Tea Room the Fifteenth - The Viking Hall

[amberlight]

Here we are in the 15th instalment of the Tea Room for the One Child Family board. All are welcome, whether parents of a single splendid offspring or any other number.
We are this time in a Viking Long Hall tearoom, complete with optional helmets, roaring log fires (in case of chilly spring evenings), rugs aplenty, and all the usual mod cons of life as well.
Our Viking tea room contains Mellors the gardener/handyperson with a talent for relaxing massage (amongst a variety of other characters including Bishops, camels, bison, horses, guinea pigs, dogs, etc etc for reasons that would take too long to explain but you're welcome to read the other Tea Room threads and prepare to have your mind thoroughly boggled). Plenty of tea/coffee/cake/virtual bolly always on offer.
Join us, relax, chat, enjoy.

racing you see, that's what is so great about Eliptical Wriggle - "put something on" and she chooses newspaper!

I always liked pheasant stewes on apples myself....

oh tea! what a bitch, seriously.

Why on earth shouldn't milk be at the school? Since this is not the children doing the manipulation, I think perhaps you could do something about it but I'm not quite sure what. Perhaps the mum who told you could help out? maybe by suggesting to the other mums that they could tell their DDs to play with whoever they like, not only the people that other people tell them they can?

I don't know, I've never had any experience of parental involvement in bullying and exclusion of a child - disgusting behaviour!

I don't know either oxeye. I think HM simply doesn't like us - as far as I am aware there isn't anything specific Milk or I have done...

I am drafting a letter to Milk's teacher (who has also been having trouble with HM) and umming and aaahhhring at whether to send it....

Racing - Seriously you really need to face facts - your life is one of the best soaps around. For me it is sort of a half house between The Good Life and The Vicar of Dibley and it is pure sugary delight to hear of the Boden/toast/joules brochure scenes that are created in your household on a at least daily usually hourly basis!

Tea I wonder if I would ask the teacher to set aside a bit of time to talk about HM rather than a letter - if you talk you can better judge or finesse how she is reacting, but a letter can be I think over formal and you can't account for the mood of the person when they read it, I think contact the teached but I'd just do it face to face

And I love your description of the Racing household!

I agree with oxeye actually - I think face to face is better than a letter, plus there isn't any lingering "evidence" that could be potentially used against you if the teacher decides to be sympathetic to HM.

Shame the parents can't be excluded from the school, isn't it...

Tea, I have no wise advice, but can proffer a very large cup of something and use of the Viking Fleece to hug, if it helps?

Tea - I agree that a meeting would be best. You could potentially cover much more ground than you would in a letter and, as others have said, can change your tack as you go along, if necessary. I was wondering whether there was anyone apart from the teacher you could involve. Does the school have a head of pastoral care or some such?

And as for HorridMum. What a vache. Is this about snobbery? I seem to remember before that she was adopting a hoity-toity attitude towards you and others. In which case, you need subtly to let it be known that snobbery is in fact terribly common and so, so last century. Off to the Bastille with her!

HM sounds absolutely impossible. Is there any chance you can befriend some of the other mums, and get them "on side"? I find all this bitchy girl stuff impossible, as you all know!

Does the class do 'playdates' at all yet - I'd be making sure that the children (with nice mums) get invited over for an hour or two and have a fab time - making things, picnic teas in the park, playing with the puppy (how is the dog btw?) etc etc...

Morning ladies,

I have been away in West Cork for the weekend, visiting family.

Have read through the last few pages, lots of chat!

Tea- Glad to see you back again. This situation is crazy, she's a grown woman why is HM telling her dd not to spend time with Milk, that's really childish of her. Is this just a recent thing?

Thumb - I know what you mean about the haircuts. I am unable to send LittleO for a proper haircut, as I'm worried it will make him look older. At the mo I cut his hair, very very badly!! Do you know the haircut Johnny Depp has in Charlie and the choc factory? Well, ds has that hair cut . Dh has said I won't be able to get away with cutting his hair for much longer, as soon kids will start to notice his awful haircuts.

DMC - I'm afraid your dp might be out of luck, most schools in Ireland teach Irish dancing to girls as part of the normal school curriculum, or at least they used to. I know I had to spend years Irish dancing.

Mary - Sorry to hear you are all sick. That is really hard.

Amber - Go Fine Lad, what a result!

Donki - Any more thoughts on the job? I used to commute an hour each way to work in London, but that was pre LittleO.

I used to commute 2 hrs each way to London for two years when young free and single (though with a habit of falling fast asleep on commuter's shoulders both ways due to the fact that I don't really cope with train journeys). It was 'orrible really. But better than the day when my boss told me to go to Aberdeen on a day trip to teach people about new software.

AandO, I cut DS's hair with clippers, there is NO WAY he'd go to a hairdressers, and I think the hairdresser would need a stiff drink afterwards if he DID go! Personally I think I do a good job, its just one length all over, with the bit round the ears trimmed with scissors. But I guess if DS wants anything more fancy than what I describe, it may need a hairdresser (unless you want to try the MN haircut on him! )

I get mistlechick a decent haircut done - but then eek it out for longer by triming the front and round his ears so that it goes perhaps another 4wks before he needs to go again [skinflint]

Dear all

Many thanks for your collective thoughts and advice.

