Dec 2007 - Little People, Large Strops

[strandedatseasonsgreetings]

Will this do everyone?

DS1 has gone fishing with his much older cousin today so just got the littler two. The house is so so quiet! DS2 is being a misery and doesn't want to do anything but I think I might take them swimming for an hour or so just so the day doesn't feel wasted. This holiday has just gone so quickly, tomorrow is the last proper day of it because then DH will be off of work for a few days and DS1 is back to school on Tuesday! My friend is having the boys tomorrow for me and DD and I (with another friend and her girls) are going to Build-a-Bear for the first time - not sure who is most excited!

Dundee - accidentally bought a bookshop??? Did they bid for it on Ebay thinking it was a book How is the bump?

Hope you've got a 2nd mortgage out for build-a-bear Beckle - I have heard they are very good at parting people from their money
We have been at the Farm Park all day (Adam Henson's Farm Park no less - apparently he is some bloke off Countrywide or some farming programme). It was lovely, amazing weather but HEAVING. Friends coming over tomorrow and we are going for a picnic, probably just the local park, as can't face crowds again. This is the disadvantage of the good weather/economic crisis combo - too many people staying in this country and going to all the places I want to go (how dare they!

BT - how is DS? Hopefully fully recovered.

He is still a bit wobbly and clingy today, and still a bit off his food as well :(

We are going out for lunch tomorrow, for my birthday, hope he perks up then!

He'll pick up again soon BT, it takes a couple of days for the GA to get out of his system and it was such a different kind of day for him its bound to make him a little clingy. How was his appetite today? Did you have a lovely birthday?!

Clara, no second mortgage! DD was fairly restrained (although given her way she would have bought shedloads of accessories for her bear) and she had £20 of leftover birthday money and a £3 voucher so it wasn't too bad. She loved it though and we'll definitely go back again to get outfits/accessories for the bear The farm park sounds good! I am not keen on crowds either, there is a new part to our local park and it has been packed down there, the good thing about that is that the swimming pool was half-empty yesterday and DS2 and DD had a great time! I spent most of the time stood at the bottom of the toddler flume pulling DD from under the water catching DD

Is anyone else's LO going through a stage of squealing? DD feels it necessary to scream every time she goes down a slide, on a swing, down a flume...

Hope you enjoyed your birthday BT Is ds any better now?

Clara we went to a farm park near us yesterday, it's one of my favourite places to go when the weather's good. It was busy but not overwhelmingly so, and there is enough open space for it to be busy without being too crowded.

DS rode a bike without stabilisers while we were there! He fell off lots but did really well DD did less well

at the accidental bookshop buying

Thanks everyone, DS is getting better, still needing extra sleep but he is slowly getting his appetite back. At least he has been drinking plenty of water.
Had a good birthday apart from DS being a bit cranky and DSS falling out with his friends and telling a few fibs about some girls beating him up (it turned out it was a 6yo girl, he is 10 and twice her size) which caused his mum to freak out and threaten to come up and 'batter the girl's mother'. DH managed to sort it out though in the end but it caused much trauma!

oh my goodness BT, glad your DH sorted it out, and glad DS is feeling better

Did everyone have a nice Easter? We had a lovely time but today was a bit of a shock, having to get DC out of the house for 8.45 - and it is freezing (that's a cold and sad face btw)

Yes had a quite relaxed and yet fairly social weekend. Went to the Zoo on Friday and like Clara says about Farm Park that too was heaving, never seen it so busy. I guess that's what you get when practically everything is closed. It wasn't even that nice weather.

BT, glad to hear DS is getting better. That GA does take a while to get out of the system.

House seems very quiet here with DD1 away at her Nana's for the week.

buzzy when do you do away for your dirty romantic weekend?

Hope everyone is well!

Having a nightmare with DS's bed times, really fighting him to get him to bed. He didn't go to bed until nearly 8:30 last night, and 9pm the night before! He normally is asleep by 7:30pm.

Think it might be to do with getting overtired at school. Starting ML next week, so I think I will be picking him up earlier - I normally don't pick him up until after tea. He will very rarely nap at school but he has been sometimes falling asleep late afternoon here which is a nightmare as he is so difficult to wake up!

