TTTTT

[ladymuckbeth]

Here we go. More unexpurgated chat about our darling angels, all of whom are gifted and have exceptionally calm and admirably-coping parents.

Oh whilst I'm here I'll tell you all about my ridiculous story of the day!

Woke up this morning with a cricked neck so was just feeling it and trying to massage it a bit when I suddenly felt this huge rock hard lump - behind my ear, down a bit and on the hairline. Was honestly shitting myself, it was bloody huge - probably as big as my thumb and just rock hard. Am generally not bothered about stuff like this but it just really worried me. Got DH to feel it, he was rolling his eyes laughing and expecting it to be tiny, but was like 'Oh, shit, I think you need to get that checked out'..
I had a quick google (like you do) and got myself into a state after diagnosing myself with a form of neck cancer.
By this time (we had been out for the morning) GP surgery was closed and was not going to go to OOH or A&E or anything like that. Kept researching and prodding lump and in the end DH got one of his friends, who is a Dr of some kind, to come round as it was obviously bothering me so much..

So rather attractive Dr comes round and prods neck and diagnoses me with blinkin' swollen glands. Was hoping for something slightly more exciting, if I'm honest.
I am quite proud of the fact that Dr was seriously impressed at the size and hardness of the gland; in fact, he said he'd never felt one like it and was pretty surprised! [hgrin]

Happy weekend all. :)

Just a quickie, we are a very tired house today what with the clocks going back and the girls struggling to make it through the day without naps. They absolutely refuse to go up to their beds during the day - it means bedtime is still massively easier than it was PRE beds, because they are utterly shattered, but we're still sort of having to stick to the 'do something in the morning, back by 3pm, take it easy with DVD till 5pm' routine. The girls aren't good for much after 3pm... it's quite frustrating at the moment!

Cerub - how was the wedding?? Hope you took a big snack box for S + R...

Kate - ouch re. the swollen gland and sorry to hear of your panic yesterday. How is it today?

Bah to the clocks going back. I've been having another mega-Ebay day today, and am planning on listing tons of stuff tonight. Have completed the first leg of the mission - ie. bore myself rigid taking flattering photos of crumpled old clothes. Next step to list them....

We've got a physio appointment tomorrow for both girls. The HV referred us on because J has an inward-turning gait apparently, and E walks a lot on her tip toes. Neither of these things were mentioned by me, and she surmised it from our brief visit. I'm a bit sceptical but know we should go just to make sure. I'm more concerned about E's ongoing poo problem. Yes, she is still suffering from constipation. We go through periods where it gets better but then gets worse again. I have a Drs appointment on Friday and this time I'm taking no prisoners - I want to see a paediatrician and want some proper intervention.

Cerub thank you so much for your lovely comments about the jewellery, I am really enjoying it we have lovely scarves and purses too now.
My driving is going well, I've passed my theory test and have booked in my practical test for the New Year eeek

I love it when we start getting into houses, moving and decoration. Our house desperately needs a new front door and a bit of love and attention outside and inside I love the idea of a purple front door. Has anyone seen the www.londondoorcompany.co.uk so expensive but they are gorgeous!

Cerub I really want to hear more about the wedding grin my two would be a nightmare, they are very whingy ATM, last 2 bottom fangs coming through, taking forever and they definitely prefer "Papa" Which I take full advantage of.

Kate Are you feeling better? I am always doing a bit of self diagnosis glad to hear Isla is taking it in her stride.

Mucky Well done on the ebaying, I still have so much stuff that I should list, most of it tat, but it declutters the house. What is your ebay name, are you selling any girls stuff? Hope you get to the bottom (no pun intended) of E's constipation, poor little mite

www.londondoor.co.uk/ sorry wrong link before!

Well the wedding was a real mixed bag! I don't know what I was thinking of, assuming that I could in any way decide in advance or influence whether S&R were going to be good as gold or mental... They had a couple of spells of being absolutely loopy, both wanting Daddy and if not him then wanting to play with floral displays, candles and other unsuitable stuff! It wasn't all bad but let's say there was a period of about 45 mins where I was sitting with them in a pitch black hotel room trying to get them to have a nap and being very successful.

Still, quite a few people complimented me on them, I can't think why really because my impression of them would have been that they were a nightmare!

I drank far too much during the evening and have almost never felt worse from booze than I did yesterday morning. Thank god for DH being there, because I simply couldn't look after S&R in any shape or form. My stomach more or less turned itself inside out and I couldn't do anything more than lie on the bed gibbering. Unfortunately we were in the hotel rather than at home so we had to pack up and get home, ugh! NEVER again.

