We have finished the babysteps - cautiously moving into toddler sized steps now.

[Carrotsandcelery]

You are all going to be so disappointed. My hobby is horse riding. Ta da!! I really wasn't trying to be coy. I didn't realise you were all so nosey took such an interest in fellow thread members I am totally mortified that it is not hang gliding or rally racing or anything a bit more adventurous

pehaps less distraction with dd, make sure she is sitting and take something away from her if she doesn't sit at the table while your all eating, involve her with the cooking even if its washing the veg, dont make a big issue over dinner either, sit as a family and natter, I used to hate dinner times at one point because an old boyfriend of our mothers use to make sure we never said a word and ate all of our dinner.

As for homework how about 15 minute timering him, he's only allowed to do it for 15 mins a day and if he doesn't get it done he'll be in trouble at school! or however long he needs for it, and again no distractions and make sure he's fed and watered.

I'm not great with parenting techniques, I just know what works with mine.

however bed time techniques for ds2 age 3 would be awesome please:)

I wrote a big long post and it vanished - Grrr!

Gossip gives good advice. An alternative would be to get into character with her and pretend to be another Strawberry Shortcake character. Then put on the poshest voice you can (if you are not super posh already) and pretend to have a tea party with her. You could use kitchen roll as posh napkins and let her use a tea set plate or a fun plate of some sort. Don't do it if she kicks off though, pre - empt the resistance and make it as fun as possible to eat dinner with you. You could even have fun making up appropriate names.

As for ds, what is his homework? We play hide and seek with spelling words or I do the assignment at the same time as ds and we compare what we come up with. Tell us what he gets and maybe we can find a way to make it fun. You have to dig deep though. It is the last thing you feel like at that time of day but if you make it fun it takes the nagging out of it.

That said, I nag all the time. I don't know the way around it. I try to make things fun but sometimes they just have to do what they are told. They also need to learn to respect how someone else feels, so if I am feeling grotty, they need to show a bit of compassion and be a bit more co-operative. I haven't quite taught them that yet but I imagine something sinks in along the way.

Good luck Black and you are definitely not alone.

Oh carrots the showing compassion with ds1 for me is a nightmare, he was wanting to have a good look at ds2's sick yesterday and laughing when he was being sick, then asking him to fight whilst he was almost asleep, the amount of times I had to explain to him he was ill was unreal.....

Gossip Haven't really got any advice on bedtimes. We are being lucky at the moment when it comes to dd's bed time (she is nearly 3 ).
Our routine is something like this:
Bath (Not every night though)
Get pyjamas on (dry hair if had bath)
Then take up to her bedroom
If she is tired like tonight, she sits in bed and looks at a book then within 15 minutes she could be asleep.
Ds is a different matter all together though.

Gossip I would love to know the winning bedtime routine. Part of ds's current diagnosis is "ongoing sleep problems" (it came in today which was a lovely way to start the day, as you can probably understand).

I do think a definite routine helps. It helps me too at my bedtime. Ours is pyjamas (there may or may not be a bath involved), teeth, story, then reading to themselves or listening to a story or relaxation CD. It more or less works but sometimes they play what we call, "Jack In The Box" where they get up every ten minutes or so and reappear. For success ds also seems to need the promise that I will climb into the bed with him later as well
So, I would welcome anyone with the magic wand (or right spell - nudge, nudge) to get them off to sleep too.

blackcat when DD1 was playing up at mealtimes, I found getting her more involved helped, so now she "helps" me make sandwiches or weigh out pasta etc, even watching the toaster until it goes POP! seems to help!

It was her birthday yesterday so have been busy with that. Next is stuff for the party on Sunday. Need to speak to the soft play place we're hiring [lazy] today to check exactly what they will provide. And go pick up prescription & make apt at Drs, and do meal plan/shopping list, and make dinner I can't see much cleaning getting done here today!

Oh Happy Birthday littlebessie - what did you give her for her Birthday?

My netbook sold for £50 I'm happy, still really looking forward to my date, and im still getting lots of attention, I think more attention from him than the ex, how strange, but loving it all the same, particularly the morning gorgeous texts i get every morning .... squeak!!!

This morning I have to do :

• get dressed

-make beds -2 min table in hall -5 min lounge -15 min declutter my shoes

• kellys mission

-laundry -swish and swipe -Zone bathroom and kids room -shine sink

we got her a bike (the one she was riding last week was hired). Had all the GP round for lunch yesterday - it's the first time I've cooked for 7 people, thank god for the slow cooker! i prepped up some spag bol (DD1's favourite meal) the night before & just switched it on in the morning!

must go, need to get meal plan done while I'm feeding dd2!

We hired a balance bike for ds before we bought the pedal bike he has now. It saved us an absolute fortune and also stopped us buying a different bike which would have been too big for him and a dreadful mistake.

I hope she has great fun on it - and you can save it for dd2 when she outgrows it - Yay!