BT - if he looks like he might fall asleep in the afternoon, put him in the bath! It'll wake him up and you can have a nice rest while he plays. It used to work for a friend of mine whose son wouldn't go to sleep for hours in the evening if he had an afternoon nap.
Luckily for us bedtimes are about the only thing that seems to be easy at the moment! Martha is a nightmare most of the rest of the time, getting her dressed and out the door every morning is turning into the battle of all battles. I frequently get told I am ruining her life, that I am Annoying her, that I'm not listening to her, that she wants ME to be good etc etc etc. She is such a madam at the moment, it's very funny but exhausting.

clara - sounds just like my DD. I always thought it was beause she was our first which made her really attention-seeking but now I have three, and hearing stories like yours make me think it is just her personality [sigh] When things get bad I remind myself that being stubborn, determined, confident and stroppy can all be positive things in adulthood when self-control is improved. I think 3 years was about the worst phase so hold on in there, it will get better

BT - poor DS I guess he is going through that nap-no nap transition thing which is a nightmare, especially when you're very pg - bath sounds like a great plan (or early night)

Poor dS is suffering a bit at school after the holidays, getting very anxious about snack time as he doesn;t like sitting down with other children. I asked the teacher if he could have a book to look at to try to calm him down but she said they really wanted to encourage him to be sociable. I do understand but my poor little DS - it is so stressful for him

ON a happier note, is anyone having a royal wedding party? I am absolutely not a royalist in any way but thought I'd get into the spirit of it. Lots of 5 yr old girls coming to ours in princess dresses tomorrow morning to watch it on the telly while the parents get pissed sip bubbly in the garden. Spolit only by my Irish, anti monachy, grumpy DH ranting on about the royal family [yawn], oh and a forecast of rain...

DS is having a party today at nursery, nursery is shut tomorrow.

DH will be watching the wedding (I've got some work today) we may have a picnic lunch as well!

Skidd - I keep hoping that her behaviour is reaching some sort of crescendo and surely soon it will get better but it just seems to get worse and worse. This morning she wanted to go out dressed only in a thin sleeveless dress (see pic on FB), so that was tantrum number one - in the end the only way I could get her to put some more clothes on was take her outside and prove to her how bloody freezing it was. Then she had multiple tantrums in the car because I wouldn't put her shoes on/switch on the DVD while I was driving; and finally she had the mother of all tantrums because I put on the WRONG DORA - which meant she wouldn't eat any of her supper so this went on for about an hour.....I am exhausted by it and actually at the end of my tether. There are days I am scared I am going to do something awful, I get SO frustrated, especially in the morning when we HAVE to get out the door.

I am just hoping it will get better from next week when she is back in her normal routine. We will probably watch some of the wedding tomorrow and are thinking of going to a party in a nearby park in the afternoon but right now I am CURSING the royal family for having their wretched wedding THREE DAYS after the children have FINALLY gone back to school after their Easter holidays.

Sorry am in a FOUL mood you might have guessed! Dd1 was never like this, she had her moments but not this bad (I don't think...gawd, maybe I've just blanked it). But neither was she girly or into princesses and pink so am guessing the two might go hand in hand?

Clara - she will certainly go on to do great things in life!
Skidd, I do feel for your DS. I'm not sure I agree with the approach his nursery school is taking - do you? Have they had any experience working with children who might be on the AS spectrum?
Well we did have the "romantic" weekend away this weekend and in many ways it was nice (so allaying some of the fears I had) but rather badly impacted by some news he received just after lunch on Saturday. His sister, who lives in Perth, and had been having chemo since around Christmas, took a turn for the worse Saturday and the family were told she had a couple of days to live. So he spent Sat afternoon on the phone organising for his elderly parents to fly over there from Auckland. Then he got the really bad news at 4am Sunday morning :( He is going to fly over for the funeral on Wed.

Skidd - I agree with Buzzy, I don't think the nursery are handling your DS correctly. DSS also has AS as well and he struggles with socialisation as well. He is much better now he is older but he had similar issues at nursery when group activities were going on.

Stranded - it is so frustrating, still having on going battles with DS at times and it is exhausting. It is so tempting to give in to his petty demands just for an easier life but I know that in the long run it will make life more difficult. I will give in on certain things but there are somethings I won't give way on.

