So when the UK sleeps, we know you other MNers are out there part II

[tadjennyp]

I was looking for thumbwitch's recipe for that cake and found the old thread has disappeared so Linzer and I thought we'd resurrect it!

Hi everyone and welcome technokitten. I love the south island - I spent a very happy 9 months in NZ more than 10 years ago, 6 months of it in Auckland and then travelling all over. I WILL go back some day but not with small dc's.

Sarice - if you get the Spanish version of Discovery Kids, you CAN comment on Miss Sunnypatch as I am pretty sure it's on that (although it's called something else in Spanish). Is this your first child? In which case you probably haven't yet explored children's tv channels...It's amazing what you discover when you have children, I had never even walked down the nappy etc aisle at Saiinsbury's until dd1 was born. Mind you, I can start ignoring it again now that dd2 is 3 and dry at night. It feels wierd, that and Mothercare are no longer a part of my life!

I will have a look at the kids channels and see what I can find. Im only really aware of In the Night Garden and it freaks me out a little!

It is the first child and I feel a bit like a rabbit in the headlights. I know I have to go and buy things but I really dont know where to start. Im sure I will find my way to the Nappy aisle at some point! Just having to do it all in spanish somehow makes it all a little more daunting.

Ive always wanted to go to NZ it just looks and sounds wonderful. Dont suppose I will be doing that for a few years yet!

Sarice - when are you due (apologies if you have already said this)? And are you having the baby in Colombia? I got pregnant with my first while we were living in Jamaica but it was not recommended to have the baby there so I came home. I had scans there and in Miami.

Oh and I hate In The Night Garden, it's very tedious. But you won't need to worry about children's telly for a while - oh the days of sitting in front of adult TV (ok, crap, daytime TV but still, not Ben and Holly or Peppa Pig or bloody Dora the Explorer) while I breastfed dd1....

DD2 is obsessed with Peppa Pig, but at least they've all grown out of In the Night Garden now - it is a little creepy. I miss the hours I used to spend reading while I bf DD1; I would go to the library every few weeks and get out 20+ books at a time.

Sarice You'll probably be surprised at how quickly you pick everything up. DH tends to use (US) English terms for baby things (baby wipes, onesie, etc.), even when he's speaking German, as he picked them all up when DD1 was born and didn't know the German equivalents at the time.

Frakk We flew from Birmingham as it's about the only place we can get to on the train from Aber and it's a very easy journey now that the train goes through to Bham International. Easy if you don't end up having to get on a replacement bus/train, that is, which seems to happen on about one journey in four. Luckily, it only happened on the way back from London when we hardly had any luggage and no DC with us; it would have been a bit of a nightmare on the journey back to Austria, when we had getting on for 100 kg of luggagge.

Im due on June 10th. I will be having little one here as the health care is just amazing. I think its very similar to the American system.

I love Miami, we aren't that far away really and will be heading over there soon to do most of the baby shopping as it is just pointless trying to get everything here. Its either overpriced or non existent.

Where is everyone in the world? Im sure you have all gone through this before, Im just nosy!

I hated ITNG when I first saw it, then got used to it because DS liked it, but he grew out of it very fast thankfully. Mind you I hated the Wotwots at first too and I quite like them now!
Can't STAND Peppa pig though - she's just appeared again over here after not having seen her for nearly 1.5 years - gah! DS of course loves it (typical). Like he loved Waybuloo the minute he saw that - which is infinitely more creepy than ITNG, if you ask me!! Those things had such creepy faces, ugh!

dd had no interest at all in tv til 2.5, so i just decided that she could watch half an hour when i got back from work, and i'd get dinner ready. i have a very sketchy knowledge of children's tv. here, we just watch dvds, i'm sure when she's a teen she'll accuse me of having deprived her, but i just can't stand all the american adverts - if we do watch tv, we record it then skip the ads, even for live sports events. usually we catch up about half an hour before the end of a game.

Because we gave up on cable we only have PBS children's shows (we're in Oregon Sarice) so no adverts. We do still have lots of region 2 children's DVDs like Peppa Pig and Thomas which we watch on our PC. Peppa is so funny and each episode is only 5 mins which is plenty long enough imo!

BHX is a nice little airport, though I liked Cardiff too. Now I tend to fly from LHR or MAN which are much bigger and therefore pretty grim!

Just typed a huge post and had it eaten by the browser!

ITNG is one of those programmes I never saw the point of - not quite sure what the boys got out of watching it (although I got 20 mins peace and quiet!) and really haven't missed it since we've been here. We don't have terrestrial TV (it's rubbish) or Sky (every time we talk about Sky we end up deciding it's not worth the monthly subscription) so the boys are stuck with the DVDs we brought with us - mostly Thomas, Bob and a scattering of Mickey / Peppa to break the monotony. And lots of movies! Every now and again I get a craving for Mythbusters and I imagine we'll end up getting Sky eventually - if only for the boys to join in the "Did you watch XYZ last night?" at school. Or because if we don't have access to the rugby next year people will think we are really aliens.

