30 up The tea room afloat

[UniS]

Welcome aboard.

The first rule of the tea room is - No fisticuffs.
The second rule is - Put the kettle on and lets have a or open a bottle of if its that time of day. Pull a sofa and relax. Parents of one, more (or less) children are welcome to hop on board and chat about anything and nothing. Introduce yourself if new and if you name change give us clue please.

Scout Camp has the amazing ability to remain the same and change at the same time. The Camp Directors (aka Mom & Dad) are loving (and I do mean LOVING) having Toddler running around under foot. Mean Counselor (aka my sister) isn't so sure about having to share the camp. However, she will be 28 next week and needs to grow up.

UniS (I think it was UniS that asked) Scout Camp is located in Pennsylvania, just outside of the state's largest city. I am very much an East Coast/Northeast Corridor Camper. Living in England, where life seems much slower paced, can be a challenge sometimes.

Toddler's internal clock is messed up, as I knew it would be. He was up at 4 a.m. today. Ugh. I see an early moring nap and possibly a short mid-afternoon one in our future.

Scout, have you liked in any part of the UK apart from the one you do now? Because I have to say ::picks words with care because The Bloke is from those parts:: that I don't think there's any part of the UK where life is as slow-paced as it is there. Which is charming when one is a visitor but probably far less so as a resident, especially one who has lived elsewhere.

MC is still, firmly, in shorts most of the time... I did tell him that he had to wear socks and shoes for the bowling party on Saturday just so he had socks on. He has been Mr Stroppy over the weekend - I think tiredness and possibly a little under the weather - heard a squeek of 'help' from the bathroom when he was starting to get ready for bed on Sat pm, got upstairs just as I heard the waterfall errupt - but he'd caught a large proportion in a cup - which I quickly emptied so he could fill it up again (tearoom special) but a bit too at quick thinking. He went to bed with a bowl but didn't need it luckily and was OKish on Sun.

He has a clear idea of what he likes in terms of clothes - but its mainly in terms of colours or sometimes what's on a Tshirt combined with comfort.

Maud, no, I have only lived outside of YOUT. Spend a lot of time at inlaws house, though. Have travelled to many parts of the UK, though -- mostly England but honeymooned in Scotland.

Hello there :)
Can I join your gang please? I am the mum of a son of almost 11 months. I had IVF and so that, along with lack of money to have 2, means he is very likely to be an only child. For some reason I got to thinking about it while in bed last night and worrying myself that he will be lonely and end up rattling about with 2 elderly parents (I am 41) and hating it. It's going to be ok isn't it?

Hello, err, I hesitate to call you Fanjo. Of course you can join our gang.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be OK, because we can do our utmost to equip our children with social skills so that they wown't be lonely at any age and (I fervently hope) by the time we shuffle off this mortal coil will have a supportive network of family and friends around them.

Hi Fanjo, have a .

FWIW, I have elderly parents (70 and 77 and in very bad health) and a sibling who never helps and frankly is a pita, so that bit never worries me. I know I am making provision for our care going forward, so ds won't be burdened.

are one of the shows we saw yesterday. They do give ds ideas I am unsure of

Thumb - not sure what ds will be. Sometimes he says he wants to be a Dr, but last week it was a fighter pilot. And often I think it will be barrister or politician . But he does love science

JM - I don't make boiled icing, only buttercream or glace. Other types are purchased tbh

Hello Fanjo! nice to see you in here, you sound as though you are having a bit of a wibble. I have those too - same age situation although I'm 3 years further down the line than you and DS will be 4 very soon
For some obscure reason I am still attempting to have DC2 (mostly because DH always wanted 2, I think) and not going so well at it - so I have wibbles sometimes too, but then think well DS is very happy as he is, although he seems to like other people's babies, he's never yet asked why he can't have one - and since we live in Australia, a second DC would be a major investment in terms of plane tickets home back to the UK. I think "que sera, sera" and leave it at that.

I also have 2 siblings - one of whom might as well not exist for all the use he is - and one of whom I get on well with now but didn't until we were in our 20s. As a child, I would have loved to have been an only. Now, having emigrated, I am glad my sister is still in the UK to be there for my Dad - but if she wasn't, and I was an only child, my Dad might have come with us anyway so it's all swings and roundabouts.

CMOTD - fingers crossed he doesn't go for the politician option then!
Have you ever seen Amazing girl, completely mute, trains horses brilliantly. In this clip she is riding without reins or saddle and of course no verbal commands - amazing communication she has with the horse. Those riders in your clip have serious danger ishoos!

Scout - sorry your sister is being a bit of an arse - hope she gets over herself quite quickly and doesn't put a damper on your enjoyment.
And you may have missed some of the faster-living areas of the UK...

anyone, or is it a touch early for you all? instead then.
We had a horrendous start to the day, temp climbing to 38 deg C in the shade with a hot breeze; and then about 9:30pm, a sudden shift and cold air started blowing around - thank goodness! So I switched off the fans and opened all the doors and windows (they're all screened) to blow out the heat. Phew! Nasty foretaste of what is to come though...

