Sept 08 - Our LO's are nearly 2, and they're hiding to do a poo (is it time for potty training, not until it stops this raining)

[ninja]

I started it!! (I'm going away to London with just DD1 tomorrow so I want to know where you all are when we get back.

3 toddler free days!!

bec if your DCs regularly went to this CM I'd expect to pay for the 3 additional hours, but as has been said, I'd see it as a friend offering to have your kids while you're at a funeral, and I'd give her a bottle of wine, or some nice chocs, or some flowers as a thank you, whatever you think most appropriate.

FP starting pony lessons early coz its a passion of yours is not pushy, just enjoy!

btw I'm not slim as such, more not-as-fat-as-I-was!

I had a wonderful hour today while DD was at ballet and I played farms with DS. I honestly hadn't realised how nicely he plays, what a little treasure he is. He just made me smile the way he played and chatted away, he drew me into his play rather than the other way round. Actually think I might cut short his lunchtime nap while DD is at nursery so I can play with him a bit each day, just 20 mins or so. He really has had the short end of my attention for the last two years :( BUT he adores his sister and their relationship is precious. I've just done a bad job of giving him any quality 121 time (DD gets plenty while he naps) :(

Kids thrive on neglect (well so my midwife told me!)

It's usually the first ones that have all the 121 time that have the problems.

It sounds like he has a great relationaship with his sister too.

Do you know...DD is way more trouble than DS so there must be some sense in what you said ninja!

It's definitely good for children to learn to play both on their own and with others without an adult there all the time.
DH finds it very hard to leave them too it if the boys are playing together then start fighting but I leave them to it (while listening out for it going too far) and most of the time it sorts itself out.
Obviously playing with them is good too. DS1 has a pingu game that's hilarious that we were playing earlier and all 3 of us did a big jigsaw together before ds2's sleep.

DS1 started school yesterday and is enjoying it so far, although he has commented both days that he hasn't learned anything yet! I will be nice for me and ds2 to get some 121 time (or even just ds2 getting time to play on his own without ds1 bugging him) but all we've done today and yest is boring jobs like shopping. I hope he's ok at the childminders without ds1 for 3 days (apart from a couple of hours on 2 days when ds1 will be there)

Bookmarking!

Goodness, you girls sure can talk!

Congratulations Debs and everyone who has made it this far!

Sorry to hear about your uncle Bec, I remember you mentioning that he was poorly. I hope Friday goes as well as it can {{{}}}

Nice to see you EandZ, hope you are all well. What have you been up to?

Not been up to much. Sisters have moved in with me so they can go to Uni here. One is at UCL and the other is at SOAS.

So now I've got two twin 18 yr olds, one 2 yr old and a 27 yr old husband to look after. I'm an emotional mess these days. :)

Just recently found out a dear friend of mine has AML Leukemia and her daughter is the same age as our LO's.

I'm thinking of doing another degree next year. Boring boring :)

How have you been Iliketomoveitmoveit?!

Wow, you've got a housefull. I hope your sisters are looking after their nephew while you go out with your dh!

Sorry to hear about your friend, it's just awful and so very unfair.

I;m ok thanks. It was ds's 2nd birthday last week and I'm about 7 weeks pg at the mo, so feeling rather grim with ms.

Congratulations on the pg! As far as ms, I had to sniff lemons to make me feel better and chew on cardamom seeds. I only know old wives tales -- I'm practically useless.

As far as the sisters are concerned, they do watch ds two nights a week, but by then I'm soo tired I just go t bed early. I think DH feels like I'm letting the team down because I don't want to do anything.

doing a cheap and cheerful birthday party for ds. Unfortunately a lot of our friends who don't have children have invited themselves over and I'm trying to figure out a creative and polite way to let them know they'll look weird at a childrens party without children.

argh! what do you suggest?

Fanny Youre not being overcautious. You have been around horses for a long time and know the damage that can occur and you want to make things as safe as can be. That is so much better then someone just being blaze about the whole thing and not bothering with sufficient help and proper hats and things.
Oh and your DD hurting herself at home, that's the way things go. Very ironic i agree.
I trust the place where we are going and they are very keen on letting the younger ones just get a feel for horses without pushing them so Robyn will get a ride maybe once every couple of months until she shows some real enthusiasm.

Bec Your ds is a busy boy. DD1 had a diary a bit like that a few years ago and I spent all my spare time and money taking her to different activities. The only ones which have lasted are the horseriding, huge expense and the dancing which costs me next to nothing. Mind you when Robyn and Lucy start clubs I will be again rushed off my feet and penniless.
I hope the funeral goes ok.

