Tea Room The 24th - San Francisco Painted Lady!

[Tee2072]

Welcome to the 24th incarnation of the One-Child Tea Room. Not that you only have to have one! Just so long as you enjoy chat, tea, coffee, cake!!

The usual rules apply - no bunfighting. If you like that sort of thing, go elsewhere.
Other rules: bring . Or .

Our ongoing voyage take us to one of San Francisco's Painted Ladies!

We've brought the Aga over, it's in the back in the cosy kitchen overlooking the back garden. The chintz sofa is in the front room, under the bow window! All of the pillows and duvets have come along as well!

What's that? The Priest Hole? It's just over there --> behind the bookcase!

Mellors is upstairs, preparing the bedrooms for naps and such.

The aspidistras are thriving as they overlook Nob Hill! The horses have found themselves stabled in the Garden, which is much larger than these places usually are in this city!

So come in and have a seat!

::tea hurries off to Powell Street to catch the Cable Car to Ghirardelli Square::

Hello, Secret.

You're stirred up memories of some truly dreadful shows we took Girl to when she was little. This probably isn't the issue with Fireman Sam, but we detected a type of performer who obviously wasn't cutting it as an actor for adult audiences so thought they would devise and perform their own shows for children, as if children could be fobbed off with dud scripts, collapsing sets and appalling acting because they didn't know any better. Hands over eyes was the only appropriate response!

I forgot to say earlier that I was shocked but not surprised at Tea's grouchy neighbour. There are some people who regard even the tiniest squeak from a child as proof that things aren't what they used to be and we're all going to hell in a handcart, even though they spend the whole performance rustling their programme, rattling their jewellery, coughing and wheezing. Hey ho.

::waves::

Yes, that's the one, Scout! We were there just too early for lambing. Drat.

We like it there! We went last year, too, but didn't go to the farm bit because TS and I were going to the States in a few weeks (and the US is retentive about not letting people in if you've been on a farm within six weeks of entering). Our Daff photos are from there. We were going to do more this weekend but they weren't fully out yet.

Lambing still on for another couple of weeks. And special Easter activities Easter weekend. And daffs next month.

Oh....Bunny's so sad and soggy.....

He's having a brief tumble before going into the airing cupboard for the night.

boo re tat theatre Agent. Mostly I love pre-school theatre, inventive, acty not wordy and short. Heh ho, can't win em all I guess

Scout, I too favour the wash option. Don't want to reinfect poor Scout boy

Tea, oddly reading your post I thought it was not so much Beer being a total arse but one of those unhappy occasions when your vision of what is going to happen and the other persons vision are so mismatched that you stumble into an unhappy pit within seconds and instead of feeling like you are on the same wavelength as your partner, which is a great feeling, you think "what twat is that?" and the disonance is disconcerting

hope you are having a better day today. well done re bath. We got stuck ad Deadly Carols at Christmas, far from jolly. Oxboy stuck it out wonderfully until the interval when we scarpered- what's with "classical" events that so many judgey pants seem to go???

Amber, hope you're ok

Maud - let me adjust my fascinator and my kitten heels, it's Bellini time my dear, happy to walk if required - oh look, here come Earl and Lady Gray pulling a little trap - let's go!

Serpernt - do you ramp the chickens?

Bleah re pox Catita

hugs and love to all

Bach not Bath

Yes thanks, I'm always ok. Just sometimes in a very disarrayed way.

::Amber puts down the large box of new maps that she has been showing Mellors all evening::

::Mellors edges nervously away::

Hugs and love to all from me too. And

Oo maps, I like maps...

Maps are very soothing aren't they ?

I like maps.

I remember pouring over maps of France finding places that looked 'interesting' for our next holiday... I was put in charge of navigating for our familiy holidays down to the south of France from about the age of 12 - with a stop over on the way - ever since the time that my mother went into a daydream and we ended up about 80 miles up the wrong motorway before she realised - she'd been responding all the way so we had no way of knowing - then having to rearrange the hotel etc.....

Singing in Frankenstein's Wedding live on Sat pm was mainly standing around in the cold - seemed to go quite well. MC had his first sleepover - which went fine until I arrived to pick him up at which point he had a bit of a hissy fit, not wanting to leave! Sleep patterns in disaray though - hadn't had enough - so had a long nap Sun afternoon (I had one too ) and then didn't settle too well.... hope it doesn't affect school too badly.

Nice and sunny here today - will have a stroll at lunchtime to pick up some invitations for mc's forthcoming party - need to get them out asap!

Oxeye -thanks... I think it WAS exactly that but with a bit of background that the others picked up on too.

Unserp - A big grrrr to M. Unserp! THAT is THE reoccuring relationship ishooo for me... I remember my Mum and her friends complaining about it too. I think it happens/has happened/will happen in lots of relationships.

