July 2009: Toddling towards 2 and a full nights sleep!

[Phoenix]

Good one QueenFee :o

I had a few mins at work so started it :o

lillabet: asda were selling a great but simple sand/water table for £15 not long ago. Only downside was the lid was a bit leaky in the heavy rain = flooded sand! But at least it fitted in the play house so we can protect it from the weather. The ones in ELC are HUGE so I guess it depends on how much space you have.

ali I did see it, but it hadn't crossed my mind as an option! Unfortunately, our Asda isn't selling them at the moment. I will, however, keep an eye out for them againm . Thanks for the review too
We don't have a huge amount of space (most of the garden is taken up with either the weed jungle wildlife friendly area or the patio which is full of home grown veg!) and we're a bit short of storage at the moment. Well, I'll have a look round and see what we can find .
Thank you all and feel free to let me know any more ideas/reviews should inspiration strike .
Right, off for a walk with Sam before it gets too hot .

I got rid of my sandpit when I was pg with Alfie. I warned them 3 times but they still kept getting it everywhere and I was too heavily pg to clear it up so it went!

Sandplay Table we binned ours too. It was messy and because we left it out in the garden the sun wore the cover (made the plastic crack etc) I am a fan of it at playgroups, nursery, other people's homes but dare I say, not in my abode.

Lillbet I am having to note down EVERYTHING as the bastards (sorry but I am so cross again with them) always change their story. I have supposedly had a payment released last week and has not arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes me want to pull my hair out!

Thanks for the additional info on the sandplay table , perhaps we need to rethink this .

Misspaella I think they hope that people will just get fed up and settle for the pittance the insurance company want to pay out rather than battling on for that which the insurance should be paying out. Have a and remember to chant the mantra - this too shall pass . Oh and if in doubt there are plenty of MNetters who have legal knowledge/insurance experience that can help you , just ask on the legal (I think ) boards .

Missp I totally sympathise they totally underpaid me for my car and got away with it grr

Sand table if you do want one join elc on fbook as they are offering 70% off theirs this friday (and a couple of other things)

QueenFee - thank you

Hi all

Give 'em all holy hell MissP - go into print if neccessary - have lots of - its very stressful from mate's experience, but keep chipping away & badger the buggering life out of the call centre until they know you well enough to invite you to the office Christmas party.

Not much happening here. Pondering having a party for the 2nd birthday, but slightly unnerved at the thought of a houseful of screaming toddlers. I am a lightweight.

Turned 40 last week - god I feel old! DP took us away to a nice hotel for the night - not terribly child friendly and my girlies were little demons. The fabulous food went down in lumps > beaucoup de gin was had to numb the pain.

Happy 40th Jetli!! At least you did something.....

I am not having any bday parties this year per se. DD had a 4th bday lunch with 5 other children from nursery. DS1 will have a 6th bday play and supper (again prob invite 5 from school) and Tristan who has no friends to be honest may have a friend over for cake next Monday. We have far too much on to organise real parties and we simply can't afford it. Even a cheap as chips party with half a class can cost about £200!

Insurance I agree. They want you to get fed up and just settle for whatever. Thankfully we are keeping strong for now and being relentless to get what we rightly deserve.

Work DH's contract has been extended until Sept/Oct - hooray. I can get away with doing the odd bit of temping for now.

Preschool I am signing Tristan for one after DD starts reception. I am hoping he can start in November after the half term for 2 sessions per week. Anyone else going to do this?

Alfie starts 3 mornings in Jan :) got his open day next week.

Happy birthday Jetli :)

We are taking the kids to the cheap £1 cinema on sat (we have never been before) then to pizza hut.

can they go to preschool that soon? Thought it would be next september? Am I confused?

birthdays beth was allowed one friend for tea for her 5th party. Was surprisingly unstressful despite said friend being world's fussiest eater! As for Becca... who would i invite? Pete is off to a family do on her birthday (!) leaving me with the kids all weekend on my own. Fun! Think we might go to my mums on Saturday and do a birthday tea there. Esp as she managed to blow all beth's candles out on her turn at doing it at Beth's birthday. I've thought about her cake (a bee!) but not her present. No idea what to get. It's not as if she needs anything!

Here they get funding from 3 and Alfie will start nursery in the infant school. However the playgroup which is in the grounds take them from 2 and a half (in some deprived areas its from 2)

From 2 here as well (deprived area). Although it is a pilot scheme, and since the change of government, we're not sure how long the funding will be available. Local council is good with this sort of stuff, but everything is getting so squeezed.

If we do a party we'll invite her buddies from nursery & playgroup. Can't decide to be honest, whether to do it or not.
Thanks for birthday wishes

Belated Happy birthday JetLi

MissP carry on being relentless and have a to strengthen the fortitude

I'm putting Sam's name down for pre-school but he won't be eligable (sp?) for his free grant place until next September

Birthdays we're not having a party for Sam this year, our house and weed patch garden aren't large enough to have a party (for his 1st we used my parents garden and they're 1.5hrs drive away, which would mean most of his physibodies/groovy tots friends wouldn't be able to come) and to be honest we can't afford it. We'll be going to the zoo on his birthday (we did it last year too) with DH (as he has the day off ) and the weekends either side of Sam's birthdays this year are already booked! The one before is either DH's cousins wedding (second one - this time it's official) or a one day offshore race and the one after is the Round Anglesey race! I am doing neither race but DH is . Sam and I will probably go to Anglesey for the day, wave to all the boats as they sail past and just have a relaxed day .

