The Right to Privacy and the Right to Smoke

I feel as if I am in a bit of a moral pickle. Or, to be more precise, lawmakers in Ontario (and Nova Scotia) should feel as if they are walking a fine line. In these two provinces, it is illegal to smoke in your car whilst carrying passengers 16 years of age and under.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am a non-smoker, vigilant in my efforts to minimise the amount of smoke that my children are exposed to. I have gotten into shouting matches with people who have the audacity to blow smoke into my children’s faces in designated non-smoking areas. The few members of my family who still smoke know better than to do so whilst in the company of my children.

Where I feel uncertain is in this new law’s über-intrusive nature. In essence, this law prohibits you from partaking in what is otherwise considered an acceptable act whilst in the confines of your personal, privately-owned space.

Now that this law has passed, why not take it a step further? Why not fine the pregnant woman who failed, or even worse, refuses to quit smoking? Why not ban smoking in the company of children altogether? It does not matter whether you are in a small space, such as a car, where the concentration of cigarette smoke is higher, or your living room, where such concentrations are not as strong. Either way, you are exposing your child to toxins.

Furthermore, what of the people who smoke regularly at home, in the presence of their (grand-) children? They are doing much more harm to the children than the cigarette-smoking taxi drivers who are likely to never see the children again.

My question, however, is how much privacy can be surrendered in the interest of a greater good. Where does it stop? And who is making sure that it stops?

My Family

Whilst browsing my cousin's baby blog, I ran into this cute family sticker widget. Allow me to introduce the stick people version of my family to you =)

Puppy Love

In Langenhagen, Mika and Anna-Lena are in love. Following the overwhelming emotion pouring out of their hearts, they decided to elope. What better way to celebrate your love is there than to get away from the record low temps in Germany and tie the knot in Africa? Along with Anna-Lena’s sister (the planned witness to their wedding) they packed their bags for time under the sun and started to make their way to the airport.

Oh, and the betrothed are five and six years old. The witness is seven years old.

Aw. If this is not puppy love, I do not know what is.

As always, there are those grumpy sourpusses who claim that the parents of these children are irresponsible. After all, how could they let their children get out so easily during the night?

I think those sourpusses have not been loved enough. In this instance, I think it is safe to say that the children live in a very loving household; unlike this four year old that shot his babysitter for stepping on his foot. Children often reflect their parents’ attitudes and habits. Having said that, hubby and I should probably spend more time explaining that we hug and kiss a lot because we love each other, and that we do not do that with random strangers. Here is my little Romeo in action:


I cannot speak for those sourpusses, however I would much rather have my children piece together a somewhat cohesive plan to elope than violently attack their babysitter.

Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

I hope you all forgive me for my extreme tardiness. As you may gather from my previous post, our then-current circumstance promised a chaotic Christmas. And chaotic it was.

It all started on the 23rd. Shortly before lunch, hubby’s cell phone rang. He was needed in the UK and had only an hour and a half to make it to the airport. It was not certain if he would be able to fly home in time for Christmas.


I have prepared for birthdays and Christmases without hubby before. I thought I could handle it. I did not expect that our littlest one would slow me down so much. By mid-afternoon, I had no other choice. With a heavy heart, I called my mother-in-law for help. After a little bit of phone-tag, it was decided that we would celebrate Christmas at hubby’s aunt’s home. All I had to do was show up with our Santa Claus costume. That evening, I snuggled on our couch with a bag of pfeffernüsse and a steaming pot of Christmas tea and watched Love Actually. It was my calmest December 23rd in years.

On the morning of the 24th, I still had not found our Santa outfit. (Our attic remains an enigma to me. I may have packed the boxes, but hubby is the one who arranges the attic. I do not consider myself claustrophobic, but I cannot stand the small, dark, damp and dusty space.)

Around lunchtime, things started to look up. Hubby called to say that he was already waiting on the airplane. His flight would be 80 minutes delayed, but he would make it in time for Christmas and that was what mattered. Hubby’s aunt solved my Santa dilemma – she had an oversized red bathrobe. I just needed to stop by the drugstore to buy some cotton wool for Santa’s beard.

