Chatting and (Baby) Stepping, (Baby) Stepping and Chatting.

[Scout19075]

A place to have a chat, drink and relax from Stepping (or not). All chatters are welcome, Stepping or otherwise.

Come on in and enjoy the company!

Ds is not too keen on the getting ready for bed idea tonight. I don't have a lot of coaxing left in me. It is so tempting to leave him to eat banana muffins until he is sick.

I totally "get" the eat it out of the pot idea Scout. I served the shop bought pizza on the chopping board

I should go wash up.

I should go to bed.

I should clean like a mad woman.

Instead I'm sitting on my @$$.

I have done what feels like a million jobs today Scout and things don't look much better so I would sit there a while longer if I were you

I'm hoping to go to YOUT tomorrow morning. Feel like I should do something tonight to earn my trip.

Well, I've washed up. Now I'm eating popcorn, just started Superstar (we record it to forward through the commercials) and in a few minutes I'm going to get the diaper bag from the car and top it up.

Hello. I've just got back from buying a 4yo friend a birthday present. Can't stay online much tonight as I have a stinking eye/headache. DH is watching the golf so I think I should make the most of it & go to bed early.

Glad to see you back zoo - I wondered where you had got to. Surely your lot can't get any more lurgies now?!

bessie I hope you feel better quick and that tomorrow is a good day.

I have been learning to make Shamballa bracelets tonight. I don't think I will be selling them to the stars but hopefully it is an option for a commission I have from a male friend. I was a bit stumped.

I have also taught myself to make stripey spiral ropes which expands my repertoire usefully.

Ds just got up. I suspect he was thinking it was the middle of the night and he could get up without us knowing. Wish me luck

Morning all!
Bessie i hope you are feeling better.
Cats i hope you are having a more relaxed morning.
I have an announcement to make. I slept from 12.30 until 7 unaided. Yay!
Dh is now on hols for a week. This is good in theory but could go either way in reality. He tends to sleep late which makes him grumpy and be totally intolerant of kids playing and having friends round. I prefer him being off when they are at school but he definitely needs a break from work and definitely needs to reconnect with his children.
Eeeeeek!

Glad you had a good sleep carrots - could you just run away & leave DH & the DC to it?

adora I think you are right about being overtired. DD2 keeps waking in the night & although I don't usually have to go in to see her, it is still disrupting my sleep. The girls have just gone down for their nap, so I am too!

thanks for the chocolate and sympathies

hoping ds antibiotics kick in shortly and he gets off my lap!!!!!

i had to do school run today-15/20mins each way,pushing ds in buggy.i was huffing and puffing like a broken winded donkey when got back

maybe im still not as powered up as i thought!

i took it at a dawdle when returned for little zoo-her last day at nursery

they all came out with bag.in it were sweets,color book and crayons,3 new potatoes from their allotment plotand some bubbles..she had used them all before we got home as we took40minutes!!!!

off to collect dd2 in a mo then its 7 weeks without the routine or being around people

i shall have force some sociallizing or we may all go a bit more barmy!

bessie at the idea of running away.

Dh took ds to the driving range this morning while we were out but has since been watching golf on tv.

I am making the most of playdates to interact at least at the beginning and the end of them for some adult company zoo. A lot of people around here vanish for the holidays so a large portion of my friends are away. I am clinging, in what is probably and annoying and overwhelming fashion, to the ones who are here.

I have spent the morning with dd and her loan pony. It is quite hard to feel he is HER pony so far but I presume it will come. It's exhausting. It takes about 3 hours to bring them in, groom them, ride them, feed them and put them back in the field. Hopefully I will build up some stamina and be more relaxed doing it the more I do.

Dd also has a riding lesson this evening so it is all about ponies today.

Toddler and I went to YOUT today. I went to the park-n-ride instead of driving all the way in as parking is so stupidly expensive in YOUT and I didn't want to watch-watch. I realized it was the first time TS was on a bus (I'm not sure the shuttle buses at Heathrow count) and so he thought it was just a great adventure, especially sitting on the top at the front on the return journey. He was an absolute superstar and even took a nap (30-45 minutes) in his stroller -- lovely for me because it meant I could look at the toy section completely (not just what he wanted to look at) and go through the breakables areas without fear.

I bought him me a new Little Red Train book as I'm about to go nuts reading the same two we have over and over and over and over and over without pause. I also got a Steam Railway magazine for my boys to read together. I did splurge and buy something for myself (a rarity lately).

Unfortunately Toddler saw the train set I put in the shopping basket and saw it go into the boot. It's not for him but for one of his cousins besides, he has the set already thanks to a kind friend who gave it to him when I gave her baby clothes. He kept asking about it on the way into the house and I lied and said "oh, it's already inside Toddler." He understands presents, sort of, but his boy cousins are 3 (10 months older than Toddler) and 6 so, to a degree, have very similar presents/toys tastes so he doesn't quite get that some things aren't for him. I try not to get cousins' presents in front of him but this was too good a deal to pass up. I'm just hoping Toddler doesn't notice his cousins opening presents on Christmas day -- we're giving the boy cousins wooden railways since they don't seem to have any and love Love LOVE Toddler's. (However, they are NOT getting Brio from us since it's just too expensive to buy for other people's children when we have our own son to buy Santa and Mom & Dad presents for.)

Just curious, to see if I'm a bit mean/tight or doing okay -- if you buy Christmas presents for other family members, especially the children of the family, what sort of budget do you have for them?

Scout our budget varies enormously depending upon many factors so that is an unanswerable question really.

