Where the Deer and the Antelope Play - Living in the USA (visitors welcome)

[SuperBunny]

East Coast
MaNanny - Boston
Twinmommytobe - Boston
MuminCT - CT
Greatgooglymoogly - NY State
Yesthereare4ofthem - NY State
Brooklynmom - NYC
alarkaspree - NYC
MKG - New Jersey
Mummimamma - PA
Poetmum - PA
Twirl - MD

South
Earlybird - TN
jabberwocky - AR
Sunchowder - Florida
Marls001 - Bentonville, AR
Tinpot - NC
MadameDeathStare- AL

Midwest
SuperBunny- Chicago
Dodgykeeper - Dayton, OH
Chocchipcookie - Ohio
MonkeyLover
KickAssAngel - Ann Arbor, MI

Rockies
Alipiggie - Boulder, CO
Ribena

Northwest
AnnieLaurie - Seattle, WA
Dooneygirl - Oregon City, OR

California
SittingBull - nr San Francisco
Califrau - Milpitas
loopsngeorge - Brentwood, LA
Syd - Manhattan Beach, LA
SofiaAmes - LA
LATyke - Redondo Beach

Texas
Texan - Dallas
Tiggyhop - Houston
Vixie78 - Houston
BananaPudding - Austin
Cosmicdust - East Texas

Canada
Hellish - Ottawa
Shouldlistenedtomymum - Hamilton
Nooka - BC
Jacksmama - Langley

Exotic Islands
Anorak - Bermuda
cp - Trinidad
Barefeete - BVI

Brazil
Albert

I think most children ask questions which can lead to discussions about all sorts of things, should you be open to it. Otherwise I don't think there is anything wrong with telling them things from time to time, when you think it relates to something relevant. For example natural history programmes are always good for triggering conversations, dogs in the park or animals on a farm, or pregnant friends or new babies, or jut snuggly times when your child likes to hear stories of how they came to be in the world. You don't need to go into any great detail, just set the picture for later on, and make sure that your child is confident to come to you when they are wondering about things.

the one time dd asked soemthing specific, was straight after swimming, when she was exhausted & late for bed, so we hedged. if the timing was better, i'd be willing to talk more. i was quite surprised at how old my dnieces were before they had 'the talk'.
dd knows you have to be a grown up before you can have babies, as the inside of your body is still growing. i think i may try finding a good book with pictures, and keep it ready, it's so hard to describe everything anyway. she's seen pics of babies in the womb etc.
problem is, with her, we then get into ivf etc, which is even more complicated, specially as there's no know reason for me & dh not having babies - perfectly normal, both of us, should be no problems

sb - my last house was SO english, parts dating back to early 1800s, double bay fronted with roses round the front door. honestly, i should have taken some pics for my profile. you would think that i'd join the WI living in a house like that.

Ds1 was asking some questions a month or so ago. I managed to skirt the issue a bit to give myself some more thinking time. I mean, he's only 5.6...

As someone with a 5.6 year old also, I totally agree with your sentiments, jabber. I think I forgot our two were so close in age.

Hey, Bunny. Would you please be so kind as to share with me how long you baked the lemon drizzle cupcakes? I've got an idea, but want to make sure I'm right. Thank you ever so much.

dd also 5.6. bless them all

we just met one of our nearish neighbours whilst at dance class.(lives in the same sub) we both viewed each other's houses (they have also just moved in), have the same family name, and our daughters are one week apart in age, both at the same school. we're planning a play date soon. Hurrah!! and cos they're new in town (but from this area) they also don't know loads of people & the little girl wants a friend. yeah!! i nominate dd as her new best friend.

i am actually quite cheered by how settled we seem to be after only 4 months in this country.

HOWEVER, dd has brought home a sponsorship form. any ideas on what is an 'acceptable' amount for her to take in. there's no point getting sponsors from the uk, and we don't know people here well enough. she won't even understand about it properly, so i thought we'd just 'donate' is $20 ok, or just plain mean?

Oh, you mean those "Sponsor me to walk a 1/4 mile for ..." type things? Ds1 has brought home loads of those and I am of the same mind re: $20. I mean, we are in the mother of all recessions atm...

PS Congrats on the new friend!

(I have had some wine tonight and my concentration skills are somewhat dulled )

so long as your enjoyment skills have been enhanced.
yeah, it's a readathon. there's a prize for the class that raises the most money. the prize is a pizza party. dd hates pizza. there goes my motivation.
the money is for the school, i'd rather buy them a book for the library (am secretly planning to introduce the gruffalo to US culture)

Dunno, Dooney. About 20 mins or so, I think.

