TTT.....

[AtLongLast]

OTT / self-indulgent I know, but Toddler Twin Tantrums..... aaargh! Just as well they're so cute too. Ds2 was v funny today wiggling his bum singing uh, uh Bobby' in response to me dancing round the kitchen to Bobby's girl'...

Been to church this morning

Will pop back later to chat properly.

Kate brilliant news about Emme, so happy for you all x

Lol lavita !!

We are at mil's for a couple of nights as it's a convenient base for visiting my sister and her new baby, and from here we are off for a minibreak just the two of us on Tuesday, for TWO NIGHTS in a lovely hotel quite nearby. I cannot wait, we've only ever had one night 'off' at a time so it'll be a real luxury.

ALL how are all your lot now? We have had D without the V this week, which is infinitely preferable to the other way around, but bad enough!

Hi Cerubina! Hope you managed a lovely dinner out last night and that you have a lovely last couple of weeks maternity leave. Are you going back full time?

Kate I hope the upward curve is continuing with your DD

Church LVB you must be serious about this schools issue. Though to be fair, although not religious, I quite like church services. The calmness of it, the music and singing, the hour without children . Like cerubina, can I ask what has instigated the school hunting already? Am I being really slow, or is it not ages away?

Auntie [tarti] how were the newborn cuddles?

cerubina, good to hear from you. Are you looking forward to going back to work?

Very busy weekend here. J's speech and hearing on Friday went quite well. (for those of you who don't know J was born with a cleft palate) He still failed his hearing test (he's only ever passed one) but only just this time. His speech, what they could tell is fine, no problems with p or d which is the sounds that require the palate. They are a bit worried though at his lack of words. He is quite far behind where he should be, so he has to go back in March for a babble group.

Whilst DH was at the hospital with J, the nursery school phoned to ask me to pick up H as she had been sick. Copiously all over the stairs outside the classroom. She was fine before nursery and spent the afternoon jumping on the bed so I thought it was a one off. Unfortunately, despite being pretty much ok all weekend, she has just vomed up her dinner. Great.

Other weekend highlights and lowlights include a puncture, witnessing a car accident (both drivers walked away but they were VERY lucky) having a police lady at the house this morning trying to take my statement, whilst the cat vomed in front of her, DH and my 5 year wedding annivesary, a meal out and too many cocktails, a hangover, DH roofing the vennel at the side of our house so we can store our bikes (only taken about 5 years!). And both boys have dreadful colds. Am shattered now so am off to bed.

I'm v slow Cerubina.... I think I assumed you were here already . All the threads must've merged together in my head !

Haha Lavita, where's [the saint] smiley when you need it? Like Chesti, I like churches / services too tho I'm pretty far from being religious.

How's the new family Tarti? Is dn still being a sleepy newborn? Sounds like you have some lovely plans for half term!

Lottie - where are you? I guess you're probably still in the midst of some tough decisions.

Chesti... blimey.... well, can't say you're not keeping yourself busy! Sounds like a productive appt for J. Sort of assumed they might just do the `develop at different rates' line so it's great that you've got the babble gp (fab name!) for him next month. Hoping he's just taking it all in & it'll all pop out one day in an eloquent sentence.

We thought we were over the illness here but ds1 had a very special nappy surprise when we took him out of his highchair today (aargh... more time off nursery!). God knows why he wasn't making a fuss... squelched out of top of nappy, over the chair (but, bizarrely, no smell??) etc etc etc... then another in the bath. He seems totally fine in himself though. Dd had a couple of interesting nappies today too & has been off colour. Unfortunately this was all after we'd been swimming assuming they were OK after being symptom-free for 48hrs...

Talking of which. New lifeguard on duty today & he tackled us about child/adult ratio. Apparently it's meant to be 1:1 for under 4s. He was nice enough about it (although don't think he believed we have absolutely no-one locally who can be the 3rd adult needed). A female lifeguard came to compliment me on our lovely family talk to me later & I mentioned it was a shame we'd not be able to go again & she said he wouldn't have meant that. Except he did. Clearly said the receptionist shouldn't have let us in but since we were already there we could stay this time. So she came up with lots of convoluted options about swimming each in turn with 2 out of water. I think keeping bored toddlers occupied around water while 2 siblings have 20mins each with Dad in the water is far more risky than us both swimming with all 3 for 30mins or so but hey ho, what do I know. So not sure what we're going to do now. Dp is usually a total stickler for rules ....

