Trapped toddler parents: support through winter and beyond

[squishymamma]

Following on from the previous thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4292353-Trapped-toddler-parents-Inspiration-and-support-needed-through-the-summer-hols

Not the most inventive name but apt I think...

@Motherofmonsters that looks so fun! Camping also made me goggle, so unrelated to us but obviously makes sense in toddler world...

@Lostthetastefordahlias second making a list and slowly working through it, but for me when stuck in a rut it helps most to ignore everything for a day and go meet up with friends. Either with or without DC in tow. Just having someone to chat to and offload on, plus other subjects that make you forget about how rubbish you feel, really helps!

We drove our new car back from BILs today, was 8 hours with all the breaks for DS2 so feeling a bit knackered! Was so good to see DS1 again though now just preparing for the new week ahead. Tired already

Thank you everyone I feel a bit more positive today. Going to sort out a quiet reading area for them and donate some unused toys as my tasks for today!
That looks amazing @Motherofmonsters! Hope it works well!
When is your tuff tray arriving @Chocolatetrifle, exciting!! The thing we use most with ours is a bit of astroturf I got cheaply which I cut into the shape of a tuff tray mat - gives a good background for farm animal play/ duplo etc (ditto a piece of blue oilcloth I got from a pound shop is used as a sea background). Also I highly recommend this kit (know you love a Baker Ross kit ) as the boats float in a few mm of water (water is difficult to empty off the table I find) and Dd loves “racing” them by blowing them right across the table!
Have a good day everyone.

Morning everyone,

Glad you are feeling a bit better today @Lostthetastefordahlias. Tuff tray is arriving this week. Thanks for the boat tip, I will get some of those.

@squishymamma. Glad you made it back home ok. Hope you are pleased with your new car.

@Motherofmonsters, that indoor frame is fantastic, I hope they have good fun on it.

Didn't have a great night, dS2 kept waking up so I'm a bit bleary eyed this morning. Usual preschool routine today. This afternoon I might try to make some strawberry jam with the DS's. Have also got some chocolate scented kinetic sand so might get that out with the cutters.

Here's our 'science ' test tubes from yesterday. We used some large pipettes and water, food colouring and glitter and it went down really well with the DS's, they played with them for a good while.

Hope everyone is ok and has a good day.

Happy new week everyone!

@chocolatetrifle, glad the play date was a relative success, bless your ds he must have been knackered - out of the mouths of babes eh! Hope your ds sleeps better tonight.

@motherofmonsters that indoor playground looks amazing! Great to burn off their energy, I usually make ds run laps around the park before nap time could do with one of these!

@squishymamma that's a mammoth drive even without dc in tow! Well done you lot.

@lostthetastefordahlias glad your feeling better about your new house - its so overwhelming and takes a while to settle i find.

Ds is starting daycare at the beginning of Feb, he'll go part time for February to get him used to it and start full time in March. We have a visit day tomorrow which is good as its a while since we saw it last.
Im dreading him starting! He's never been away from me for more than a few hours at most and I'm terrified he'll hate it and that I won't cope in my new job for worrying about him

I’ve completely missed the previous thread!

Where have you all been on my endless park trips, muddy walks as we look at leafs for the 90th time and wrestling two crying children and two scooters back towards the car because it’s ‘too cold’.

I gave up on puddle suits with my daughter. Has anybody tried the absolute invention of two piece waterproofs?! What a GAME CHANGER.

I'm sure I put a sad face at the bottom of my last post - I'm not actually smiling like some psycho at the thought of my toddler hating daycare!

Evening wonderful Internet strangers/friends,

Hope you had a good day @Lostthetastefordahlias and feel a bit more on top of things!

@Chocolatetrifle those test tubes look fab, what a good idea. Hope your jam making went smoothly.

@Scotabroad24 aww I remember that feeling. Our nursery was great and sent us photos etc, especially if he'd cried on drop off. Maybe your daycare will do similar? PS you did do a sad face, no worries

Welcome welcome to the thread @Binthescales! I love a 2 piece waterproof suit! We have a puddlesuit that's super padded and warm for winter and snow but our 2 piece is the best for any kind of rain, especially as the pants are those that are like dungarees!

