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.

Everyone must be watching the closing ceremony. Just gone on "Most Active" and my posting put TTTTT on the list!!

Hi rattling lovely to see you back!
FWIW, I was watching X Factor - forgot about the closing ceremony.. oops!

I didn't realize your boys were that old - my DTriplets are nearly 3.3! I think we are a bit lazy as I normally force my girls into the buggy as its just a bit of a nightmare with 3 - and on the school run I have my older 2 girls on scooters too.

How strange, I've found that my girls' tantrums have been horrific - I mean, I don't even know what to do with them sometimes. They are still in this irritating 'no' phase, where the answer to everything I ask is 'no'. It is sooooo nauseating! It doesn't sound a big issue - but even asking them to get their shoes on, as soon as 1 says 'no' they all just flatly refuse to put shoes on.
Mine never really had 'terrible two's' either though really, so maybe it's that.

DTrips started at a new pre-school last tuesday and its been really good for them. They were at a small nursery before (still are 1 day a week). Preschools and schools seem to want to constantly split them up; I can see the positives and reasons but, personally, I don't like it and request that they don't purposely try to split them up. They've depended on each other since before they were born, and I think its unfair to just split them up. However, at pre-school they all have a different key-worker (this wasn't done on purpose) and so sometimes have a little 'group chat' in key-worker groups. I have found that when they were at nursery they would only say that they have played with each other, but now they come home from pre-school and reel off all these names of children I've never heard of before! :)

Jealous of your Olympic adventures - wishing that we had got tickets!

We had a fab weekend up with our families & the camping was a huge success if we forget freeeeeeeeezing Sunday morning when we decided to decamp to my parents for showers/breakfast. It was really sad leaving today as the boys understand now that they're not going to see grandparents for a while & were upset. Guilt trip or what!!

Hiya rattling! My boys are 2.5. Finally (!) moved up from baby room at nursery today - woo hoo! I asked a while back about friends so that I could actually talk to them about nursery stuff & feel like I know what they're doing there. I was given names of 2 boys they play with most... but I don't really know if they really are proper friends. I ask if the boys were there & they usually just say yes with great enthusiasm. But then if I ask if they were there themselves they say no . They do seem to like my friend's dd - ask to see her & they all hug on greeting / leaving which seems like friend-stuff but I think it might just be acknowledging expectations etc.

I keep thinking I need to buy a single buggy for dd. We're not really using the double for the boys & I still largely sling dd. Unless when going to the allotment but then the double buggy is useful for that as I can load more stuff on it. I'm wondering if I could get away with one of those trike things for her but I've heard they're a pain to push etc.

Finished my first pair of pj bottoms for boys tonight. Not a tape measure in sight so fitting could be interesting ....

Hey rattling - great to see you. Don't have much time to write now, but your comment about friendships resonated with me.

I noticed on Sunday that when my niece came to play, although the girls played with her a bit they weren't THAT bothered. I felt a bit self-conscious about it, and wondered if it must be hard to come here as a 'third' because after all, the girls have each other and just don't seem to be that bothered about getting to know another child well. According to their key workers at nursery, they play alongside other children well but tend to play with each other.

I'm thinking I'll keep them in the same group until they get to school age, when I'd like them to be in separate classes. Well, I say that now, I'll be a desperate wreck at the actual prospect of them being separated...

Dreading this changeover between nurseries. Just dreading it. Don't know why - have had a couple of lovely supportive conversations with the new place - just feel so bad about forcing a move on the girls when they're perfectly happy where they are.

Mine are 2.9 by the way, and I keep being told the interest in other children always comes, but it all starts "around now or later".

Sorry not been posting much, I'm off on a driving lesson this morning (3rd one) then have a S&D stylist rally this afternoon, then my first trunk show tonight. Busy day, my stomach is churning, I hope it all goes well!

Busy day indeed LVB - about to get busier too! I have a jewellery order for you please! Will send you a message on FB. Hope the various events go/went well today.

S&R are having their usual Wednesday at home with me today and I feel very much inadequate to entertain them - I think they have so much more fun/stuff to do at nursery! Have already taken them out twice to get them out of the house. Now they are upstairs Not Sleeping, dammit.

Hi rattling - my two are 18 months so the youngest of this crowd by a few months. I think of you all as my roadmaps to where I'm heading...

