December locals chat

[mellow2]

New thread as the other one is not going to last long.

I'm back to the usual name. But, feeling a bit bored with it. Maybe I'll change is again. Any suggestions?

What do you mean MN is rest? And all this time when I sit at my desk typing away on very important threads, and I tought it counted as work.

good morning all

paddle the family day sounds nice

KC I have the 'no cry sleep solution' book if you want to borrow to have a look, there is a website of same name which you can check with book extracts etc. I know what you mean about fitting schedules, it is frustrating, likewise finding some mummy quiet unwind time. many tears and frustrations, mainly from me.
the book helped me understand some cues and adapt 'routines' to suit us both.

would like to take advantage of the nice sunny weather and go for a walk, dh does not seem interested, let's see.

LOL Ele - actually I used to like your name previous to your current one, though I cannot remember what it was!

prior not previous

Morning all. No advice with regards to sleep kew, tbh I seemed to have winged it with both dd and ds. We have gone thrpugh good patches and bad. ATM it is bad with ds but that is because we moved him into a bed the night before christmas eve (what were we thinking!) As a result he has gone all nocturnal on us roaming the house, climbing into dd's bed and waking her. He also tried to fish out her goldfish. End result was he wasn't settling until gone 11pm resulting in overtired cranky child during the day DH fitted a stairgate across his door a couple of nights ago. This means at least he can't leave the room so seems to give up and go to sleep earlier, and if he wakes in the night he doesn't go wandering.

Tis a beautiful sunny day here, we are of to buy bicycles for dh, myself and dd (for her birthday on Tuesday, dh's birthday and my christmas present, ds got his a couple of weekd ago for his birthday) so we will be the family that cycles . Think we need a seat for ds as he isn't really safe enough to do it on his own other than round the block.

dh is off shopping with dc's - for my birthday present! So am on a manic clearing up session along with mn-ing. dh's has arranged to take me away next weekend somewhere as a surprise and has even booked Monday off work from my boss. All I know is the place we're going to has a spa so lots of relaxation.

Foxie - sorry to hear about last night - it was a really cold night - could that have kept him awake? Sorry missed your questions about the lodger - how did it go? We were out shopping in Oxford Circus for a granduation outfit for mil. You are right about the moral ground of evicting a child as well.

KC - thanks for sorting out 2cute membership - must get mine done and then I can see more of everyone. I had 5 years of no sleep with dd2 (sorry not what you want to hear) and read every book going but nothing worked. Even now she hates sleeping on her own. Have you tried a radio on quite low so that ds can hear it - it worked well for my ds and he can sleep for England.

Right back to my bombsite house....

hello everyone
how you all diddling?
lovely, sunny day.

kew, i've written countless features on sleep, but never followed one word of advice! i also have the no cry sleep sleep solution book somwhere which i meant to read at the height of dd's crap sleep habits - but was too tired to read it

the main thing that helps is knowing these things are all a phase...maybe a quick early evening swim if you get really despearte. that worked tirig out dd for bedtime at one point.

and thankyou for sorting 2cute's pass

paddle, glad you had a nice family day. can just imagine dd in mini footie scarf in full voice!

sfx...tell dh not to be scared of hitting 40...best decade of your life. (mind you, i'll be saying that about 50s...60s when i hit them..)

foxie..glad to hear youi got a bit of retail therapy in! are the dcs back at school tomorrow? mine aren't back until tuesday as got 'insect" day.
not relishing getting back to the school run and 'reality." roll on half-term...
toodlepip

MrsR...spa weekend!
but for you..

Hello all

Back from Wales yesterday late afternoon then went to friend's b'day in Richmond which was a really fun night out.