MT - Oooooh ooooh How exciting!!! What is the party plan MC? What presents is he hoping for?

Milk's birthday isn't until mid-May but it is my our favourite topic of discussion lately. So please indulge me by telling me about MC's 'special day'! x

Tea and Serpent - I wonder whether some of this is an age-of-child thing? Milk and Wriggle are roughly the same age whereas Girl is several years older. When Girl was about the age that Milk and Wriggle are now, Bloke and I probably went out together without her about once a year and, even then, we probably spent all evening talking about her. Because when they're so little they take up so much of one's time and headspace (and because in our case too we were so overjoyed to have become parents against the odds) it's very hard ever to fully switch out of parent mode, I think. It does get a bit easier once your child is older and a bit more self-sufficient - as I said, the vogue here for sleepover parties means that we have had the opportunity to go out (or stay home) and do things together. That still leaves the hurdle of whether one wants to spend (or sees the value of spending) time with one's partner, but I'm wondering whether there is something here about that being a slightly unfamiliar situation to be in and one that will get more comfortable over time?

And I'm fascinated, Tea, that this is something your mum used to complain of. My (possibly inaccurate) memory of childhood is that we were always being baby-sat so that my mother could go off and be a Corporate Wife, so that was a very different milieu back in the Stone Age.

Soupe du jour avec des petits pains tres suggestifs, anyone?

It's spread to TS's other eye. I knew it would, though. Already been washing loads and see it piling up. Figure every night I'll wash/dry Bunny and every morning strip the bed and wash the bedding. Fresh tee-shirts. Fresh towels & washcloths for every use. First eye looks worse, second eye only just started during lunch so hoping I can catch it before it's horrible. Not going to any activities/groups (for him or me) for the next few days so hope we don't climb these four walls. There's a greenspace across the street so will take him out there to walk around (he's loving walking outside now that he can).

ACK! Wish me luck.

Eek, Scout. Poor ToddlerScout and poor you. Have you been using the eye drops?

::Awful memories of wrestling with Girl to get eyedrops in::

Oh Scout, how grim for you :(

((((HUGS))))

Gosh sympathy for you Scout and a hug for TS. My only tip might be to handwash Bunny in coldish water but with a spoonful of disinfectant. Lots of times in the washing machine and dryer will put lots of stress on his seams and other well rubbed places. Kittenito's bunny (which was mine and is an impressive 35 going-on 36) is fast on the way to being completely new. I've had to make a new tale and darn all four paws and both ears so far. Also I've had to redo all the seams. Every time I wash him, something needs to be darned. Still, K appears not to mind and will sit there, "holding bunny's hand" while I darn and then "kiss him better" while telling him he is brave.

On that subject, my pox invaded little boy is having the night terrors. He appears to be afraid of the shadows made by his night light (he is already afraid of the dark) and those that come through the blinds. I think this has been discussed here relative to others' bairns but I can't remember. Anyone got any tips? It looks like he'll be sleeping with the light on tonight... he was absolutely terrified last night, convinced that the shadows were monsters coming to get him :(

I had hoped I could give the childhood ailments a miss until he was old enough to reason with/explain things to. Rats! Poor little guy woke up from his nap wailing, partially due to a full nappy but mostly because he couldn't open his eye and he couldn't understand it. We sat in my bed having a cuddle afterwards, watching CBeebies (naughty Mommy, I know, but he looks so tired and wanted nothing but cuddles on my lap). It's hard when your eyes don't work properly, makes you sleepy. He's been good regarding the drops. I was worried my eye-phobia would go through to him but he's been really very good. He didn't even rub his eyes afterwards this last time (just before bed). But I've been cuddling him and telling him what I'm about to do and why I'm doing it and he seems to know that it's going to help.

Catita -- Very sweet of K, kissing Bunny better! No suggestions on night terrors, though.

Must admit, looking forward to when TS can go on sleepovers and have sleepovers. I was always allowed to go on them and have them (though usually just as a one-on-one instead of slumber parties). I'm struggling with the fact that MrScout and I haven't been out much without TS but then again we were never big going-out people and the things we did before we do now with TS (Nationl Trust places, Ye Ol' Uni town, pubs for lunch, etc). The only difference is we go out a bit earlier in the day to work around TS but TS works with us as well.

Is it o'clock?

surely its o'clock by now.

yep, thought so. here come 20 NMBs with a platter of glasses held high above their heads. They are on teeny tiny rollerskates, and their hot pants have made a reappearance.

Boy VERY muddy by the time he got home today, hurrah for school shorts, popped him in the bath then into PJs @5.15pm. his shorts will do another day as its his knees that got muddy. shirt is pretty grubbed up tho, so thats for teh wash.

