June 08 - 79 days (and counting) til Christmas, has Deb started her shopping yet?!

[KnittingisbetterthanTherapy]

Thought we should update the thread!

hardandsleazy has been watching The Apprentice judging by her FB posts....

Dewin sorry that you didn't get a BFP. Don't be too hard on yourself though. Do bear in mind that one of the downsides of modern supersensitive home tests is that we expect to be able to find out alot sooner than in the past. A generation or two ago you would have had to wait until you had missed 2 periods before going to the GP to get it confirmed. I don't think that early testing is especially helpful in many ways. There is a theory that alot more women do actually conceive each month but they have a vv early mc even before a period is late so it goes unrecorded. I think this may have happened to me once as I had a week or so of feeling v peculiar (similar symptoms to you) and then my period a day or two later than expected. Hope you are plotting all your dates into Dh's free menstrual calendar on his iPhone though

Rolf - why not look on it as payment for the assistance you were providing for VAT season (or whatever it was that you were being saintly about the other day). I think he owes you. Just don't tell him.

Thanks Spider

Rolf - you must use them for yourself to make up for the key, locked out, floor sanding situation.

You definitely deserve them Rolf,go on, treat yourself!

Dewin I think we have probably all done that. I had semi convinced myself I may be pg a few months ago even though DH has had the snip! No need to be embarrassed, and hugs that you actually weren't pg.

I have had an appalling session at Jo JIngles with J today. He has been getting increasingly bad at sitting and taking part nicely but today was just dreadful. He didn't sit still at all, he kept running around like a lunatic and shouting and just being incredibly disruptive for the rest of the group (who followed his example and also got shouty and ran around) In the end I had to remove him for the last two songs before going back in to apologise to the group leader. I was so close to crying I felt like a right idiot. What should I do though? I don't want to spend the rest of my life sitting at home alone with him but it seems unfair to the others if he is uncontrollable in the group. I have emailed the leader to see if I can possibly defer the second half of the term until after christmas but that only works if he has changed into a well behaved child by then. I bet the others mums were hating me

Rolf - I wouldn't hesitate to use the vouchers on myself. I would probably tell my DH though. I'd bet you don't treat yourself very often at all though, and I'd just tell him that I thought I deserved a treat and so be it!

Sybil - really sorry to hear about your Jo Jingles experience. I take S to Jo Jingles and children are always running around and no-one seems bothered. FWIW I think any decent parent would either not have really noticed as much as you think or had a bit of sympathy (as it can happen to any of us), or at the very worst, were probably just glad it wasn't their child this time! If it is bothering you though, maybe it's worth thinking about some different types of classes that would let J let off some steam. I'm thinking something like tumbletots which would be more active? Sending some hugs though, it's miserable when you have days like this.

That sounds crap Sybil. I took DD1 to Tumbletots a few times but didn't stick with it as she didn't want to sit and sing when they were supposed to. I don't think the leader thought much of it but really, how realistic of the leader is it to expect a 2 year old to do an activity on demand, and interrupt something else they are doing. It always seemed crazy to expect DD1 to stop having a lovely time climbing and come and sing a song that she wasn't really interested in singing.

Sybil many sympathies, I have been there many times. We have been going to a music group for a year now and the first 9 months were hideous in terms of having a child that wouldn't sit and didn't seem to be participating. However after the class P was doing lots of the actions to the songs and so I thought it was worth persisting. He is now a reformed character! This Autumn a new boy has started who is just like P was. I can assure you that I'm not judging the mother, just feeling relieved that it isn't my child and secondly feeling grateful that P isn't the only one to have done this.

We also used to go to a much bigger group called "Boogie Babies" which was too noisy and chaotic. So we stopped going for 6 months then tried again recently. P now really likes the chaos but is able to participate in most of the activities. I think you just tailor your approach to the child and try different things out to see what suits their personality at that particular age. I would definitely recommend smaller group activities though. Our music is the "Music with Mummy" franchise. The group is less than 8 children and our lady hosts it in her own home. Might be worth checking to if it is in your area.

dewin I'm away next week so you'll have to wait now until the week after for your reese fix! but do send me your address and I'll get them to you.

I've had pregnancy symptoms lately too - have gone through two tests even though I'm on the mini-pill. I was very relieved. I think it's the bug that's going around, I've felt sick and had cramps which was my early pregnancy symptoms too.