Your book swap sounds more my thing. I was referring to link Ros posted which said you had to read a book/mth, sounded very serious

The Fran Lyon situation makes me It is reported that there were 25% cases of mental illness reported in UK last yr and it's a growing problem. There just doesn't seem to be enough support or understanding for such cases. Mrs R glad you managed to overcome it and are now a stronger person for it. BTW enjoy spa

Paddle - glad you & DD enjoyed family day out so much, hope it is start of more positive relationship for you all

Foxie - LOL at 'mini-beast'. Hope you're feeling better now

Kew - thanks for sorting out 2Cute's pass. Re: sleeping DS also not needing a nap everyday. I put him in cot for 1hr, if he doesn't sleep well at least he's had a rest & some quiet time. Sometimes he is really tired but not tired enough to drop off so I talk him for a walk and the motion means he falls asleep in pushchair - would your DS do that? when DS doesn't have a nap he makes up the extra sleep at night though, for eg he didn't nap all yesterday but slept 7pm-9am. I guess it will all settle over next few mths...

welcomwe back, SJ

ye gods, ds slleps 7pm-9am?! th`at's fantastic. i'd be calling in the paramedics in panic if any of my lot slept like that. wish they would, though...

have just had a lovely roast dinner and now hiding as it's time for the, deep breath, board games..
one of the many things i love in theory (such a cosy, family thing to do. who needs TV when you've got scrabble?)

in reality...ds1 gets ridiculously over-excited, ds2 cheats and goes off in a strop if he doesn't win (which isn't often due to the cheating), dd throws everything all over the place and dh and i sigh a lot...
toodlepip

LOL at quality family time steppie, no such thing in our house as yet

Hi SJ welcome back, have to say dd sleeps but she does wake up once or twice most nights although she immediately goes back to sleep or comes to our bed and sleeps

mrsR enjoy your birthday break

earlier dd broke the magic wand dh made for her this Christmas, she went to him to fix it but he fobbed her off with

• let's put it on top of this shelf and see if the magic fairies fix it over night

dd - no get your drillLOL

I did say it would be a waste of time telling her about Father Christmas and all that

okay, can we stop talking about sleep now? you have jinxed my child!

for the first time ever ever ever, dd has not had a nap today. the result is an unholy terror who is driving me nuts!

being cooped up all day in the hosue with the sds's hasn't helped. h has just finished clearing out the old place adn delivered a bunch of stuff i left which was very decent of him.

he also cleared the dark and dangerous land of the rotting shed and tipped a load of stuff.

i am quite grateful but would've traded places if i'm honest!

the sds's are 9 and 10yrs old and have squabbled over a 2yr olds' toys all day! dd hasn't had a look in.

they spent the first half of a movie telling her to move and be quiet. then just at nap time they decided to play fight, yell and fling themselves around (thus no nap!).

other nice activities have been opening the windows in the lounge - very clever in a 2nd floor flat and a toddler about, and putting nappy bags on your head.

ye gods, is this normally dimwit behaviour for this age or this gender?

to be fair, it has probably been a pretty boring day for them and dd has enjoyed their company. she doesn't understand the meany element to them hiding her teddies etc! they are quite nice kids too but i just hadn't anticipated sitting for them all day today.

on the up, the old house is ready for checkout and h has done a lot of hard work and has pulled his weight finally.

MrsR - very of your consideretae DH and the birthday treat

Paddle - sounds like typical behaviour for small wild animals boys. DH took DS1 out today, to worship at the feet of the Argos god.

Glad your H is actually being helpful (AT LAST!!!)

SJ glad you have had a nice time in Wales

Steppy - I share your attitude towards Bored games!!

Well girls, look as though we have a majority for the Friday Grrls night out. Sushi are you sure you can't do the Friday? It would be nice to have you there!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/4136/443820?stamp=080106135408

I have half repainted the master bedroom today and am going to give it a makeover as I have decided its too dingy.

Saw the Mum lodger (she had a very tasty boyfriend BTW ). Very nice but I'll be surprised if she takes it. Not sure why, but just feel it in my waters. I need to let it pronto and she doesn't want to move until Feb

Steppy - mine are back at school tomorow

Funnily enough Steppy I am looking forward to the school run etc (PE/ballet/book and nursery bags packed and by the door, breakfast things all laid out ready, clothes laid out, kids bathed and in bed).

Actually in truth I am looking forward to some time to myself, getting the house back in order and cleaned and a return to some sort of routine. I find that when we have to be up dressed and out the house in the morning the rest of the day is so much more productive. If we have nowhere to go for a set time we faff around and at the end of the day seem to have achieved very little.

Hi all, seem to have had a busy weekend hence no MN!

Kew, thanks for sorting out 2cute's Kew card. Need to get my own done though!

Does anyone fancy meeting up next week?