Nice to see you back Eandz Sounds like you have a housefull.

eandz hey hey :)

debs Thats nothing debs!!!! Toby has also started swimmming lessons and ds1 also does;

HE wildlife watch group (costs very little)
Church hol clubs (free)
Forest Skills course starting next month (£10 per session)
Regular HE meet ups - next week its a museum visit

I am going to have to sell a kidney at this rate!!!

Am really dreading friday....it will be a very sad day and am worried about leaving Toby with CM friend as she has never looked after him before and he has woken up with a stinking cold this morning sigh

Becaroo

anything we can do to make you feel better for friday?

Don't worry about selling any kidneys, I hear if you fill out those online surveys you can make quite a bundle too. Now I need to find out which ones so I can start filling them out.

As full as the house is, I'm going crazy with the lack of space. Depression is seeping into my bones and I just don't know how to cope. Blah. It's just soo noisy.

to eandz. I suggest you play children's party games at your DS's birthday, pass the parcel, musical statues, stick the tail on the donkey etc, and expect your friends to play along too. At least that way your DS will have fun and your friends are less likely to invite themseleves next year!!

How you doing bec?

Soooooo....kitchengate scandal....it was due to be delivered on 4th August. Due to the first delay we got our flooring fitted for free, due to the second delay we got our garden landscaped for free, we've just found out it won't be fitted til 12th October BUT they've written off our outstanding payments for the extension; all those things combined means our £5000 kitchen is essentially FREE!!!! So we've decided to stop camping in our house and are gradually getting the furniture into the snug, I'm gonna put the cushions back on the sofa (had been holding off til all builders dust was finished) and we're getting our new oak table delivered tomorrow instead of waiting til the kitchen's in .
And it means we can afford two more days of the decorator's time to finish getting all the doors and the utility room looking decent instead of the carrie-and-her-broken-wristed-DH-were-here effect

Elsewhere in the news I'm sure I'm not pg though :( Ah well. I have wine, chocolate, a beautiful extension, wonderful husband, and the two most special children in the world :)

Oh and we start gym club tomorrow! Its aimed at DS as well as DD, really hope he enjoys it :)

eandz sorry you are feeling depressed about lack of space...it can be wearing having long term "guests" cant it??
wrt your ds b day party, after long years of experience can I second the suggestion of pass the parcel and musical statues, musical chairs? also, blow up loads of balloons and the little ones will have great fun playig with them, trust me! Even older dc love balloons for some reason

Re: tomorrow, wrote out the card for the flowers this morning and had a little cry Feeling very numb and sad. MIL will be very ditressd and I am such a wuss when I am witness to other peoples grief...it completely undoes me Am worried about leaving toby with6 the CM too.

carrie good news (sort of!) about the kitchen!!!

Hello all long time no speak! Hope everyone is well. I haven't had time to catch up with the whole thread but glad to see the familiar faces/names on here.

All is well in the Sunshinemummy household. DD was 2 on 20th August and is an adorable little terror - veering between being really sweet and cuddly and having huge tantrums (normally about what clothes to wear). Luckily she understands choice (although doesn't yet realise that I weight them in my favour) so I can get through to her.

DS started school last week and so far is enjoying it a lot. It helps that one of his best friends is in his class and that he already knew quite a few of the other children. He's a confident little chap so I knew he'd be ok. He also seems to have picked up a little girlfriend already!

As for me well work is pants but am getting on with it. Am still always exhausted and my diet disappeared but I'm hoping to kick start it again soon. Not sure what to do about work though.

Have put some new pics on profile.

Hello all. Hello too to old friends who've popped back.

we got back from hols on Sunday night and back towork tuesday. Great hol, although C is being an absolute terror toddler - screaming, going rigid in the pushchair, everything is 'mine' (she screamed when other kids used the baby pool at our campsite in Spain - FFS!!).
Her favourite though is too sob loudly and shout 'no daddy no, please no daddy no no' at any minor irritation in her life. I was convinced someone would call spanish social services

DP has low tolerance threshold I'm afraid and we had some pretty nasty rows as he lost his temper with her so eaily. he'd never ever smack her but he can be very shouty and that stresses me and we go on ad infinitum.

Sigh - and i got my period on Monday - not sure why I'm suprised as we SWI just twice on holiday - DP really doesn;t share my pregnancy urges and my age worries.

