Tea Room the Tenth: Tea and cake and rock and roll

[MadBadandDangerousToKnow]

Welcome back to the tea room.

In the search for the perfect venue, we have now decamped to a rambling country estate. The once-decaying castle, now restored, is a boutique hotel, popular with rock and roll gentry and visiting bishops, and the tea room (which never closes) is located in a tastefully converted barn. The charming garden contains a duck pond and ends in a haha. We need the haha, of course, to stop the bison trampling the herbaceous borders. Mellors the gardener is, as ever, in charge of the grounds.

Please come and join us for a celebratory drink.

We've somehow managed to get dd to the age of 6 without owning a single piece of playmobil - not quite sure how.

Off for a bit to have a break. Not sure if the Dongle will work in the valley so hope to catch up in a week

Amber please leave Mellors' dongle alone this weekend, we want him fit for duty on Monday other than that have a lovely time

Madbad I only get Playmobile online so no coloured pages at all - as far as I can tell it's all blue... we have an airplane which is pleasingly asexual...

racing the guinea pigs are nicely coloured 2 tone but I suspect they are just big/small enough to ram up an nostril and block the hoover (and hurt when you stand on them) so we shall I avoid, I suspect

I found a really nice recipe for quail, do you want it or do you just stroke yours

You can only have a TEFL table if it is a sand/water table

Sorry, MadBad Pulp Fiction is Quentin Tarrantino's masterpiece (I was going to say IMHO but of course, there is a no bushel rule so I must be right and marvellous)

Very funny and clever film in which John Travolta does a great expose of cultural differences around the world by way of Orders in McDonalds and the mayonnaise was, I think, in Amsterdam...

Well, if we're talking guinea pigs and films, have you seen G-force?

Daisy - 'I suspect they are just big/small enough to ram up a nostril and block the hoover ' Am trying to imagine how you do the hoovering and my mind boggles.

ha ha! I didn't mean quite at the same time

Pimms on the terrace, anyone?

Yes please! here are some twiglets to go with the pimms

It's a fine evening isn't it?

looks like another ordinary night in the tea room

Another TEFL qualified person here, but not a primary school teacher as well though (my mum was one, if that counts for anything).

Can't say I much enjoyed teaching English ( I did it in Scotland and in Barcelona for a while), it turns out I feel more at home teaching history, for some reason.

I'm probably not a pushy mum (I think) but I do think Kittenito is probably the cleverest 21 mo I know but I think that is down to maternal biais.
The potty thing is worrying me as the nursery tell me that he is to be "trained" in the next couple of months. I don't think Kittenito is ready for this at all (ie. he only tells me after he has done a poo, and only very rarely after he has done a wee); but it is nursery policy that all 2 year olds should be potty trained by the time they start in the 2 year old room. So, good luck to them. I have bought a potty, and so far it has been used as a helmet by Kittenito.

ooo yes i'd love some Pimms thanks! Here's some cucumber sandwiches! Lets have a EFL/TEFL/TESOL table! it could be a TRESTLE table or does that lower than tone with all the chaise longues?!

Pimms here please too! If there were doilies on the trestle efl table it might mix in OK with the chaise longues.

Not at all, have put out the trestle table here!

I have now moved onto the bolly btw... straw anyone?

Catita, I would be very at someone else deciding when my child should be potty trained. a) All children are different b) Boys gain control much later than girls c) It could well be far more long-drawn out and full of angst to force someone who is not ready.
(This is why I am against reading and writing at 4. OK, all your gifted onlies obvious take to it like preverbial bishops to fishing, but a lot of little boys that I see start their school career by failing.)

OK, rant over, pass the Pimms.

Governors and LEA representative have been in a meeting all morning to decide whether I can be forced to change my hours. I found, to my suprise, that I didn't care and had a lovely day teaching capacity. Lots of water and a very damp classroom assistant.

Catita, I would be unhappy too. That seems so out of line with how others would generally do it.

RS, when will you find out?

Wine? Did somebody mention wine?

How lovely to have any bony part of your body. Bit early for Halloween names?

I think I need a licensing name

I have a bony finger or two - very little fat on them.

Am now going to retire to the chaise longue and drape myself across one (the one without the olive oil stains)

I find myself half watching Camberwick Green on Nick Jr (DD in bed of course!) how lovely, Windy Miller and all...how much nicer than Mr Tumble et al (though I'm sure DD would disagree).

Wine for me please Gym! Shiraz? perfect..

That's a super trestle table Mary, I was imagining more bring and buy sale myself but I obviously wasn't stretching my imagination enough

Catita, I'm shocked along with everyone else at your Yr 2 potty predicament. Unbelieveable, I have never heard of this before (Yr 3 yes but even then they usually accomodate every individual with their varying needs). DD was trained around 2 and a half which seems to be the average from what i can gather, I did (optimistically) try at 2 but she was having none of it. Don't know what to suggest, another nursery?

Racing, I've followed your thread re being forced to change your hours. I'm incredulous! my problems fade into insignificance.. hope it works out for the best for you.

Like your name Jacks, was toying with ideas but have so far only come up with Grizzlerella but it's more bear than halloween, speaking of which Paddington has just come on so must go..

Thats one heck of a trestle table... a large step up from the village hall ones that I can't quiet work out how to fold up because they are childproof ( and thus me proof).

I like the thought of a TESOL sand and water table, good place to get students chatting I guess.

RS- I know how you mean with boys of 4 starting school and starting to fail, lots just aren't ready to be confined in a classroom for so long, they still need a great deal of exercise and shouting and pretending. I'm just VERY glad that boy doesn't appear to have the dyslexia I have. He already gets Left and right correct as often as I do now. As yet its only HIS name he wants to write, so plenty for school to work on yet, like colouring, something he is not at all interested in.

Blimey Cat- potty trained BY 2, thats optimistic. good luck. Boy DID train early at just gone 2, but only coz he spent sooo much time at home bare bum and was used to a potty from about 12 months as it saved me washing ( cloth nappies) and he was VERY regular.

Hello everyone, may I come and join you for a glass?

I'm new and am totally not used to posted on MN boards.

Thought the tea room sounded lovely, and kind of wish it was real and just down the road!

x

Nice trestle! My trestle is fromt he days when my ad used to wallpaper amd I was into Fame the first time round.

We trained dd at 2y 3mos, as we were going to eurocamp and thought dd would be better weeing on their linoleum than my shag pile . She did pretty well, and nursery picked it up wen we got haome. Then made her wait until the following summer before letting her take off her night nappies. She was dry from about March (her 3rd bday) but I made her keep her pull-ups on until we got back from eurocamp as I didn't want the hassle of wet beds on holiday in July. It seems mad to make them train whether they are ready or not, and then keeping them with the younger children, what to punish them?

just been watching the news.why oh why did I turn it on? so much horrific stuff on it this week.

Hi orangehaze, there are a lot of new people here this week, in fact I fear we have rather taken over .

Hi orangehaze, welcome and come and join us on the charmingly distressed chinz sofa. Is it any relative of the charmingly distressed leather sofa eaten by RacingPig?

Oh, and what do you mean, you wish it were real?? We are all perfectly real! (Though not quite sure about eh NMBs.) Wriggle is at the moment really snoring on the sofa next to me, as you can all hear. A Good Mother would take her to bed ....

Tell us something about yourself.

I am a possibly soon-to-be-ex primary teacher mother of one thinking of diversifying into running a petting farm, with many of the inmates still alive