Need to start trying to get ds back into his routine so he hopefully gives up his current Balamory obsession!

sj, welcome back from wales btw!

kew, good work on kew!

well, tomorrow is my first week back full time but will be around friday arvo as that's my compressed hours time off.

mind you, boss still hasn't approved this!

i too am a bit organised. dd back at CM tomorrow and i have packed a new set of 2nd clothes etc and will be grabbing a shower shortly so i can get up n go in teh morning.

never ever thought i'd be able to leave the house in the morning without a shower!

have also managed to do a little work this eve - dd was sparko by 6:45pm and i cannot remember the last time that happened!

Paddle - did your employer follow the guidance?

www.dti.gov.uk/employment/workandfamilies/flexible-working/fw-guidance/index.html

If not, sue their asses!! (said in litigious American accent)

ooh, thanks foxie!

well, it's all been a bit off hand really. we haven't had a meeting.

back in august we discussed me coming back full time.

had a brief chat abuot it in november at our conference. boss's position is "don't mind what you do as long as you perform".

had a re-think about doing a standard 9-5 thing when i realised how much extra time i put in on a WFH day etc.

subb'd the work options form mid-dec but have heard nothing back from anyone yet!

well - DS not in bed any earlier despite no formal nap (mind you two 30 min naps in the car which counts I guess). Howver have changed routine quite dramatically (prior to buying and reading sleep book) and though no earlier (actually probably 15 mins earlier) certianly less stressful.

I decided he was going through a phase of difficulty separating (he has done this before when I thought about it). So we had an early bath then into PJ's to play downstairs for a while, milk and lots books downstairs after playing. Then upstairs for some more books then long cuddle in his room until almost asleep then in cot - took ages but seemed to work. Funnily enough MrsR I had decided to put a radio in his room tonight so he has it on heart FM very quietly.

it's a bit of a perfomrmance but at least I got some housework done whilst he was playing and I don;t feel so tense. Think I will stick with this for a few days and see if I can shorten it slightly - would be perfectly happy for him to be in cot by 8.30 so only need to bring it 30 mins earlier.

Can;t beleive I'm boring you all with DS's sleep patterns - never thought I would see the day!

evening chaps...

lol @ bored games, foxie. that's what i call them, too! actually, after putting dd to bed, ds1, ds2, myself, dh and MIL played the electronic Dr who board/bored game i bought DH for christmas

it was a laugh, tbh, and...
a) yes, ds2 won
b) yes, he cheated

they thought they were being so racy - staying up 'late' to play a borad game while eating popcorn. we know how to live it up in the steppie household, i tell you...

COV, know what you mean - doing the school run does get you 'started" but i hate routine..except the routine of having my nightly glass of vino, of course!

Paddle...hope your compressed (always sounds so painful)
hours goes well. what time will you finish fridays then?

right, off to watch little miss sunshine. bought the DVD ages ago but haven't watched it yet. but a thread on how fab it is has inspired me...
toodlepip

kew
ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

hey, just recount his revised bedtime routine to ds and he'll be snoring away in no time

Footnote; in the unlikely event you don't realise...or are suffering an uncharacteristic humour bypass due to aforementuoned stress of getting ds to sleep......
i'm joshing

it makes you so tense doesn;t it, when they won't just GO TO SLEEP. i feel resentful i'm not getting MY TIME.
sounds like you're getting there, though..

Took me 2 hrs to get mini beast to sleep then dropped christmas tree and it woke him up

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh

...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Mini beast woke me at 4am this morning, then spent the next 2 hours knawing on my right nip until alarm went off

...dreamt about having sore nips

< thinks back wistfully to the days when he only woke every 2 hrs for a feed then went peacefully back to sleep>

good morning all

sorry about the gnawing mini beast induced lack of sleep - ouch, dd never fed lying down ever.

paddle good luck with work, I thought you needed a written contract with stipulated hrs (so that they can exploit you with never paid overtime)

steppie I have terrible memories of board games etc my father was something like Enfield competitive dad the loser!

Ros - dd likes Balamory too, personally I find it quite soothing and I miss Tikkabilla

I know I should book dd on some classes but I really hate all that

we will visit the nursery tomorrow morning, haven't yet registered apparently there is a fee for that.

I set the alarm for 7 to go for a jog but it was so dark still I went back to sleep, now feeling like I really should have gone, let's hope dd fancies a long walk