NOV 07 Now they are three - pre-schools, potties and power struggles

[Greedygirl]

New thread in honour of our threenagers!

Pics added. x

Ah Loopy she looks lovely with her new hair cut! Very chic!! Loving the wrapping pics too. Brings back lovely memories....... :)

Greedy - Adam is gorgeous!! Loving the birthday card message. Subliminal messaging at nearly 4, eh?

I'm not sure what to do for DD for her birthday cake this year. Last year she had a bought Upsy Daisy cake from Asda but now everytime we go shopping we have to stop down the cake aisle so she can admire all the birthday cakes and tell me which one she would like for her birthday. However, I am wondering whether i should make the effort and do her a home made one this year. I would just hate to disappoint her tho! I think perhaps i might make a small one for home and just buy a shop one for her party, which will most likely be another soft play centre job (at her request!!).

What is everyone else doing for their DCs and their birthdays?

Ooo that cake is gorgeous!! I am probably going to try and make her a princess/fairy cake thing for home and then maybe buy her another to cut up and give out at the party. Last year i dont think there was hardly any cake left after her party so i will deffo be having 2 cakes!

Loopy - do you always plait your DDs hair for school then? Are you convinced it keeps "little blighters" away? We've not had them here either (touch wood!!) and i'm very keen for it to stay that way!! DD loves plaits!

Yes indeed butter wouldn't melt. He is actually a little bit under the weather at the moment with a cough, nothing serious but definitely less in your face than normal...am I allowed to say it's quite nice?! Especially as my DH is away on a long weekend until tomorrow.

Loopy - tea and sympathy for your broken sleep. Hope Dr Jay can help. Never heard of him before. Adam is waking with his cough but thankfully stays in his own bed - I loved co-sleeping with him when he was teeny but I love having our bed back again!

Adam is going to have a football birthday party. He is obsessed with all sports but most of all football. He watches match of the day with DH which is quite sweet as I get to go and read (or do marking - grrrr). He gets an hour of football training with his little pals, a tour of the stadium and then get to meet Roary the Tiger (Hull City mascot). He will love it. I have to do the food though which is a bit of a pain. Just followed your link Loopy and seen a great football cake so thanks for that!

RG - I don't even want to think of visitors - when I cared for children in a children's home I saw some enormous specimens and my friend who is a primary school teacher tells stories of children with moving hair! Am feeling all itchy!

Just read about 'little visitors' Initially Loopy I thought you meant ofsted and was a might confused !
T is having a soft play party and I'm going to get my friend to make him a bin lorry cake - he's obssessed.

I know Loopy it's awful, my friend said that she would sit and comb through their hair for ages but it made no difference cos the parents had them too! Mind you, we struggled to get rid of them at the children's home, especially as we had joint custody with parents and one mum in particular refused to give permission for her DD to have her hair cut so it was a bit more manageable. I think she liked the fact that her DD had lice even though she was in care, it gave her a little bit of ammunition .

Adam is inviting a couple of his girlfriends so I hope they won't feel too overwhelmed with the whiff of testosterone and ugly football strips! Definitely getting to the boy/girl divide age I am feeling.

LOM - dustbin lorry cake sounds awesome!

Lost you all there - so busy the thread had dropped off my convos list!

Loopy - gorgeous pics. DD3 looks very like you with her new haircut. It's shorter than William's! He is now refusing to cut his, it's past his shoulders. Oh well, it will keep him warm for the winter! I'm the same about plaits for school. But DH cn't do them and so on the days I'm working DD goes in with a ponytail. Still, so far we've avoided the dreaded nits!

RG - lovely cake! And DD is beautiful too! Check out this vid for a princess cake - makes it look easy, but I've not tried it!

Greedy - DS is lovely, looks a cheeky chap and very adorable!

LOM - I've never heard of a child wanting a bin lorry cake - that's brilliant! Mind you, here in Southampton we had a 3 month strike so the children have forgotten what a bin lorry looks like

Still no flaming Ofsted. They'll probably turn up next week when we're all desperate for the holiday the week after! DH is ill - manflu - and feeling very sorry for himself today.