I feel like I've done the proverbial ten rounds with Tyson. Decision made - we're pulling out. So tired, and off to bed. Phone calls to be made tomorrow. Back soon to update with cheerier and less self-indulgent news.

LVB - church! Whatever next!

lottie big hugs, hope you slept ok. I truely believe things happen for a reason, it will all work out for the best, now we can obsess over renovating you old house. My plan when we win the lottery is to do a side extension on our kitchen and knock down an internal wall in our hall to open up our house. we can start discussing builders, curtains etc

I think partly my obsessing over schools is because I'm not going back to work so I need something to occupy myself but also because we live in SW London. The bad schools are just awful, and the Catholic school is massively oversubscribed, small classes and does siblings first, so f we don't want to pay privately our only option is to move or become regular churchgoers. I want to send the girls to nursery a couple of mornings a week though from next Jan when they'll be 26 months so we'll start them in the private nursery that links to the private school I like, but god private education will be soooo expensive if we go down that route

To be honest I was pleasantly surprised, the church was absolutely packed, 10am is family mass, and there were so many children there. I quite enjoyed the service, they had live music, and communion wine was sherry

Chesti great news about J, how is H today? there always seems to be some illness going, round V's temp was 38 last night but F seems fine. ALL how are your boys and Cora?

Kate are you on Facebook? I really want to see your DD's, pm me your name and I'll find you . However I'm not allowed to put any photo's on FB which is highly annoying.

Cerubina good to hear from you, don't worry they'll be toddling before you know it. I just wish we weren't having the tantrums, tears and squealling that are commonplace at the moment.

Apologies for my punctuation and grammar. I can't get used to this bloody IPad

Just rushing in to report that the Pils and DH are driving me MAD. I have had several childish tantrums and sulks they are just so infuriating and seem to bring out the absolute worst in DH - he reverts to silent teenager mode which drives me insane.

Anyway, hope everyone else's week got off to a better start!

ALL - so annoying about the swimming. I'd be tempted to chance it again and hope the staff are different and more understanding, seeing as you've been before and it's been fine... bit nerve wracking though.

Lottie decision made at least, now you can settle and plan calmly!

Agree about illness. This was the worst time of year for us last year by far - just as you start to think it's nearly spring and we're out of the woods it all hits. Not long now until things start to brighten up

ALL, and at lifeguard. At my parents local pool they are very strict on the one to one ratio, apart from 9-11am on Saturday mornings when they have extra lifeguards on. You could ask them if they could run something similar? The other two options depending on how energised you feel about it all would be to a. just take your business elsewhere or b. kick up a massive stink, complaining to council & local papers, say you are discriminated against, get TAMBA involved. I always vow I will do b. in the wrath following something similar, but end up doing a.

LL glad you have come to a decision. Hope you feel better about it all now

We went into our local church last year as they had an open day & there was such a lovely friendly welcome that I could have been tempted to go just for the sense of belonging Lavita.Glad you enjoyed it - signing up might not just benefit educationally in the long term!

Thanks Chesti. I was almost tempted to do an `AIBU' but reckon most would say I am. Thing is I don't blame them really & I think most people would agree with the policy if they haven't done it successfully. The pool is a council one and v underused - the whole reason we go there as our most local pool is mad busy. There's a big general pool which might have 20 people max and the learner pool that we use. Prob 10x5m? & we're often the only ones using it. The lady lifeguard was saying the policy needed to protect those at the busier pools / those without child pools but they could be a bit more lax there. So, policy or no? We should be able to sign a waiver to say we take full responsibility for our children & won't sue them if anything happens. We're lucky in that there's ~15 pools in the city so we could try each in turn. I was looking at our neighbouring council's site earlier. Couldn't find their admission policy but they are getting rid of their lifeguards for most swim sessions!