Rolf keep the points for yourself! As for the poo/meat etc... you've made me smile :) (and feel lucky that it wasn't Fraser).

sybil I run a music group in our village and it's an age thing - he'll grow out of it. We have a lot of kids who drift away for a bit and then come back. (It's drop in, 50p a session - much better than JoJingles :) )

Two more sleeps until I'm on vacation I'll be away for a week in a cottage in Galloway. We're all so excited, although DH is grumbling about being too busy to be excited but I think it's just because he's been away in Norway and then offshore so he's less keen to travel (but it'll be so good to all be away together0.

abdn where abouts in Galloway are you going? lovely area.

rolf spend it on yourself. definitely.

dewin glad to have you back, sorry you had a disappointment, hope next time round is better x

spider did you enjoy the narrative of the building on GD

DGIT I can't think of anywhere to suggest for the vouchers, although we have had a lovely afternoon tea at hotel du vin? Oh and lots of people rave about this place I've not yet been, but apparently very good, if they like sea food?

sybil sympathy on the music group, we sometimes have days like this!

I'm off to order my new mobile phone online, quite exciting!

Ah - here you are - here is my old post reposted...

Knitting - when does your therapy start? I wouldn't worry about the eating yet as systems says. You can deal with that at a later date when things are calmer.

We had a great birthday yesterday. The lunch was out of this world - we had the 8 course taster menu - sublime. Michel Roux senior was having his lunch there too! The car was a disaster though as it had an accident the night before and a lorry crashed into it! The poor guy was in A&E and found us a replacement but when it turned up it wasn't as good as the one I had ordered so we sent it away and will hire it again another time. Hey ho...

Luke is miles away from potty training!

Biscuits Nah... I just ogled the kitchen and the lounge at the end and thought I could picture myself living there. Not sure what I would do with the guildhall though: Suffolk's largest and swankiest playroom?

My turn to get up with Stefan, the one bonus of getting up at this early hour is that I get 20 minutes alone before getting up Tristan!!

Sybil - like the others have said, you are not alone, most children go through this. Stefan was terrible at sitting still at this stage, and hated joining in with music time at toddler group or stories at playgroup BUT it does get better. You have to make the decision if it's something you will miss going to. If not then I would stop going for a while and try it again, or like others have said try something else.He has years and years ahead of time when he has to conform, so I wouldn't stress too much now.Stefan is 10 now and can sit and concentrate fine, does well at school BUT he still has lots of energy and we would all go mad if we didn't have a trampoline for him to get rid of his energy.

Abdn - have a lovely holiday

Biscuits, Spider, what did you think of the stained glass window in GD? Wasn't last weeks sad?

Amber - glad the Birthday was good despite the car.

Good morning Deb, we've been awake since 4.45am here - grim .

AH, hope you have a fab break .

Amber, what a shame about the car, but glad the birthday was good. I start therapy next month for a seven week course. I booked for the evening on but stupidly didn't ask the time - it's 6 ti 8 which is going to be a nightmare cos if dh can't make it home I won't be able to get anyone to sit cos it's right over bed and bath time . Will have to hope dh can keep his diary free.

Hi to everyone else, too tired to think . Had two really good mornings Weds and Thurs then back to square one today.

Knitting Sorry to hear you are having another crap morning.
RE- xenical. I've been taking it for just over three weeks and lost 3, 5, 2 lbs. I had lost some weight myself before going to the dr's but felt that it was comming back on again. The pills can be really nasty is you eat too much fat but if you stick to melas of less than 5% fat and less than 15gms per meal then there won't be any problems, I haven't had any as I am just too scared. I am taking them to stop me from binging and it's really working for me, sometimes I do resent them a bit as I would just love to stuff a cake in my face but knowing I would have to stop the tablets for three days so I wouldn't have any side effects makes me resist! I did feel really tired for the first week or so and suffer from headaches but now that has clamed down I feel a lot more healthy than I have for a long time and more positive about myself. Hope that helps!

biscuits wigtown :) I have visions of lots of time spent in bookshops but the reality of just playing around outside will be nice too.

knitting hope your DH can keep his schedule free, it's so hard to do anything in the evenings but this is so important for you. I saw a homeopath before Fraser was born and although you might say it's a sham, the counselling side at least made a huge difference to me and really made me much more able to enjoy things (through the fog of exhaustion).

I think that's why a lot of people use complementary medicine tbh AH, it's not the actual medicine that helps it's the time and talking that goes with it. I had acupuncture through both of my pgs and it was my time to rest and talk through my worries and fears - she could have left out the needles though, they bloody hurt!