I regularly cook for 10 nowadays and I find it really stressful. The dcs and I are the only veggies in the family, although the rest are very tolerant of veggie food. My dniece is tricky though and I often have to cook something different for her. I know you shouldn't but it saves a scene at a family meal.

I make things like my lentil hot pot, the goulash, lasagne etc. It is not inspired but everyone is happy.

Gossip your new love interest sounds very exciting. I am excited for you.

There are 2 men in my life that I know would pounce if given the chance. One is married which is a bit and the other is stuck in his teens really. I love them both dearly but I don't have romantic feelings for either.

It is lovely though when you feel the same way and can revel in the attention.

So far I have:

Washed and dressed to shoes.
Tidied worktops and loaded dishwasher.
Got dcs to pick up their toys.
Hoovered.
Packed up ebay parcels.
Put a wash on.
Prepared for the afternoon out.

Gossip well done on the ebay sale.

I need to look at your blog again carrots, I'm having to cook for 5 every monday now & need some more ideas! I made lasagne in the slow cooker a few weeks ago, it was yummy & made the house smell delicious!

Hope the date goes well gossip, we will want (almost) all the details later! [nosey] I have no love interest other than DH! We took about 10years to get together as we kept going out with other people!

Tonight's dinner is in the slow cooker, menu for the week is done - now to hang the washing out while DD2's first ever solid meal is warming (sweet potato)

Awww bessie that's like me and my new interest, except its been seven years, and last night he told me he's been interested in me since the moment he met me, and also said that he's chuffed that he's finally pulled the woman of his dreams . I am a tinsy bit excited and he is so very lovely [hgrin].

carrots are you not married then? for some reason I always assumed you were...

ahhhh gossip that is soooooo sweet!

I'm sure carrots has a DH, perhaps she just has a couple of admirers as well!

I promise I'll stop linking to my blog after this, but I just had to show you the cake DH made DD1

Gossip I am very married and intend to stay that way. Dh and I have been together since we were 20, so virtually half my life. The only real threat to our happiness is naangate (takeaway curry incident on Sunday evening). These other admirers have known me longer than dh and make their feelings known every now and again but also know they have no chance. They are great mates but dh is the man

Gossip it sounds very romantic, as does bessie's story.

Whoa! bessie that cake is brilliant. Has dd seen it yet? I take my witchy hat off to your dh and his cake decorating skills [hgrin]

bessie the sweet potato sounds divine. How was it? And what did dd2 make of her first meal?

Hello all,

Hope AngelDog is o.k. She hasn't been on much recently.

I thought you had a dh lol, I.m now very sweaty due to playing on the wii with ds1, trust me to buy just dance 3!!!

Thanks, BlackCat, yes, I'm okay thanks.

I'm just FRUSTRATED that I'm so slow at doing everything and getting nowhere fast on everything.

I'm trying to spend less time on MN to help boost productivity.

My main aim at the moment is to be in bed ready for sleep before 11pm as tiredness is making me really grumpy and shouty with DS. :(

To be fair, he's been pretty grumpy & shouty too. Thankfully his last tooth has just started coming through so the end is in sight. :)

Carrots, nappy selling is... um... slow. No-one's been interested in the ones I've listed, but I did spend some time today taking photos & writing descriptions for some more. When I've done the whole lot I can hopefully list them all together on a few different sites. I want them out!

at the romantic tales

bessie, that cake looks amazing! Do you hire out your DH's cake-making services? :)

it's fab isn't it?! We had the cake yesterday when the grandparents came round for lunch, everyone was very impressed & she enjoyed eating the dinosaur's head

DD2 enjoyed her sweet potato, but had a crappy nap this arvo & has woken up with burps a couple of times this evening, so I think her poor digestive system must be in shock at having to deal with something other than milk!

I really must get my arse in gear and do some bloddy cleaning tomorrow. Got swimming with DD1 in the morning so hopefully that will knacker her out for a nice long nap in the afternoon when I can get something done

AngelDog Glad you are ok.[hsmile]
I know what you mean about getting nowhere fast. I have been like that today!

I like the cake Bessie does he do a lot of cake making?

Anyway I'm off to bed now as I feel cold sitting here.
Bye for now.

Angel if you can keep the nappies out there on the selling sites without incurring a huge cost, sooner or later someone is going to pop up and buy them. As soon as I sell something I fill the box with something else so, although it is decluttering elsewhere, it means we have a big box of stuff moving from room to room all the time so I sympathise with your desire to just get them out.

Dh is now officially on holiday for about 2 weeks. Yay!

That said, although it should improve our productivity I suspect it will lead to squalour. I will need everyone to nag me keep me on track please.

blackcat it is the third cake he has EVER made. The first was a trial run carrot cake for the second which was Peppa Pig, and now the dinosaur. He's one of those really annoying people who turns out to be actually quite good at everything! I do hope the girls take after him in that respect!

Wow bessie I wish my dh was good at everything!

I am determined to TRY to get more done today So if you see me on here a lot after 10.00am please give me a boot.(This excludes 30 minute Coffee breaks)[hwink]