Quiet in here! tarti how was the mini break? Did it go well after the inauspicious start? How was it, being away for longer than ever before? Part of me would love a couple of nights off, but part of me would really fret.

chesti did the vomming turn into anything more or was it isolated? I hope so. Sounds like some good news from J's appointment, and positive that they have a plan to get to the bottom of the vocab issue. Did they say much about the impact of being a twin as far as you know? Supposedly that can be quite influential on speech, like if one twin takes the dominant role and speaks for the pair of them.

LL it must have been gut wrenching to have to make the phone call to agents and I hope it wasn't too dreadful. What's the position with your house - is it tenant-free and indeed are you living in it now? Anything much needing doing? Once the dust has settled I'm sure you will feel much happier having made the decision and getting used to being in the UK again. You can start obsessing over researching schools now that TW School for Girls is out of the running..! Sure LVB can give you some tips

ALL I would definitely advise against putting anything in AIBU unless you have a really thick skin or are a masochist... Annoying to have your swimming fun put in doubt - any decision on whether to try again in the hope of more lax relaxed staff? I hope the D&V has departed at last.

Kate yes, it's lovely having a pigeon pair. I think I am the only one of us here who hasn't got 2 the same, which seems like surprising odds. I get a lot of comments along the lines of "well done/you don't need to have any more now" etc but perhaps that is just twins in general! I bet you get some outrageous comments from strangers having 5 girls don't you?

I'll be going back to work 4 days a week, and one of those is at home. I reckon that will be about right in terms of earning a crust, still having some stay-at-homeness and being able to get the job done. I just need to get a lot bit more efficient at seeing tasks through from start to finish and do a lot less gratuitous surfing. I have total confidence they'll be really well looked after and it is nice to think that they won't be thrust into it all alone but have each other there to hold onto. Bit unsure about how I will feel, part of me expects I'll be tripping along with a smile on my face as I rejoin the adult world but I do think it'll be v v hard to leave them and not have them with me all the time.

The night out last weekend was a success - easy money for the babysitter and we had a good night with friends. Doing it again this Friday, such is our confidence!

Woo hoo Cerubina `tis v quiet. Everyone is obviously off doing far more exciting things than me.....

Work does sound like a good plan. I love doing only 3 days but could manage another if it was at home & in a `no endless hours of prep for no money' type job. I found leaving the boys OK (except on their first settling in session.... I cried then) to begin with but ds2 did take longer to settle so it got harder a couple of weeks in when it looked like he never would settle. Of course, he did, and it's fine now. I found it weird to think they were having this whole extra stuff/experiences in their lives that I wouldn't know about & felt a bit jealous of nursery . Not that I'm a control freak or anything ....

D&V appears to be done though I did have to collect ds1 from nursery on Wed cos of a non-descript viral rash that appeared on his tummy . & I escaped that bug but was hit with a fluey thing which resulted in the most horrendous headache. I thought my brain was going to explode & still have aching eyeballs if I move them too fast. Rather that than D&V though. My mat leave will be over / dd mobile before I manage to get anything useful done with my free afternoons at this rate.

I've been looking into pools run by our neighbouring councils & at least 2 have a `1 adult:2 under 4s must be in armbands' policy so at least we have the option of going there. Lucky to have so many pools locally I suppose, but a bit stupid that we'll have to cancel our membership that gives us access to one 5min walk from us. Going to email the local council anyway but don't expect anything...

I'm quiet as the 38 degree temp that V had on Sunday they both have had for days, nasty virus going round. F was 40.8 at one point last night quickly went down by being stripped ff and some baby nurofen. Illness is just tough I' m still up at ths hour drying my hair, as I doubt I'll ave the opportunity for a shower tomorrow

Centreparcs question I need something to look forward to, those of you who've been, where did you put the cots? Was there room to put 2 in the twin room, or did you have them in your room

Hope everyone else is well

LL Hope you are ok

Cake and hugs to all of you who are ill or have poorly DCs. DH has a bad headache/migraine which has been with him on and off for over a week now ALL so I wonder if it's a similar thing to yours... He is in bed now while I ignore M whinging for the dummy she flung out of her cot 20 mins ago - am trialling a new hardline approach after reading the now somewhat infamous French children don't throw food ... anyone else read it? I started off thinking it was great but by the end was less convinced. Some interesting stuff though about their different approach to parental authority and about various underlying cultural differences.
It has definitely made me think more about believing in my own 'in-charge-ness' and explaining rules and the reasons behind them a bit more, and giving them a chance to choose to comply and really expecting that they will, rather than accepting that I will have to spend all mealtime repeatedly putting M back in her highchair as she attempts to make a break for freedom across the table, or whatever.
(Have just read that back and it all sounds bleeding obvious but the book puts it all much more thoroughly and was convincing!)