And to top it all, I feel so inadequate now after reading all your posts about your amazing children! You all have little stars who will sit and play with you!! C won't unless it's a book or peppa Pig on TV. She will read books forever and a day on my knee but anything else, she loses interest in about 10 mins. I am also guilty of treating her like a younger toddler and being over-cautious with her - i need to toughen up i think.
Problem is, she is still a runner. we cannot let go of her hand or not put her reins on for a minute or she'll be off. She is fearless and just keeps going without looking back. we did try some low risk situations on holiday to give her freedom and try saying 'stop' but everytime she was true to form and ran for the road/pool/steep drop etc etc and ignored us.

Ah, feeling like a pretty crap parent atm. And have nothing organised re gym tots/ballet/horse riding activities - oops.

She is 2 tomorrow, which I can't believe. She doesn't count yet but does blow lovely kisses to everyone, then hits the cat.

Back to work for me now after my little mumsnet break.

Oh and hopefully I have nothing to add to your post other than i had terrible pain a few yrs ago due to a trapped nerve. I remember asking DP to 'kill me now' it was so bad. It did get better over time with paracetamol and hot water bottle.
Hope step dad recovers soon.

Hope everyone's pregnancies are going well.

bec and carrie

I will be playing ALL the games you've suggested. THANKS! I just hope next year will be more tame.

MAR don't do anything extra-curricular with DD apart from swimming which is with me, DS and DH (no teacher). DS has started football and is shortly to start tennis and French but this is purely due to the kindness of friends as both DH and I wok full time and are unable to take him to anything ourselves.

MAR all we do with Toby is swimming and thats very recent. I would hate you to think Toby is some sort of angel prodigy type child...I can assure you he isnt!!!! His attention span is 10 mins tops and he has major tantrunms when things dont go his way. On the plus side he is very affectionate and sweet and loves being read to

sigh...will be glad when tomorrows over

Need to start planning tobys party for next sat....

MrsA You are not a crap parent you are a parent to a 2 year old. That 'lovely' age where they turn into monsters and you feel like tearing you hair out every 5 minutes. Robyn is no angel, I can't let her have 'free rein' outside at all and we keep hjer haoppy inside by havinf Toy Story on repeat. She doesn't watch it non-stop she just flits in and out, without it I wouldn't be able to feed Lucy or make dinner or have a wee.

We have decided that next year we want Robyn to go to nursery for a day a week. It will give me some time with Lucy alone and it will help get her ready for school nursery next September.

We have no idea on how to pick a good nursery so would appreciate some tips from those of you who use them. Also when do you have to apply for a shool nursery place?

Carrie You are so lucky getting a free kitchen. I know it has been delay, delay, delay but saving money in this climate must feel great.

Good nursery - low turnover, mix of staff in ages, check policy on food and nappies, outside space, trips out, policy for parental comms, involving parents in stuff, policy when children sick. This is a very quick list. I can expand if needed. A lot of it is having a good feel though.

BTW has everyone seen Ponyo?

Ah thanks for your encouraging words all. I am going through a period of self-doubt/lack of confidence as C is what you'd call a sensitive toddler. That means she is a drama queen and will tantrum at the slightest thing.
Her tantrums are full-blown blood-curdling, head-turning screams.
Washing her hair = screaming
Taking something away = screaming
and so on and so on

We are finding it tough as we are being quite firm and going through with our promises (eg hold my hand or it's the pushchair) and so we have many tanrums every day, they don't seem to get better and it is very hard to see her crying like that (we don't give in). Hopefully, she'll learn before she goes to school!

She wants to walk everywhere but cos we have to have the reins on, it is challenging and we oftten get strange looks from those 'anti-reins' parents.

And nursery Debs main thing is go with your gut instinct when you visit. I second D&S - low staff turnover, staff of all ages, happy kids running around being noisy but not too noisy, IYKWIM, they welcome parental suggestions eg on the menu and will accomodate different requests. Eg most of the kids in C's room sleep on mattresses or in cots but C will not so they put her in a pushchair.
Plus ask local mums - the one C goes to is well-known in the community and always has a waiting list.
The food is not exactly as I would like, eg there is no local meat used, but it is all cooked from scratch on the premises and is carb, fat and protein rich - like meatballs & veg, pasta, chicken pie with veg and steamed jam pudding with custard.

If i manage to get pg with No2, I will still put C into nursery 2 days a week on maternity leave(she currently goes 3), so I have time with the baby but mainly cos she would miss it if she didn't!

Just finished wrapping C's birthday presents. DP has bought her a large Peppa and George and we're going to sit them by her bed so she finds them when she wakes up!!

Oops - long post. DP watching tv while I catch up on here

Happy birthday to T for tomorrow hopefully