Anyway, better now. Kate that must have been a scare! Is the swelling painful at all?

The purple front door seems to have gone down well! I agree LVB that company does very stylish doors, we got them round for a quote once and were [hshock] [hshock] [hshock] so never took them up on it. But I would say our door is very similar to some of theirs .

Poor E, mucky. I keep on meaning to ask how she is but sorry to hear it's still as bad. Thank you for advising me to take action with S a while ago, as I did get him some lactulose and kept him on it until things got sorted out, and it really helped. I suppose with E being that bit older that psychology is now part of the problem and simple lactulose won't be enough, so I think you are exactly right to try and crack it. Problems like this are so easy to become chronic, and you don't want your family life to become ruled by how and when she can go to the toilet. It sounds like a trivial problem to some but I know it can be a big deal. Hope your doctor is understanding.

ALL J is too cute with his Moon. How lucky you didn't permanently break it through your carelessness! [hgrin]

I mean "unsuccessful", of course...

Cerub - sounds to me as though the wedding was a success! One thing I've noticed is that I am massively over-sensitised to the girls' bad behaviour. I am inwardly horrified if they ever misbehave/are difficult in a restaurant/similar, whereas to other people (mostly) a bit of "that" kind of behaviour is simply NORMAL and can be displayed by perfectly lovely children. We went to a local place the other day, run by the most lovely French woman, and she insisted on ushering us in when I'd been planning to sit their tired Ladyships outside because I just knew we'd be tantrum central. And they surpassed themselves, having MAHOOSIVE tantrums at just about every turn of events "WAAAAAAHHHHH - I want THAT cake, not THIS cake WAAAAHHHH" etc etc etc. The owner was just laughing and distracting them and it totally changed my reaction to it too - in another situation I would have been so self-conscious and would have left. But she was just saying 'pah! They're kids! It's normal!'. (I refuse to contemplate the fact that she may have been lying ) Anyway - back to you - if people told you they were lovely then believe them, I bet they were gorgeous :) Did you get them all dressed up?

Just back from the physio appointment, which was great. Long live the NHS, say I - amazing woman, amazing facility, no waiting time. Whenever I encounter such service I just feel so grateful. Anyway, nothing wrong with the girls as far as she can see, but it feels good to have had it checked out anyway.

Thanks for the support re. Eve's poo issues. It's going through a particularly bad patch at the moment - she goes once every 2-3 days, and from the start of the second day onwards all she talks about is wanting to go, having tummy ache, etc. When we're at home she will spend all her time just lying on the floor on her tummy, on top of her blankie, twiddling it and staring into the distance. :( It is horrible, it really is dominating so much of her time. The actual act itself isn't painful, but she definitely holds it in until it becomes frightening and overwhelming, so she holds it in more. So annoying. We've moved on from Lactulose to Movicol, but even that is not helping - it stops it being painful to go, but she is still holding it in. Sigh. Very pleased to hear that Seb's issue on that front has been sorted out. :)

Gland isn't painful at all, which is why it worried me! Hasn't started going down yet - no idea why its swollen as I'm not ill
Cerub was a bit scared at the time, now I just feel like a complete and utter wally!

Cerub Well I think wedding sounds like it went well :)

Mucky Agh. Don't remind me about eBay - our spare room is literally an 'ebay room'.. Everything that we don't need just gets chucked in there - I was supposed to do a car boot but never got round to it. Just need a whole day to get absolutely everything out, take pictures and stick on ebay - but then I always seem to attract annoying ebayers to my items. The ones that want you to post to taiwan, or end the bidding early because the toy you are selling is for their ill child, or buy the item and then decide they don't blinkin' want it! Maybe I should just charity shop it all.

Well, me and DH were supposed to be going out for a nice meal and cinema trip tonight for my birthday (its a big one ) but poor Isla suddenly went all shaky and was hyperventilating this afternoon and just spiked a horrendous high temp. Was getting to that horrible point where they just go all docile and floppy, and eyes start getting heavy. Have been trying desperately to keep it down all afternoon - cast is making it sooo much worse. We thought she had a sickness bug aswell, but aren't sure whether she is actually being sick from the temp. Poor thing never gets ill and is feeling very sorry for herself.

Hope you are all enjoying half term so far - what have you all got planned for Halloween?

Good it's not painful Kate & hope it stays that way, you're obv doing a grand job of fighting something off! & Happy birthday - significant though? I thought you hadn't long passed 30? Funny, I always assume everyone is the same age as me. Poor Isla, I hope she feels better soon & you can reschedule your celebrations.

