Secret Garden

[BriansMum]

Hope this works, a shiny new thread girls - come on in .

I actually did the same Stitching - which is why I knew straight away when you mentioned the google plus thread.

Mudwiggle, good to have you back and I see you're now on G+ too. I think all of us are on there or at least have had the invite now? I'm quite liking the circles, particularly the ability to share photos with people in certain circles.

Am of your sunny hols Gaston - raining here AGAIN. I've just sent a long email to a friend who's heading off to the gite we stayed in (I got a nice bottle of fizz for the recommendation ) about places to visit etc so I'm longing for all things sunny and French. I can't believe it, but I think we might go back to where we stayed for a third time in a year or two. I'm turning into my mother - she always staying in places she's been before.

How are the early mornings going LG? Do you have one of those special sleep training type clocks. I was looking at some the other day online after my DB had mentioned great success when he introduced to DN, but all the ones I saw seemed very £££££ for a clock!

Random question for you all - DS's nappy has been dry at night for ages so we've finally taken the plunge and stopped using nappies at night. Is it usual for boys to wear pants under pj's at night? He wears the same pj's for a few nights in a row if that makes a difference.

We've got one of these Leo and it works a treat with our two - most of the time!

DS1 always wears pants under his pjs - we've tried to persuade him not too but he insists!

Haha we have wondered the same about pants too. DS is wearing pants at night. We don't know the answer.

Not good news from hedgehog - tumour in her bowel. Biopsy results tomorrow to see if it is malignant or not she has been blogging about it and it's just horrible.

Stitching - it finally came to me that the mw i saw at Alice holt was the irritating one that I had had upon arrival in the delivery suite with DS2 who said "you have to be monitored continuously because you're a vbac and that's part of the deal". What deal ffs? she then wittered to the new mw at shift change for 20 mins in front of me about sleeping in nurses accommodation that night. At the time I was trying very hard to be chilled and do the hypnobirthing stuff, and I was internally thinking - sod off and talk about this outside!

We have the same clock as stitching. It has worked, but only once we realised we needed to use bribery or punishments in conjunction with it. I too was at the price so I bought second hand on eBay. It only saved me a fiver but I guessed it could be resold for the same if it didn't help. That logic is how I have justified all my baby purchases that I was unsure of the need for e.g electric dual breast pump.

On a larger scale we have dropped our asking price by £25k today. The agent reckoned it was overpriced based upon the viewings which I was initially a bit about, but then I realised it was a trade off between hopefully getting moved in time for primary school apps in January, or holding out for someone to come along who really wanted it. Fingers crossed it helps. Apparently the Market is falling and set to continue this year. I don't like the idea of chasing a falling Market. Classic estate agent bullshit when discussing this: "and of course the Greek economy won't help the value of your house, but I wouldn't want to bore you with the details". We both said afterwards that we were sorely tempted to ask him to explain but resisted the urge to put him on the spot

That's horrendous news LG - and with such young kids too . Fingers crossed it's not malignant, or if it is they have caught it in time to cure her. What an awful time for her and her family.

Re your MW, if you'd worked out who she was on the day would you have said anything to her ! I remember you telling me about her - what a PITA.

Sorry to hear about the house but I had to ROFL at the idea of your estate agent being able to explain the impact of the Greek economy on the UK housing market - bet he thought he was sounding really knowledgeable but actually he probably just sounded like a twunt .

Thanks for the clock recommendations - I was looking at the one Stitching and LG linked to because it was the cheapest I'd seen so good to know that you'd both recommend it. Ridiculously expensive for what they are though aren't they? But then, that's common with baby/toddler stuff isn't it?

I'm sorry if I'm being ignorantly insensitive but can I ask who Hedgehog is? Is that someone from our old MN home or one of your friends LG? An awful situation nontheless. I always find hearing about situations like this much more upsetting since having DS.

Anyone been watching much news today? I love a good news drama but haven't seen anything yet apart from the odd snatches on twitter and fb. I've never seen the need for a second tv anywhere in the house, but we can never turn it on to watch something we want to watch when DS is around so I maybe need to reconsider....