Huge apologies for stroppy me me me post. Things are a bit calmer here, dd2 has been pretty well behaved for the last few days (hope that's not famous last words...) and we had a lovely day yesterday at the farm park. Then today we agreed to take the stabilisers off her bike (she has been desperate for us to do it for ages) and off she went! Anyone who ever wondered whether or not to buy a balance bike should see her go, she's amazing for her age and I am sure a lot of it is down to the balance bike she's had for a year or so. (ooops sorry that was a terribly proud mummy boast...)
Buzzy - how awful for your (what do we call him? bit of stuff?). I'm glad the weekend was going well, hopefully it bodes well for the future - but I guess it's going to be a pretty tough time for him for a while.
BT - I agree, there are lots of things I have had to just give in to or I would go mad, but there are still some things I absolutely put my foot down about. Our biggest battles at the moment are getting dressed in the morning and eating.

Not stroppy at all clara, just frustrated, and what is MN for if not venting?! Glad her behaviour has improved and fantastic re bike. DS1 has a littel friend who was cycling without stabilisers just before she turned 3 kids these days... weren't we about 7 when we learned to ride a bike

buzzy - how horrendous for your poor BF and his family. Have you been seeing him throughout all this? How is he coping?

Well after a wonderful sunny bank holiday weekend full of swimming, cycling, drinking and lounging, real life has barged its way back into my life. DS1 very upset/anxious all day, clinging to me and crying, DS2 teething and screaming, and then to top it all off we discovered a headlouse in DD's hair in the bath so we had to treat them all and have only just got them into bed [SIGHx10]

Skidd - oh dear not a good way to end the weekend!!

Buzzy - how is your bf? How sad for him and his family. All you can do I guess is just be there for him as a sounding board and a shoulder to cry on.

Stranded - if you can't moan here where else can you do it? And well done on M and her bike how brilliant she is!!

Absolutely no need to apologise clara!! We all have moans from time to time...

And you should def be proud of her riding the bike. :) I have one of those for DD2 and she hasn't used it much yet but I can see she will get on well with it - much better than trainer wheels for confidence.

Funny you should ask what I call him. For the first time today I referred to him as my "partner" which for me feels like a bit of a breakthrough. But in fact "BF" feels closer to the mark as I can't see that we would consider moving in together any time in the foreseeable future. However I do feel this weekend kind of cemented some sort of feeling of longevity to the relationship. I saw him again Sunday evening, then he had his kids Monday night and had to give them the bad news about their aunty and that he was going away for a week. Then flew out Tue. Perth is an 8 hour flight from here. Have had a couple of texts. I think he's doing OK. All the family are there which helps. He's the youngest of 5, with 4 sisters (3 now).

Skidd, that sounds really hard. Hope you were able to relax with a glass of wine after. I've just been out to my girly book group, very pleasant escapism activity!

Buzzy - oooh oooh oooh how exciting! I'm really glad it's going well with the "BF".

Skid - , I hope things are better today.

I have a quiet house for the first time in what feels like months. I can hear the clock ticking! (I mean literally - my body clock is all ticked out). It's lovely. Bought a new bike at the weekend so I am going to try it out this morning before getting dd2 from playgroup.

That's great about your relationship buzzy, I'm sure he appreciates your committment at such a horeendous time. He sounds really lovely - as you would expect from a man with 4 older sisters! Are both his parents alive? I can;t even imagine the agony of losing a child like that

Yaay clara for having some time to yourself at last and glad you have caught DD2's cycling bug. My body clock has also stopped ticking I think. A friend had a baby 10 days ago and although the baby is beautiful, for the first time I held a newborn annd knew I didn't want another - a bit sad but also a big relief that I can move on to the next phase of stress and exhaustion

All DC (and me ) now de-loused. But then had to take both boys for vaccinnations yesterday - surprisingly fine as DS1 is just so unbelievably stoic - he didn't flinch with the first, and let out a tiny indignant 'ow' with the second. DS2 made up for it though!

Found out yesterday that I have got a job I went for which is great but it is full time so have been stressing about childcare, and not seeing them all day for five days . Told DD this morning and she burst into tears ... maternal guilt is such a killer

How are you doing BT? How long to go?

P.S. Where is clairey??

Skidd - I am 35+2 today. And so very tired. This one is definitely my last!
Congrats on the new job, but I can understand how you are feeling about going full time, however you and the DCs will adapt!
What are you thinking of for childcare?

Hopefully Clairey is off somewhere having fun