Don't have any plans for Halloween other than sending boys to nursery in new `spooky' T-shirts. I'm not even sure they're having a party there this year?

Great news that the physio thinks both girls are fine Mucky. I hope you get the referral you want for E too - sounds like you will . I was dreading the clocks going back. Last year the boys were doing 5am wake-ups as the `norm' so the clocks going back was awful. Very respectable 6am (corrected) this weekend - thank you boys. Still not delved into ebay selling here. I have got as far as washing the seat cover for the jumperoo - some progress!

I agree that the wedding sounds largely successful Cerubina. I hope you're feeling slightly less delicate now .

Some lovely doors there. Even red ones! Strangely, the red door a few down from us that I've coveted has been repainted gloss black this week. No, they aren't thread-watching.... really...

It's a bloody nightmare this Ebay lark. No wonder you've been putting it off Kate. We too have "that" spare room, full to brimming with stuff I can't quite bring myself to give away on Freecycle but yet can't face packing it all up in minute parcels and trudging them all to the Post Office. Today had a classic - sold a lovely pair of Imps & Elfs jeans (designer ooh arrgh!) for bloody 99p. Underestimated the postage so ended up, after Ebay fees, making about 20p for this gorgeous pair of jeans in perfect condition - grrrrr! Have learnt my lesson actually and now not listing anything for 99p - with kids clothes am realising you just don't get enough traffic to guarantee that there'll be two people bidding each other up. So I've started all the new items at a price I wouldn't mind getting for them - much better. I'd already sorted everything out into four piles - stuff to give to mates, stuff to give away on Freecycle, stuff to Ebay, and stuff to put away until next summer because it still fits. LVB forgot to say earlier, my seller name is i_claudia - not much of interest on there as of yet, I have to say! It's all girls stuff really...

Right, must get on. Tonight's thrilling task is filling in my tax return, well overdue since I didn't think I needed to submit one thanks for that NOT oh accountant person. HMRC are trying to get all manner of fines out of me - I have to appeal - it's very annoying.

ALL - meant to add woohoo to your boys for giving you till 6pm. It's early days for us but I have to say we seem to have slipped into the kind of routine I've been longing for for MONTHS - girls waking up at about 7 and hopping up the stairs to bed willingly at about 6.45pm, conking out immediately. I honestly cannot believe my luck at the fact they go straight down in the beds. It's not perfect as I say because afternoons are pure tiredy tantrum, but it means we're able to be up and about far earlier in the morning - I think I was actually getting depressed before - the girls wouldn't go to sleep until about 9/9.30pm, were waking up at 8-8.30 () and we just couldn't get out of the door until at least 10am most days, and more like 11.30am at the weekend.

I have completely had it with Ebay, car boot sales and NCT sales. The postage with Royal mail is so expensive that people are not willing to pay more than 99p for anything, and I've had a few complaints from chancers about poor quality clothing which left me as my stuff is decent quality! Was actually amazingly hurt. Then last week I spent ages cleaning toys and hanging clothes on hangers and attaching price labels to them all for a NCT sale and I think I sold about £30. I'm just going to haul it all off to the charity shop I think as I'm sick of the whole lot.

Rant over.

kate sorry to hear about your lump. J has an enlarged gland on his neck which has been there for ages. We got it checked out and fortunately it's fine, but apparently glands sometimes come up and take ages to go back down, then suddenly they will just deflate overnight. J has had his for about 4 months now.

Boys doing ok-ish at nursery. D seems to have settled well but J crys a lot. He'll get used to it though.

don't say that! I don't need further discouragement . I fear poor feedback on eBay, esp right at the beginning!

Love your approach to j's crying at nursery chest! W took a good while to settle too, but for there in the end.

Grr to Taxman. I have the better problem in that they owe me a lot of money but only sent a cheque for a bit of it. Which they put a stop on when I banked it. Really need to ring & get it sorted.

Our nursery is doing a 'no Halloween costume' day tomorrow. It's pink or superhero only. Struggling a bit on that one. Will have to see which of dd's things I can squeeze them into.

Right, boys in nursery, dd asleep in cot so off to do something vaguely useful.....

ALL Definitely hasn't been my birthday since last year!? But yes, turned 30.