We're still prevaricating and procrastinating over what we get him for his birthday. He isn't short of toys and stuff and like l said we don't have a lot of room, but he does get bored in the garden and starts destroying my homegrown veggies!

Right, got to go and get a parcel from the sorting office!

Lillabet give me a wave as you pass on the way to anglesey! Where are you coming from?

I'm confused about pre school/nursery etc. I've been looking and it's funded from 3 here so Noah would go next September. Ds1's school doesn't have a nursery and the nearest one to the school is a private day nursery so how does the funding work there? Ds1 went to a pre-school about a 10 minute drive from our house because they did nice 2.5 hour sessions and I thought they were enough to get him used to school iykwim. I'd be happy for Noah just to do a few 2.5 (or 3hr as I think they do now) sessions rather than a whole morning. The whole thong just confuses me

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't been around for a while.

DS1 has just come back from a week long school trip. I found the saying goodbye really tough, but apart from that it was ok. DH was away too so it was just the 3 of us and it was very quiet. on the plus side there was very little washing and tidying up! That was good as I had a bad cold and dd was recovering from a bad dose of slapped cheek so we just took it easy.

It is ds1 10th birthday tomorrow, I can't believe I have a child in double figures!! Max's bday the following week. I have found him a second hand jcd tractor/trailer thing for the garden, £7.50 and he will love it. We have a sandpit with a plastic lid which we bought from toys r us when ds1 was 2 and it is still going strong. max loves it so I think they are fab.

Re Pre school, we get funding from 3 but all the pre schools round here take them from 2. When I was running the local pre school we made the change from 2.5 to 2, and that decision was a revenue based choice, there was a new pre school which took them from 2.5 and we wanted to get the children before them!! That said there is a great deal of demand for pre school from 2 round here. I am going to send Max at 2.5 though, its is just personal preference. The sessions are 9-12 until age 3 then they can stay for the afternoon. DH says he is ready now but I want to hang onto him for bit longer!

I hope you are all ok, will try to be back soon x

QueenFee Will do - I suspect DH will be giving me funny looks as Sam and I wave maniacally at the appropriate point , wich would be roughly where? [nosey emoticon]
I'll be coming from near Wigan, so it'll be M6, M56 and A55 - it is a journey I do surprisingly often I do enjoy it though as I tend to be doing it quite early in the day so I'm not fighting all the bods from Liverpool and Manchester who decide it's a lovely day so a trip to North Wales is a great idea! That and I do it in all weathers - no fair weather sailors in this family .

Phoenix I'm glad I'm not the only one who is about pre school! I know we only get free grant places from 3 years old here, but I really haven't had a chance to speak to the nice people at my SureStart centre about it yet!

I live walking distance from the asda at queensferry :) we do the opposite and travel towards the coast at about 4pm when everyone else is coming back!

QueenFee we shall be waving manically at the appropriate point We do stop in at that Asda occasionally when we need picnic stuff/lunches/general supplies for the boat! I'd be the frazzled looking one with the very cute and smiley toddler and a trolley full of bad for you stuff :) Hi cal when sailing competitively is kind of important (not to mention when it's cold and wet, an easily eaten choccie bar is fab - they never taste as good anywhere else , sames goes for a they taste particularly good on the boat - think first cuppa of the day for every cuppa ).

lillabet: Nr wigan? We are also near wigan. (well other side of the borough)

Beth got a new scooter with her birthday money. Scooted to school at her own request and fell off and hurt her knee. Oops. I hope it doesn't put her off :(

on the the plus side she has swimming lessons starting today :) She's very excited.

In other exciting news I have another job interview on Thursday. Which is fab except I woke with this stupid rash on my face. Doc says it's just dermatitis. I hope it clears up before thursday. :(

How can becca be 2 in a few weeks (less than 2) I must get on and make her cake and put it in the freezer the I don't need to rush at the end. (plain sponge freezes really well) Will let you all know how the interview went. AF is due that day too so it could be carnage!

alibobble We're in Leigh I'm sure it won't put Beth off, she'll probably be showing off her war wound to all her class mates .
I can't believe Sam will be 2 in 3.5 weeks, he's growing so fast! He now insists on grown up plates and cutlery!! I end up with the melamine plates at lunchtime and Sam has the proper ones!
Right, got to go, Sam isn't well (chesty cough) and he is very grumpy today (don't blame him mind!), so wants mummy and CBeebies.

Oh and forgot to add, good luck with the job interview I'm sure you'll be fine dermatitis notwithstanding

Lillabet: We're in Atherton and the library I work at is Leigh :)

Who's little one was it that had slapped cheek? Can't work out if becca starting with it or has got sunburn on just one cheek!

It is mine with the slapped cheek. Starts with a red looking cheek, or under the eye, gradually covers most of the face and then a viral rash on the body that becomes big red blotches and a lacy apperance. Both of mine had bad colds with it and were quite poorly. DD had a temperature. If it is slapped cheek avoid the sun as that makes it worse, and also pregnant people. I thought it was ok once the rash came out but the dr said otherwise.

DS1 turned 10 today, I can't believe it. A child in double figures seems so grown up! Manic day but all calm now so off to get a cuppa and relax infront of the tv.

Ali hope the swimming lessons went well and good luck for the interview