Thanks again for feedback on house decor if I haven't said thank you already. Good to know that I was thinking along the right lines. I hope the cut in price helps get things moving for you LG. £25K seems such a lot, but I guess it's all relative to house value/market etc. My DB had his place on for a year but was very resistant to dropping price but thankfully they've just sold. I have no idea why they didn't drop the price - they have a massive amount of equity after doing very well on the sale of their last place which they bought cheap in an area where house prices soared due to a new bypass and sold when the market was at it's height. They've got a reputation in the family for being a bit tight though . SIL was doing gruelling two hour commute (each way) and not seeing DN some days for 18 months.

On the pants - glad to know that others are doing the same! Who knows what the right answer is!

Hedgehog was on our original MN thread right back when our eldest kids were born. She dropped off the radar around the time her 2nd child was born (from what I remember she had a boy called Isaac first time round and then a girl?). She was quite earnest - bf/cloth nappies/co-sleeping/sling/BLW - and wasn't she the one that had a fall out with Essie for making some sarcastic comment about purees? (Btw, I'm not being rude about those parenting choices, just saying she was one of those people who made me feel inadequate cos she managed to do it all! ).

Such a sad situation. Hope she got some better news today .

I did manage to watch some news today Leo, and was staggered by the "fragile old man" act that Murdoch turned on for the cameras. What a joke! Can't believe so many in the media appeared to have fallen for it either .

Not great news i'm afraid. The biopsy was inconclusive so she is having an op thurs or Friday. I think she is back in hospital as she is in so much pain. Dd is Imogen. She's still on my FB. Stitching - yes she was into all that stuff but had also had a nervous breakdown in 2007, so didn't find it as easy as it may have seemed and was probably compensating to some extent.

Did anyone watch "the hour" tonight. Disappointing compared to madmen, but worth watching another one.

Poor thing . I hope she has lots of RL support to look after her kids and her dh is able to be with her. So tough on all of them.

Forgot about The Hour - is it BBC? If so, I'll try and catch it on iplayer. Feeling crap today and making the most of my last two childfree days at home before the boys finish with the CM .

Awful news re hedgehog - thanks for reminder as must say I can only dimly remember her (and may have got her confused with someone else). Must say the earnestness of some past me by prob as I was so far down the other extreme (ff puree) to be helped. Made a mistake of looking St bf thread - was put off... Think will try but no way am I going to make myself as ill and unhappy as I did before if doesn't work.

Re Murdoch the thing that bothers me is I doubt these sharp practices stop with news international so if of com investigated should be industry wide. Quite what that protestor bloke thought he would achieve (or what was going on with security) I dont know...

Laguerta hope price drop works - fingers crossed fir you.

Stitching- enjoy your days and hope you feel bit better. Maybe some knitting to cheer you up?intrigued re your reviews of the hour- not seen anything that makes me want to watch it.

Sorry re typos

Such a shame re HH. I don't think she's on my fb. I hope she comes through it.

I missed The Hour too, will try the iplayer.

I agree Gaston that such practices are probably in evident elsewhere.

Hope you feel better soon Stitching.

I'm currently watching Loose Women - I badly need a job !

I'm not ill, just have a stinking cold (man flu ) but I hate colds and I hate the feeling of constant dehydration so just feeling sorry for myself. Hedghog's news rather puts my pathetic whinges into perspective though .

I've been in all morning being a proper little housewife (even blitzed the ironing!). Partly stuck in cos our driveway is being finished today [pathetically excited emoticon]. Our driveway was a concrete mess with lethal cobblestones right on the path so we were desperate to get rid of it. It's being block-paved, which I'm not a big fan of but you don't get much choice nowadays! Anyway, they've nearly finished so think I will get out for a walk in half an hour or so.

Gaston, completely agree that the other red tops must be involved in this crap too, but I'm amazed that nothing has come out yet so either we're wrong or they're much better at covering their tracks than NI!

Btw, Deb appears to be back on FB - anyone any objections to inviting her to the Secret Garden?

Oh, and Gaston, I'm doing loads of knitting . Just finished an elephant for a friend's newborn and now doing another sheep tea cosy - it's a sanity saver for me right now!

Been meaning to suggest asking Deb for a few weeks. Go ahead as far as I am concerned.

The hour is on BBC. So many better US boxsets I would watch first. Just finishing the Wire - one episode left.