Then arose the battle of the sisters. About 30 minutes after my conversation with hubby’s aunt, my mother-in-law called saying that she was also just called by her sister and their conversation developed into a shouting match. Hence, she was now asking me to cancel Christmas Eve at her sister’s and hosting them myself. This was followed by a lot of he-said-she-said (or, rather, she-said-she-said). Eventually, all communication was done through me, as the sisters no longer wanted to speak with each other.

What Santa left outside our front door.

End result? I hosted Christmas Eve anyway. Hubby made it home on time. My mother-in-law contributed to dinner, as I had done no preparations. Santa did not make his traditional personal appearance, but rather knocked on the door and left the big sack of presents outside our front door. Our four- and five-year-old kids were confused by Santa’s quick getaway, but were satisfied with the explanation that Santa was especially busy this year and couldn’t stop by for long.

Dinner at my mother-in-law's on First Christmas Day.

Because my mother-in-law came, hubby’s aunt refused to come. She also skipped on First Christmas Day hosted by my mother-in-law who, in turn, skipped on Second Christmas Day at hubby’s aunt’s home. Oy vey.

Dinner at hubby's aunt's home on Second Christmas Day.

Thank goodness that our visits with my father-in-law’s side of the family on the 27th and 28th went smoothly. Spending time with our adorable niece makes me miss having a large family, and wish that she did not live so far from us.

Another victim to hubby’s sudden departure on the 23rd was our night at the opera on the 27th. We cancelled because we were not sure if he would make it back on time. Instead of The Magic Flute, at the end of this month we are going to see The Bat (I realise that it is not an opera but an operetta, but I’ll still count it as my first opera.) Hubby has warned me that it is a modern interpretation which he generally does not find enjoyable (apparently modern interpretations do not have the same general appeal that classical staging does), but for a night away from our army of children, we are open to anything.

We spent New Year’s Eve at our friends’ house, who themselves have a son who is four years old and a daughter who is two. It was an evening of firsts for me. This was the first time we truly celebrated New Year’s Eve in four years. They live outside of the city, so it was also the first (somewhat-) quiet New Year’s Eve in four years. I had my first raclette dinner ever, which I learnt is a popular New Year’s Eve dinner choice in Germany.

My first raclette dinner - yum!

The next morning I woke up to a blanket of snow! It was very thin, but a blanket nonetheless. The kids kept fighting over the shovel and broom.


What a wonderful start to the new year. I cannot wait to see what 2009 brings. My kids are already begging for our traditional January trip to the aquarium with Oma.

Now that I am all caught up, how about you? How were your holidays?

If I had the time, patience and skill...

...I would definitely prepare Bento like this for my kids. It would sure circumvent the all-too-familiar battle my rugrats over finishing their food. These wonderful Bentos are created by Anna the Red, who made her first “kyaraben-ish” bento for her boyfriend not too long ago. On her blog, she gives wonderful step-by-step instructions and how-to photos. I think I will give it a shot when hubby has time off work next month.

I feel sorry for Adolf Hitler…

...and that is surely not an easy thing for me to say. I am actually referring to Adolf Hitler Campbell. He is a three-year-old boy who was denied his name on a birthday cake at ShopRite. (I would have refused to inscribe the cake as well.)

I feel sorry for him and his two sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie. As long as they keep these names, these children will be branded by their parents’ small and hateful minds. Whether or not they believe in Nazi ideology in their adult lives, they will be equated with one of the world’s worst hate crimes.

You can be sure that these children will never have a chance for a decent job. Just imagine: A newspaper headline “Adolf Hitler new Director of Communications at XYZ Inc”. How about your child running home from school saying that their new history teacher is Adolf Hitler?

I sincerely hope that these children will have the chance to grow past their parents’ limited mental capacity. For Pete’s sake, they could not even get Himmler’s name right (for Adolf’s sister)!

Photo source: AP

A cause for concern?

What do you see happening in this video?



Do you see child abuse? Perhaps snake abuse? Many people commenting here and here certainly think so.

I would exercise caution before coming to those conclusions. I believe this all to be a matter of clashing cultures. In this video clip, I see a curious baby toying around with what seems to be a family pet. It is just a little difficult for those in western countries to watch, due to the wild difference in culture. I would even go as far as to compare this to my eldest daughter’s former habit of trying to pull our cat’s tail when she was still a toddler.