Chesti That really annoys me about some eBayers - you spend ages washing (with nothing other than Non-Bio of course!) drying and ironing clothes, and then get the 'was hoping for better condition' comment! I would never sell any clothes that I wouldn't still put my DD's in, and they certainly wouldn't be in 'bad condition' clothes! Am not surprised you are sick of it all too!
Have suggested to DTrips preschool that they could do some kind of sale or clothes and toy swap. I do give any of my girls' clothes away to anyone who has the same kind of taste as me, but most people don't want 3 sets of the same skirt!
Thanks for the reassurance about the lump - am not at all worried about it now that I know its all fine.

Will catch up more later

Two birthdays - that would truely make you the Queen of mn Kate! I think I just have vague recollections of you & 30 when we were tlaking about some of us being 40+ & assumed you were already this side- sorry

I completely agree re. Ebay being a massive faff. Postage costs have gone up massively. When I'm buying on there now, I only really bother (clothes-wise) if there are several items one person is selling that I'm interested in - otherwise I don't want to pay as much again for the postage as I pay for the skirt/dress/etc. I've also noticed that a lot of people are selling complete outfits, which is more appealing. There are thousands of "bundles" of clothes which seem to sit there not being sold, I wonder whether selling individual outfits works better. As with so many other things these days, unless you give it away it seems next to impossible to get rid of it. Kate - a swap seems like a good idea...

Anyone see the thread on Multiples about splitting them up into different classes when they start school? Some interesting replies on it. It set me thinking ahead to when our lot start... who else has their DTs starting in 2014? Kate - are your DTrips starting in 2013? What are your thoughts about separating them/keeping them together?

The school system is different in Scotland. My DTs start nursery (2.5hours per day) in Aug 2013, the term after their 3rd birthday, but don't start primary school until Aug 2015. The school they are going to is a really big primary and they take up to 75 5year olds into primary 1. They split the classes into 3 x 25 and do it purely by age so I suppose they will end up in the same class. However they then shuffle the classes a bit each year from P2 onwards so if I think the boys need splitting up (or if school thinks the boys need splitting up) it can be taken on a yearly basis. Not sure what happens at nursery, there are 6 nursery classes in the school (all mixed ages 3&4) but I think I'll request them to be kept together at that age.

Interesting chesti - the split classes according to age sounds like a good idea.

Have just had a friend round who has recently sold some big items on Gumtree, and it reminded me just how much easier it is that way. I'm selling a cot on Ebay at the moment, it cost £115 new and I'm throwing in the (immaculate) mattress - will be lucky if I get £30 for it I reckon, and am having to wait 7 days for the pleasure. She advertised an £80 cot plus mattress for £50, had several enquiries within the day and it collected the following day. Maybe Gumtree is the way to go... people maybe are prepared to pay a bit more for the convenience, the locality of it, and the immediate 'see something, buy something' aspect - and you save on postage of course, and having to queue for ages in the PO.

Mucky Haven't ever really gotten into Gumtree before, maybe I should give it a go.
I have found that some things on eBay go for absolutely loads, and other really lovely things go for nothing or just don't sell.
I went through a 'ebaying stage' a few years ago remember putting Primark PJ's on there - they cost about £4/5 I think, and I sold them for £11! It was absolutely ridiculous! I know that some Boden stuff is well known for going for more than its RRP.
Just reminded me, I got the new Joules catalogue and ordered a few bits. Haven't bought many childrens clothes from them before, mostly wellies, but I have been soooo impressed with their leggings. Got the girls some cute stripey ones as they desperately need some, and they are really lovely and soft :) Got them some cute jumpers too and again they are such lovely quality. Am really tempted with their super furry jumper-y things, but they are quite expensive - not sure if I can justify it.

Re. schools - yep DTrips are starting 2013... they are far too little!!! I won't be separating ours and have always just seen it to be a bit cruel to separate them. I understand that it makes them 'individuals', but if they go in together then they can choose themselves whether to play together or with other friends. I might be tempted to ask the teacher to put them on different tables/groups, but would see at the time. Besides, we haven't got 3 classes and it would be seriously cruel to leave one DTrip on their own!!

Funnily enough I was looking at gumtree & freecycle for the first time in ages just the other week. Not that I've gotten round to doing anything more...

I saw the thread on spiltting / not at school. I was always quite convinced that I'd want to split them up but now the time is getting closer guessing ours are 2014 too... really need to start thinking about it I don't feel entirely comfortable with it. I can see the pros/cons of both situations (the telling tales bit hadn't occurred to me though!). Really unsure what we'll do but I don't think I'd mind either way if the school has a policy they usually follow.

