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::

::hands over a whole bucketload of chin-upness, and a basket of stamina::

::adds a box of tissues and a large ::

Oh, Thumb, so sorry. Have some more , and chin-up-ness.

It's hardly the issue now, but the point about the vest and pants is that they are only very briefly in their underwear (if at all) while they are getting changed - they do the class either in their school uniform or PE kit. I am still resistant to the idea that the mere fact of seeing a child in their underwear for a moment is somehow pervy or threatening. I have got more angry about this overnight and am steeling myself to raise it with the school.

::Leaves plate of cookies and pastries on the aga::

xxx

Milk's dance and music class has termly whole lesson viewing. Milk finds the whole thing so distracting that she is unable to do anything but wave and stare at her Dad (who is the one that goes and watches because I am at work). Five to ten minutes peak at the end of each class seems much MUCH more sensible to me and rather nice for when Grandparents etc are here so they can see her too - which currently they can't!

Maud, yup. Unless they can prove how known parents are a risk to a child when stood in a class with everyone else and with the teacher/facilitator and the children are wearing clothes that cover their private parts anyway. Lord help us, it's the Thought Police in action, really, isn't it. "You might be THINKING something about the children!". [rolls eyes in complete despair]

So sorry to hear Thumb. Hears some liniment for chin upedness. I find it works very well.

I asked my SIL about her daughter's dance classes as my niece has been dancing since she was about 2.5. Before she joined an actual pre-professional company school, which is where she dances now at almost 11, the parents could watch as much as they liked. But even those schools had actually changing areas. This is in the US, BTW. Now that she's dancing with a real company school, no one is allowed to observer ever. They do perform, though, at least once a year, sometimes twice.

When I was at school the infants did PE in pants and vest. I think it was my little sister who once came into my junior class in her pants and vest with a note for the teacher and oh how we laughed at her attire! Imagine that happening now!

Sorry, been MIA -- stupid interweb issues.

Maud, BAH! at dance class. I agree we have protect children/people, but have found that the UK seems to go OTT on it. I can't email my Seniors directly without parental permission despite being alone in a room with them for meetings (no other leader in my unit, just me, but the Guides are meeting next door in the hall) AND being CRB checked. The parents, district, etc know the set-up/arrangements. Some of my girls are nearly 16, which is school-leavers/get-a-job age and yet I can't email them.

Just curious, as the girls were talking about their work experience last night -- do the places where they work experience have to have all of their employees CRB-ed?

Thumb, double-BAH! at the unexpected visit from Aunt Flo.

Oh, Maud, girlies enjoyed the search. Thank you! They also made some fab wedding cake toppers out of homemade playdough. It was a fun evening.

Really sorry to hear that, Thumb, and that's very kind of you to proffer the choc like that. Sending you some more big virtual hugs to join those already on the way. (((((Thumb)))))

Got to dash now will try and get back later

(((((((((thumb)))))))))))) :(

I know I'm playing devil's advocate here, but there's just one thing that crosses my mind, Maud, wrt all this business - could it possibly be that the initiative came in some way from some of the children themselves? I'm not sure how old GardenGirl is but I think I got the impression recently that she's at least 9, have I got that right or am I off on the wrong piste altogether?

If they are that age or older, then it does seem conceivable to me that some of them might just be starting to feel uncomfortable about being seen in their undies by other people's parents, not because they're worried the parents are perving; but just because with puberty round the corner or maybe already kicking in, and maybe some bodily changes already taking place, they're just getting more sense of wanting to have those boundaries. Just like we wouldn't particularly want to strip down to our undies in front of a load of people who were fully dressed, nothing to do with the fear of an attack by any of those people, just normal social boundaries.

I could be way off here, of course - mabye none of them have the least concern about this, and it is just completely over the top parent police stuff. (Which I agree is out of all proportion and quite rabid.) But I think Tea's example illustrates that children do actually have a keen sense of dignity and what is/sin't appropriate clothing in specific situations, and as far as I remember from my own girlhood, that was definitely the case with us girls at junior school level. Is there any chance, basically, that some of the girls are just a bit embarrassed?

Sorry, spend pretty much no time with children of that age so cannot gauge if this could be a concern for them. And sorry to hijack your anecdote for my own argument, Tea!! And if I am way off the mark, please don't throw any buns at me!!! (of course you wouldn't, waste of good buns and all that....)

WHY is TS still rolling around/kicking his headboard? He had a big dinner, a long, warm bath and went to bed late....

Am loving Secret's approach to making oneself look busy.

