Monday, January 23, 2012

Learning How to Iron/Bügeln lernen

We started the day with broken glass.  Jonathan was feeling better at least so well that he could start his usual antics again.  He tried to see how high he could throw his bath towel this morning.  Unfortunately, it was very high, he hit the lamp and shattered the glass lampshade.  So we had glass everywhere in his bedroom.  It took him a long time to clean that up!  He was very shocked so I hope the lesson will stick.  Fortunately, we still had a lamp shade from the previous owners of our house.  

Then Miriam got a high fever and needed to go to bed.  My husband is also not feeling well, he had to cancel one of his classes, but decided to teach a later one.  So what do you do with such a day?  Get out the ironing board!  Charlotte did some ironing and then taught Veronika.  She loved it!  She spent all afternoon ironing and also wanted to iron after supper in her pyjamas.  She wants to continue tomorrow.




Jonathan decided to read Sherlock Holmes, one of his assigned books for this school year.  I was thrilled because it didn't involve throwing things.





What did I do?  I read to Flora the lovely picture book Handa's Surprise.  She wants to hear it again and again.  There are many activities online available to do with this book, like this one.  Just google the book!

 I also stuck many needles into my fingers (no, I didn't see an acupuncturist) while trying to sew the elastics onto Charlotte's new ballet slippers.  I finished them, but now I still have to do the pointe shoes.  Dorina, I need your help!  Do you put the elastics on the outside or inside?  Do you cross the elastics?  How about the ribbons?  Does the shiny side go to the outside?  I contacted our ballet teacher and hope to get exact instructions.  That's it for today.  I need to go and take a look at Miriam again.


Wir haben unseren Tag mit Scherben angefangen.  Jonathan ging es besser, auf jeden Fall so gut, daß er wieder mit seinen üblichen "Verrücktheiten" anfangen konnte.  Er hat versucht herauszufinden, wie hoch er sein Handtuch in seinem Zimmer werfen konnte.  Leider war es so hoch, daß er den Glaslampenschirm zertrümmerte.  Er hat sehr lange gebraucht, bis er alles aufgesammelt und gesaugt hatte.  Er hat sich sehr erschrocken, also hoffe ich, daß es ihm eine Lehre war.  Glücklicherweise hatten wir noch einen Ersatzlampenschirm von den letzten Eigentümern unseres Hauses.  


Dann hat Miriam hohes Fieber bekommen und mußte ins Bett.  Meinem Mann geht es auch nicht so gut, er konnte sein erstes Seminar nicht unterrichten, hat aber die späteren unterrichtet.  Was macht man mit so einem Tag?  Bügeln!  Charlotte hat zuerst gebügelt und dann Veronika es beigebracht.  Sie kann gar nicht genug bekommen.  Sie hat den ganzen Nachmittag gebügelt und auch noch nach dem Abendbrot, als sie schon im Schlafanzug war.  Morgen will sie weiter machen.  Jonathan hat sich entschlossen, weiter in Sherlock Holmes zu lesen, eins seiner Bücher für dieses Jahr.  Das hat mich erleichtert, da man dabei (normalerweise) nichts wirft.
 

Was habe ich denn getan?  Mit Flora habe ich das schöne Bilderbuch Handa's Surprise gelesen, welches in Afrika spielt.  Sie wollte es immer wieder hören.  Dann habe ich mir lauter Nadeln in die Finger gesteckt.  Nein, ich war nicht bei der Akupunktur, sondern habe das Gummiband an Charlottes neue Ballettschuhe genäht.  Das hat sehr lange gedauert und da die Schuhe so dick sind, bin ich immer wieder mit der Nadel abgerutscht und habe mich gestochen.  Jetzt habe ich viele Pflaster.  Nun muß ich aber noch das Gummiband und die Seidenbänder annähen.  Dabei gibt es verschiedene Möglichkeiten. Ich hoffe, daß Dorina mir weiterhelfen kann.  Mit unserer Ballettlehrerin habe ich natürlich auch schon Kontakt aufgenommen.  So, das reicht für heute.  Ich muß wieder zu Miriam.  


10 comments:

  1. Your Jonathan always looks so serene... did you manage to keep your cool? I'm not sure I could say the same thing about me!!

    What a day you've had, but as always if we look close enough each cloud does have a silver lining. Benedict enjoys ironing, when he gets the chance... I try to fold and fold and only iron what is absolutely necessary!!

    Ballet Shoes... shiny side facing out, methinks? Shame, Dorina does not live next door to you. Charlotte must be very pleased that she's old enough for pointe work.

    Thank you, thank you for your beautiful and kind words on my last posting. I've posted a reply on there.

    Here's hoping you have a better day today.

    Love to you all

    San and co xxxx

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    1. Hello San, Jonathan is in constant motion, he even was like that in utero! He never sits still (only in church) and always needs something to play with. It helps him concentrate. He is also very curious and likes to try things. Actually, I wasn't so upset because it was such a big shock to him and the rest of us. I remembered something from my childhood. I got angry at something and kicked our front door with glass panels. My foot and shoe went right through one of the panels and shattered the glass. Of course I had to clean it up and pay for the glass. So I guess I kind of sympathized deep inside. Normally I get angry at similar things, but this was different.

      I have quite a bit of ironing to do. Peter needs a clean shirt every day and also clean handkerchiefs. He uses cotton ones. I also iron my kitchen towels and then there are church clothes for the children. When we were without a dryer I had even more to do because the laundry drying outside gets more wrinkles. I have to admit that I still have some summer outfits left from that time that are begging to be ironed. Today our iron actually broke so we have to get a new one.

