Would anyone like a cup of tea and a muffin?

[MadBadandDangerousToKnow]

I'm tired and in need of refreshment.

The tea room is now officially open, serving hot chocolate, tea, freshly-squeezed orange juice and a range of home-baked muffins. Tablecloths and crockery are charmingly mismatched antiques (no Cath Kidston here). We overlook an attractive although somewhat overgrown garden, with a distant view of rolling countryside.

Everyone is welcome but house rules dictate that anyone indulging in fisticuffs will be ejected.

Please come in.

Trouble was, all the others knew each other - they seemed to have spent either mat leave together on older child, or went to same groups with a younger one (there were 5 babies the same age there). Were all talking about stuff they do together and about organising play dates..

When I was on mat leave the baby groups in our old area all had mums that were a good 5 years younger than me, and that did seem to be an issue. Not that I think I'm old by any means, but my SIL (whose ambition it was to complete her family before she was 30) thinks I am.

Fortunatly DS gets his socialisation without me - he is very social, and I think I'd have problems keeping up with his needs in that area

We do have a small group of equally geriatric mums, so WS is not totally isolated. Maybe she is just not going through a very sociable phase. We are so old one of us is a grandmother as well as the mother of a 2-year old.

cmot - sounds like you've had a very trying few days. Would a glass of tea room bubbly help?

racingsnake - I found being an older mummy was a bit of an issue at toddler groups and the like, although I live in a huge conurbation where there are many older mummies. But it goes in phases, I think. When my daughter was very tiny I was just glad to get out of the house and find some company for me and her but, as time went on, I did find people that I genuinely liked. Trouble is (and I don't mean to be depressing) everything changes again when the children start school - it's very easy to lose sight of people if the children go to different schools.

Anyway, how's your tooth (or the gap where your tooth used to be)?

Is it time yet for our nightly strut around the dance floor?

Gaps improving, thanks. Only one more tooth to go. However, now have black eye where WS headbutted me last night at about 3 am. So, this gap-toothed, black-eyed geriatric mummy had better retire behind the aspidistra and let you younger things take over the dance floor.

How long has Bocca Junior (Boccita?) been at school?

The little Bocca is 7 and so has been at school for an eternity (or so she thinks).

And, look here, I'm almost certainly the same age as you and probably older, and I'm still grooving on down (although admittedly I'm not nursing a sore jaw or a black eye).

Now that took me back to the days when I had all my own teeth. I was staying with another student in Mannheim and she was heartbtoken, because, as she said to me, "Even you have a boyfriend but I'm the pretty one!" Said boyfriend soon realised the error of his ways.

But then that reminded me of this www.youtube.com/watch?v=9whehyybLqU

And whatever happened to your lovely German friend?

... in the sense of friend in Germany? You didn't say she was actually German.

There you are, I knew I felt at home here, now I know why... talk of O' levels instead of GCSEs... !!!!

I found that the NCT coffee morning group was quite good in terms of age group - didn't feel as though I stood out in terms of great age compared with ds's - unlike some others.

Ds does seem to be rather on the sociable side though - he will talk with almost anyone, we regularly 'adopt' grandparents when we go to the local park, and he will engage almost anyone in conversation.

I'm glad that the Aspidistra is useful - black eye doesn't look too bad RS - and can't see the gap except when you are singing along - fine when you're sipping champagne - so why don't you just come out and join us aged mothers bopping in the tea room with cocktail glasses in our hands?

(baby thrush is 3.5)

Hi, MT!

GCSEs were introduced in 1986, by which time I had graduated and had been employed for years!

I took a perverse pride in being the oldest (by a small margin) even in my NCT group.

That should be rock and roll!

Ugh. I give up.

Thanks for the kind words but the main reason I am ensconced here behind the greenery is I have rather poor dancing skills. I even went to an evening class once in the hope of remedying this, but discovered that every time I focus on one part of my body, the rest just stops moving. I think, time for one of those rather cool hip wiggles that Mistlethrush is doing, and the feet stop. Get the feet moving again and find that my upper body has frozen. Maybe my arms have even somehow managed to fold themselves.

However, I prefer not to think of my self as dance-challenged; rather that my talents must lie in other areas.

Friend was not German; she was so English she packed quantities of Kellogs in her suitcase for the placement - when Germany was quite well supplied with cornflakes. Not quite sure she even spoke to a German while there.

Must be off - DH has just put head round tea room door to point out the time in an aggrieved and full-of-cold fashion.