I'm saying no more about the Situation but, Secret, the answer to your very perceptive questions is almost certainly no. I can't say any more without compromising my privacy or (more importantly) Girl's.

anyone?

Secrete, your approach to Busy Cooking reminds me of a student house share. There was one Very Busy Body (unusually in this instance not me) who had a Cleaning Rota. On our turns we used to run round the house squirting Mr Sheen so it smelled as if we'd been cleaning, move the hoover in the cupboard and squirt some jif in the bathroom

Thumb - I am so very very very very sorry have a big (((((HUG)))))

Tee thanks for the great brekky - still warm and everything

::making notes of both oxeye and secrete's looking busy guidelines::

The In laws are coming down for Mother's Day. Do you think if I just sprayed around with cleaner I could skip actually cleaning?

I didn't mean to post!

Today LCT came home from daycare with a my very first handmade Mother's Day card. ::Sniff:: It's BEAUTIFUL!

Oh how lovely, Tee. I'm just wondering where the first Mother's Day card Girl made for me is. It's truly lovely. ::sniff::

I believe the Mr Sheen trick is particularly effective if you squirt it onto a radiator.

::Bad Housewife emoticon::

Whoops! OK Maud, mum's the word!

I just lost a bit of a post again. Gnash. Was not actually pretending to be busy; was sort of taking piss out of self for sounding like sad 50's housewifey type, but see how others interpreted otherwise, and agree is very good wheeze. (And if I'm honest I quite like being a housewife, just a bit embarrassed to admit it sometimes!)

Am very jealous of your card, Tee; they didn't do them at SBoy's nursery school today and he's not there tomorrow. Will have to wait and see what MrS and he can come up with together.... hmm, better not get my hopes up too high!

Just to shed some light on last weekend that was so rotten (old news now, I know, but people were kind enough to ask) - sleep deprivation all week and no socialising (ie no adult company) cause of SBoy being sick, my cold that turned into a stinker, MrS away, total burnout for both of us and so on and so on. Leading to a big fat row when MrS finally did get home.

But that was then and this week's been a lot better so it's all a kind of faded into the background now.

Serpent, glad to read your "happy" post, but fwiw I really don't think you come across as a moaner usually anyway!

Thumb, missed your other post earlier - so sending you a big bucket of fresh stamina along with another hug.

Bedtime again. It comes around so fast. G'night all.

need to qualify that I quite like being a housewife because I don't actually do a lot of the things a housewife is supposed to. I like being a housewife with a cleaner

No homemade cards for me -- don't think MrScout would think to give TS his crayons or paint and paper. But I do hang all of his paintings up, at least for a few days. I still have his one/only not-with-me painting from TS's six days of nursery last summer. It holds a special place.

Trying to steal Bunny to give him a bath but every time I go to check on TS and get Bunny he's been clutched and/or laid on and I dare not remove him. Any tips?

Oh, and a question for the more experienced mothers -- is it possible to cut molars before all of the other front ones are in?

Hmmm, Scout, as far as I know, all the other teeth are normally in before molars come... but I don't think that means it couldn't happen.

Have the protein bars arrived yet?

Morning all.

Off to the shops today. Have to buy mother's day cards for US mothers as well even though it's not until May there. Otherwise there aren't any in the shops!

Scout, according to my dentist teeth come in whatever order they feel like. The 2 year molars are called that because, on average, they come in when the child is 2. But it's not written in stone.

Good morning!
re: Mother's Day. I have been asked by DH (Donki's Husband) to take the YD to the shop after school so that he can buy me something for Mother's Day.

I rather think that DH has missed the point.

Scout Maybe the teeth haven't read the text books? Or perhaps TS has found a secret stash of books with different instructions for teeth growing :)

(feeble attempt at humour, Donki hangs her head in shame)

Scout - my ploy has been to have two 'identical' 'favourite' toys which are more or less interchangeable. Every now and then mistlechick discovers that Nellie's sister has come to stay then she goes away again. And occasionally Nellie is to be found in the top cupboard in mistlechick's room when the whole house has been turned upside down looking for her. Funnily enough though, if she's been dipped in breakfast or something similar, he seems quite happy for her to go into the washing machine!

Apparently its MY fault that dh invited our next door neighbours twins to mc's birthday party - when we were already over the 'maximum' numbers. It was my fault because he hadn't had anythign to do with organising it, sending the invitations out or sorting out numbers. The fact that he'd seen the list I was using to tick off and it was ONLY class mates didn't seem to be a good enough reason. [grrrr]

Wish me luck - ice cake this evening, party tomorrow!