Cerubina we did have a lovely two night break thanks despite blazing row over dinner one night - hotel was delightful and I didn't really miss the girls tbh, although I was ready to be reunited after 48hrs! They do ADORE the pils... when we got back I asked whether they had been upset at all or asked for us and the answer was no but that is a good thing as it means we could do it again without qualms. Would have to take out a second mortgage though - got a bit carried away with treats, room service, champagne, spa treatments etc etc... think we were trying to cram in two years' worth of leisure activities
Back to reality with a bump now as I try to ignore the mountain of planning to do for the next half term...

Lavita I hope your gorgeous girls are on the mend? 40.8 is scary stuff, poor you. Am watching out for the answer to your CP question: I've started to think about same.

You ok Lottie?

H is still ill here so I have also been lacking MN time. Not sure if it is a continuation of the vomiting of last weekend, or whether it is a new illness. It all merges into one sometimes! The old lady in Boots today who helpfully quipped Oooh you have your hands full (original - no one ever says that to me ) got the reply that it's fine as long as none of them are ill. Which about sums it up. Hope the rest of you who are suffering are getting through it and the kids are well soon.

Re centreparcs , the first time we were there with just H, we had a 2 bed lodge and she was in the other room in the cot they provided (which comes flat pack! - cue the first argument of the holiday - you have been warned. And they don't provide bedding for it) and it fitted ok in the 2nd bedroom. The other times we have been we have been in 3 bedroom 2 storey lodges. These have a huge upstairs landing where we put the cots. (their one and our travel one). The only drawback is that the landing is open to the sitting room, its a sort of balcony. Our boys would sleep through a rave so not a problem for us but might be for others. The bedrooms are a bit tight though in general, so you might have to stack the twin beds one on top of the other, or move the bedside tables out and shift the beds or something to fit two cots in with any sort of floor space.

We are off to Whinfell forest a week on Monday. I just have the small matter of a 5 mile run that I signed up for next weekend to get through first. Training has gone to pot due to all the kids illnesses. Am off to help my training by quaffing some wine - well it is Friday!

Hello girls. So sorry to hear about all the illness. It's anecdotal evidence but I think it's proof that us leading a hermetically sealed life means we are (for once!) devoid of it. No nursery for us at the mo >>> no illness!

Thanks for all the concern, and forgive me again for any self-obsessiveness. What a tough time this feels like it's been. We're currently living back in our house, on a skeleton kit of furniture and kitchen stuff left by our tenants. Bowed out of the house deal on Monday morning (:( :( :( - although I know it's the right decision). In fact I only realised this afternoon that our complex and heart-wrenching decision boiled down to two facts - to continue with the purchase of the new house meant a downside of us feeling disappointed at having not gone ahead. To continue with the purchase would have meant a downside of us feeling anxious about the commute and the extra financial commitment. And I realised that disappointment is much more palatable than anxiety... - the disappointment will fade but the anxiety would have stayed unless we won the lottery.

Anyway. Here we are. I could blather on endlessly, fuelled in no small part by having had 3/4 of a bottle of wine this evening . So glad to be back though - to a land of convenience, of DH being home relatively early and well-rested not having to commute 90 mins each way. To be able to see friends easily and just feel... connected to life :) We are off out tomorrow having signed up to Sitters (anyone else use them - v impressed so far!!) - a freedom which felt so much harder in Switzerland. I even got a mid-week hair cut - my first since July because DH was able to get home from work. I am LOVING being back. And loving being back in our house, our home we bought to have a family in but never quite got around to having while we lived here. So all in all - v good.

