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::

Hope he's much better very soon, Scout...

Thanks amber.

How are you doing today?

Scout - there's no shame at all in tv, cuddles, and all the rest of it when the littlies are unwell, seriously! It's the best thing - lets them relax and recuperate and hopefully he'll be better soon. :)

Amber - how's the wig/headscarves going?

Oh I know, but the number of people I read/hear say "Johnny NEVER has television" makes me want to vomit. If I have it on during the day TS is good about ignoring it (except, it seems, for the Postman Pat SpecSavers advert) but he will sit and cuddle and watch cartoons. I don't tend to use it as a babysitter and if I have programs on for him he's sitting with me watching.

He definitely isn't right (not just his eyes) and his 38.4 temp last night was a shock. It explains his not eating yesterday and all he wants, it seems, is juice, water and cuddles.

Does anyone have an ice cream maker they absolutely love and would recommend?

Morning, nearly afternoon, all.

Sorry to hear TS is unwell, Scout. LCT is like that when he's ill. I can usually tell he's not feel well because I get more than a 5 minute cuddle at a time!

I myself am some better although still headachy and sneezing my head off. Did manage to make it to Tesco, with a small boy walking beside me on his harness! We're letting him do that more and more and he loves it! I do get about the harness but my argument is; why is a dog more precious than my son?!?! He's 21 months, crossing busy streets carefully is not his forte yet! And I live in City Centre, lots of busy streets.

Amber I hope you are feeling okay today.

Really must get on with wrapping MrTee's birthday presents as his birthday is tomorrow. Am trying to decide whether to bake today or tomorrow. I prefer sponge that's sat for a bit, MrTee likes it straight out of the oven, so since it's his birthday....

Talk to y'all later!

Och, ignore the "oh little Johnny never watches tv" brigade - they're in for a nasty shock. My best friend was one of those - her little boy was rarely if ever allowed tv, and the result when he was allowed it was instant addiction!! MiniThumb has had it as an electronic babysitter when I was in the UK and working - he had to be left in his cot for an hour so him watching appropriate videos was the only way to appease him really, if he wasn't asleep.

I do still use it now if I need to do something and don't want him traipsing after me for whatever reason and he will sit and watch a DVD very happily for a while. He's started learning the scripts to some DVDs though, I'm guessing that's a bad thing...

My SiL is part of the brigade and they don't have a television but will watch DVDs on the computer (not sure the difference, to be honest). They go to my PiL and ask to watch tv. BiL tells them off for it but will frequently ask PiL or friends to record a program and have him over to watch. Such a hypocrite since they don't have one because "everything is terrible and it's a waste of time."

I'm sure when he's bigger TS will have a bit of TV babysitting but at 16 months I doubt he'd ever stay long enough for it to work now. LOL I do enjoy my tv and cuddle times with him, though (most mornings we watch for 15-20 minutes since my head is so fuzzy I need a few minutes to clear the meds away).

Tee, I'm all for the harness. My Mom had one back in the 80s for my siblings, before they were fashionable/acceptable. People thought she was cruel. But it gave my brother room to roam freely without wandering off/getting hurt/getting lost (our harness seems longer than the ones you find here in the UK). I'm getting one for TS since he seems to love his newly-discovered skill of walking outside. (Shhhh, but I was actually thinking of getting a long bungie or a retractable rope to attach to his for when we go to camp this summer. I need to give him freedom to explore without being on top of him but to know I can stop his progress if he gets too close to the fire/s or pond. He'll be 21 months when we go.)

Scout I've actually been looking for a longer lead to attach to LCT's harness. I've never seen such short leads on them as they have here in the UK. The ones in the US definitely have a longer line so the child can explore more. Not that I want LCT exploring when walking down a busy city centre street, but it would be nice for going other places!

As for TV...the biggest laugh of my life was my brother declaring that his (at that point) unborn child would never watch TV! I laughed right in his face and replied 'Yeah. Sure. You do realize that said child will be growing up playing mostly in a room with a TV that is 50"?!' He looked a bit sheepish but knew I was right. And I was! My brother has had one of these sorts of things for about 12 years, although his isn't flat screen.