ALL I don't think the 'telling tales' thing would be an issue to be honest? I've had DTrips and DD2 at the same nursery for ages, and DD1 and DD2 used to go together and they rarely came home and told on each other. DTrips have the sun/cloud system at pre-school and even if 1 has been on cloud, they don't rush to tell me - I don't think that will change next year when they go to school.
I think for most people, whose DTwins go to pre-school, it wouldn't be an issue as I don't think they would suddenly start telling on each other the day they start school.

Our school doesn't have any preference, but I do know that they will tell parents if the DT's need moving around. I've known it go both ways - DT's separated and the school has told parents that they think they should be put back together, and also when they are together and school recommends they are split up.

Oops, serious thread killer!
Hope you all okay?
With all the seasonal adverts, my girls have been begging me to put the Christmas Tree up! Slightly premature I think?

glad it's not just me

I've been at the sudden increase in Xmas ads & stuff on tv this week! Boys are getting it this year (well, if `Father Christmas Tree' counts!) so I'm v excited! Once we have celebrated dd's bday I suspect I'll be chomping at the bit to get christmassy.

We took them to a firework display last night - it was fab! I was sure W would be terrified & cry & make it all a bit of a logistical nightmare but though they were both a bit in awe, they loved it. Had to laugh at J correcting me - described one lot of fireworks as being like stars. `No Mummy shooting stars'. That's me told then! Was asking boys this morning if they enjoyed it - J's highlight was predictably walking under the railway bridge on the way home .

How did you get on with your Dr appt for E Mucky?

sorry I've been busy, it was the girls 2nd birthday at the weekend, which was manic to say the least. Am off to the hairdressers today thank goodness and have a party tonight but promise to try and update properly soon

We have a home visit scheduled from the girls teacher for when they start nursery in January, is that normal?

Hello all :) I've also felt a bit quiet recently; not much to report really. I will say that I'm desperate for DH to get a blooming job so he's not under our feet all day. He's here, sort of thinking that he's helping and being Super Dad, but also sort of not actually helping very much at all.

Thankfully he has lots of interviews in the next couple of weeks - NO-ONE has their fingers crossed more tightly than me!

I'm in the middle of doing some Freecycling of the girls' old stuff. Feels quite good, I've made up two packages of old winter coats/boots/shoes/clothes and have people coming to collect them tomorrow. Ebaying is driving me round the bend, and I've only managed to get rid of about 12 things so far - such a pain in the arse for not much reward. Also trying out Gumtree. I'm absolutely determined to clear our storage unit and to get the house feeling a bit more decluttered by the end of the year.

Hi everyone

My usual Friday working from home catch up opportunity!

LVB Hope the girls' birthday went well and they are being kept happy by a new haul of presents. How's the hair do? We didn't have any home visits from the nursery. Perhaps they have identified you as a problem family. I suppose it is to talk through the curriculum and find out what the girls are like and what they are used to?

We had S&R's parents' evening at nursery last night and they got glowing reports. Last time both were described as being very unkeen on getting their hands dirty and doing messy play obviously a bit OCD but no such concerns now and they apparently play nicely and all the rest of it. Good news.

Kate happy birthday for recently! Hope Isla is feeling much better now and you've had a chance to celebrate.

mucky any progress on E's little problem? Good luck for DH with his interviews, it's been a really long break for him so hopefully he is just as motivated as you for him to get something lined up.

Re everyone's comments on ebay, I totally agree it's a big faff and you don't always get what you'd consider a fair price for things. I've had good feedback so far as people seem happy with what I've sold, but definitely the most successful thing has been a JoJo all in one rainsuit which sold for about £20 and have been there with the 99p bids, it's very annoying. I always reckon P&P at about £3.50 for the mail bag+postage, unless it's a big item, and that seems fair.

I might try Gumtree to try and shift some other stuff. Like you all, we've got clothes and old toys coming out of our ears. I'm still a bit loath to give much away for nothing, especially a bumbo that cost us about £40 (working out at £5 per use, I'd say), but it might come to that.

So, dare I mention the 'C' word? Christmas? What thoughts have you all had on what Father Christmas might be bringing this year? As ever I'd be grateful for inspiration (they'll be 22 months then) and my thoughts at the moment are some combination of: little table and chairs for drawing/painting/playdoh etc, play kitchen, easel, mini scooters, dolly and pushchair for R... Any good ideas/things to avoid like the plague in there? I seem to recall a few of you have play kitchens and tarti really quite hating hers!

Just had a call from nursery to say S needs to come home as he's got a temperature. There's been a fair bit of that recently.