How weird, I commented last night but now its gone?

Anyway, it said that I hoped you were all watching OBEM, it was the multiples episode.
It made me very very proud of my girls :)

Good luck Lavita - hopefully in full swing by now!

I watched OBEM last night & was thinking of you & your girls Kate. V pleased that I had such an easy time of it but it was a bit of a shame that it was all about the complications of multiples. I know it's more common / makes better telly but felt it might be useful to get out there that multiples doesn't necessarily mean awful pg / birth traumas.

Heard from Chesti earlier . She's stepped back into rl full time from mn recently & is going away for a couple of weeks but will come & catch up when she gets back

Thanks for the update ALL :)

I didn't watch OBEM - I have NEVER been able to watch such things but agree with you re. them not showing any 'normal' births. I think that's what gets me about these kind of programmes, especially having worked in shit telly for years on end - normal isn't seen to be interesting. So I always imagine the punters they have on that show either being emotionally dysfunctional, or 'freaks' in some other way. I anticipated that in a way, they might use the multiple angle as a vague form of freakery - fascinating to watch for some perhaps, but I agree with you it's a shame it can't be shown as being more everyday. After all, twins in particular are becoming more commonplace...

Ahh I was thinking about all of you twin ladies too ALL !
I agree about the fact that they all seemed to be a bit dramatic, I can't explain in what way (other than the ones that had problems).
My birth was pretty dramatic in the sense that it was an EM C-section, all 3 whisked off, all had breathing problems, a few other minor problems - but it never seemed dramatic in the same way that they did last night.
Hard to explain!

It was funny actually, I got quite a few texts last night from people saying that they 'know what I went through' now they've watched OBEM.
I don't think I saw 1 person on the school run this morning who didn't say 'Did you watch OBEM last night?'
Anyway, I shouldn't moan; I should be glad that we aren't part of the stereotypical stats that say multiple births are so full of problems. :)

Glad you've heard from Chesti ALL ! Hope everything is okay with her.

Mucky its funny you've mentioned that twins are getting more popular - my lovely little sister (18 this year, so last year of college) has a school friend who is about to give birth to her twin girls any day now!

Thanks everyone I had a fab day yesterday, loving getting a bit of independence back and really enjoying my driving lessons!

Cerub thanks for your order, party next, then we can meet!

Mucky you can do a meet all the mum's at the new nursery jewelry party, invite some old work friends and do some networking to put your foot back into the tv world again if that's what you fancy

Last plug on the work front, can you all PM me with your email addresses if you'd like to be added to my mailing list

Kate I missed OBEM* is it worth watching? I love X factor, drive DP nuts with it every year.

oops Cerub

I wonder how much the single embryo transfer policy means multiples are going to be significantly less commonplace? Or if the no of older pg ladies means there won't be a huge difference. Ha Kate always amusing that people become experts after seeing a tv prog but nice if they do have some level of better understanding I suppose. I'm glad I saw it having had my boys Lavita.. would be v scary otherwise - `normal' OBEM is scary enough to watch while pg! It was OK but having had multiples prob only from a human interest POV - doubt you'd learn anything new from it.

Glad you had a good day yesterday! How long are your driving lessons? Someone recommended I do 2 hr lessons & it was great. Sounds looooong but once you're into it the time whizzes by. You get so much done & you haven't got the interruptions of pick-up / getting back to base at the end of an hour.

I tried to sign up to the adult ed sewing class today but it was full! Apparently people had been queueing for 2 hours before enrolment opened to make sure they had a place. On the waiting list but don't hold out too much hope. Will just have to continue to make it up as I go along .

Thanks ALL yes I've been taking 2 hour lessons so fingers crossed I'll get through it quicker. Living in London you see twins everywhere, I saw old lady identical twins at North Greenwich on Wednesday, they must of been about 65 and were wearing matching outfits

Rattling I forgot to say, so jealous you saw the dressage at the Olympics, I would of loved to see anything but especially any equestrian events!

I am really struggling with tantrums at the moment, V refuses to go in the buggy without bribery, and then when she's had enough, wriggles out of her straps and climbs out, it's dangerous and so bloody stressful. Refuses to walk just wants to be carried. I think everyone on my road thinks I'm some kind of screaming harridan aaarrrrggghhh, they aren't even 2 yet, do I have another year of this!