Oh and quick question for those of you with more than one - do you buy siblings presents when it's one of your LO's birthdays? It's M's birthday next week and dh asked what we were getting for A ! I replied nothing as he needs to learn that it's M's special day and his special day is in June - AIBU?

Abdn have a great holiday.

Knitting sorry it's a crap morning for you. I do hope the therapy helps you. On birthdays the non-birthday children get a v small silly present. One birthday they got pig snouts, another pirate hats. v cheap and silly and the birthday child gets one too. I have a great picture of T looking up at DD1 and they are both wearing pig snouts, and as T is blonde and chubby she looked very piggy. We used to have a joke shop at the end of the road (how great is that!) but it's no longer there so I'll have to be a bit more organised.

Going what's the criteria for being prescribed Xenical? I am not very well proportioned (v high waist) and quite small boned, so don't carry excess weight well. But it means that whilst I look and feel overweight and unhealthy, I'm either at the top end of the "healthy" BMI or just over. I have some awful eating habits which I would love to address.

Knitting - I definitely wouldn't buy a present for the sibling, wouldn't cross my mind, but maybe I am stingy and mean .
I hope the therapy helps.

I know it's been discussed on here before but I am using Paul McKenna's weight loss system again and it is working really well. I was so sceptical when I first tried it a few years ago but I'm a bit of a convert now, in fact I've been listening to some of his other stuff, I listened to a motivational thing last week and have been like a whirling dervish all week, doing DIY and all sorts, very unlike me. I also found his sleep one helped when I kept struggling with sleep a few weeks ago. I keep listening to "I can make you rich" and hoping the effects will start to kick in before I have to do the Christmas shopping, but so far it's been a bit of a disappointment. If anyone wants any of the MP3s I can send them to you. Just off to listen to PM's "I can hypnotise you into buying all of my CDs and make you try to convince everyone else to buy them" .

Sybil - I'm kind of glad you posted that, although obviously very sympathetic, sometimes it seems like everyone else's kids are so well behaved. My J really has his moments sometimes. We only really go to one group now, at the library, as I've found it so hard and stressful to cope with both boys at most of the groups we've tried. Even at the library J doesn't tend to join in with the singing and instead starts climbing the bookcases, or shouting, plus he doesn't like it when we sing anything other than "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and will complain very loudly .

Abdn - we've been around that area a bit as it's not too far from my Grandma's. Are you going to the 7 stanes? I usually lose DH for a day while he goes off there. This year I managed to convince him to leave the bike at home, it was hard work.

ktpie no, the adult bikes are staying at home - he's more of a road cyclist anyways.

Hello, head out of books for a second! Will probably not reappear until after my exam on Monday. Damn it these exams are annoying what with a job to do as well!

Actually not much to say - not done much but going out tonight for a swanky dinner and Iestyn might be staying with my Mum overnight (not sure though - he woke twice last night, and I don't really want to pass that on to my Mum. Strange - he was crying and saying that his eye was hurting. Nothing visible apart from a tiny patch of eczema i.e. dry skin just under his eye, but I'm panicky that there's something very serious that I can't see there. Maybe just guilt that I'm leaving him overnight? How likely is a terribly serious non-visible eye thing?)

Knitting like your attitude to birthdays! Only one child here ( sorry is my obsession showing? ) but I'm one of three and we never got anything on siblings' birthdays. I don't remember feeling resentful either, and agree that Alex needs to learn.
Hope your therapy goes really well - I think you have a lot to talk over because it's been years to get to where you are now, IYKWIM. But I'd better stop before I start pretending to be a psychologist. (My experience is of a friend who took years and years to conceive, and when DC1 came along, she had enormous expectations - of herself, of her DC, of how everything should be - and felt she couldn't confess to finding the tiredness a bit hard/not enjoying every tiny second/not having a baby who was 100% ecstatic all of the time and sometimes cried etc etc, because she had to be always grateful and never ever say anything bad like 'I'm tired' or 'that was a disgusting nappy' or 'I wish I could have a day off'. It's easier for slobs like me...)

Ktpie loved your Paul McKenna bit - ROFL. Made my day!

Agree - Ktpie - very funny!

Got my first 'proper' session of therapy today and I am scared.

Thanks for the messages about J and his stroppiness, I am going to give him another couple of weeks until half term and if it doesn't improve I will take a break until after christmas. I think I will just have to be really strict with him and take him outside for a few minutes if he is behaving really badly.

We have never given presents on another siblings birthday. Surely the looks of envy from your brothers/sisters is part of your birthday fun?

Shame about the car Amber but glad the meal was nice