The One-Child Tea Room, version 21... the Hawaiian Islands. Cocktails, anyone?

[Jacksmama]

Welcome everyone to the 21st (!!!) One-Child Tea Room. Not to be misleading, we do have inhabitants who have or are planning more than one! Everyone is welcome.

The usual rules apply: no fisticuffs, or you will be escorted out by Mellors the Hunky Gardener. Depending on your preference, he looks variously like Daniel Craig, George Clooney, David Boreanaz, Gerard Depardieu... I have a feeling we all see something different but whatever we see makes us drool! And considering that this Tea Room is in the Hawaiian Islands, whoever we see is definitely shirtless! :o

Cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, yummy food that is entirely without fattening effects, and lewd rolls abound in the Tea Room. There is also a full cappucino bar.

This is essentially A Tea Room of Requirement, and we're currently on the lovely sandy beaches of Maui, with beach huts, lounge chairs, cabanas, mango and papaya trees, and of course, lots of coffee directly from Kona.

Pop on in and stay a while. We may all seem a bit mad eccentric but we're very friendly!

Oxeye!

::clasps once again to her Christmas-boosted bosom::

Ah, yes. The patience pills in the corked bottle. Why did I not think of that?

You are really going to the UOGB on my recommendation? I know they will be utterly fabulous but is it likely to appeal to OxBloke?

::gets ready to change name, assume new identity and leave the country::

Thanks Serpent - yes, I am at the moment. Mind you - I should thank my lucky stars in other ways - have just discovered that MrThumb concealed a near-accident from me .
brief-as-possible background - MIL lives on the edge of the lake. They have a shoreline that is oyster-encrusted, very rocky and quite unsafe for toddlers/small boys. EVERY time miniT has been over there without me he has sustained some kind of accident/injury, mostly to his hands when they haven't been holding onto him and he's fallen on the oyster shells. MrT took him over there on Sunday morning to go fishing off their jetty - I really really didn't want to go but was assured that miniT would be fine, he would not fall off etc. (a large fear of mine). So - they come home at lunchtime, miniT smells of lake and MrT has different clothes on and a dead Blackberry. The story I was given - they went swimming in the lake (something I have been Strongly Against because of the waves, boats causing bigger waves, uneven floor etc) => the smell; and MrT dropped his fishing rod in the water, jumped in to retrieve it and forgot to remove his Blackberry first. This was annoying enough - and stupid enough - but this morning I found out through over-hearing his phone conversation that it wasn't the truth.
He did jump in to the lake - but to save his mum and miniT from going under, as she had been in the water, he'd passed miniT down to her and then she had lost her footing and couldn't stand up again. So he had to jump in without consideration for material stuff (obviously). Apparently miniT didn't even get his hair wet in the incident but it just highlights to me that

1. I can't trust either of them to show any sense about his safety
2. I have to go every time, despite my own feelings about it
3. I can't trust him to tell me the truth when something happens :(

BUT - miniT was ok and that is the most important bit. So Fate was kind there - but got its own back with the whole tenant thing.

:: unis catches a well whizzed box of snack and cocktail:: um, a long slow twiglet suprise crunch, just what I was wanting...

Oxeye - I have a proper agent, the house is fully managed - but this was an insurance claim (SO wish I hadn't made it one, it would all have been done and dusted months ago) which I had to deal with because I had to make the choices. And then the fallout from the insurance engineer writing the damn thing off instead of just getting a replacement glass door. SO I could blame them for their response; but what would be the point now?

Oxeye Aah! those patience pills. I am always a bit paranoid on starting on them when DH is not around... just in case ....

Serpent RE Today is a wonderful resource, but I think it would rather startle my science classes...

TES resources are excellent - and the ASE is wonderful, but I have to language modify everything.

I was the oral language modifier for the GCSE modular exam the other day. I'd never done it before - so more than 30 minutes notice might have been nice (I knew that I was down to cover the exam, but thought I was the invigilator). Being given the two 20 page booklets of guidance the night before instead of discovering them half way through the exam hiding under the un-needed exam papers (the invigilator had put them down there) would have been very useful too.

No harm done fortunately - I neither broke the rules nor disadvantaged the candidates.

Oh thumb I am so sorry. Didn't mean to be unhelpfuk about the flat
more important omigod re the Lake Incident
no wonder you are feeling blue and down

anything I can do?