      Yes, it would be convenient to have Dorina next door, but it's a six-hour drive. Too far to just "chat." Charlotte is very happy about the new shoes although she doesn't like to show her feelings. I think you are right about the shiny side out. Our ballet teacher also gave us some help now.

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  2. Beim Bügeln kann man gar nicht genug Helfer haben :))
    Ach, hat es euch wieder ein bißchen erwischt mit Fieber und so. Ich hoffe, es geht rasch besser. Manchmal kann der Körper mit einem Tag Fieber schon viel verarbeiten und dann geht es schnell wieder gut.
    Ich musste so lachen über Jonathans "Experimente"! Das kann ich mir lebhaft vorstellen. Schade um die Lampe, natürlich.
    Du Arme, das muss aber gar nicht angenehm sein, sich die Finger so zu zerstechen!

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    1. Ja, ich wünschte meine Mama wäre manchmal hier und könnte mir helfen. Ich habe als Studentin immer für meine Oma gebügelt.

      Jonathan ist immer noch schlapp und hustet ziemlich übel. Miriam hat nach einer Fiebernacht heute fieberfrei im Bett gelegen und gedöst. Ich glaube, daß es ihr morgen wieder besser gehen wird. Charlotte hat jedoch heute Bauchweh bekommen, da sie Mais gegessen hat, wogegen sie allergisch ist. (Sie hat eine Sorte Knuspermüsli mit Maismehl probiert). Flora hat zu viele Mandarinen gegessen und einen blutigen Ausschlag am Hinterteil. Das ist auch unangenehm. Wir klingen wie ein Krankenhaus, finde ich! Ich und Veronika sind aber noch ganz vergnügt. Meine Finger sind ein wenig besser, muß ich doch bis morgen noch die komplizierten Spitzenschuhe fertig nähen. Vielleicht war Ballett doch nicht so eine gute Idee . . . .

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  3. oje, oje, das klingt aber nicht gut. Allen Kranken gute Besserung und allen anderen gute Nerven.
    Handa's Surprise haben wir in England auch kennengelernt und die Mädchen haben die Geschichte ebenfalls geliebt.

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    1. Danke, liebe C. "Handa's Surprise" kommt auch aus England und wird dort wohl in allen Grundschulen für alles, was man so beibringen kann, benutzt.

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  4. morgana says whether you put the elastics on the inside or outside is purely up to the dancer. the elastics go from the back of the heel, around the ankle and back to the heel. and you want to sew it with really thick thread, or it will come out. morgana uses thick thread doubled. korrina used to use floss. morgana likes to put her shiny side facing out, but she knows of some other students who put it facing in.

    i can send a photograph of where the elastics will go. they get folded a certain way.

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    1. Dorina, thanks for replying. Peter just said that you also sent pictures. I'll take a look, that's so nice of you!! When you say floss, what kind do you mean? I heard that some people use dental floss?!

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  5. hello eva,

    yes! korrina would use dental floss! i hope the photos help. i think you fold the elastic the same as the ribbon.

    i agree with san that jonathan always looks so serene! it's funny. people often say that about me, but i don't feel that way inside. but i do try to practice my yoga breathing and not be so quick to snap these days.

    goodness gracious! glass all over the room! kudos to you for keeping calm, and your past experience sounds so similar. you could relate to his shock. chanda once dropped three glass plates on the kitchen floor. they just FLEW off our special three tiered dessert server and shattered. luckily, it was just on the ground, and not all over! jonathan did not have an easy clean-up.

    i have my holiday napkins and tablecloths sitting in a pile in the living room waiting to be ironed and put away! i also like to iron my kitchen towels but don't always have the time. i still have the iron my mom gave me about twenty years ago.

    sherlock holmes was one of the first authors korrina read. she just loved him. morgana is reading him now, and chanda is ready to dive in now that she heard us talking about it. i was supposed to get the second copy off of the living room bookshelves. morgana is reading from an oxford university press publication she found at the library. she loves their editions; very nicely bound.

    the picture of the ballet shoes is very pretty! let me know how it goes.

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    1. I didn't get to the shoes today, so Charlotte has to wait another week. I apologized to the teacher about my slowness. Do you use a really big, pointy needle?

      I feel the same, Dorina. I look calm, but inside I sometimes feel like a volcano ready to erupt. As a child I had many choleric outbreaks -- runs in the family. I took a year of yoga while I was in high school. I still do some yoga exercises right after taking my showers. I really like the ones from Deepak Chopra. They are nice and easy to remember. I also like his breathing exercises, but I never have time to do them. Maybe I should do them again to keep calm. Great reminder, Dorina!

      The glass on your kitchen floor doesn't sound very pleasant either, but it does sound more contained. We also had to search on and under his bed and in toy bins (his room is also a playroom for all the children). I once had a roommate in college from Poland. When she was unhappy with something she threw glass! That was the custom in her country she said. She would simply smash a few glasses in the kitchen or the living-room to make her feel better. I reported her because talking didn't help. She stopped after she had to go and talk to the director of graduate student housing.

      Your iron must be wonderful! I haven't found any good brand here. I had a Philips iron, but it fell and I needed to replace the water tank. They stopped making them in this country, but my mom found a water tank in Germany that fit. Then someone dropped it again and it stopped working. My grandmother always told me to never buy a light iron. They are no good she would say. She didn't like the steam irons.
      She would always sprinkle the laundry with water and then iron. My mom taught me the same way before steam irons became so common. I love ironing, it's so relaxing (unless you have to stand for hours), but I always seem to be behind.

      Peter and I used to watch the old British black and white Sherlock Holmes movies on TV (before children). We always liked them very much. Funny that Morgana is also reading it. Jonathan and she could do their Latin together and also their reading assignments!

      I'll let you know about the shoes. Thanks so much again!

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