I have thought carefully about the job. I really want a permanent job, and it sounds like a nice collegiate place to teach, BUT it only takes an accident on the motorway, or one train being cancelled and I don't get back in time to collect DS from after school care.

Not an option.

So I have binned the application.

Oh well, onwards and upwards.

Tea - I would be Not Happy - and would definitely want to talk to the teacher. I do hope that you get something sorted out. It is heart breaking when things go wrong for DCs...

Amber - congratulations to Amber lad. And best wishes for the future!

I will vote for Mellors - do you think that he would want PR of some sort? (hopeful emoticon)

Having a day off from going to Sheffield today - after major difference of opinion with my father's partner. I do see her point of view, really I do - but her fears about drugs are standing in the way of proper palliative care. I felt like I had bee run over by a steam roller yesterday. It took me an hour to calm down enough to be safe to drive!

But we managed to part amicably in the end - fortunately. And the hospice staff will now give my father what he needs - regardless of partner. Thank God (assuming the existence of the same) - and the doctor (who definitely exists and spent over 2 hours explaining things to try and get Dad's partner on board)

I think your Dads partner isn't alone in fearing morphine Donki - it's terribly misunderstood as a drug and the hospice team will be well used to going over it all (not that this helps you of course). My mum is on morphine long term now, and it enables her to be mobile with not a lot of side effects.

HM has surpassed herself this time I think. A quiet word with the teacher is warranted - I don't suppose they would like any attempts to exclude Milk.

I understand her fears CMOT - but it is so FRUSTRATING.

She won't use a microwave because she doesn't understand how they work and they produce 'radiation' (but quite happily will use a television with a CRT that genuinely produces X-rays. Don't remember anybody panicking about televisions... (nor should they, they weren't a significant hazard, just in case anyone reading this starts to worry)) It's just the irrationality of it based on lack of understanding feeding fear that annoys me. And no I am not claiming to be entirely rational 100% of the time. Moi? A Donkey?

Oops, sorry Amber! Any room for a quadruped in need? I hope you don't suffer from hay fever...

I feel for you on the irrationality. Obv, I deal with it a lot.

A minor breakthrough with my dad - he asked me how you go about getting a blue badge this weekend. Am hoping that this may mean he is starting to admit that his mobility is really limited, so I hold out hope on the mobility scooter. His feet are grim now.

I can't understand why anyone would want to withold morphine from someone who needs palliative care. My grandpa was on heroin when he had endstage lung cancer (don't know why, perhaps it has a less depressive effect on the breathing?). I have other "interesting views" on e.g. microwaves but morphine? Palliative use? no problem with it.

A&O - welcome back! I am going to take a decent portrait shot of miniThumb this week and then I am going to get his hair cut. I have been given a good tip for a cheap-but-good hairdresser here ($7.50 for a littl'un) and even better, it's the nearest one to us!

Tis bolly o'clock here and beyond - just watching Knocked Up (last seen when I was about 7m pg, baaaaaaad idea ) - anyone care for an early snifter?

Unfortunatly, people worry about addiction and hastening the end, neither of which are actual problems (unless wrongly used).

I must take DS to have his hair cut this week - it's getting very long and messy. He doesn't like clippers, but the barber has a pot of lollipops are a good incentive

CMOTD - in palliative care, the addiction bit wouldn't really be a problem though, would it? I assumed not (ditto heroin for Gpa). Hastening the end? Well yes but that's why it's strictly controlled - so that people generally can't do that. Unless they are in such a state that really nothing more can be done for them and their quality of life is so low - like my Mum's last night.

Sorry - will stop going on about it now.

So, who's up for a longboat race in the moat?

No, the addiction wouldn't be a problem anyway, but it doesn't occur when someone is in pain anyway. When mum had her back injected last time, she was able to stop all the morphine overnight with no problems at all - at least for the three days till all the pain came back

A longboat race sounds fab. Mellors should strip to drum for us I think

Oh big hugs for all those dealing with sick and suffering parent

Yeager to long boat race

cmot have you booked womad? I am thinking we will. Been stuck sorting oxblokes next big wild trip. Also I will have to fess up my tearoom addiction to long suffering bloke who will be at the amount of time I "wrok" at home

Thanks for hugs - it was a fairly long time ago now (nearly 3y, can't quite believe it) but it's still fresh in my memory.

So - we need teams! How many boats should we have - I think probably we need at least 4 to a boat (although they won't be very long at that rate!).

Bagsy a Bishop - one of them must be relatively fit, at least? And he could always use his crozier instead of the oar if he lost it...

oo, can't believe no-one has grabbed Mellors! I want Mellors for my boat!

Mellors is beating the time for my boat, Mary! Because I am co-opting annexing CMOTD to my team and she suggested it...