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.

Mary because I like you lots I feel I can REALLY say what I am thinking....

Have you ever considered that cubs just might not be up your ds's street?

I say this because...

My Uncle was a very good footballer and on account of his own passion took his son to footy every Saturday morning for many years. One day he realised that his son never really joined in, wasn't that good at football and actually didn't seem that happy.

They had a long chat and they decided that my cousin should leave the football club and join a golf club instead. And ya know what? He loves it and ontop of that he is pretty bloody good at it too which puts a bounce in his step and a tone of pride in his voice in most other things he does now too!

What do you think - have you considered changing afterschool activities?

Glad to be of service, Small! What region are you in? Because yes, I thought it was a region thing, too. Unless each region has their own badges.... (Must investigate that further as I'm nosey curious.)

DH, though tall, is a twig. Still, very good height for hugs!

Thanks UniS. I like the hat, but couldn't decide if it was good value or not. I can't knit and don't know where to start to look for the pattern to ask one of my knitting friends to give it a whirl.

Oxeye - Well if it was OxBloke I have to break it to you that he is a bigamist with another wife and several other children! But maybe I walked past OxBloke in the street or sat next to him on the train?

Night, night my lovelies. xx

Oxeye - well I knew next year was the "biggie" but haven't heard anything about any special events, probably because I'm not in the appropriate alumnus club, and I'm still awaiting my registration to the website. I usually hear second-hand through one of my other friends from there (only got about 3 though!)

Brain hurts this morning - 2 nights without alcohol and my sinuses are protesting so everything is a bit blurry inside and out of my head so sorry for not picking up on everyone's points today.

Hope the priesthole incumbents are ok though...

oh, Thumb, this makes me think the "biggie" is this year for me - were we not together after all? Can I put it this way, were you in the year where an older sister was head girl or the year where the younger sister was not?!?!?

Good morning, ladies. Tea and toast anyone?

oh hang on - we're talking about different "biggies", aren't we. I'm talking about the school anniversary (which is next year), you're not - you're talking about 25y since we left, aren't you. Oops. No, I was definitely in the year that the older sister was head girl! (and had been touted for the job since about the LIVs, I think). Her younger sister was never in the same position, to my knowledge.

teafortwo, thanks for saying you like me! Need to hear that at the moment. DS goes to cubs because he wants to go - there's no way I'd get him there otherwise! You might not remember we tried football - he wanted to go to that too, but it was a total disaster. I've been through various other options, there is NOTHING he wants to do. The thing is, because of his Aspergers, it causes him all sorts of social problems, and in my experience, the only way for him to learn to cope with the social side is to socialise, albeit on his terms. I don't know what Amber thinks, but I see cubs as being a key part of his social education, especially as he wants to go. I know what you mean, but really, it IS for the best for him!

I didn't know I was a person until I was 10 so can't accurately guess what he might be feeling about the socialising at his age. I would think the skills he will learn there - practical as well as social - would be very important, yes. If they can make it accessible for him, of course.

Mary, I like you as well. And everyone else here too.

I'm at home with an ear virus thingy and need tea. Anyone else?

Mary, I can't remember exactly how old your DS is, but he might find a very structured social interaction like playing Warhammer easier. It does tend to attract those of an ASD tendency (if not actually on the spectrum) as there are lots of rules and info to remember, and playing together follows these rules - so easy to predict. But it is played in groups, and Games Workshop shops run regular groups (I believe the staff are all CRB's now) where they teach them to play.

Tea would be lovely Amber. Yuck on the ear virus front - are you wobbly with it ?

Am looking at horse stuff - I take over a share on big cob on the 21st, and can't wait ! Mine to groom, fuss, and ride

I've not come across any round here, I have to admit. Would he be old enough, at 8?

I think (and my involvement with RPG is that DH is a life long player and I am occasionally dragged into GW to buy figures, so I am no expert), that 8 is the sort of age that they might start getting involved.
You can look for stores on their website, and they guys in the shops are v nice (if uber geeky) and can answer any questions and are keen to help.

It might not appeal, but might be worth looking at

Don't think I've ever seen a Warhammer shop... may cause a problem, but will look into it. Not sure I want to encourage him to be more geeky than he is, but as he's still insisting we buy him Thomas the Tank Engine books (they've just brought out another 5, bringing the total to 65, he now has 61 of them), it might be an improvement!

