Odd German Way #11: Don't Mind the Muddy Clothes

In an earlier post, I was surprised how the Germans aren't too concerned about the purple fingers of their children and don't make them wear gloves or mittens in winter.

My latest astonishment falls into the same category.

Fräulein's wardrobe consists mostly of leggings and tunics. I think those are nice clothes for a child to play inside in. And when we go out and it might be a bit wet or muddy on the playground, it easy to pull an overall over these clothes.

Fräulein in her overall last January

I thought this would be a great combination of clothes for her to wear in the Krippe, too. But one day, when I was picking her up, one of the teachers wanted to talk to me. She asked, if I could dress Fräulein with a separate jacket in future, as "it is so impractical, if all the kids wear overalls".

Yes, I get the fact that it is easier to dress the kids with jackets than it is with overalls. But isn't it even more inconvenient, when their trousers get all wet and muddy on the playground and then they have to wear the same clothes inside the whole afternoon?

Visit to H&M to buy some new trousers...

And I cannot even imagine, how this will work when it gets colder outside. How can I find any trousers, which are light enough to wear inside, but warm enough when it gets below zero outside?

And no, I don't think this is only the way things are done at our Krippe, as I have heard similar stories elsewhere, too.

The odd German ways...

Oh, and no wellies needed, either.
Must go and buy some 'all-weather shoes'

*****
Olen aiemmin ihmetellyt, miten täällä Saksassa ei lapsillekaan pueta hanskoja tai vanttuita kun säät kylmenevät. Ja vielä kummallisemmaksi menee: minua kehotettiin pukemaan Fräuleinille päiväkotiin erillinen takki haalarin sijaan! Ymmärrän, että haalarien pukeminen isolle joukolle lapsia on varmasti hankalaa, mutta eikö hankalaa ole myös se, että lapset ovat sitten loppupäivän kuraisissa housuissa sisällä? Eivätkös haalarit ole suomalaisissa päiväkodeissa ihan arkipäivää?

Odd Geman Way No. 5 - Purple Fingers

A Finnish friend of mine visits the Netherlands quite often on business with her Finnish colleagues. Last winter, one of her Dutch colleagues had asked her, why Finns have this funny way of using gloves or mittens in winter.

What?!?

I have noticed, that people do not tend to use gloves here in Germany, either. Yes, it might not be -20°C, but Finns do put their gloves on when it gets below +10°C...

What I am even more surprised of, or even worried about, is that small children do not wear mittens here! Germans might dress their children in down jacket and use footmuff made of real sheepskin when the temperature is still above zero. But the hands of the children remain uncovered.

The odd German ways...

Mittens on!

Shopping of the Week

I have had some great opportunities to spend time with my favorite hobby this week.

Here is what I have bought (and saved) this week - online, of course.
Somehow these all seem to be for my daughter...

- Maxi Cosi PrioriFix car seat (discount 39%)
- Snowman pictures for window (free gift when ordering from myToys)
- Baby Björn potty (discount 15%)
- Spiegelburg scarf (no savings, but it was just so cute. And there were no delivery costs, as I bought it with the potty)
- Emile et Rose jacket + beret (discount 43%, see the link only for the look of the product. I actually bought it from Limango, but they only sell certain product for a couple of days, so the link wouldn't work for long)

And it is only Tuesday afternoon...

Keeping Warm

Most of my readers might say that the subject of this post should be "The Odd Finnish Way". But for Finns, there is nothing odd about this.

98% of Finnish babies take their nap outside (I have read this somewhere, but cannot remember the source). I know that some might think it is not healthy for the baby or that it is dangerous, as someone could steal the baby, but that how it is done in Finland. The main purpose is that baby sleeps better and longer in fresh air. In Finland, the recommended temperature limit for sleeping outside is -10°C. If the baby is born in winter, it is recommended to wait for a couple of weeks before putting her outside to sleep, and then starting with shorter periods.