I have never heard of the Wotwots! or Waybuloo - I would probably dislike them with names like that :) though I did love the Hoobs. Hoobledoobledo!

Cold much better, even the youngest (who had us in ED for a few hours with a temp of over 40) seems to be on the mend. And yes, when it's not Christmas I do love the long summer evenings, watching the sunset over the mountains and the bay is spectactular.

The difficult thing about living here (aside from family miles away) is that I'm such a couch potato! Once I'm home for work and boys are in bed all I want to do is veg out, have a glass of wine (if not on call) and watch TV. Everyone else seems to be running, kayaking, sailing, climbing, triathlon-ing... feeling somewhat of a pansy :) have signed up to the couch to 5k idea in an attempt to fit in (and I could use getting fitter) so we'll see how it goes....

Waybuloo is very creepy! I had a charge who used to do the baby yoga stuff though and the cuteness more than makes up for it.

I'm going to try to ban kids TV. Will end up failing miserably though... Would also kill for Sky. Canal+ kust isn't the same.

for you, Technokitten - I assume you'll be able to see it, but maybe not! It's a NZ programme, ya know! I won't inflict Waybuloo on you...

I was very uppity at first about programmes that didn't involve "real speech" (thank GOD the Teletubbies had died a death) but realised that Derek Jacobi narrated ITNG rather well and I could bear it in small doses; and the Wotwots play in a Zoo in NZ, so see lots of real animals and have a proper human voice to talk to, like in ITNG.

Waybuloo is more like Teletubbies with its own brand of bollocks-speak - and annoys me far more. When DS is trying to learn to say 'butterfly', I don't need some stupid tv prog telling him it's called something completely bollocksy different!

Queensland is slowly being inundated :( - so glad I'm not up there and so :( for everyone who is.

To think I have all this to look forward to. My brain in turning to mush as it is without having to watch these strange kids shows.

I did used to watch the Hoobs when I got up early for work. They were pretty good!

Oh, your brain only turns to mush if you have it on all day. That's usually only a problem if you have a second and are spending lots of time feeding and therefore less able to occupy the older one. With the first dc you can be really selective and choose the stuff you think are ok!

I was once teaching an Indian woman English in her own home where the only language spoken was I believe Panjabi, but not sure now. Her little boy (about a year) could say hello to me, purely from watching the tellytubbies. Somehow, what he heard translated into a proper word when he said it. I was quite impressed really.

Oh just lost my reply!

Anyway, I was trying to remember what I watched on TV when I was small and I can only remember Playschool and I used to like Bod and Mr Ben. I cant remember them being particularly "educational" though.
Maybe things were different in the dark ages!

Playschool was quite educational and Mr Ben used to have different adventures as different people! That's broadly educational in my book!

I think Mr Ben was my favourite. According to my mother I used to believe that Bod was real and was my friend.

we were allowed one tv programme when we got in from school. my mother liked blue peter, so that was pretty much what we watched, even though i mainly think it was boring.

mind you the ones about the 'huge knockers' on some cathedral door had my mum laughing so much she fell off her chair.

Bring and Buy sales, Christmas Appeals! The innocent days! Were you allowed to watch Neighbours afterwards? Just a few mins after that ended it was 6pm and we were allowed to use the phone as it was cheaper then!

I remember entering a competition on Blue Peter for Charles and Dianas wedding where you had to design a plate for the wedding on a paper plate and send it in. I didnt win!

I always remember being able to use the phone after 6 too! How funny. My Nan always used to call at 6 on the dot.

I think im showing my age now.

Oh, I remember only being allowed to phone after 6 too - I was told off very sternly once when I dared to phone a friend in the afternoon!

I also remember being very disappointed when Petra (one of the Blue Peter dogs - definitely showing my age here too) died as I wrote in for a photo and they only had black-and-white ones left. I think I was more upset about that than her actual death!

I sent in a drawing of Charles and Diana's wedding to Buckingham Palace and got a letter back thanking me! Also, when they landed back at RAF Lossiemouth after their honeymoon in Egypt, my Dad was in the honour guard and they posed for a photograph right in front of us. What a beautiful, tall woman she was!

How exciting must that have been.

Did anyone get a blue peter badge?

no blue peter badge here.

i'm too old for neighbours to have been on - it became big when i was at college. anyway, we were only allowed one tv programme, so i wouldn't have been allowed that.

i can remember the thrill when finally i was deemed old enough to eat dinner in the lounge, in front of the tv, as a fri night treat, so i could watch top of the pops!! i think i was 16 before that happened.

i quickly moved on to 'the tube' and HEARD the live trailer when jools holland swore.

i so heart jools, even now.

Saw Jools Holland live once at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. He was on stage with Eric Clapton at the end of the Tsunami relief gig and they were amazing!