Good point ALL re. single embryo - has the policy changed then? At my clinic they were big on single embryo, but we only had two "okay" embryos left at time of transfer and they recommended putting both back because neither looked like great quality.... of course both are now driving me potty at bedtime every night right now

Countdown has started to Getting The Beds as we have now resolved to get them after our holiday. They'll be in cots in Crete, then we'll get the beds on our return after we nearly had to call the Fire Brigade earlier in the week when Eve got her knee very badly wedged in while trying to climb out. I am going to INSIST that this coincides with dropping the nap, because I am terrified that our luxurious sleeps and being woken by the sound of sweetly babbling children in the room next door will be over for ever, to be replaced by children wedging themselves into our bed at night and being woken by a child screaming in my ear 'wake up mummy it's MORNING ALREADY!!!' over and over again. Please someone reassure me that this may not happen!

but then again . Poor E! I do wonder about the gaps in the cots. So many times when little they move so legs go through then they try turning - ouch. & then when bigger they get stuck .

I think the `new' (2009) guidelines are meant to be just that & used to persuade couples of the advantages of SET if they meet various criteria - age being one of them. It wasn't mentioned to me, prob because I was already geriatric with dodgy history . A friend at the same clinic was under 35 and definitely pushed to go with SET. She ended up pg with ID twins anyway (ha!) but it sounds like the multiple birth rate of clinics is being scrutinised these days so they are under pressure to reduce. So glad I got in when I did!

I was thinking about tackling the bed thing but only as a theoretical operation . We're actually at home this weekend so I hope we can at least get their furniture moved around. I'm thinking that may be issue enough for demented ds1. Cots are sort of right angled at the mo & I want to change that but think ds1 mightn't like the change. Funny thing even had to sleep in the same alignment to ds2 in the tent last weekend - not very practical!

We've been v lucky & not had escapees from buggy / car seats Lavita. I do remember similar issues with walk/carry/buggy around that age because dp & I had one of our biggest ever falling outs over it. I was v pg with dd and just couldn't do carrying boys too but he'd make a big Superdad show of carrying the whinger... and then the other once no1 go their way. So of course they'd expect the same of me & it just wasn't possible when I was on my own with them.

ALL that is my issue too, DP likes to pander to them, it is much tougher alone. V has tried to open the car door whilst travelling! Luckily we were at speed so she didn't have the strength, they are all now child locked.
Honestly comparing with friends, no one else's children are so hellbent on destruction or getting their own way. It really makes me question my parenting, am I doing something wrong?

So much more difficult on your own! Or then again, it could be argued it's easier without that sort of `help' from dp . Honestly, the amount of effort it took to make him understand we needed to be consistent rather than him giving in to them all the time to make things easier on everyone long-term. Much better for him to be the Big Man when he was there . I had ds2 open the car door once . I hadn't realised at first & thought I'd just not shut it properly. Til he tried it again....

Laughing at the thought of having to recreate identical sleeping arrangements in the tent ALL - mainly because I just know we'd have to do the same thing :) Our girls are also at right angles; they're in a 12' x 10' room, so not big - worried that with the bigger beds it's going to be a right squeeze.

LVB - don't know what to say (until we meet of course and then I can truly judge ) BUT I find that the more I give into them, the worse they are. It's when they're running us ragged and for the sake of an easy life I give in, that I regret it. This is going to sound mad and annoying but the main tactic I have when the girls get stroppy or annoying is to either take the piss out of them (gently!!) or to try to have a sense of humour about whatever is causing the tantrum, or to divert completely. I have found the last few months a bit easier because i feel like I'm finally 'getting' their tantrums a bit more, certainly not a done deal but I do feel like in 8 out of 10 incidents, I can either divert or humour them ("Oh come on! Show me your grumpy face! Is that the best grumpy face you can do?!") and on the other occasions I just grimace my way through it or scream like a harridan, oh yes that is quite common too.

On the whole I love the people they are now more and more as they grow older, and have to remind myself sometimes that as they enter a new phase, it takes me a while to catch up with it and learn how to handle them. Juliet has now asked me about 10 times how she got to be in my tummy - now there's one I wasn't expecting to have to answer for a while yet - I've told her "well, you were really really small..." but that's not cutting it - "but mummy - HOW did we get in there? How?"