When we were looking for an apartment in Wiesbaden, one of our main criteria - in addition to the 'Einbauküche' - was to have a peaceful balcony for the baby to sleep in. With the exception of about one month last spring, when my daughter wanted to fall asleep beside me, she has taken her naps outside, first in her pram and now in her push-chair. Luckily, our neighbors haven't called the child protection authorities...

Now it is getting colder again, so I need to make sure she is dressed warmly for her naps. Here are some of the warm clothes I have found nice:

Swedish Shepherd bootees made of real sheepskin

Finnish Kivat woolen hood
(a gift from our daughter's godparents)

Finnish Kaino woolen overall

Woolen mittens and socks,
knitted by my daughter's great-grandmother with Austermann Step yarn

All the warm clothes on...

... and then to the balcony with Bugaboo footmuff and mosquito net (no mosquitos here, but bees, birds and squirrels...).

Hausfrau's Favourite Hobby: Online Shopping

The world of online shopping has opened up for me since we moved to Germany and had a baby. First of all, the selection in German online stores is so much larger than in Finland. Secondly, shopping is so much cheaper here. The sales are better, plus the delivery is usually free! DHL brings the shopping to your door possibly as fast as the next day.

I'm not a real fan of shopping clothes for myself online, as I'd like to try them on. But for baby clothes as well as other accessories, online shopping is a great option.

I must admit that I have even become a bit of a maniac in finding the cheapest offer. In choosing a product I might visit several 'real' stores, but after that I take the shopping online. For example, after choosing the pushchair I wanted, I spent quite a while online searching where I could get it the cheapest (one year ago Bugaboo Cameleon was cheapest in Dutch Mutti und Ich store, even with the delivery costs).

Another nice thing in online shopping are the Gutscheins (discount coupons). Every time you order something, you are provided with several coupons to other stores. And you would be a fool not to use them, right? ;)

I won't even start to list the online stores, which I visit regularly, but I think there are a couple worth mentioning:

• Baby Markt: for anything baby-related. Very reliable and the delivery is free in Germany for orders over 20€. And if you'd like to order something that costs under 20€, add a Pampers packet to your Warenkorb ('Baby Markt macht den besten Preis!') and your order will be delivered free of charge!
• Buch.de: Good selection of books in English and always free delivery
• myToys.de: good selection of toys always in sale
• There are several nice online stores for baby clothes, but one that I have used a couple of times is Ellerhop. I had thought I'd need to wait until January to get winter clothes with good price, but they already had the lovely Cupcake snowsuit in sale. 

If you still aren't convinced or if you need to explain your hobby to someone, please remember that online shopping is a great way to learn a language!

The Cruel World of Shopping

This happened already a month ago, but I'm still so disappointed that I need to whine about this... :)

I have really fallen in love with online shopping, especially with children clothes (more about that later). But once in a while it is nice to go and finger real clothes and get new ideas. A lovely store Kinderplanet closed down in August, so I was thrilled to notice that another store opened right next door.

I was familiar with this store from my online shopping experiences, so I had quite high hopes for it. Royalkid has a wide range of lovely brands in their selection.

I went to visit this new store in order to find something nice for my daughter to wear in her first birthday party. As I stepped in, there was an eager lady welcoming us. I told her what I was looking for and her immediate reaction was 'We only sell clothes for children older that 3 years'. From the sound of her voice and her body language I was able to read that she expected us to leave the store. Then she took a look into the buggy and commented quite surprised 'She is very big!'. She stormed to the rack and took a dress to me saying 'This might be small enough for a two year old'.

I saw the price tag and politely asked if they had anything else than clothes. Then I noticed a bowl of beautiful Il Gufo hairpins. I was about to try one on my daughter, when the lady commented 'But she doesn´t even have any hair!'.

At this point, I had had enough and thought that she didn't want to sell us anything. Thinking to myself that Royalkid should stick with the online store, I went to H&M and bought a nice dress and a hairpin for the birthday party.

© Citymami