I am thinking of doing a treasure chest cake for William's birthday, on a pirate theme, but I think he wants a superhero theme. He has made reference to an Iron Man cake (how on earth I would achieve that, I do not know) and I have suggested Lightning McQueen. So in short, I have no idea what we're doing

Right, going to update my pics like the rest of you!

My DH can do plaits because I like him to faff with my hair and he likes a concrete task to do! Shame that we just have a DS with short hair. Perhaps this could be an argument for DC number 2!

Had a full day at uni yesterday and it was great. It was totally wasted on me the first time around. As an added bonus DH had to do party duty at the local, ridiculously busy soft play centre! Then we went to our friends house for dinner. Love busy weekends.

Oh Loopy! It's a good job DD3 didn't notice - you would have felt terrible if she had been standing there sobbing

Right, about to make William a superhero cape out of some green fabric he found in the fabric shop today and then some lesson planning for tomorrow. Just want to go to bed really, oh well, only 4 days until the weekend!!

Tee hee Loopy !! Still, I think your mum instincts were intact as you left her in a safe and fun area! Poor you on the sleep front, hope you get some respite soon.

Jet - you are a lovely mum, making superhero capes on a school night!

Oh heck Loopy! Look what you started .

Well, I think you had a point seeing as they were both working, Loopy. There is nothing sone teachers like more than a good argument and treading on the moral highground; there are a lot of martyrs in the teaching profession AIBU brings out people's more argumentative side! I haven't ventured back there since this morning, too busy working

I think you have a perfectly valid reason to speak to the head about this. I share a class this year and shared 1 last year. The teacher I shared with last year was very good at communicating and we discussed all aspects of the reports and data analysis throughout the year. We did the parents evening together too, which surprised the kids because for many of them it meant they realised how much trouble they were in regarding behaviour and progress! The teacher I share with this year is difficult to track down a lot of the time (and she's FT) because she's off having a fag every possible opportunity so it's via email mainly. We did however do their reports together a couple of weeks ago, and I did one of their assessments. In your DD's case, it is even more important that both of her teachers properly communicate as primary teachers see fewer children but for much more time, whereas at secondary we have more students for less time. (I have about 220 pupils this year to keep track of).

The other thread descended into a bit of teacher bashing so I didn't bother with any more statements! I was in the middle of addressing one poster who went on and on about teachers should be flexible like other professionals are, but lost my post and couldn't be bothered to type it again! Basically I was saying it is a very inflexible job, with lost of examples to illustrate my point, but I suspect I would have been viewed as excuse making by that particular poster

Two more days until half term - I cannot wait, and still no Ofsted...

Can't believe I forgot to tell you - my cousin gave birth to a baby boy on Sunday and has called him William! My William thinks it is the coolest thing ever that he has a baby cousin called William, I can only congratulate my cousin on excellent taste. We obviously both loved our late Grandad William very much

Oh no Jetgirl - Ofsted need to get their act together! Perhaps they will come after half-term when you are nicely rested? Hopefully not the week before Christmas when everyone is on their knees.

Loopy - I didn't even want to get stuck in on the thread as you were asking about something very specific and it all decended into the kind of posturing that I can't bear - "well I get up at 3 a.m. to do my marking, that's just what you have to do if you are DEDICATED!" . But fwiw I think you do have a right to question the lack of communication between teachers and also to request that discussions are focused on your DD's learning, not the teacher's life story. It must be really frustrating if you don't have faith in your DC's teacher - I have all these minefields to navigate yet! I can imagine I am going to be a f'ing nightmare very concerned and interested parent.

Nothing much to report here. Off to music class this morning. It is chuffing cold in these parts. Starting to frett about xmas. Why on earth did we all have babies the month before?! Really looking forward to half-term though. Taking Adam to see Chris and Pui from Show Me at the local theatre. RG - did you take your DD to see this? What did they do?

Greedy - yes, I took DD to see Chris and Pui. They pretty much a bit of a Show Me Show Me type show, only a bit more panto-esque and deffo more interactive with the kids. I would say that the live show is ten times better than the TV programme! DD saw it when she was in her 2s and she LOVED it even then!! I'm sure she would absolutely love it now too! Adam will LOVE it! :o