Weekend Summary

• I am almost finished Christmas shopping, which means I am on schedule. I always start Christmas shopping in September and try to have it all finished before the first Sunday of Advent. That way I can relaxedly bargain-hunt at the Christmas markets in December. All I have left to shop for this year are the two most difficult: my dad (who never asks for anything) and step-fathter-in-law (who has very specific tastes).

• Other than Christmas gift-shopping, I normally ban anything Christmas from our home until the first Sunday of Advent. Miraculously, the kids remembered where I hid the Christmas DVDs, and begged me to help them retrieve the films. The kids won in the end, mainly due to our second daughter's ability to bend Papa to her will by putting on her sad face. Works every time.

• Does anybody know a good recipe for edible playdough that you bake into cookies once they are shaped and does NOT include peanut butter? Last week I bought a wonderful premix from the grocery store. The kids had so much fun watching their creations bake in the oven and eating them afterward that I would like to make it a weekly activity, but I find the premix a little overpriced and I am sure it costs less than half to make it yourself. Unfortunately, all I can find are recipes that either include peanut butter, chocolate, or are not to be baked into cookies.

• Nick Jr. held a 24-hour Spongebob marathon. I do not think I need to explain the squabbling that ensued between parents and children when we tried to get them away from the television for lunch, our trip to the park, shopping, bath time and dinner.

• I have a gift certificate from last Christmas that I was not yet able to redeem and is only valid until the 31st of next month. We were finally able to find a show that agrees with both hubby's and my step-mother-in-law's work schedules, thank goodness. Barring any unforseen obstacles, we are going to the opera to see Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) on December 27th! Yay!
  

Tackling young and novice drivers

Young drivers (21 years of age and younger) and novice drivers in Ontario may soon face new laws in regards to alcohol consumption and the number of young passengers with them in the car. I have mixed feelings about them.

The new rules require young drivers to have a zero blood alcohol level whilst behind the steering wheel. This will also apply to novice drivers of all ages for their first year of driving. I am in agreement with this aspect of the proposed laws. Germany already has such laws in place, with the difference that novice drivers must adhere for two years instead of one.

What I disagree with in the limit set upon the number of youth in a car, which makes it illegal for young drivers to drive with more than one passenger 19 or younger with them in the vehicle. Don Forgeron, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Ontario vice-president, rightly says that saving lives is of more importance than inconvenience. They are, however, essentially making it illegal for young people to carpool to work, or to drive their two younger cousins to their swim class. This also affects the responsible party-goers – the designated driver will no longer be able to chauffeur their friends home. This inconvenience is utterly unnecessary.

This limit comes as a result of a fatal crash that occurred on the south shore of Georgian Bay. Five teenagers died, three of which were not wearing seatbelts. According to police, alcohol did not play a role in the crash. Speed and road conditions likely did.

I do not understand how that crash would lead to the limit proposed. Instead, I believe that higher fines for speeding and failure to wear seatbelts are in order. Significant speeding should also warrant immediate license suspension.

Weekend Summary

I survived my first single-mom-marathon after the arrival of baby #4! Needless to say, I am very tired; hence I am tapping my inner list-freak to summarise my weekend.

What put a smile on my face this weekend:

• Pleasantly surprised concierges - I always make a point of saying thank you. I suppose that does not occur often to a hotel concierege.
• A shortened single-mom-marathon - Hubby surprised me by catching an earlier flight home!
• As is tradition, he brought me home some yummy cheese and foie gras from Pa-ree.
• Baby said "mama" - I know he still does not associate the word with me, but it still makes my heart melt.
• Hubby's mom and step-dad - Always good for a nice kaffeetrinken.
• We went out visiting museums and random exhibits in the city. Upon seeing a case filled with crowns and tiaras, our younger daughter proclaimed to anyone who would listen that they belonged to mommy and papa because they are a king and queen.
• At no point did the children become uninterested or impatient in the museums and exhibits.
• Hearing that Bush claimed his favourite childhood book to be Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". (The book was first published when Bush was in his twenties.)
  