One thing before I nod off. I had a Very Upsetting experience in the playground this afternoon. Went there with my lovely girls, who were merrily clambering up the slidey climby thing taking it in turns. Until the local nursery/pre-prep knocked off, at which point suddenly there were a few AWFUL kids there bullying my girls. Other parents nowhere to be seen, and two precocious little shits, prob 3-4 yrs old, blocking the top of the slide saying 'NO GIRLS ALLOWED!" and shooting imaginary guns in their faces. I know I sound ridiculous but my girls are so sweet and lovely and were literally looking at these children with a complete lack of comprehension as these boys tried to push them back down so they would have fallen off. I know I sound precious but what on earth does a sane normal parent do in these situations?! I was absolutely livid - it wasn't just these two but over and over little groups of bullying rude obnoxious children bullying the girls when the girls were so much smaller than they were. I of course became lioness mother and defended them splendidly - although anxiously not knowing if the other mums would be annoyed - but I can't bear bullying! :(

So sorry to hear about all the illnesses around :( Fortunately we have all got over it, but it wasn't nice!
Cerubina Of course we get all the normal irritating comments.. Poor DH gets a lot of comments about him not being able to 'have' boys! But yes, many comments from people about wanting 5 'Princesses' - after the DTri's were born, an old woman said that she'd heard 'all about this' - (i.e. gender selection) and how disgusting it was that it was coming over from the States. I very quickly put her right. How bloody rude!
The most common comment is people asking 'When are you going to have the boy then?! Bet you're desperate for one!' - pisses me off completely, we couldn't be happier with having all girls.

With the swimming pool thing, its a nightmare around here - wish they did the Sat morning thing where you could take as many as you like. Its all about common sense - of course I wouldn't take all 5 girls on my own, I simply couldn't cope! But I could manage more than 1 under 8. DD1 and 2 (4 and 5) can both swim (DD2 with jacket for support) and they want to be left alone! We only ever go in the 'training' pool anyway which is about a foot deep so I doubt they would drown!

DH has not risen from his sick bed all day today. Tyre has come off the buggy so it is unusable until someone with basic competence (ie not me) can have a look at it. Rain. Have been essentially confined to house with girls (well, I drove round with them a bit at lunchtime to get them to sleep...) trying to keep them quiet so as not to disturb the invalid - it has not been the best day to put it mildly.

Kate am completely at the gender selection comment. What is wrong with people. Also for you Lottie about the boys in the park. I've had a few moments recently where we've been around older kids and I've sort of wanted to shield the girls' eyes/ears because of silly/rude behaviour, fighting etc - I know I'm probably enormously precious but they are just so innocent at this age and every little thing like that which seeps into their brain kind of hurts me, if that makes sense. Ok, I know I'm ridiculous

Chesti am extremely impressed with your run next weekend. Have never managed any such thing, and I'm fairly sure I never will - well done!

Well it's another night on the sofa for me as I avoid DH. Am itching to get him out of that bed and change the sheets!

God I really do sound like a twat - ignore!

I'm semi drunk so shouldn't join in

I did the London Marathon many years ago, without any training for someone who had an I jury because I really am a twat

You don't sound ridiculous at all tarti - or am I just saying that because I think exactly the same way? The thing that got me was the look of sheer incomprehension on E's face when they were being horrible to her and pushing her - she didn't even get upset really she just looked totally bewildered as to why she wasn't allowed to go on the slide. It's also such a change from the children they hung out with at the nursery in Switzerland - the older kids there loved looking after / playing with the younger ones, so to see kids only a bit older than the girls taking advantage of the fact they were bigger and using it against them REALLY pissed me off.

We're having a tough time with E at the moment - not sure if it's teething but she is suddenly absolutely LOATHE to go to sleep in her cot. We haven't ever had her sleep in with us, but suddenly she will only go down if DH tells her a story and lies down with her till she drops off. I don't have the patience. We are both shattered, she woke up in the night and would NOT go back to sleep, just screaming and screaming. Eventually J woke up too and we had them both up for ages. Today also been very difficult with her and we ended up just leaving her to cry herself to sleep in desperation because nothing else was working. Hoping she just needs a good night's sleep to sort it out.

We got them those Mini Micro scooters yesterday and they are hilarious to watch as they gingerly step forward on them at a snail's pace. Can't believe my babies are on bloody scooters!