Well today was a bit of a write off here, DS1 had a meltdown all the way to nursery because he'd not really seen us all weekend and didn't want to go. Was fine when he got there though and skipped off...

DS2 has been fussy and refusing to sleep all day, unless in a moving pram or being jigged and walked around. He had a chiropractor appointment today and we waited for an hour before finally finding out the chiropractor was ill so I've basically just wasted a load of time today it feels like!

Now I'm cluster feeding and desperately wanting my bed...hope everyone manages to get some sleep!

@Scotabroad24, ah, hope the nursery visit goes well tomorrow. My ds1 started preschool last June and I was always commenting on the thread how worried I was when he first started. He did settle and so will your DS and he will love it too. Understand totally your worries. Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

@squishymamma, sorry it's been a frustrating day for you. Hope tonight is ok and tomorrow is a new day. The jam turned out well thanks, I've not made it before.

I'm not sure I'm going to have a good night again dS2 has been off all afternoon, coughing and has been sick this evening (Sambucol- I was trusting you to stop all this!)

Welcome @Binthescales . It's so hard to get them sorted into appropriate weather gear isn't it? Mine keep insisting on trying to take their coats off when outside and it's January! They also keep asking to wear shorts and t-shirts at the moment, it was 2 degrees today .

Sleep well everyone.

@squishymamma @chocolatetrifle I'm sure ds will settle in great, he loves playing with other kids, it'll just be me who's an over emotional wreck probably

How odd when I'm on my phone app the sad face emoji shows as a smiling face!

How was everyone's night? @chcocolatetrifle hope your ds wasn't sick again.

Ds was horribly unsettled last night, he must have been awake and screaming at least 4 times before midnight - hoping it was just a one off as he's been sleeping better this last couple of weeks!

@Scotabroad24, I know what you mean I'll be like that when DS1 starts reception in September. You will be ok too, one day at a time. Are you starting a new job at the same time? That's stressful enough and anxiety inducing in itself! Sorry you had a bad night. Hope tonight is better for you.
My DS2 was up for a bit at 11 . He seems a bit better today.

Preschool routine for DS1 as usual but had to endure the boys fighting this morning. dS2 wanted to play the Tonie box really loud, the Halloween tonie, he loves the Ghostbusters theme song, but DS1 hates it, then DS1 kept trying to kick him and dS2 was throwing magnetic tiles at dS1's head. I'm worn out already! Thank god they have a few hours away from each other.

In other news, the tuff try has been delivered this morning, yay!

How is everyone feeling today?

Morning!

DD woke up twice last night for longer than usual and then wanted to be up for the day at 4.30. I let her sit on my lap in her room and she slept until 7! Going to regret it tonight when she'll want to do it again.

Glad you DS is feeling a bit better @chocolatetrifle. Hopefully it won't hang around.
Where do you get your Sambuccol from, I feel like we need to remortgage the house to pay for it the rate were getting through it!

Hopefully you'll have a better night tonight @scotsabroad.

It's bedroom day on my new cleaning app so I've whizzed through those jobs, shopping has been delivered and I've been playing puzzles with DD. Now making some lunch and then need to decide what to do this afternoon.

@Motherofmonsters, unfortunately I do not know of any decent deals on Sambucol. I just get it on Amazon...a bottle doesn't last very long does it? I give less than the winter dose but it only seems to last two weeks.

It sounds like you've cracked it today with the cleaning, it's so satisfying.

@chocolatetrifle, Yep brand new job, in a totally different industry than before - I must be mad at least February I can put ds part time to daycare so there'll be a settling in period. We're off for the visit in an hour.
Whats the age gap between your boys? I remember fighting with my sister like that! Do they usually get on?

Ooooh @motherofmonsters what cleaning app do you use? I seem to go round in circles and be constantly tidying and cleaning!

@Scotabroad24, ah, you will feel a bit anxious with two new things going on, nursery for your DS and your new job. Hopefully both will be ok and once settled you will get into the new routine. Congrats on your new job, hope you really like it there.

There's 25 months between mine. I'm in this afternoon to help dS2 get over his cold. Watching Topsy and Tim on Cbeebies iPlayer, I think I need to be like their mum Joy all the time, she's such a happy , enthusiastic mum and never moans!!

