June 08 - 118 (and counting) sleeps till Chistmas, but don't tell Deb!

[EddieIzzardismyhero]

Welcome to our new, cosy thread. Log fires, big jumpers and Christmas shopping .

What do you mean it's still August?!

Penguin I've tried whoopie pies (M&S not home made) they were majorly disappointing. a bit like a soggy biscuit with a filling.

Dewin Korknisse was me!

health in pregnancy grant in £190 non-means tested grant for being pregnant. in cash. apparently it is to encourage you to do healthy things or eat fruit or something. but they just give you cash. It's ridiculous, and is being scrapped in 2011 introduced after June 2008, so maybe why you haven't heard of it dewin? we get it in Scotland).

I seem to have written a gobbledegook sentence at the end there about HIP grant, but hopefully it still makes sense?

Dewin - I went to google japs to find you a picture and couldn't find anything, and was starting to worry that maybe it was just my Mum name for them, thinking about it the only place I have ever seen them is in her fridge. But then I found this reference to them, phew, I'm not losing the plot , although I suspect the name has a fairly unpC background, plus ours aren't rolled in vermicelli, just more sugary stuff.

I thought HIP was going sooner than that Biscuits? Seemed a bit silly to me as you only get it when you get to 24 weeks, I can see why they give you it then but surely it's more important to eat healthily earlier on in the pregnancy, rather than after most things have formed .

That was meant to say "my Mum's name"

Quick post for the stockings link, they are ridiculously easy as I chose them so the older two kids could have a go. They do look very kitsch and cute though!

mini stockings

Agree with Biscuits re HIP grant being a joke. Didn't Neenz spend hers on a sat nav? I am actually using mine to cover the costs of my ante natal pilates classes , but I think it is crazy that it is a universal benefit when someone like me has no need for the extra money and other people are genuinely in need. It is being phased out from 1 Jan for those who are less than 25 weeks I think.

I have been dipping into the poncetastic Xmas thread. It is very funny, although not something I have any intention of aspiring to for this year at least.

Just marking my spot - I spent my HIP on an iphone, but it's made by Apple so surely counts as one of my 5 a day?

Spider, I think the poncetastic-ness is very tongue-in-cheek, I hope so anyway as my aspirations this year only include sloe gin (or strawberry vodka) and my stocking bunting. I think that is fairly poncetastic though.

I do love the way they are vilifying tinsel though. Is it so wrong? The Delia christmas cake is an absolute must however. I made one last year and am now a convert.

grrrr spent HALF AN HOUR this morning failing to get Caitlin into her car seat. I have been bribing her with sweets to get in for the past few days so we could get Liam to school on time. Ran out of sweets today and reaped the consequences. Eventually I decided she was enjoying the struggle too much so I would try just ignoring her, and stood outside the car checking my emails on my phone for 20 minutes, so at least I felt like I was working, but AARGH felt so powerless! I even tried fighting her in but her willingness to be hurt to prove a point is greater than my willingness to physically fight with her. At least at the end she got in beautifully but I am enormously frustrated by the whole thing - I've been through all this once before for God's sake, you'd think I'd have the hang of it by now!!!

That's a v annoying way to spend half an hour Systems. A few of us have been having similar issues and Dewin started a thread. My best tactic was to shut P in the hall for 1 minute with me outside, which he hated and after repeating for a second minute he capitulated and got in the car. He's been fine since then.

Sybil yes I do appreciate that it is tongue in cheek on the Xmas thread. I do think though that some posters are kind of laughing at themselves because they know they are a bit too into it.

Ooh thanks Spider, I was searching for relevant discussions this morning but missed this one somehow! if nothing else it's reassuring to know that we're not alone! I think the separation from Mummy tactic would work wonders when we're at home, need to think of something similar when we're out too ... will try the diversionary excited chat tactic tonight.

sybil, thanks for that link - I love JG's stuff and have knitted loads of it! These will be a great stash buster too .

Nah my hip grant went on a meal out at an expensive Japanese place in Liverpool (well £130 of it did - it was so not worth it, I was hungry afterwards and didn't even have much to drink - did order lobster tho .) It was my maternity gift from work that went on a satnav!

Dewin, sounds like Iestyn did great with the potty - clever boy. Its hard to know what step to take next tho isnt it. My mum trained us in a week by just taking our nappies off, lettin us have accidents and reminding us to use the potty instead. Might try that in a few weeks after our holiday.

