Living In America ..You say Goodbye, I say Hello, ...

[kickassangel]

New Thread.

are you staying at your sister's sb? (nosey)

I'm shamefully wasting timing lurking on the 'mouldies' threads!! to me, it's all just make believe, not rl, but some people seem to take it all so seriously! glad i never met a mner in rl when things like this happen. to me, this is pretty much like reading a paper/book, i know you're not part of rl (or at least, my rl) so i don't get emotionally involved.

It is all rather surreal. It is funny to skim through them, because all the mouldie threads are so alike, that they're pretty much interchangeable for one another. I'm glad the MNers I've actually met are nice and very sensible.

DH's aunt just left after being here a few days. I already miss her. She's a great help with everything, and the kids absolutely love her. The kids are doing swimming lessons right now. It has been super hot the past almost week, and looks to continue for the next week, so glad for the a/c most of all, and happy to have been invited to several water-themed events.

ALL this week, it's sunny, iwth clouds & a chance of thunderstorms. So just like england in the summer, but a bit warmer.

I missed the whole mouldies thing as we had just moved & didn't have internet for a while. it just seems like, if you have a problem with something on gere, then just don't go on the htread. it's like peole who say they disapprove/hate something on tv, but have watched it all the way through. there's an 'off' button, y'know.

Hello all

I am making a rare appearance tonight!!

6 months of baby waking twice in the night, just introduced formula. Doesn't seem to be making any difference. I am Mrs Tired (resisitng more Sleepless in Seattle jokes)

Went to UK for a month. Big mistake. Won't go for that long again....

Nice to be back but it is too hot, too, too hot. Can't wait for that Seattle rain again.

So, when does the new series of Grey's Anatomy start anyway [AL slinks off to look it up online as she is the American thread killer, nobody is around when I am]

Hope you are all well and all hacking coughs have gone.

Hello. Welcome back. Sorry you're having such a difficult time with the baby. Did being back in the UK make you wish you still lived there, or were you glad to get back to the USA?

We're going to London for 3 weeks at the end of July. Getting very excited, though putting together our schedule to see friends is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together! How will I make it all fit??

Also, am a bit amazed at all the Swine Flu hysteria in the UK (and here on Mnet), when it seems to have faded into the background here in America. We're much more concerned with Michael Jackson, Bernanke/economic meltdown, etc.

Was lovely to be back (Edinburgh!!) and also exhausting (London!)

I love my life over here being back in the uk made me realise that, it is just the family thing for me. Defnintely want to go back in a couple of years, maybe 3 max, to spend more time with the (Edinburgh!!) Grandparents. and a little time with the (London) grandparents too...if any of that makes sense at all.

Beware the jigsaw of friends. We definitely did too much, learnt a lot of lessons. Will keep things much more simple next time and stay in one place more rather then ferrying the poor DC from place to place.

apparently swine flu is much wider spread in theuk than here. i don't lesten to any news, just rely on mn to keep me up to date! just can't bear us news programmes & only catch headlines if i'm in the car.

nice to see you both. not sure why i'm up (on eastern time) just can't get to sleep.

AL - i'm under the impression that the US is more into bf than the uk, it just seems totally normal & accepted, just not a deal at all. i sit the same where you are?

Yes, the friends jigsaw. Last year we visited at the start of July, and did too much. This year looking equally busy (if not more so), as many friends are out of London and are kindly inviting us to come join them. So far, we've got options of Warwickshire, France, and Hayling Island (which is somewhere on the south coast - anyone know if that is a nightmare to travel to from London?).

All are nice possibilities, but think will make things too hectic and exhausting. But it's a real dilemma, as of course we want to see our friends! Guess that is the problem with going during their summer hols!

On another subject completely - do you read English newspapers online? Or check BBC News and Sky News websites regularly? Or (really sad, I am) check London live webcams to 'see' what sort of day it is there?

Errr...no, most certainly dont check London webcam. After 7 yrs in London, I practically sprinted out and up to Edinburgh. Hmm, have to say am now going to go and google live webcams in Edinburgh!!

Kickass - i have piggybacked onto a sort of 'nct group' here, have to say everyone is obsessed with breastfeeding and pumping, pumping, pumping. From my experience, views are the same here and back home, very pro-breast feeding, and a little guilt about introducing formula too early.