One last thing, I kept off the wine tonight but just went a bit bonkers buying stuff for them online - suddenly they don't seem to have anything that fits. Am having one of those moments where I am having a complete mental block about how to dress them. Tempted to start a thread about capsule wardrobes for toddlers but think that sounds slightly OTT! I just want a uniform that WORKS, no matter what, and then to have a couple of smart/funky outfits to see them through till summer when I'll get them a few summery things. Already spent a fortune this evening just kitting them out with new bodysuits, pyjamas/bathrobes, some winter coats in the sale for next year plus a few pairs of trousers/jeans/leggings in the sale from poncy shop. Wish I was better at this bit of it all!

Oh God yes please start a thread and then link to it!
I waste a lot of money buying mismatched crap, even from not very expensive shops (was organised last winter and bought it all in one go and in a limited range of PLAIN colours so dressing them was easy, but have slipped into buying random bits here and there for s/s and can already see that I've wasted money because none of it works together). Actually when I say I've 'slipped into' it, what actually happened was that we arrived at Mil's house last weekend and DH realised he had left the girls' bag of clothes at home (3hrs away). So we basically had to buy a week's worth of clothes from Next and M&S - I let DH and Mil fulfil this brief and we have ended up with an interesting selection...
Mine basically need full wardrobe refill. Got some good v v cheapy breton type sweaters in all different colours from H&M which will do nicely for nursery days. I'm thinking one pair normal jeans, one coloured jeans, one denim pinafore dress each (love denim as unlike leggings it doesn't seem to need washing after every wear) plus leggings and a few summer dresses (but not too many in view of shit weather), lots of plain jersey l/s tops and t-shirts, two cardies each, brown or tan leather shoes, trainers and summer sandals. They have been given these sort of gilet things and still fit into their all in one waterproofs for Spring trips to the park (wet swings etc) but will prob need a raincoat type thing too (?)
Thoughts?

Me too tarti (re. wasting money on mismatched things). It doesn't help that we seem to have been airlifted into a part of London full of kids who look as though they are perfectly dressed in brightly coloured Scandinavian stuff. When I attempt that look they just resemble bag ladies...

This time I opted for:

• lots of underwear/bodysuits/pyjamas from Vertbaudet, mainly in navy/grey.
• a few pairs of stripy leggings/cords/jeans, pref loose fitting. Just went a bit mad on Elias & Grace although in my defence it was all in the sale. I bought them some gorgeous jeans last year which they still wear, but every time we go to the playground I am reminded of the fact they can't move around as much as they need to in them.
• got them these lovely cardigans from JoJoMB - here - am hoping they're neutral enough and long enough (personal bugbear) to wear a lot. I am forever in search of chunky natural knits (almost jackets) which will go with everything.
• Now need to get a few long-sleeved tops from Next, well that's the plan, if I can get their bloody website to accept a credit card from me.

Gah, see - that cost a fortune and still I don't think it's a proper wardrobe.

Anyway, it wouldn't be a post from me about toddler girl clothes without a link to some outrageously expensive gorgeous shoes... how about these?

PS: agree with you re. pinafore dress - must get them another one of these each. Anyone know where you can buy one that doesn't keep coming unclipped at the top?

Part of my issue is similar - my mum keeps buying them stuff that I don't really like (and doesn't go with anything else) - we then end up with loads of stuff and I don't buy more because it seems wasteful. But then I don't like anything they wear... Catch 22. I ought to have a look in H&M - used to get a lot of stuff from there in Switzerland because it was the only reasonably priced shop to be found.

Remember I bought those silver Kickers, they turned out to be a good buy.

The girls got these Cardi's for Xmas Lottie

I have given my mum strict instructions in regards to clothes. Joules only, as they only have a small range and I like all of it. I'm still buying clothes from TK Maxx mostly, I hate the jumble sale approach to shopping but have found some amazing bargains and some gorgeous clothes. Only for children though, I can cope with 2 rails of clothes and a 10 minute rummage, but not thecwhole shop, it's too stressful! I bought F a Chloe blouse in clearance for £7 (RRP£80) they often have Petit bateau and lots of lovely stuff. Definitely worth a visit.

Ridiculously expensive LL love these though!