LaVie I am content uogb will be a hit. Oxboy has a teeny ukelele he and oxbloke play together. We went to the spaghetti western orchestra
Potters bar location not fab but I'm blocking that

ah no oxeye - you weren't unhelpful. I am waiting to hear more from the agents regarding their thoughts on any legal standing of the tenants - but as they had 2/3 of their cooking facilities still available, we are not entirely in breach of contract (and it was STILL their fault although I know that doesn't really count) so there may be no legal comeback. We'll see. Dad is going to ask his legal advisor as well, see what they say.

Donki - what a PITA to be given so little warning/instruction - glad it all turned out ok.

Found Wi-Fi at our abode on Kauai - I don't know if I'm pirating someone's but don't care, just wanted to check in and say hello to everyone (also our newcomers, welcome!!).
Thumb - OMG re near-accident. I would shave DH's eyebrows off in his sleep if he kept something like thar from me.
Shoot, iPhone battery going. Will try to check in tomorrow.
MWAH!!! to everyone!

Morning everyone!

TW, blimey re the lake incident - what a discovery . Why was MIL in the water??!

UniS, hurrah re the lad-herding! A pinao arriving? A new one? Dare I ask what variety?

Donki, are you feeling any less stressed this morning?

JM, loving the accounts of your current location.

Unserpent, keeping MrS's job situation much in thought and prayer.

CMOT, lovely re the well behavedness of your new arrival on the lunge. Mr T lunges without the lunge rope, which quite amuses people who see it for the first time: He'll circle, walk, trot, canter, reverse direction and stop on command! Not so obedient if someone's riding him, though, naturally!

Amber, I'm assuming she was in the water for swimming purposes - y'see, I am thought to be over-protective re. miniThumb and the lake, as MrT was taught to swim in the lake by his father (who couldn't swim, incidentally ). So - the pair of them no doubt thought that they could just get away with going against my "silly" fears and wishes and allowing miniT to swim in the lake - and look what happened. I hated saying "I told you so" but in reality, I had to - because MrT has to come around to the idea that I am NOT being silly about these things, but sensibly cautious! I hope this has reinforced that.

Learning to swim in a swimming pool with the right teachers and equipment and safety features in place is one thing. Learning to swim in a rocky space with sharp shells around it is quite different, you're right.

pats on teh shoulder for those that need them, coffee and danish for those who are peckish.
Self training horse - amusing image.

eeeek- Thumb- glad MT is OK and MrT got his phone wet, serves him right.

Piano- new to us, been with previous family some 20 yrs and they bought it 2nd hand. Its and upright Chappel. very out of tune currently, I'll let it settle for a few weeks and then get it done. Only cost the removal from old owners to us. I got a removal firm to do it, figured that 3 chaps and a van for an hour or two was worth 80 quid plus vat. They had all the wheels, ramps, tail lift, piano duvet jacket etc. and it was their vehicle going down and up a rutted farm track, not one I had begged or borrowed.

Right- I MUST get down and concentrate on a planning application now. For new village skatepark, in a national park and a conservation area.

If you see me on here in teh next hour- shout at me.

Piano - I'd love a real one. Surviving on just a decent electronic keyboard at the mo as we have no internal wall space for an upright (won't risk outer wall as there's too much temperature variation and a flat piano is very eek), and there's no real room for a baby grand. Well, not unless we eat off it at mealtimes.

Good luck with the planning application.

Note to self - remember that I only panic for about 2 hrs at a time and then it stops. Just feels endless at the time.

Thumb how terrifying. I would be so angry with my husband if he kept something like that from me. I actually learned how to swim in a lake, but that was with lifeguards and safety equipment etc.

Unis good luck with application.

Yawn. that is all.

woooooooooo.
::unis reels into tea room, head spinning. ::

The planning portal makes my head hurt. so many bits to fill in, so many documents to get teh same name on in every place they are referenced. I THINK its been easier than doing a paper application as I havn't had to get things photo copied. Not done yet, but have broken teh back. I want someone else to look over it before I submit. Just got to phone them and ask. aso have lunch.

piano is going against a sort of inside wall, wall between house and garage. all other walls in room either have hot pipes running along them or the chimney backing onto , and chimney gets rather warm.

I grew up with a baby grand, I used to play under it. Mum went out to buy a handbag and came back having bought a piano. Never did understand how she squared that with dad at teh time.

I think I can understand how that happened:

"I want something in black, plenty of storage space, shiny...". Easy to end up with a Baby Grand rather than a handbag that way

Planning Portals are designed to repel people. And stop them ever finding their application again, as far as I can tell.