It's called the organised mum method (TOMM) @scotabroad24. Its really good, basically you get level 1 jobs to do every day that you set a 15min timer for. So they are make beds, quick clean of bathroom, main floors and put a load of washing on. Then each day you get a room or areas to focus on that you set a 30min timer for. Each Friday is then Focus Friday where you go more indepth in an area i.e going through drawers. I like that you can tick things of and gives me a bit of focus.

I always have visions of being the enthusiastic mum but never quite manage it. I've found I have less patience then I thought after having them

Has anyone put toys in a balloon and filled it with water? DS wanted me to do it but I couldn't get the balloon to fill with water as it wouldn't stretch? Not sure if I'm being dumb

@Motherofmonsters, hmm only used an outdoor tap adaptor thing to fill water balloons up. Never put a toy inside. Are they different types of balloons? Can't see how toys fit inside to be honest but I might be missing something.

@Chocolatetrifle you'll have to let us know what the first tuff tray adventure is! Hope your DS feels better soon. I don't think I've ever seen Topsy and Tim!

@Motherofmonsters I checked out TOMM and it looks really interesting but you have to pay for the app (in Norway at least) so I've just downloaded the free printables and done absolutely nothing with them since this is probably a stupid question but did you try blowing the balloons up and then allowing them to deflate before filling with water? I have made water balloons once upon a time as an unruly teen and I'm pretty sure that's what we did, but don't fully remember...

We've had quite a nice day, DS1 didn't want to leave nursery which I see as a good sign, and we've had fewer meltdowns (still a good amount though). Played a lot with Playdoh and been outside.

I had a massage today at the place I take DS2 for the chiropractor, my friend got me a gift card for there - they said to just bring DS2 along since I had nobody to look after him. He screamed the whole time the massage therapist was massaging and replacing the dummy at the same time! I didn't mind though, she was very good at getting tension out so maybe I'll treat myself when I can organise someone to babysit!

Hope everyone has a good night!

Damn it this thread keeps disappearing from my 'on' list. I've missed everyone's tales.

@Motherofmonsters that indoor climbing frame is incredible. I've never seen anything like it ever except in a school hall!

I'm going to name change tonight but something that you'll be able to see is still me.

Worst night ever, DS was awake 1-4.30 and DD woke up at 4.45.... I may not survive the day

Oh no @Motherofmonsters that is a real stinker of a night, can you do anything to make today an easier day? I heavily rely on coffee & biscuits & cbeebies in this scenario - its so tough though isn't it! Hope you can go to bed early tonight, hopefully they will be exhausted themselves this evening.
If neither of mine wake up in the night I always wake up around 4:30 anyway for some reason?! So annoying.
I have childcare today so I can go to some medical appointments, cant wait for this week to be over tb quite h.

@Motherofmonsters, oh no, that sounds an horrendous night, poor you.

Once DS is at school I suggest you drive you and DD to the nearest McDonald's drive thru, get yourself a big coffee and breakfast and DD might nod off on the journey then you can enjoy your breakfast in peace.
Roll on bedtime.

@Lostthetastefordahlias, hope your appointments go well today. We are halfway through the week now.

@Motherofmonsters agree with the strong coffee and biscuits...and McDonald's for that matter! Treat yourself hope you get a chance to have a snooze during the day.

Today has just been a non starter, is it too early for wine? DS1 woke up every 1.5 hours so DH was "exhausted" (it takes 2 minutes to settle him...) and of course he then has a major fit when we're trying to do anything. Sat on the floor with him for 15 minutes while he wailed, trying to convince him to eat breakfast, then tried to gentle parent him into his wintersuit for nursery...before blowing up at him with all kinds of swear words not my finest moment. He did then give up the fight and let me dress him though, don't know if it was out of fear or resignation

Just need to figure out how to get more patience...

Ha that's exactly what I've done @chocolatetrifle!

In my not really awake state I thought you meant it was your DH who was tired tantruming on the floor @squishymamma!
My attempts at gentle parenting usual ends in me shouting to.

Hope your appointments go okay @lostthetastefordahlias.