Baby thrush has just poked his head round the door to demand a tissue (and a wee) so we are in a similar position RS. I will also be retiring to bed very soon.

Hello my lovely cafe friends!

My DH is not aggrieved but that is mostly because he thinks I am making calendars of DS for far off rellies for Christmas - and since all his family are in NZ that is a task that is worth doing
and one I am doing, sort of... while catching up with you all

Well, where to begin....

I am 41 and DS is 2.4 so I think I fit in the middle of most of you except for the babies of the group, JM and baby of babies T42...

Cmot, sorry about your end of week - did you hear the brass band at Paddington? I love them, so earnest and oldie

I know what you mean about lurking at parties, I think bouncing with the kids is always best.

I didn't meet people at NCT and wasn't around in first few weeks for various reasons, am only just meeting people now and they are all clikey and I work so potential is low, but I just try to smile and take what I can....can be hard though

Racing, glad teeth are better, LOL at non-german friend and fickle boyfriend!

Mistle - I too have o levels - they rock! I have carte blanche to tell DS he has it easy!

Right, here are some more bottles for the week, now artfully placed in our pine wine rack

Here are some more candles and I have got these tasteful old Chianti bottles to stick them in

love the decos JM

I've put the oven on and the bread to prove. The muffins in the tin were made by me and DS today, enjoy, he ate quite a bit of the banana on the way, but I hope they are still tasty

No, no brass band, just the usual aggrieved group moaning about the Cotswold line (they have approved the funding to redouble it, but who knows when this will be).

Have told DH that the next party is his turn - of course it will work out that it will be a good laugh and he will be even more about this one.

I like dancing, but am no good at it. Tis a very good thing that in my clubbing days I was a rock chick, and therefore as long as you can move your head and arms you are OK.

Hi Cmot

While thoughtfully sipping my latte I remembered a dancing story of old. Party at school.

I was snogging a boy. I was wearing maroon sort of harem pants - baggy at the top with pleats, huge over thigh and then really really tight at the ankle - you know - even at 14 you have an arse the size of your 41 year old self....

Anyway, mid snog "A town called Malice" comes on. Hang on, says my romantic fella, stay there. He nips off and head bangs for the track and the comes back to resume positions

Who's calling me a baby?? Daisy, you have a mere two years on me!!! But at 9 months I think my DS is the baby of the baby bunch, LOL.
Now I really want to know how old Bocca is.
And if we're sharing details about our work, what do you all do? I think I've mentioned I'm a chiropractor bloody quack sho's not a real doctor. (At least in the opinion of such illustrious personages as physiotherapists and medical doctors. Which always makes me laugh when I somehow manage to take care of a patient's problems who's given up on their GP or physio... ) Et vous, mesdames?
Baby Jack and I have just spent a wonderful weekend at my mum's, and are flying home to the West Coast this afternoon. Normally that fact would have me in tears already (am very close to my mum and miss her dreadfully) but she and my stepdad are joining us for Christmas in 3 1/2 weeks so that's not too bad. One thing about being here, my mum's house is not baby-proofed and Baby Jack has been hearing the word "NO" shouted at the top of my lungs a few times in the last four days... most memorably, when he got away from me and was heading at top crawling speed for the drop-off at the side of the un-gated stairs!!! AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!! And I would just like to ask, since your babies are all ahead of him in terms of age, WHY do some babies love to shred and eat paper?? Which then travels unscathed through their digestive tract and comes out in the nappy pretty much the way it looked when it went in...

Daisy - I remember those type of trousers only too well ! And at breaking off mid snog

Jacksmama - I'm a product manager for a company that makes Radiotherapy equipment. A medical physicist by training.

If you could send me some chiropractic vibes for my neck it would be great. I really need to sort it out again

Glad you had a great weekend. As DS has wanted to climb up and down stairs since before he was crawling (he cruised for ages) we've never had stairgates. But as my mum and dads house is the least child proofed in christendom, I can relate to this.

No idea on the paper thing though

I thought you were officially name changing to cnut?

Would you all please see my new thread in breast and bottle-feeding about clearing a baby's snotty congested nose? Thanks!

Glad you had a good time JM - my mum's house I would describe as widget hell. Last christmas with 18 month old walker/ runner and 2 year old very large dog... well just say I skipped the age gab twixt anyone and Bocca

Sorry to call you a baby. You old git. I should have clocked with all the face powder and remedies you seek
but just remember, nobody puts baby in the corner!

Can't help on the paper. DS never really had a shove in mouth instinct....got in the way of babbling/ talking too much I guess