My rule with budgets is that I spend an amount that doesn't damage the finances and doesn't make the recipient feel they have to increase what they give. If they have given to us previously I judge a little by that, but keeping it within what we can afford.

If my budget for someone was £10 say and I saw what I was planning to get reduced to £6 then I wouldn't buy more or if I did I would tell them that the item had been reduced or they would feel they had to increase what they spent on us.

Does any of that make sense?

I spend quite a lot on my nieces but I only have one brother and two nieces so it doesn't get out of hand. If I had more I would have to reduce it slightly. We both reduced it when it went from one child to two children ie same budget but split between them. I agreed this with my brother so there were no awkward moments on Christmas day.

Help required.

Our neighbour's daughter, here from Thailand for the summer, aged 9, has just explained to my ds, aged 7, what a ladyboy is.

I had to ask dh, privately, to clarify what a ladyboy is for me

He hasn't mentioned it since and seemed a bit baffled. What do I do if it comes up? I have always told him a careful version of the truth about such things but didn't expect this one for another 10 year or so. Let's face it, I am 40 and wasn't sure.

Makes sense, carrots. Before Toddler my SiL had all of the kids in the family (she just had number six in May) and so we did birthday presents and Christmas. I've always, in the back of my mind, tried not to spend more than £20 for one child at one gift giving occasion. I rarely get to £20, though occasionally go over but then tend to be very under that max at the next gift-giving event. Because we buy things throughout the year spending (now for six kids) a max of £120 for Christmas presents for the kids doesn't hurt. I sometimes feel mean, especially seeing what my other two SiL will spend/get for the kids but I just can't see spending more when they have SOO many (and keep popping them out). Family also does small gifts for Boxing Day but, since I married MrScout, we give everyone a book for Boxing Day -- every B.D. since 2005 everyone gets a book. Family "know" this is our thing(though the nieces/nephews probably don't realize). Heck, even Toddler gets a book/books from us and MrScout and I seem to exchange books and/or magazines for B.D., too.

I should say I don't care how many kids they have their life and all of that. However, their actions affect us and the kids don't seem to be allowed to have special things just for them everything has to go into the communal pot of toys/books/clothes so I'm hesitant to spend a lot on one child when I know she (and I do mean she as my nephews seem to have different rules regarding their things/their behavior/etc than my nieces) won't get to keep it.

Scout with six kids in the house i imagine there are plenty toys and games and "stuff" so i dont think i would spend a lot. What you spend sounds very generous to me. I would try hard to ignore what other relatives spend. I have had similar problems though. I do know how awkward it can feel.
I understand the communal pot of toys idea tbh but also think some things should be allowed to belong to one child alone eg a special piece of jewellery or soft toy or anything else sentimental like that.
I know they have very clear views on their parenting but would a communal gift work eg a magazine subscription or national trust membership or similar? I know a magazine doesnt really cover a baby but i think you will know what i mean.

carrots I suggest you look on wikipedia !

Would it be cheaper to buy each of them a small piece of tat token gift & then one present (e.g. a game) for them to share?

We buy for 7 family kids at Xmas, one is our niece who we would spend roughly £20 on, the others are DHs cousins kids & we would spend about £10 on them - obvs if we saw something perfect for them we wouldn't mind spending a bit more.

So how much do you spend on birthday party gifts? I try to not spend much more than £5, but I struggled a bit yesterday buying a gift for a 4yo boy, but that might be partly coz I didn't know what to get!

bessie I don't need to know any more than I already do about them. It's more how to deal with questions from ds that I am concerned about. Eeek!

Unfortunately they're not a "games playing" sort of family though we have given them games in the past (various kids/gifts) and I don't think they've been touched/used much. They already have a N.T. membership and as for magazines, books, etc., if it's not religious it's frowned upon (I ignore it on B.D. but my BiL will look through/down his nose at anything we give the kids, especially books -- as if I'd corrupt a child with a picture book).

I just wanted to make sure feel better I wasn't being overly mean. Like, right now, between my two nephews, I've spent just under £23 and have bought them well over a hundred pieces of track/trains/accessories that was between two different "sets" of track/trains/accessories and they're done for Christmas. Niece3 is about £10 for an American Girl outfit for her doll (the girls were easy when they all got A.G. stuff but now just Niece3 is "into" it and loves it so she's sorted for birthdays and Christmas for another year or two (no, it's not all purchased but we know what to get)). Neice4 (the newest one, who will be about six months old at Christmas) is getting a homemade doll like her three sisters received a few years ago (Mom offered to make it so I didn't have to worry about finding something and she won't take money for it since she's using left over fabrics so that's a free gift!).

The only friend presents "Toddler buys for" is his BFF. I try to stick to the £5-£10 for her but last year got her birthday and Christmas presents in the US so I don't know the exact sterling price. Again, my Mom made one of those soft dolls for Toddler and for his BFF last year so it was another "free" gift (BFF received it for her birthday, which is in November, usually when we're in the States). If it was a nursery party I'd say £5. If it's a good friend/best friend party I'd be more inclined to £5-£10. Toddler always "signs" the card or makes a picture.

Sorry, I know it's a bit early for some to talk Christmas but I'm trying to wrap my brain around birthday gifts for the rest of the year and, sad as it seems, sorting out some Christmas stuff.

I usually start about now too Scout so I am not shocked. It sounds like you have a lot of it sorted out.

Your gifts sounds fantastic too. I don't think you need to feel bad or mean in any way, shape or form.

I am doing a craft fair early December so I am preparing for that already. I may not sell a thing but I want to build up a stock.

la-la-la-la - am REFUSING to think about xmas until after I have had a SUMMER!