Don't believe it - just had our 1st car seat escapee . Or at least got his arms out was flailing around. Dd2 threw almighty strop cos we didn't have time for the playground. Blamed Dp for not strapping him in properly but no.

Wow, so soon for those Qs ladym?? We're as far as disbelieving looks when told their scan pics are when they were in mummy's tummy. Do you plan to tell them about ivf from the start/ at all?

:O ALL that must've been really scary!
Those 'houdini locks' are meant to totally cure the issue, but aren't supposed to be good in case of an emergency and trying to get them out the car quickly.
I suppose you have to weigh up what is more dangerous/more likely to happen.
DD2 managed to houdini herself out, but DTrips are still in those cushion carseats, so they can't physically get out!

Well, I have been super organised today - with all this cold weather I realized that I desperately need to do some shopping for the girls before it gets too cold and I can't get anything. It happened a lot last year - it went cold and by the time I'd got round to going to get coats, they were sold out in their size.
New shop for you ladies to look at is 'Childrens Place' - they're in US, but now ship to UK ( ) so ordered some lovely winter bits off there. We definitely shouldn't be talking about Christmas yet, but how absolutely gorgeous is this dress for an Xmas dress?!
I know they are quite tacky, but the Childrens Place have some good snow boots.. do we think its worth getting them? Poor girls feet literally froze last year in wellies :(

Also, on the subject of shoes - what are you all doing for winter boots this year? I was thinking Clarks, as usual, but they don't seem to have any new ones? I'm quite tempted with some Emu's for DTrips, and Clarks for DD1 and DD2. Now they are at school they will only need them for w/ends and 2 week holiday..

Sorry for ridiculous thread about the coldness... I am hating it already :(

Ooh I wonder what these would look like in the flesh?

Ahhh SHOES, a subject after my own heart...

Am starving and must go and eat, but my brief thoughts on shoes for this winter are - I have bought the girls a pair of trainers which I admit to spending over the odds on - here - and other than that I am going to buy them a pair of 'smart' party shoes and a pair of snow/wellie boots. I am annoyed Kate because I saw these Boden ones but they're now sold out in the girls size. Want to get something similar but not spend a bomb on them. Totally agree that wellies do not suffice! The Kickers we bought last year were a big hit, they wore them most of the time and they're still wearing them a year later.

On subject of coats I just discovered today a couple of coats I was given by a friend when the girls were really tiny - at the time it seemed inconceivable they'd EVER fit them, but here we are already - crazy really. They're alright, but I'm still thinking of getting them something like a thick duffle coat for "everyday".

Liking that Christmas dress :) Now... you're going to hate me SOOOOOO much if you don't already know about this site. As the mother of five daughters I warn you to sit down with a cup of tea and your credit card safely locked away and peruse THIS site of filthy extravagance. They do really good sales and I was GUTTED that the sale finished overnight and my shopping basket of two dresses at about £29 each went POP into thin air....

Wow, that website really is extravagant mucky ! I'm absolutely in love with those swallow jumpers.. and DD1 would look beautiful in the grey cable knit jumper too. I do love jumpers.

I always forget about Smallable - just seen these winter boots which would be perfect for DTrips.
I'm still leaning towards Emu's - simply because I virtually only wear Uggs/Emus in the winter, and I know how warm they are. DD1 and DD2 always used to have a pair, and they lasted amazingly and as long as we sprayed them, they were pretty water tight. And I knew that they had nice toasty feet too - whereas with other boots I wonder whether they have chilly feet.
Girls are fine at the moment with Converse that they love, and we managed to get some Joules wellies for them in the sale for about £9 each - cheaper than the crappy supermarket ones, and they are absolutely gorgeous. But I know they still won't keep them warm so I'm definitely going to look into snow boots. Even if its not snowy, if its freezing cold and we're going for a walk - wellies just aren't suffice. But then I do want winter boots too - converse aren't going to last the winter.

Those velcro trainers are pretty cute though!

Just a quick google, but these look virtually identical to Boden ones, but in pink, and furry.

Oooh these are even better! I know they aren't in any useful sizes, but I am pretty sure you will be able to get them elsewhere... will get researching!