and 'Mardi-Gras' or Rio and "Carneval" only German. Halloween is not big here so for partying like an animal while remaining aonymously costumed, they have Fasching. Our German teacher in Cincinnati had warned us that in some places, like Munich or Cologne, it gets very wild in the streets for an entire week. Nothing like that (thankfully) in our little neighborhood. Eli gets to where a costume to school for a few days and PJ's on the Tuesday after RoseMonday (see link below). Kevin will miss it all as he's going to Iowa for 10 days but tonight we shopped together for costumes and Eli has chosen to be a fireman so pictures will follow. See link for more Fasching history: http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/la/lote/german/links/topics/karneval.htm

Wait! Weight! & The Idiosyncrasies of Language.

Despite what the experts say there are more interesting ways to lose weight besides watching what you eat and exercising. While this simple three-step plan may not be advisable (or remotely attractive) to everyone it has proven to be effective for us, though entirely unintentional and certainly temporary. Another plus, it doesn't work on kids. Of course, I plan to publish a bestselling self-help book soon so keep in mind that this advice is proprietary. Disclaimer: Attempt only after consulting with a psychiatrist, recruiter, and at least one sane family member.



Step 1. Decide to move to foreign country and complete move. Should include highly stressful tasks like selling house/cars/belongings, completing eye crossing amounts of legal and company paperwork, travelling for house hunting, employer orientation, and language classes, living in hotels, AND taking care of two small, sometimes sick children and/or arranging child care throughout all.



Step 2. Eat very small portions of strange food or bypass completely. This is extremely easy to do. Looking at it will cause you to lose your appetite (blood sausage or pig brains anyone?) and trying it (old smelly cheeses, super-strong sauerkraut, odd cuts of swine) will destroy whatever hunger may have remained. We have made several mistakes at the grocery store and bring home items which go immediately into the trash. We are learning.



Step 3. Get sick. With a child in early education this is virtually guaranteed anywhere in the world and is only more effective within this diet plan. Especially if you move just before winter.



Personal Note: While this plan may seem obvious to some, it only dawned on us recently that our pants seem looser and our belts don't have enough holes. We have zero desire to shop for clothes here - very expensive, different styles - so are attempting to regain our own closets soon with a steady intake of Coca Cola and good German chocolate.



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Another weight issue is in the kitchen. All German recipes - including the instructions on the back of those pasta packets or 'meal in a box' options - call for measurements in grams or kilos. My cute little cups and Pyrex' are fascinating to German visitors but entirely without function. In our desperation for decent meals we have purchased a German cookbook and now I guess I need to go buy a kitchen scale - a local household standard.

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Mastering another language.... ha! Ha, HA!! (cough, snort). Let me start over. Attempting to stumble through the basics of a new language points out the idiosyncrasies of our own and where the differences lie, other than the basic word-to-word translation. For instance I kept trying to figure out how to express 'to do' in German, thinking that phrases like 'do the laundry' or 'do homework' or even 'what are you doing?' must have direct translations. Of course this would be too easy. The German language uses the equivalent of 'to make' the same way and with the same frequency as we use 'to do.' So the direct translation is more like 'What are you making?' 'Please make this homework for next week' etcetera. And i'm only beginning. More examples to come, i'm sure.



p.s. Please, please send frozen waffles!

The 'One Museum' Rule: Travelling with (little) Kids

Side Note: I thought of something else we'd export back to the States from Germany... free babysitting (for potty trained kids) at large stores - our grocery store, furniture store, Ikea... and it's a play land paradise so Eli loves it. Yes, seriously. Free.


When in London... have tea in the afternoon. And baked goodies. Spend hours in interesting historical places. Walk the crazy, people-littered streets late into the night. Of course, we did none of these things. But we totally would... next time... when our children are in college.


Our situation demands that we travel now, while we're here, and we need to take the kids along so we make it work. London was GREAT. We had a wonderful time and the kids really were troopers. We took naps in the PMs, briefly hit the highlights / kid-friendly exhibits at historical places and museums, and walked the crazy streets sometimes as late as 7:30pm! The only glitch was a flat stroller tire which came in the last few days but it limped through the rest of the trip. Oh, and our Nuvi (GPS) almost made us late for our train in Brussels when it sent us to a "gas station" waaaay off the autobahn. It turned out to be a barren field.


Thoughts... for those of you considering international travel with very young children (you should be laughing hysterically now), we have some rules and will argue the pros and cons, below. We were the only parents with young children among the many, many Americans we saw and spoke with in London, and expect to be so everywhere we go for the next three years.


Rules:


1. Plan heavily. Not just where you will go. I mean what time you will go on which day, exactly which exhibits or attractions you will see (based, of course, on kid interest), and precisely where the nearest bathrooms and cafes with hot water are for bottle feedings, snacks, and pottyings. You must spend hours each evening planning for the next day, going to the nearest convenience store for snacks, and packing the backpack/diaper bag.


2. You may go to one museum per week. The good news is many have kids 'Discovery' packets or similar gimmick. The only exception to this rule allowing more than one museum is if it is a children's museum (London had a Natural History Museum with dinosaurs). You have two hours, maximum. You may not go to an art museum of any kind.


3. Make everything interesting and play everywhere. For Eli, this was easy. Riding underground trains, double-decker buses, and walking along the street where he could see (gasp) cars! The best part of vacation, as far as he's concerned. Play and tickle, make up silly songs and rhymes, do 'I spy' games... all while waiting in line or following the guide to the next lecture stop.


4. You may eat anywhere so long as it serves food within 15 minutes. The same as at home, you will not go to a fancy restaurant (any place that has cloth or linen on the table) to sample decent, non-tourist food and relax. Don't even consider it.


Pros of Travelling with Kids under Age 5:

Kids are free... on any type of travel except planes, and get into attractions free too.

They have no demands on where to go... other than the usual toy store, home, etc.

You are not tied to the school schedule and can travel anytime.


Fun family pictures and great family memories.


Cons of Travelling with Kids under Age 5:

Too many to list here. Summary: Can go to no more than two places per day, several attractions are simply not an option, must look for elevators that accommodate strollers everywhere you go, and your day ends very early (no plays, shows, shopping).

Our motto is "Just Do It" or we'll regret it later.