What did NOT put a smile on my face this weekend:

• The Eurozone officially entered recession.
• My stores of Tim Hortons coffee are now completely depleted.
• Hubby's horrible hotel experience - First the hotel left him waiting outside the airport for the shuttle which was going to arrive "in ten minutes". It took over an hour for the shuttle to arrive. Secondly, he was first placed in a smoking room - despite his request for a non-smoking room. This mistake was very reluctantly rectified. Thirdly, there was patch of mould, about 75cm in diameter, right next to his bed. (All this at a four star hotel!)
• Dishonest people who cannot read - Upon hearing that he might be able to catch a delayed flight back home a day early, he spent between five and ten minutes away from his hotel room, at the front desk, to negotiate a free cancellation of his second night in person. He made sure he hung the do not disturb sign on the doorknob before leaving. When he returned, his bed was made up, and a 50 Euro note that he left on his bedside table was missing. The housekeeper was no where to be seen. Unfortunately, hubby could only place a formal complaint by risking losing the courtesy late check-in window that the airline offered him as an exception, so he left it as such.
  
• I forgot to recharge my batteries and had to leave my camera at home.
• The weather - I do not mind cold weather, but I do despise strong gusts of wind with spitting rain.
• An arrogant waitress - I do not care if you are having a bad day; you NEVER let it show to a customer!
• Hubby's aunt - She is completely oblivious and/or condescending to everything that does not interest her or conflicts with her priorities.
  
• CNNI - Enough with Tomb 33 already! It was interesting the first two times it aired, but that was weeks ago and it now seems to be aired with increasing frequency. Wait another six months and I will happily watch it again.
  
• Our planned road trip to the Harz Mountains - We had to postpone it for mid-December.

(Photo from AP)

Missing Hubby

Hubby is often away on business, and even though we’ve been married a while, we still have a hard time falling asleep alone. Yes, we are a cheesy couple.

Today, for the first time since our youngest was born in May, our home is Papa-free for more than his usual working hours. I have been feeling a little down all day, which is silly because he is flying back in two days.

Even when he is not out of the country, he still spends a lot of time at work. He, however, usually manages to be here for either breakfast or dinner, and he helps out around at home as much as he can. Now that our little army of rugrats has increased by one, there is so much more housework to do. I have not properly appreciated that fact until today, when hubby is not here to give his helping hand.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and makes our home seem bigger.

I suppose another reason that I feel crummy, other than the gloomy weather we had today, is that I wish I was in Paris with him. It appears I have adopted the need to travel several times each year – a trait integral to the collective German mentality.

I probably will not have the time to do much more than read a few blog posts and the news headlines as this single-mom-marathon continues. What is keeping me sane is our family road trip to the Harz Mountains on the 22nd. That and the cute little number I picked up for hubby’s visual pleasure; my way of saying thank you for all the help and support he has given me this past turbulent year.

The love-hate affair between Germans and their rules

When I made the decision to move to Germany, someone “warned” me that Germans are, among other things, inflexible and in love with rules (or something similar to that – it was almost six years ago, so I paraphrased it). The warning was only partially correct. It is more accurate to say that Germans are inflexible and in love with rules, as long as those rules do not interfere with their comfort levels.

For example, two Deutsche Bahn conductors, in two separate occasions, essentially left two young teenagers stranded in rural areas far from home because they forgot their tickets at home. I understand that there will always be those who free-ride and ruin it for the rest of us. On these two occasions, however, an exception should have been made. The conductor could have taken note of the teenager’s address and DB could have clarified the situation afterwards – similar to the procedure when charged with a speeding ticket. I, myself, would also be infuriated if my 13-year-old was left stranded almost 50 kilometers away from home by an inflexible, rule-hardy conductor. At least one of the conductors have since been suspended, in addition to an apology from DB.