I am seriously considering attaching a retractable line like people have for dogs. I'm sure I'd be considered cruel but it would give him freedom down the path, at camp, etc., but I'd still have control. I wouldn't use one in the shops or in town. It's that or try to get M&D to post me one.

"Not watching TV" because some of it is junk is like saying "My child doesn't eat food" because some of it is junk. Some tele is absolutely brilliant for entertainment, education etc and children absolutely love benefiting from it. I think the parents mean "we don't have the brains/time/energy to tell the difference between good and bad tv/we can't be arsed to monitor their usage, so our children get to do without". It's not noble if those are the real reasons. I wish they wouldn't pretend it is.

I'm not feeling wonderful. is going, which is good, but a bit weepy, especially after half hour on the phone to Virgin Media who seem to think they could fail to install a phone so I can get to it...and wanted to charge me £99 to put it in the right place where we'd asked it to be. A chemo-filled Amber bursting into tears on the phone resulted in a manager and a refund of that charge, but it's still taking another WEEK for them to put the phone line in correctly. That's 3 weeks in total by that stage. Why did I change from BT?

::grabs cup of tea and Soup Du Jour, which seems to be fortified with more than a little medicinal sherry under the circumstances::

They're not allowed chocolate/sweets/sugar/food dye/cookies/everything must be organic and as little meat as possible/not microwaved/not processed/you get the point. As my MiL says, they are forced to exist on apricot kernels. The children go crazy at my PiL because they're allowed to eat what they want and can have not just one, but TWO desserts if they want. I make sure to give the kids treats when I can. Makes me glad I'm a bit more sane and that TS has a healthy balance of good food and treats and gets a bit of tv along with lots of playing/singing/crafts/books/helping Mommy with jobs.

[grr] on your behalf, amber.

I think your way sounds a lot more sane, tbh, scout. I know I have my foibles with miniThumb foodwise but I don't keep him away from sweets/chocolate completely - he is allowed some in a day but not every day. I do wish MIL wouldn't give him milkshake AND ice cream when she has him for the day though - and then he still expects pudding after his dinner! (never going to happen). I also wish she wouldn't give him an entire icecreamonnastick an hour before dinner - that is utterly thoughtless and I know damn well she would never have done that with her boys! MrT says they weren't even allowed biscuits in case they got fat!

Amber - sorry you were feeling a bit queasy - hope that you can eat something nice - soup is always good of course, are there any lewd rolls?

The Soup du Jour is chicken, which seems to be very settling. And the rolls do seem to be especially lewd today

::covers the eyes of the Bishops who were about to advance upon the soup table::

TS has gone a bit funny on his fruit lately but loves his veggies (I've never seen a boy attack a bowl of peas the way he does). I don't stress. He gets one meal offered, if he doesn't eat he doesn't eat (though depending on how he ate during the day I may offer cheerios or yogurt as an option). He doesn't usually get a dessert but when he does it's yogurt with fruit puree (which he will eat). But during the day I'll give him a baby biscuit or a toddler oaty bar and not think twice about. I've learned not to stress about food and he'll eat when he's darn well hungry.

I've had friends who have grown up in similar ways to my neices & nephews and they went crazy as soon as they were out of the house/at uni and years later still have ishoos. I'm trying not to do that to TS.

Goodness !

He was up. He was miserable and clingy and yawning and rubbing his eyes. He's back down without a peep. Poor little guy.

my word!!! those rolls!

:o

((((HUGS)))) for anyone who's ill or has unwell littlies.

Poor little TS. I hope he feels a bit better tomorrow. Kittenito is full of beans (and spots). Mami not quite so much. Today he had to go for a dr's appointment at the social security hospital to get his medical note for nursery (all absences have to be justified!). Since this was not a planned activity I had to get an emergency appointment, which in Mexico means arriving at the hospital at 6am to camp out and get the noshow list of the day (ie you step in when someone fails to show). K stayed in bed and his Papi brought him along at 8am when the drs actually arrived. We were seen at 9am, so all in all, no that bad. But since Gatita kindly made my alarm unnecessary by waking me at 4am; I am once more dead on my feet. Grr.

