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!!

hello again splish and lolipop
about your ex splish. Hope the police and family justice people can help. And hope he doesn't upset your dd again.
How is dd getting on at school now? Is she more settled? If it's any consilation there's 2 boys in ds1's class who cry every morning.

lollipop when you win the lottery to get the private school fees can you send some my way for my bathrooms please?
I've been using the naughty step for ds2, he doesn't like it and knows he'll be sent there for hitting ds1 but he still does it!

MrsA You are not the world's worst mum- or even Wale's worst mum for that. You didn't do her any harm and she won't remember in the morning what you did. Don't beat yourself up about it, you're a great mum. I love reading your facebook statuses about all the fun things you do together.

Hello all. I've been snowed under with NCT sale stuff, but most of it's done now as it was on Sunday. I was bloody knackered Sunday night.

What a nightmare Splish, If for some reason you are unable to change the locks, are you able to fit a chain on the doors? That way at least he can't enter the house when you are in it.

You're so hard on yourself MrsA, the thing to notice about the story you told is the fact that you knew what you done was wrong. Don't beat yourself up over it. We've all been there.

mrsa You really arent! Dont be so hard on yourself.

Been to rufford park today to meet up with some other HE people and it was lovely. Then Beavers tonight - it was karate night - so I am bushed.

splish So sorry to hear your ex is behaving like this Can you change the locks??

Am off to Donington Park on friday with loads of other mumsnetters for a days racing!!!!

splish at your X. What did the police say? I hope someone is going to come down on him like a tonne of bricks for that.

mrsA Please don't beat yourself up about it. Parents are only human and I know I lose my rag sometimes. It takes more than the odd moment of temper to do any harm to a child IMO. Your DD will be fine and you are a good mum . If you want to see some bad mums come to our town centre and watch them in action .

iltimi We have an nct sale this weekend which I need to get organised for.

very becaroo I really wanted to do the donnington thing and was gutted when I realised that 1. Donnington is nowhere near me and 2. I work on Fridays

mrsA I confess ds1 sometimes gets his hand smacked when he's really naughty and I'm ashamed to admit he has had his bum smacked because I've lost control I am trying not to do it though coz I know it's horrible.

Do you remember I made a prediction on here a few weeks ago....? Well I was right, my bro and his wife announced yesterday that they're expecting a baby in April!
You'd have been very proud of me and how nice I was even though AF had arrived only a few hours earlier :( Thankfully they're not gushy and 'precious' but quite pragmatic, so it wasn't too hard talking baby all evening. They're gonna do washable nappies and gina

Only :( is that they told us their baby names, and the girl's name is only one letter different from the name we've set our hearts on. DH's cousin used our all time favourite girl's name, and now it looks like the same thing is happening again. But they are having a baby and we are not (yet) so I've just got to get over it.

Had some retail therapy this morning, my parents looked after my kids for an hour in a shopping centre while I pegged it round and got measured for bras, bought jeans, slippers and a top.

oh carrie . What a double edged sword hearing that news. Good idea about having some retail therapy, I love new slippers for winter.

carrie - must have been tough hearing the news, and doing the baby talk bit. The name thing is hard too

mrsA - i can't believe that anyone NEVER gets impatient sometimes, or does something they later regret - but the fact that you feel so bad that it happened shows you are actually a good mum. Because a bad mum wouldn't think they'd done anything to be upset about.

debi - thanks - yes, dd1 is much more settled now. The choc coin bribe at the end of the day if she was brave when i left helped, and now she's actually getting enthusiastic. Other children are still sad or clinging. one boy managed to get out of school and caught up with his mum out in the street

reported ex to police - don't want him arrested, which in theory is what could happen as he's breached the injunction - but do want him to realise i am serious about him keeping away, and him realise he could go in prison if he carries on this way. I just want him to be able to have a relationship with the kids. I know the responsibility is his for his behaviour, but I still find it hard to take steps that could lead him to prison.

Aww shucks guys, you've said some lovely things to reassure me, thanks. My mum battered me as a child and I am/was determined not to inflict the same on C (despite inheriting my mum's temper). So to me the slightest thing is terrible - tbh, I find the whole discpline thing quite hard as I'm always worried I'm going too far or shouty.

Carrie I remember when my sister told me she was pg with her second. At the time, DP wasn't even sure he wanted children and I was approaching 35 and panicking. I felt so down.

I am 10 dpo, so fully expecting AF to arrive tomorrow or Sunday (although a tiny bit of me is hoping but I think I'm setting myself up for a fall.). Feeling a tiny bit crampy today , though no PMT.

Oh, and how about this for an xmas gift to leave you speechless. And it's from the ELC!!!! here They should be ashamed.

Oops - just seen it's from Toys r Us not ELC. Still an awful present but at least my faith in ELC is restored.

carrie It says a lot about you as a person that you are so pleased for your family and their news x

mrsa I am not a physical person but I am a shouty person and I do shout at my 2 more than I should am trying to be better but its hard when you are tired, feeling grotty and fed up. Am genuinely shocked at that toy!!!!!

Think af has arrived - sort of - its been a bit all over the place since I came off the depo. Isnt it odd??? Since this scare/idiocy its made me realise that actually I am happy with my 2 dc If you had asked me before I would have said (and have said) that I would love another baby but now I am realising that I have quite a lot on my plate with my 2 already and that it would cause a lot of strain in my marriage if we did

Dh is away all week next week so will be a nightmare ds1 was up at 4 am this morning as dh has gone on a jolly with his friend to Toulouse....sigh...

Becaroo when do you get to go on a jolly?! Not fair is it. I've not been on a jolly overnight since C was born.

