Top Ten Reasons I Love Kassel, Germany

1. The people are incredibly sincere, friendly, and honest.

2. The restaurants are wonderful, not world-class, but wunderbar.

3. Every morning when I leave the apartment, some form of city worker is out cleaning (street cleaners, sweepers, tram stops, or snow plowing).

4. There is no need for a car. Everything is accessible by tram, bikes, or  feet. I even found the tram stop by Dez, who knew?

5. I always feel safe and I don't have to worry about the safety of my family.

6. http://www.pralinenwerkstatt.de/

7. Berg Park, The Orangerie and the Fulda are lovely and close enough that weekends away to escape "city life" are completely unnecessary. With four lovely seasons, it is like visiting somewhere entirely different all through the year.

8. The city is crazy about recycling and reusing.

9. Kassel is in the middle of Europe.

10. Last, but definitely not least, the city picked up my Christmas tree right outside our front door. Hell yes, to any and all curb side services.

What do you love about your city?

How we enjoy long meals in restaurants with a toddler, seriously.

It takes bravery to walk into a fancy restaurant with a three year old trailing behind you.  I always get a lovely smile and a warm hello, then Justin still smiling, and then THE look of horror. OMG, you just brought a child into this restaurant??? Well, yes, yes we did.  My son has been taught restaurant manners from 12 months on and we are strict with discipline.  I should, also, add he is a naturally slow eater, but even on the best of days young people can be unpredictable.  We do three things which we both agree help us to have a long, pleasant dining experience free of stress for both us and the wait staff....90% of time.  The other 10% percent allows us to survive without embarrassment, but hey I'll take 90 percent! 

Restaurant toys.  We have tiny, lightweight (purse size) toys that Colt only sees after we enter a nice restaurant and get settled.  He is never allowed to play with them at home.  Occasionally, I utilize them for trains, planes or public travel, but they are definitely reserved for special occasions when I need impeccable behavior. This works for us because they are novel to him.  I rotate about 4 sets of small micro cars, tiny trains, etc.  After we are seated, he says, "restaurant toys, please" and rubs his hands together because he has been asking for them all morning. He is now so used to this that after we returned from London he brought me a train toy and said, "Oops, I found a restaurant toy in with my cars, you better pack it away."

Lunch not Dinner.    I have about as much energy and patience as Colt by 7:00 PM. which is absolutely zero. When we are on holiday, we make our dinner our lunch.  We choose a nice place. We order drinks. We have more than one course.  Words, like "appetizer, please" and "second course" have recently left Colt's mouth.  We don't just do this on vacation!  We do this at home, too.  If we must do dinner on vacation, we go as early as we can. If he is having a bad day or hasn't had a proper nap, then we do take-out or stay home. 

We make sure he is hungry, not starving angry but full-on hungry.  Colt has never been much of an eater, so I don't let him snack. He is a slow eater, though. So, if he is hungry we can really stretch the amount of time to make things slower, more enjoyable.  He picks out his own food, too.  All of the same rules apply.  We don't change any of the rules for restaurants.  Consistency is key with children. No veggies, no dessert.

In Belgium, we had a waiter sigh, walk us to our table, and say "it's ok, kids have to eat, too".  WOW!  The SAME waiter when we left about two hours later couldn't stop complementing him.  He even complemented us and said thanks for giving your son a real education (in reference to the dining experience).

Fingers crossed, we will soon brave the infamous restaurants of Paris. wink!

Life couldn't be shorter

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I would change or do differently if I had limited time.  I don't have much to change really just a lot less energy than I had in my 20's.  My pace is a little slower, but my intentions are still genuine.

Try not to miss a beat every time my son declares DANCE party.

Tell my husband I sincerely love him at least 100 times a day (ok, maybe not a 100, but...).  Focus on what he does right, not on what he does wrong.

Make time for coffee with friends and be away at least one evening a week for a walk, dinner with friends, or anything fun.

Plan trips and dream about exotic places because planning is half the fun.

Exercise to the best of my ability which some days is only a stroll and other days is a kick butt workout.

Cuddle and snuggle as much as humanly possible (My son stepped onto the tube in London and said, "oh we are all snuggly in here."  lol)

Be mindful of every moment and really enjoy my food, jokes, and my family.


What would you do differently? Or the same?

Our Three Rules

When we were in Belgium, Colt was struggling and being a stinker.  In response, Justin gave Colt three rules. He repeated all three anytime he was being naughty.

Be happy.
Listen to what mom and dad say.
Don't talk back.

Before the trip ended, Colt had these memorized.  After about a month, he thought he was being cute and put his own twist on them.

Be happy.
Listen to what Colt and dad say (huge grin from him with an eyebrow lift to see if I got it, lol).
Don't talk back.


Two months later, our family has adopted these rules as...IDK...our family code???  We remind each other of these rules when someone needs to hear them.  Colt to me.  Me to Colt. I have to constantly remind myself of these all the time, but three is an easy number, right?

Now they read like this:

Be happy.
Listen to each other.
Don't you sass me, boy.  HAHAHA  No seriously, respect each other.

The other day I was crying while I watched him play.  Colt leaned in, "Oh no, mom.  Oh, mom. Oh no, what's wrong mom? Mom. Just be happy, that's all you have to do.  Just be happy."  So sweet.  I gently explained, oh I am happy.  I know it's a little hard to understand, but I'm crying because you make me happy.

London's Calling!

I've never much cared for London. It's grey, usually raining, and the traffic and noise are too much.  I've always found the people a bit stand-offish.

But... this time I fell in love.  I love London. I am ready to make it my top girl trip destination and already looking into renting an apartment for a month next summer. Is it because the sun was out everyday?  Or because the flight was only an hour? Who knows? Maybe because everyone spoke English or because we didn't appear so out of place like we do in Kassel?

We stayed in a quiet borough called Mayfair.  Directly across from Hyde Park, we were walking distance to shops and trendy restaurants, but not in the middle of all the chaos.  Everyone was SO nice that even the postman stopped to say Hello to Colt in that fabulous British accent.  The service was even brilliant, so either London has changed completely or I never saw it for what it truly was....fabulous!

Here's our trip through the eyes of our three year old boy:

Car, airplane, Heathrow train to Paddington Station, London taxi, double decker sightseeing bus, London eye, ice cream and hotdog picnic in the park, restaurant toys, The Tube, Duck Tour (one of those amphibious car turns boat things), London taxi, airplane, another car and Kassel, Germany.

My first London cab

Floating down the Thames in a WW2 Amphibious vehicle