Right, must go to bed, am sure DS2 is going to wake up earlier than usual in this heat...

night

don't read any newspapers, online or in rl, us or uk!

Hello everyone - sorry if this is a daft question:

Is it's ok to Breastfeed my 2 month old baby in public? I mean in cafe/restaurants etc...

I know this sounds daft (never been to America before! - except NY) - but Americans seem prudish about Breasts.

My family & I are moving to California in the Autumn (DH job transfer) - all a bit sudden and unexpected! We're going next week to look at the area, schools (for older DC), houses etc.. will almost certainly need to feed baby. Will the Americans be alright with that - or expect me to do it in private????

It really isn't a daft question. We ARE very prudish about breasts. I found as long as you are discreet about it and cover the baby with a light blanket or such, it is okay. That didn't work out so much for me having a baby in summer where it was over 100 degrees most of the time.

Hi AL, sorry about the baby. DD was up between 4-9 times a night the first year, and didn't bother sleeping through the night until around 3. Major sympathies.

Depends on the area/ state. Some states have good laws re BFing in public but I was still shouted at by a security guard as a sat in a corner of a cafe BFing DS. You could see NOTHING and the other customers said they just thought I was holding a sleeping baby until the Security man made a scene. I wrote and complained to the city people and they apologised and assured me that the guard had been dealt with. I think, generally, most people are fine with it. And, if not, they don't say anything. Babies need to be fed. I never used a blanket because it always looks far more obvious to me. And DS would not have stood for a blanket over his head. Why should he?

(Sigh) I just loved the joys of BFing in rural America. You can tote your guns, but not your boobs.

Isn't it strange?

I have a question about something I never understood. In the UK, people use the hand brake when you park a car. In the US, no-one did. I once asked why and got a vague answer but IS there a reason they don't get used? Or is it just midwesterners who don't use them?

I don't if I'm somewhere flat, oh say like pretty much the entirety of the Midwest. Or a parking lot. Or my garage. However if I'm on any sort of a slope, I use them.

ok, round here, breast feeding is fine in public, but EVERYONE has a 'cover up cloth' - they have specially made ones that clip round mum's neck & cover the baby, so I would think that some kind of scarf to drape over you would be fine, if you want to be on the safe side.

sb, automatics have a 'transmission' which hold a car steady when in neutral. technically, the parking brake should always be used, and MUST be used on a hill.

Yeah. Listen to the newly licensed driver. She knows what she's talking about.

hmm, is that a touch of sarcasm there?

Hey redflipflops, whereabouts in CA are you heading? I'm in California and your right to breastfeed here is protected by law - and check this proclamation from Schwarzenegger: here. I breastfeed everywhere and have never even seen a raised eyebrow. Although they all call it 'nursing'

Gawd, I use it SB. But I live on a mountain!

No, no sarcasm at all. I meant you knew all that stuff because you have just had to study a bunch. It has been (mumble) years since I've had to study anything about driving. That and I don't have a clue how to drive a stick. Holy crap, it has been 21 years since I've looked at a manual. How depressing is that?

ha ha, dooney, yes you're right. my 'knowledge' is gleaned from the fact that the booklet i had to ingest said you should always use a parking brake whenever you leave the vehicle, and not assume that the transmission will hold it.

i know no more than that. but, yes, i people i know in sanfran ALWAYS used the parking brake & could get fined if their wheels were pointing the wrong way when they parked.

the first time i drove in the uk, i couldn't work our why the car wouldn't go, then i had a little look around & realised that the hand brake was on! blimey, who'd have thought.

Oh dear, your posts have made me think about my breastfeeding here in Seattle.

Looking back at some recent situations, I think some of my new american friends might privately be a little shocked or put off by my, um, how shall I phrase it.'al fresco' (??!) style. I dont really use a muslin (never have one to hand/clean one). Was given a 'hooter hider' by DH's old boss - thought it was an apron for baking apple pies . Didn't help it was loud, nasty coloured seventies swirl pattern type thing, thought the whole point is to make you more invisible and discreet.

Oh dear, need to now ponder whether I should bring this up with aforementioned new american gal pals and ask if have been offending them with flashes of my boobs....