Congrats on new friend, Kickass

No idea about sponsoring but I am with you on the Gruffalo plan

I worked in the children's section of a bookshop long long ago. It was bliss

I am so enjoying reading picture books - the Snail and The Whale, Room on a Broom, Dogger etc. It's fabulous.

You have all remembered that it is pancake day tomorrow, haven't you? No Jif Lemon, so we'll have to use a real one. Cali's going to boast about homegrown ones, aren't you?

I love the Snail and The Whale! I think it is by far the best of her books, and one of the few I can read again and again quite happily.

Ah, but you have to order the Gruffalo from amazon canada to get the original phrases.

do the americans have pancake day? we're really busy this pm, dd had swimming from 5.30 to 6, then i pick up the babysitter on the way home, and i am going to see a chick flick. i have 10 mins between getting home & needing to leave the house again. cannot get ready before we go as i have to practically get in the shower with dd to wash her hair after.

cali, i was going to suggest you do reading in school, then you said you didn't like working with kids. the schools here get parents in at lunch times, to sit in a quiet room and read out stories. i think some of the littlies find it quite soothing in the middle of the school day. that way we could all start reading julia donaldson & take over the world!! (must remember to contact her publishers, see if we can claim some money formarketing)

We have the British Gruffalo - I didn't think about American ones being different. I hate it when they do that. I read the US version of Giraffes can't Dance the other day and, although only a couple of phrases are different, it felt like the whole book had been changed.

Pancake race at Spittalfields sounds great fun. We did some Mardi Gras dancing at music this morning and will have pancakes for supper.

DH's aunt got Colin Skippyjon. It came with a Skippyjon doll, and not only does he love the book, he won't go to bed without the doll.

I hope you all don't think I'm odd, but my friends and I share info like this all the time. If you have a Kohl's by you, they're clearing out a bunch of stuff. (At least I think it is nationwide. One of my friends in a different state went and said they're doing the same thing.) I went there today, spent $78 and got a winter coat for next year for Colin, 11 long-sleeved shirts for him for next year, 1 pair of dress pants and 1 pair of khakis for him, 2 shirts for Caitlin, and a pair of shorts for her. Almost all the stuff for Colin was their Ralph Lauren Chaps brand, which we've found to be pretty good quality and hold up really well. Everything was 90% off, except for the coat, which was only $12 for a thick winter coat. Like I said, hope you don't think I'm odd, but everyone can do with saving money.

Thanks for tip re Kohls. Mine is miles away but DS has grown out of everything and there is no money for anything new. My lovley friend just gave a us a bag of bits and bobs so maybe I can just bulk that out with a trip to Kohls. Sounds like lots of good deals.

Are they closing down? I noticed this weekend several Barnes & Nobles had gone and Pier 1 too - my sister says The Pier has closed in the UK too.

Not that I know of. I bought a bunch of stuff last year at 80% discount, so I don't think so. Most of their stuff wasn't that much off, but for some reason, ours had an abundance of discounted clothes this time. This is a really good time of year to go shopping for heavily discounted cold-weather clothes, anyway.

I did even better at a local store. They're remodeling, so they're blowing everything out, because the entire store is torn up, and they have no room for anything. I spent about the same amount and I don't even know how much I got Caitlin there. It ended up being 5 bags worth of clothes. I still am not feeling great, and was going to stay home today, but my friend told me, and I'm on a shopping high right now.

i haven't seen any julia donaldson books over here at all, i've looked in bookshops, and two libraries, no sign of them, so don't think there is an maerican version.

a trip to kohl's this week for me, i think. does anyone know a good place to get a REALLY good winter coat for me. i'm a US size 16, and want something so warm that even when it's about 0F, I can stand at the bust stop for half hour without the inside of my face freezing up. i'm willing to spend up to $200. i just don't know whcih shops sell 'proper' winter coats, not just ones that look nice. i need something that is like wrapping a 15 tog duvet round you, and i just don't think that coats form kohls/supermarkets would be that good, unless you can tell me otherwise.

I'd be looking for North Face or Columbia or something like that for proper outdoorsy cold-weather coats, Kickass. I just don't think cheap ones are made for a Midwest winter. That said, my 40 pound Uniqlo coat that I got 7 years ago is just as warm as my Columbia ski jacket and was a fraction of the cost. Also, Lands' End might be worth a look, or Spyder/ Cloudveil but I think they'll be out of your price range. Kohls used to sell Columbia but I don't know how good they were. DO you have an REI or Erewhon near you?

Did you all watch the Speech tonight? I keep waiting for Obama to go wrong but he was as impressive as he's always been, imo.

Um, I wish I could help. I own about 12 coats, but exactly none of them are very good at keeping the cold out. Actually they're not good at all for keeping the cold out. Do you have a sport/sporting goods store or something along that like that would carry Columbia Sportswear or North Face stuff maybe?