I went to Liverpool today to meet DH for lunch and left the twins with the GPs. It was heavenly . But they didn't have a sleep or even a rest so the last 90mins before bedtime tonight were horrific. I couldn't believe how tired they were - they just cried/whinged constantly and even fought with each other. Esther put Igglepiggle in the fireplace so he got covered in soot and had to go for a bath in the washing machine - cue huge meltdown. They cried all the way through their bath and as I was putting them in bed (at 6.15pm!). But they were asleep within 5mins, I think they just passed out . It is quite good to know though that they still need that rest and that I am not being cruel forcing them into their beds every day even if they don't normally sleep.

knitting LOL at your iphone quote!

Am off to persue the Christmas thread...

Had some more messing around getting C back in the car seat at the supermarket after work. After we eventually got her in and I was walking back round the car, the lovely elderly trolley-collecting-man walked past me in his high-vis vest and we had a brief chat about the weather.

Of course Caitlin asked who he was as I got in the car. Is it very evil to have said it was the car seat policeman checking up on her and she was very lucky she had just got strapped in on time?

Sybil - I love the stockings! (I also like the wierd name things you posted Dewin, will be collecting corks). They look brilliant and a sneaky way to return all the wool that was dumped on me, here have a hundred stockings to decorate your house! No, no, I don't want them back...you keep them.

Dewin - Great news on the potty training, I've got that book too and I think R has read more of it than me...

Japs sound better than whoopies. Might do some baking today, still off work (yay!), still full of cold and green gunk (boo!).

Knitting - [Grin] at apple. I want a scottish apple.

Neenz - There's always a pay back, eh!? Glad you had a good lunch though.

Systems, it is rare that I genuinely LOL, but the car seat policeman did it for me! I love it.

I'm afraid that I'm with you and Amber when it come to car seats, and bribery works for me. Your post has simply reminded me to never run out! (Not too worried as R is bribed by raisins and apricots, which he chooses over sweets and chocolates, I sometimes wonder if he is really my child. I also have problems with him only eating his vegetables at dinner, and nothing else...!)

Not thinking about Xmas, apparently everyone is planning to come here. We have the best garden and deck admittedly, but I will be 36 weeks at that point...!

Systems, love the car seat policeman

Penguin, our 1st Christmas back in the the UK and we've had the 2nd invitation so far, everyone wants us and dh loves to be at home. Suppose it depends where we're living ,it might be nice to get away if it's dingy.

Maybe Deb after the last few years of working over Xmas you deserve to be looked after by someone else?

I have to say the stockings do knit up nicely, I have a dozen already and I am already wondering if it may be worth getting an extra tree in the family room to decorate with them too. Maybe with some dried oranges and lemons and bells on red ribbons.... I am giving this too much thought!

I think the car seat police is a brilliant invention and I will be stealing it. Its a bit like the toilet poo-eating monster, sheer genius.

Loving the seat belt policeman!

Deb yes you def deserve to be spoiled this Christmas.

Hope your DH is a good cook Penguin if everyone is coming to you

I am on hold on phone to Santander. Absolutely fuming. Recently switched my a/c to them and opened four savings a/c's to put money aside for christmas, car maintenance etc. Well apparently that is Not On and I was referred to the fraud dept who put a block on all the a/c's including my main current a/c! First I knew was when I got a letter today. I didn't know but DH had already been in the back this morn cos his card was rejected at the atm. The staff had no idea what the problem was, he had to speak to the fraud dept, they didn't seem to know either (even tho the letter they sent me said it was cos I had opened 3 E-savers). Eventually they unfroze the a/c - after over an hour, like DH has the time to waste standing in the f*ing bank for an hour. Is it against the law to open savings a/c's? Why didn't someone ring me instead of just freezing the a/c's? Grrr! What if it had been evening time and we needed cash, had the card rejected and the bank wasn't open . This is the latest in a long line of problems since switching, they have already given me £50 compensation for other f**k-ups. I got my £100 reward today for switching so I am switching somewhere else .

Well there is that Spider!

We just spent £650 on a new washing machine - but at least we didn't go for the £1000 miele that for all that money still didn't have the timer delay that I use all the time on our old one. Thanks for everyone's comments - we ended up swayed by the 5 year warranty from Siemens.

DH has bought snow tyres for the car too. Neither of these purchases fill me with as much excitement as a tiny bunch of flowers - I'm buying flowers tomorrow...

neenz the bank thing sounds like a nightmare. I've three different savings accounts with our bank and that's never been a problem.

systems the car seat policeman was a brilliant idea.

right, DH is going offshore tomorrow so i should pay him some attention...

Just marking spot- full of cold but will try to e back later. Neenz no comfort but santander on news yesterday as worst bank for customer
Service / complaints- I reckon first direct pretty good as banks go.

sybil, have you decorated your stockings with anything?

Neenz, dh was just about to transfer us to santander but think I might stop him now!

Also loving the car seat policeman, although that is one thing we've never had a problem with (famous last words)!

Hey Dewin - have you seen this thread yet?