Anyone for soup du tropics avec lewd rolls?

Ha - "went out to buy a handbag and came back having bought a piano" - that's brilliant!! love Amber's rationale for it too - can you do one for my weirdest mis-match purchase?
I went to a garden centre to buy a water butt and came back with a guineapig! Never had one before, just felt the need to take it home

Planning portal sounds scary...

Don;t tell me 'll never find it again, arrrrgggggh.
::unis wails and runs round teh room tearing her cloths and weeping::
I've spent hours on that bloody thing this morning.

Need to go and un gunge a gutter next. joy. Down pipe not working as too much gunge at top.

Out for a handbag and home with a piano -- I LOVE it! Do any of the younger ones take lessons?

How much fun is baby swimming?! I LOVE how much BabyScout loves/enjoys his swimming class. He's always seemed to enjoy it but I've noticed today not only how much he enjoys it (honestly, I grin every Tuesday morning) but how much he's grown in confidence around and in the pool.

Thumb

I?ve been thinking a lot about your post about the incident at the lake and wanted to offer a contrary view. Of course, I may be barking up the wrong tree (or may just be barking) and I know that you?ll ignore this if I am.

Your post rang many bells with me because I could have written something similar about five or six years ago. Similar things ? although not involving water ? happened when MissTechno was in her dad?s care. I managed to convince myself that I was the only one who had any appreciation of risk or was competent to take care of her. But I came to realise that, actually, the little scrapes that she acquired while out with her dad were just that ? little scrapes ? and that she had had far more fun, and learnt far more from the experience, than she would have done in a completely risk-free environment (even if such a thing existed, which is debatable). She hadn?t actually broken a limb or lost a tooth. I realised that my expectations that MissTechno could get through the day without minor bumps were completely unrealistic and I would have a nervous breakdown if I fretted every time she acquired a bruise. Her dad?s approach was different to mine but, actually, it was perfectly reasonable. He is just as much devoted to her wellbeing as I am. I have seen at very close quarters what happens to relationships where one partner won?t tell the truth to the other for fear of the reaction it will provoke.

Again, I may be entirely wrong here, but if your PIL live in a property with its own waterfront, it seems unrealistic to say that MiniT can?t go near the water or that you have to be there every time to supervise. What strikes me from your post is that MiniT did not get his hair wet. Obviously it was very far from an ideal situation and not one you would ever want to be repeated, but the fact remains that MrT and his Ma did deal with it and MiniT was not harmed. Surely it was a wake-up call for them both. By all means set some ground rules ? and get MiniT enrolled in junior swim class ? but going to the lake sounds like it could be a fantastic experience for MiniT and please don?t lose sight of that.

As I said, hit the mental ?erase? button if this is all bunkum.

Thumb....you went out for a water butt and came back with a guinea pig? I have to say that I'm impressed with how you managed that.

And quite unable to explain it

I guess the gp was cuter than any of the waterbutts.

Sorry, thumb, reading the posts through again I realize I was very insensitive to rattle on about BabyScout's swimming session today when you're unhappy about miniThumb's dip in the lake.

I understand your upset/frustration but think I'd be more upset if MrScout didn't tell me the truth about the incident than the incident itself. I know, like LaVie, I parent differently to MrScout and we preceive risk differently, but I trust/have faith in/love MrScout and know he wouldn't let harm come to BabyScout. So, for example, when MrScout is tossing BabyScout around, throughing him in the air, swinging through the sky doing planes and drops, I either watch and enjoy my boys playing or if it's making me nervous I leave the room. It drives my risk-adverse MiL and SiL (the one with the small army) mad and they constantly comment, suck in their breath, ask me why I don't put a stop to it. I always tell MrScout of any falls/bumps/bruises/major screaming/crying jags just as he does to me cuz he knows I just say "Did it take long to calm him?" and/or "Has it left a mark?" even if on the inside I'm bricking it.

Anyway, I've rambled enough.

As you might have noticed it's Tuesday night and I'm not at Guides. I have bailed on tonight, using MrScout as an excuse when in reality I just couldn't face bundling BabyScout up and going. Selfish, I'm sure, but I'm tired and didn't want the struggle with BabyScout (the time we get ready to go is when he gets ready for bed, so when he realizes he's not getting in his jammies he fights/struggles/is upset until we get out the door).

Chocolates anyone?

throughing throwing

Yes, please, to the chocolate. I bring assorted fudge to the table.