The TV is one of my lost battles in the house. Mr. H has it on constantly when at home. I tried to ration it when he wasn't there, but was constantly undermined. Hence we have lots of telly. But generally it's a necessary background. Gatita only get excited when there is music and K when the Octronauts and WordWorld are on.

On the other hand, sweets and stuff aren't a big thing. K dislikes everything bar lollipops and G is more taken with raw carrots at the mo. Both of them are slaves to crisps and cheesy puffs though. I am kind of relaxed about it since they do not form part of a their regular diet and usually are only consumed after tea/dinner not before (well, when I am in charge anyway. Mr. H has somewhat laxer standards.

Wriggle loves the Octonauts too. We have to TV on far too much but it shows no signs of doing any harm. When she has watched a program on CBeebies she just ignores it if I forget to turn it off. On the other hand, her friend, who has no TV, cannot take her eyes off it for hours if left .....

When I got home from work today I found that Wriggle and her friend had spent the day in a hollow tree in the field behind our house, decorating it for fairies. Wriggle really only just can wriggle in. They had the most wonderful time and it makes me very happy that she spent today doing that, not phonics. My fellow teachers find it a bit strange, though, and I am still agonising about next year.

The other lovely thing on coming home was the chickens rushing across the garden to meet me and following me every step. I'm not sure that DH remembers to feed them on my days at work, but it does make me feel loved.

Boy is a freak, he DISlikes octonauts. refuses to watch it or even stay in same room if its on.
He would hawever, watch Kerwhizz back to back for 2 hours if I let him. I don't, one Kerwhizz a day and then he can watch something else if I'm still cooking.

Today I planted beans- runner, broad and green & peas, courgette, cucumber and radish. Hope some of them germinate and grow. Really need to dig over the new veg bed and get some maincrop spuds in.

Would any of you fancy a glass of something now? I'm not so keen on a wine tonight, may be an orange juice and soda,or what else might be a nice soft drink for someone who fears they have a cold coming on.

UniS, something vitamin-packed and uplifting - maybe a fresh smoothie with ginger would help? Did you sow that lot outside or inside? Have just sown radishes in the ground and loads of onions in trays and spent the rest of the day (yesterday) dragging a sofa and a bit of carpet into the end of the polytunnel for the essential playing/drinking area and admiring the weeds area.

I'm another mum with a poorly littlie, SBoy has got his usual wheezy chesty cough cold thing, and the coughing is particularly bad this time. So the last two nights have not offered much in the way of sleep. He's great in the daytime, youo'd never know he was ill at all really, especially if he's just had his inhaler; but come nighttime he suffers. He's already woken once this eve and was a bit sick too tho I'm tending to think that was an excess of coughing rather than a tummy bug. Hoping so anyway.

I'll join you in the non-alcoholic beverage department, Unis; OJ and soda sounds lovely. Also have some nice cranberry juice chilling in the fridge if there are any takers.

Hope your throat and cold sore are on the mend, Maud. I get cold sores too (was not good in my thesp days, the panic about getting that call for a casting when I had a yukky outbreak). They make you feel so rubbish, especially when you meet someone and they say: "ooh, you've got a coldsore!" Because, obviously, you hadn't noticed yourself, and you need someone to point out to you that you are sporting a very attractive scab on your lip. Thanks.

Anyway, there are tons of conversations I want to catch up with on here - that's the trouble with this tea room, there are just too many iinteresting topics of conversation and not enough time to join in them all! - but I have to go to bed NOW after the last couple of nights I've had. So I will just say that Wriggle's day sounds really lovely, much more fun than phonics and quite possibly more important at her age - and things like that are one of the hooks for HE for me, the subject of which I will get back to on here one of these days, sometime! (Am still pondering but no great rush to really decide yet as SBoy will be nearly 5 before he has to start Reception, ie not till Sep 2012.)

Night all, thanks for the hugs JM and sending them back to any as wants one, oh and good news Amber and Mary that yesterday went well for both of you. Nighty night.

all bar radishes are in pots / seedtrays in greenhouse. radishes are in a tub by back door. Lettuce and rocket are already in tubs in greenhouse, but will get moved to by back door later in spring.

Ginger... um, good idea. ginger beer.
off to get one now.