Night all

No problem with inviting Deb!

Fine by me re deb too

Leo - France is sorely missed here. Prob as much as the UK. Mainly for the cuisine though, cheese, meat, wine and bread! I'd say pants under PJ's.

LaGuerta - That is awful news about hedgehog. Hope all turns out ok - looks like op happening in next few hours.

I'm not catching up very well am I? You know the old saying about 'if you want something done, give the job to a busy woman...', well right now I am the complete opposite. I have very little to do, except for looking after the boys obviously and consequently I am getting nothing done whatsoever. It's bloomin freezing here so much time spent in front of the fire. As such, not much to report either. I did chop firewood with a real axe today though. Oh and I received a birthday party invite for 10 months time! When I'll be back in the UK [cheers].

Sweet as re: Deb here too - picking up the lingo.

Hedgehogs husband is reporting the surgery went as well as expected - I think that's good news?

Thank you for the invite, I'm really glad you asked me, I wondered what had happened, so I need all the news and a link via FB about who is who!!

Well our news is that we still haven't found a house, nearly got one but the mad woman selling it decided she didn't like us, didn't want us to change her house and didn't want 3 boys disturbing her wildlife garden, so she wouldn't let us view it again, wouldn't accept an offer from us and 3 days later it was sold.So we're back to square one, when I have more time I'll link to the current contenders.
Also I am working again, supply teaching, finally got all the paperwork through and got 3.5 days in the last few weeks so that's a start. Really enjoyed being back in school and not just Mum.
Stefan leaves Primary school tomorrow, Tristan is more settled and moves classes in September, and Ethan starts Nursery at Tristan's school.
My focus at the moment has to be potty training, I think Ethan must be the last one, we have tried it a few times and it has been a disaster so just got to do it now, tips greatly appreciated the other 2 didn't seem to be this difficult.

Looking forward to hearing all the news, one of you(Stitching?) told me that someone else in here is PG, which is fantastic news, and I can congratulate you properly when I've worked out everyone. Also LaGuerta, I think you sent me a message about meeting up, I'm not ignoring you, just sorting out the holiday and I'm gutted that we won't be here, we'll be in Norfolk.

Hi deb and welcome- sorry about house (you do get some mad people selling them). But good news re teaching.

Re potty training sure you aren't last as friend In rl not trained her dd yet . Had few days of sitting in then e got it (mainly thanks to nanny). Still some way off being dry at night.

Oh and it is me who is expecting (used to be poppy).

Mud wiggle in the land of nice food...e has been enjoying kebab flavour crisis ...

Crisps rather

Welcome to the Secret Garden Deb! I'm the one from Edinburgh who pretends to study a lot . Although have just found out that I marginally failed my exam . Am going to explore possibility of appeal as I had a painful back injury at the time which had a big impact on my revision. On a cheerier note, I'm being promoted at work though so not all bad. I might end up managing someone who is qualified though, while I'm not which feels a bit strange.

Sorry to hear about the house Deb - there are some very odd people out there.

On potty training - DS has just stopped nappies at night. My only real tip would be that it's only easy when they're ready. I do know a couple that aren't yet potty trained in RL too though. When we potty trained DS we stayed at home for a few days. First day or two was a disaster - hardly ever used the potty and lots of wees everywhere. By day 3 he'd cracked it though. Still had accidents for a while after that, and in fact, very occasionally still has now. They're usually related to failing to 'tuck himself in' properly when sitting on the loo. Has anyone with boys progressed to standing up? DS is interested but says he's not ready for it yet. He's got a wee friend who stands up so he is quite curious about it.

Have to get back to work, will come and catch up on any other posts later!

hi all

Gastonladybird, I am so pleased for you, how manyh weeks? kebab crisis made me smile, i was disappointed it was only crisps you were talking about.

Leo, thought it was you, what a bugger about your exams but great about your promotion.

Glad to hear that Ethan is not the last , had to laugh at ds's "wee friend", I assume that's just a small friend not just afriend that he wees with!!!

Boys home now for 6 weeks, not much planned apart from a quick 2 days in London with the 2 big boys minus Ethan. It's a surprise as they've never been to london. Doing it on the cheap(family room in travelodge) so any tips for free stuff please send my way.