Year R boys were either being archaeologists or quarrymen/ miners, not sure which, but it involved a muddy hole in the playground and some stone tools. Good game, none of them were hitting anybody and they were very engaged for some time.

Blasted dog has just eaten M.Snake's supper, which was waiting for him to come home at 9.30, so I have given him mine and can't be bothered to go and make myself a sardine sandwich on horrid white sliced bread. And I have got a very sore throat.

Maud, I do hope that the situation is universal and improves as the girls get older ... I always think that these things are just because of me, then I wondered if it could be because M.Snake and Beer are both French.

UniS, have you read 'Enchanted Glass' by DWJ? I read most of it in one sitting on the sofa in the garden last Tuesday, with Wriggle plaintively suggesting games we could play. (No car, so couldn't go and do anything educational or useful).

UnSerp, I'm just about to go make our dinner, would you like some? I'm willing to share.

Did someone mention ? Hurrah for the NMBs and for Boy with his muddy knees. (Oooh, a poem).

Serpent - Hmm. I hadn't thought about the French connection, so to speak. So is the hypothesis that French papas are so entranced with their offspring that maman drops off the radar? I will have to read a few more novels looking for evidence either way. Come to think of it, though, my friend's French husband is always canoodling with her in public, but that doesn't invalidate the hypothesis.

Here comes Mellors carrying your dinner under a silver dome. Beneath that dome, you will find whatever you most desire. Foodstuffs or otherwise. ::wink::

Oh Serpent, how very rubbish for you! Blasted dog indeed.

Scout, sounds rotten. CBeebies is actually obligatory in cases like these. But then I would say that, living as I do in a household which is extremely relaxed about TV viewing! Provided it's age appropriate, of course.

Fireman Sam btw is a kids' TV prog that started in the 80's or 90's and has been rejigged twice and hasn't gone away. It features a heroic Welsh fireman called.... well, you can guess. And a colleague called Elvis. Among others. I could actually write a dissertation on children's TV characters, it is quite terrifying how much I know.

But SBoy does actually learn a lot from what he watches - he favours either rescue mission type ones, or educational ones, and of course the ones that combine both are hard to beat.

Lol at all your dire pre-school shows too, Maud. This one yesterday was just grisly. I wanted to do the same as SBoy so yes, it was the perfect response! I think I felt it all the more because I have, ahem, trod the boards (in a small to medium sized way) myself, and it was painful to feel to what depths the actors were willing to sink in order to be said to be working! MrS OTOH said it was exactly what he was expecting.

Catita, sounds horrible for K and for you. Do you think it's connected with the pox/a high fever? I know it can get like that sometimes, my brother-of-whom-I-do-not-speak got it badly and was delirious with it. I actually felt myself very fortunate when SBoy got chickenpox aged just two and a bit (gasp! a whole year ago now!) because it was so mild - he hardly even itched/scratched - and he got through it really well. Was just not being able to socialise for a week that was tricky. Anyway, sounds like you're between the proverbial rock and hard place there Catita, sorry I have nothing useful to suggest but will send some over.

Unis, that sounds like a great boy game! although am shivering at the thought of shorts in this weather!!

Interesting theory about the French fathers. I know MrS would jump at the chance of a bit more time off for just the two of us, even though we would of course spend most of it talking about SBoy. But I always thought that French women were supposed to make lots of effort to keep their allure post-motherhood, which would suggest that their menfolk wanted them still to be femmes and not just meres.

Could it be significant that both the small people here are DDs? The old "Papa!" "Nicole!" syndrome [reference to a long running Renault ad in this country way back when, featuring a father/daughter - just for those who weren't here when it was on!] Mon Pere ce Heros is another one that springs to mind. Just a thought!

Thank you for offers of food, which I have gratefully accepted.

Catita, Wriggle had night terrors for a short while, if that means screaming in the night and being quite unwakeable. I remember pacing a darkened room carrying a screaming toddler, getting quite spooked myself, but it didn't last long, if that's any comfort.

Re chicken pox (SpottySnake and I are now experts), do not waste a fortune on emollient baths when weakened by lack of sleep like wot I did; use a bag of oats. Baths are good, as is calpol. Specialised ant-itching cream is good, but so is AP's solution of persuading victim to press a cold finger on irritating spot and saying 'hokus pokus'. They spent some happy hours spot trapping in this way.

Secret - That's uncanny. You have mentioned all the things went through my mind but I didn't mention because I'm long-winded enough at the best of time - French women keeping their allure (I have heard it said that French women do not breastfeed in case their boobs collapse and undergo alarming, ahem, procedures, to make sure other bits of the anatomy get back into shape), Papa and Nicole and Mon Pere Ce Heros (any mention of the divine Gerard is just fine by me). Perhaps French women want to be femmes but their menfolk want them to be meres - the age-old dilemma?

Tell us more about your board-treading. Are you a proper trained thesp?