Look for GAmes Workshop shops, Mary, rather than Warhammer - they look like this and this is also the storefinder page.

Think I've seen one of those in Peterborough, not one in our nearest city though... probably is one in Cambridge, but thats a pig in terms of parking costs!

Eek, just had a look at the figures - they'd freak him right out! He finds scooby doo scary, let alone those! Thanks anyway!

OK I got it wrong , he thought they looked really funny

odd these small boys, never can tell what they will be hate and what they will laugh at. Boy thinks its VERY funny if I ( mummy monster) pretend to rip his ( baby monster) head off and eat it. But let someone he doesn't know touch his bike and hes in floods of tears. He will pretend to chop legs off and mend them again but can't use any limb that has a real plaster on, no matter how small the scrape.

Bit of a drama queen I suspect.

I bring you. toffee cornflake cakes , and choc sponge with lilac icing and marshmallows on top. also iced tea/iced coffee/ iced chocolate milk depending on your preferences. All in the hope you are sharing a beautifully sunny evening like I have here.

Yup, bit dizzy with ear thing.

CMOT, tell me all about the cob!! Height, age, what he done so far, etc etc??

UniS, yes please for the various cake offerings.

Ooh cakes, yummy!

I am out of the priest hole and much much happier ....not because finances have been sorted out, but because I have selected to return to ignoring the situation and blocking my bank balance from my memory .

So, I'm off to the UK tomorrow for our big family event, my grandfathers 90th birthday party. This was the reason for the money stress, tis very expensive to get us all over there and all the away from home type extra expenses. Oh well, big family event, which cannot be missed. I'm looking forward to it now!! It will be great to see all the family!

Amber, how is Fine Lad getting on with his exams?

AandO that sounds very sensible, have a great time, since you are going there is no point in going but then not enjoying yourself for worrying about the cost of going!

Mary, I like you very much. I think you are wise and compassionate and I really admire all that you do with your family when the social side of things does not come easily - and I think you are funny too

Oxboy spent tele watching this evening clamping the kitten in his arms saying "don't worry kitty it is just a pretend programme" - the horror we were watching? Thomas the Tank but I was glad he was trying to be compassionate

I feel very bad. Having worked lots and lots this week and barely seeing boy, when he got to bed I came downstairs and he appeared trailing his duvet and bear saying he wanted to curl up on the sofa with me and snuggle there, not his bed. How sweet, but I am afraid I got cross and shouted at him and he just shrivelled and looked so small and I felt like an ogre, he wanted to cuddle his mummy and I just wasn't good enoug - and now he will store that away and next time decide I am not worth cuddly

Amber - if you scroll down to Ben here you'll see him doing his eeyore impression. He's 17hh, 6yo, and a bit of a cheeky object in the nicest possible way - if he's not sure, he stops rather than legging it. Lee (school owner) alleges that he can jump, but no one else has ever seen this, or indeed believes it. But thats fine, I can learn to jump on a tb, wheras I'm totally confident to trundle round on Ben by myself and he will work with me.
I went and bought my own grooming stuff this afternoon

And DS is going to his first pony show in a couple of weeks - will be trying to learn about all the classes tomorrow

Have a great time at the party A&O

Bolly and Twiglets ?

Poor Oxboy and poor you. He won't decide you are not worth cuddling. Definitely definitely not. (At least not until he is years older.) But you might need to cuddle him for your sake now.

What a lovely compassionate boy you have. Had to get very strict with Wriggle and the chicks this evening - she was taking them up to the top of the ladder and pushing them off, shout 'Jump, go NOW!' Actually they don't mind the jumping - it was being forced to march up.

Now, I have a problem. Just got forwarded an e-mail saying that plastic bottles caused cancer. Wriggle and I never move without plastic bottles of drink, always re-used bottles, often fruit juice etc (ie acidic drinks). I looked up non-plastic bottles and found aluminum and stainless steel. Aluminium can cause alzheimer's and needs a plastic lining which will wear off. Steel should apparently not be used with acidic drinks. Glass is totally inert but will break and cut out arteries. Aaaaargh! What do I do?

(Does the Long Hall have a room with a view?)