Hello Fanjo! Have a and a piece of cake!

I too have occasional wobbles about having an only particularly as most of Small Bean's friends are just at that age where the mums are thinking about/having number two. DS is nearly 4, I am nearly 40 and DH is even older! The majority of the time though I love our little family unit and it's right for us.

There was a post on another thread that I always remember which, like Maud, said that if DS got to an age where he was solely responsible for caring for us, with absolutely no support network of friends or partner or family it was probably indicative of other issues and very little to do with not having a sibling (or words to that effect )

CMOT - that looks amazing!

TW - looking out of the window at cold, northern, drizzle makes me strangely envious of your 38 deg C!!!

Am I allowed to mention the C word here before December? My C pudding is steaming away happily downstairs and I have just posted my first parcel of C presents...

Mc saw the light infantry display at the Royal when he was about 2.5 - and wanted to take some of it home. That was INCREDIBLE as they were chargingn around with gun carriages with no brakes and a huge amount of momentum of course - and passing very close to each other with amazing precision. will watch CMOt's clip later.

MC did go through a stage of wanting a sibling, quite a bit, which was difficult to handle - particularly as I'd not given up all hope then. Now I can firmly say that its not going to happen - and he's happy that we spend all our time on him rather than him having to share us - and that he doesn't have to deal with smellie nappy changes.

Had a rather nice yesterday - MC's homework was to draw a famous person from the past, give their dates and write a sentence about why they were famous. Mc chose a composer [good choice!!!] and asked DH for a book on him. DH had a rummage and asked 'will this do - its a book Grandpa wrote and its dedicated to you and your cousins' . Ended up finding a much simpler picture of said composer for him to draw though, and he just managed to find the dates out from the book.

Hello Duelling! I see you've found the sofa. Here, have a

Did you know you can get a Haynes manual for the Millenium Falcon Amber ?

at your dhs enthusiasm to help MT ! DS is on a nightly 'story out of your head' kick at the moment, and we have to think of a figure from history and tell him a story about them. This has so far reached from Mother Teresa to Ernest Rutherford. DH delivered one about a volcanologist tonight

That's what I'm reading, yup. Soon have her back up to full power.

There is a Haynes Manual for the Millenium Falcon????? Don't tell DH!! Massive Star Wars nerd that he is, he'd buy it in a heartbeat! :o

Welcome DF (Maud, if you can't bring yourself to call her "Fanjo", how about that? :)) - glad you found us.

It's cold here today, but sunny. DH is home, after a minor mishap - MIL went to the airport to pick him up because I had my prenatal yoga class to teach, and she forgot her key to our house. And of course DH didn't take his own keys to California. Why would he. So I got a text in the middle of my PY class asking what time I was going to be home as they were locked out... :o

Scout, how happy are you to be home? :) Have you been stocking up on mom-hugs? :):):) (Sorry sister is being a tit though.)

ohhh please.

Amber- are you sure your supposed to use ratchet spanner and wookie in quite that way?? looks rather uncomfortable for the wookie.

Evening all. busy day for UniS lots of PAT testing and a fair bit of driving. Have gained another ( small scale) customer tho, which is good.

CMOT- Rocking horse - WOW. I have failed to find any clips of the dartmoor pony version... not quite so dangerous or rocky , that we saw at chagford show the other year.

Welcome Fanjo. I have no problem with your name - loud and proud - the fanjo is one of my great gifts to the lexicon from MN...

anyway, sorry you are having a wibble. tis hard if your ideas of family planning/ size become medicalised and so seem out of your hand. I would say two things
(1) single kids are great. A sibling is no guarantee of a chocolate box wonder relationship
(2) everyone but everyone has wibbles when the come to the end of their family bearing life - whether it is one or nine, popped out with ease or fought for every step of the way, whether you realise at the moment of birth "this is it" or realise ten years later "that was it" - everyone does but we are stereotyped into some feelings being uber feelings - so the single child will be lonely, the two parent family is best, the siblings are a support etc - ideas that (love it as I do) things like the John Lewis christmas ad foster....

this is turning into a diatribe. Have some and twiglets - they are being carried away by the NMBs at the moment ::flicks the little chappies off and offers over::

::waves to everyone else::

::Retires to listen to Hugh Laurie reading the Moomins::

Hugh Laurie reading the Moomins? Where? Where?

hI fanjo- nice to meet you.

whats your choice from the chocolate box of requirement?

Its a BBC Audio CD even though OxPox is long abed, I have it on, just for me
chocs must be salted caramel, non?

It sounds delightful, Oxeye. I shall investigate on Amazon. Oh, don't think I forgot earlier.

::clasps you to her ample bosom::

salted fudge in dark choc for me...

tis lovely indeed. there's a bit where moomintroll has changed shape and moominmumma looks into moomintrolls frightened eyes and says "yes, you are my moomintroll. I will always recognise you" I sob every time....

I had no Moomins in my childhood ::deprived:: and want to make up for lost time.

I have no idea what you're all talking about or what a Moomins is but Hugh Laurie could read me the phone book and I'd be happy...