On the flip-side, you have the one rule that many Germans love to break: the non-smoking rule. It does not matter where you are – a subway station, restaurant, etc. – there will be someone smoking. What’s worse is that those people will argue the life out of you if you decide to point out that they are in a non-smoking area, which I often do. My favourite stand-off occurred inside an elevator on the way up to the train platform. Just as the doors closed, some nutcase lights up a cigarette and breathes out smoke into the faces of two of my children, both of whom were sitting in their STROLLER coughing! I pointed to the big non-smoking sticker on the wall beside him, and asked him if he really needed to blow cigarette smoke into the faces of my then one- and two-year-old children. He shrugged and said that it doesn’t matter because we were going to be in open air in a matter of seconds. I reminded him that the smoking ban also applied on the train platform. That was when I crossed the line. “Why do you people always try to take away our right to smoke!” he bellowed, before he huffed and he puffed all the way to the other end of the platform. Funnily enough, he continued smoking beside another non-smoking sign.

NB – Smoking is a passionate subject for Germans. They used their veto power in the EU to prevent a smoking ban from coming through. The non-smoking ban has been reversed for traditional Kneipen (corner pubs).

Yes, Germans can be very inflexible. I want to make it clear, though, that it is a stereotype, and that not all Germans are that bad – thank goodness!

Getting Punk'd by Canadians

Wow - a couple of days away from the news and so much happens! As SWC correctly guessed, I found this prank very amusing. 'Ustler's Nailin Palin - Hahahahahahaha!!!!!

Hmmm... A Republican being pranked by Canadians with a joke involving foreign leaders. Does that remind you of someone else? Watch the video below - he makes his appearance starting at 1:53. Huckabee and Gore also get pranked, and I love the kid at the end of the clip!

(For non-Canadians, Rick Mercer is a Canadian political satirist, similar to Jon Stewart, only he has been at it for much, much longer. Poutine is not the name of a Prime Minister, but an inherently Canadian specialty consisting of Fries topped with cheese smothered in gravy. Delicious!)

Finding Mommy a new Man

On hubby's flight back home from Switzerland today, he sat a couple of rows away from a mother travelling alone with her two sons. As hubby passed them on the way back from the toilets, the older son, who looked about seven or eight years old, started to converse with him.

The conversation was typical small talk until the mother went to the toilets. The young boy then pulled out a piece of paper, wrote his home number on it and handed it to hubby saying: "My mommy needs a new man, so here's our phone number. Please give us a call if you like".

Hubby was understandably flabbergasted and managed to tell him, before his mother returned, that the mommy of his own kids might not like that. He told hubby to keep the number anyway.

I wonder if this child did this of his own accord, or if his mother gave him the idea somehow. In either case, he has a terrific sense of character. And he really cares for his mother.

Awwwww...

(photo from inmagine.com)

The Good Guy and The Mad Guy

I am a proud mama.

I was in a bookstore with our younger daughter and baby today when we came across a selection of books written by or about Obama. (For those of you who do not know us personally, we have four children: a nine-year-old daughter, a five-year-old daughter, a four-year-old son and an almost five-month-old son.) Our younger daughter picked up one of the books, walked over to the pram and showed the book to baby proclaiming:

This is Barack Obama. He's the good guy on tv!

A salesclerk and several other shoppers smiled. Out of curiosity, I picked up a book with a picture of McCain on the cover and asked what she thought about him...

**frowns** He's mad on tv.

...to which she received some free candy from the salesclerk.

I am a proud mama. =)
(photos from senate.gov and washingtontimes.com respectively)

World's Largest Expat Survey / Weltgrößte Expat-Umfrage

“Mom, if we have to move again, can we move to a country where I can at least get a good hamburger?”

If you are a parent who moves around the world frequently, you’ve probably heard this question before. Thanks to HSBC, you can check if your destination will meet your children’s expectations.

HSBC Bank International recently published what they claim to be the largest expat survey. It covers three areas:
Expat Existence – Focus on living standards, ability to learn and save, country popularity and level of luxury experienced
Offshore Offspring – Explores the challenges of raising a family abroad
Integration

The Offshore Offspring Summary includes an overall ranking of fourteen countries in regards to sport activity, junk food eaten, computer games and television watching. It doesn’t surprise me that more that 50% of the children who relocated to the US eat more junk food. It does surprise me, however, that in the UK, a country that is experiencing a similar boom in childhood obesity, the percentage lies much lower at just over 20%.

On the upside, it is nice to see that Germany is the third and Canada the fourth best country to raise children in.

(Chart courtesy of economist.com.)