DP has just left for Manchester and will be back late tomorrow night, then off again Sunday morning and back very late Sunday. Admittedly it is work, so I can't complain but am gonna be knackered by Monday

Looking at the toy details, it has an age guidance of 8+. Think that's the only way they've got it for sale as all the other similar toys like kitchens are age 2+, and the child in the photo shown playing is not 8 - she's way younger I reckon.

mrsa Me? A jolly? Hah!!! (said in a very sarcastic way)

Have spent all day cleaning and washing and ironing when I should have been at donington park....I couldnt go as I have got some sort of virus which is pants. Hope it goes away soon or next week will be a nightmare

DH comes down to join us tomorrow, I can't wait to see him :) And can't wait to have someone else get up with the kids in the mornings He said very little progress has been made on the kitchen today, and the garden wasn't done, double glazing unfinished, and the snagging list remains untouched. We have a meeting with the builder on Monday and boy had there better be answers, or progress. We've been very understanding about the kitchen, builder cocked up the order, admitted fault, and compensated us, fair dos. But we naively thought the rest of the build would be finished the week the kitchen actually came...not so. DH is starting to sound really annoyed by it (he has the patience of a saint and is my barometer for knowing whether or not something is worth getting cross over). But then he has had the mother of all weeks at work and had to eat a dinner of cheese and tomato sandwich off a plastic bag tonight, which would tip anyone over the edge! What saddens us is that right up until today, we would still have recommended our builders to people. But now, they've lost our trust.

Feel better for getting that off my chest!

We still have a whole weekend of surprises for my dad to look forward to; DH arrives, then we're off to the mediaeval banquet tomorrow, then a surprise lunch on Sunday. If that doesn't distract me from AF and kitchengate scandal then nothing will!

Hope everyone else has a great weekend. mrsa hope its ok without your DH, and hope AF doesn't arrive!

carrie was it your DD who had a balance bike? Was it good and which one did you get/would you recommend.
Enjoy your weekend all.

Have a good weekend ladies.

Feel like thumping EVERYONE today so hopefully af is well and truly on its way

mrsa Hope yours isnt!!

We had the likeabike balance bike, it is absolutely excellent.
Alternatively the one by islabike is also superb, its a metal frame rather than wood. DD has the first islabike pedal bike now, we love it.

Had a dreadful night with DS tantrumming for over an hour . He just kicks off (for attention, no bad dreams, illness or wet pj's) and hits and screams at me, in the end he had time out in the porch but took over 30 mins to calm down, I was just sitting there half expecting the police to turn up he was so noisy. It's parents evening at nusery soon so I will speak to the SN lady. I'm sure that an almost 4 year old shouldn't behave like it. He fights against everything I ask him to do and only stops hollering / lashing out when he is worn out.

cheers meglet

Sorry you are having tantrum issues with your ds Sounds like you are dealing with him really well, though. Toby has started hitting too (got dh right in the nose on thursday!)
Has your ds got an IEP in place at nursery? Or action plan? If you ask, the SENCO should assess him for you.
Hope tonight is better for you (and ds) x

Ds1 has got some karate kick pads, might have a go at them later

af here....phew!

Thanks for the tips Carrie I posted seperately on balance bikes and got mixed debates!

No AF yet......... oh am worried I'm getting my hopes up. It took us 12m to conceive C and this momnth will be our first month of really trying - I see a big disappoinment coming.....

Finally, quick qn - how old do they have to be before you really lay down the law about tidying up. I always ask C to help me tidy before bed and more often than not get a 'no' or am ignored. When do they really understand that they must help out in the house - I think she's too little yet but any thoughts?

becaroo The SN lady is already going to do some observations this term, but I will have a chance to speak to her in peace at parents evening. I was crying at bedtime as both the dc's were being a handful and I'd had enough . They both seemed to get the message though and started behaving again .

MrsA I try and get the dc's to help tidy up. They are really good at it at nursery but it's hit and miss at home. Nursery do a combined tidying / number-learning thing and get them to tidy 2/3/4 things into the boxes.

mrsa we do tidy up as part of bedtime routine a few mins before we go to bath. We try and make it playful and give each child a thing to tidy. Also I try to make sure if they've played a game then it gets tidied up before something new is go out, I reckon even at this age they can have some understanding that that's just what you do.

Yay for bec's AF, hope you don't have one mrsa!

mrsa tidying up????? ahahahahahahahah

meglet oh meglet, its hard isnt it? I have somehow hurt myself whilst asleep! I cant put any weight at all on my right leg...my hip REALLY hurts and I my dh is away all next week with work and I can feel the panic rising already...I think you are simply a marvel for coping how you do xx

Ah, so it's just Carrie that's sorted out the tidying up then?!
Glad you're like me Becaroo. I do ask C to tidy but she generally says no. I'm not sure how old she has to be before we start insisting.
Also, those of you who have toy storage, what do you do with the big items, like ride-ons, garages, dolls houses etc? Cos we have them and they don't fit in a drawer or even a big tub.

AF not here yet but my temp dropped today, so charting rules say AF is on her way. Sigh

And C refuses to have an afternoon nap. Sigh double. On my own today, house a tip and I desperately needed to get clothes sorted out. I have become waynetta slob.

I use trofast storage from ikea for small to medium crap toys but like you mrsa have nowhere to put the big stuff. Not helped by the fact my family always buy the biggest toys they can find Toby currently has 2 ride ons, a garage, a hoover, a kitchen (our fault that one!) a shopping trolley and a washing machine that basically just sit in the playroom. Add to that ds1's lorries and tractors and its stuffed full...need to have a toy cull before xmas or will need to build another wing to the house!