School Preparations - First Day of School in Germany

Gardner was informing me last night that I have not updated the blog in a while. So, here I am so he can be surprised when he checks in again.

We are getting close to school starting here. School starts on Monday, August 6th. That is just 3 days away. I am about ready for them to go back. I am enjoying the non-routines in the morning. Where there is no stress when we first get up in the morning. But there has been a lot more fighting the past week with the kids, so I am ready for them to go back so that will decrease some.

I have been getting school supplies together. The big purchase is a backpack that the kids here in Germany have. They call it der Tornister or Schulranzen. It is more than just a back pack. I will take a picture so you can see it. These usually start at 50 Euros and go up past 200 Euros. We got lucky and found one on sale for Hannah for 30 Euros. And then we never did buy one for Spencer since we came mid-year. Our friends told us to hold out because there are lots more to choose from during the summer. And they were right. Which also means, we got it cheaper. His was also 30 Euros. Now they are not the best, but that is OK. Shantal, well she does not like these backpacks and refuses to have one. Which is OK with me. It saves me money.

Hannah is going into the school for the first time here in Germany. In Germany, they enter the Elementary School in the 1st Grade. So it is a big deal. Each new student gets something called a Schultüte (Schuletuete, or German school cone) . It is a cone looking thing that I have to fill with goodies and Hannah get to take it to school on her first day. It reminds me of a stocking at Christmas time. Like I have a t-shirt, sandwich box, chocolate, candy and wallet in there so far.

I will have to get the pictures taken of the back pack and this cone so you can see exactly what I mean. Because these are German things that are HUGE here.

I will also post next time all the supplies I had to buy for Hannah to go to school with how much it all costs. So look for that next time I post.

One last thing, it has started to rain again here. The weather is so wacky! That is all I have to say about it.