These babies are going to be calm, easy and sleepy at all the right times, and we're brooking no argument about it!

[Biscuitsandtea]

In here ladies - the other thread was getting full up so I thought I'd better start a new one.....

Will do some links to / from this thread but in the meantime please make yourselves at home

Egged on by my success at tidying the chocolates I'm going to start tidying the wine rack now.

Biscuits we should go out for drinks one night, DC free.

DH currently manages by handing grumpy/poo covered/sick covered/hungry baby or toddler to me.

me going back to work will be interesting. he's taken them out to the park and for walks, but not had the 2 of them on his own in the house much.

he is v efficient and determined though, whereas i get sidetracked trying to find random toys for DS1, or watching DS2 giggle. I have good intentions... I'd not achieve what he does even if he did entertain the boys all day.

did i mention he does most of the cooking too? also while i do the baby and toddler wrangling though.

Definitely Scarlet - would love that

Your DH sounds tres efficient Jaggy. I too am easily distracted. By anything really.

re cleaning, with a 5 week old and a 23 month old, and family 2 hours away, and a DP who is usually out of the house from 7.15am to 8pm, we have cleaners. Not as often as i'd like, but 2 come for an hour, once a fortnight, £11 hour, so costs £44 per 4 weeks, and they keep on top of most things during that time - just don't always get to do things like dusting lightshades, cleaning inside of windows etc.

am resorting to new toys to try and make it easier to deal with DS. novelty seems to be working so far...

Oooh loopy that's another thing I did with DS - I had a bag of 'stuff ' little toys, magazines, books etc to pull out at will. In fact there is some stuff still in there. I thought the bag was hidden until I found DS 'just checking the magazines were still there' the other day

I think that would do me cleaner wise - you know a few of hours a fortnight just to make sure the kitchen and bathrooms and floors get a going over. What do your cleaners typically manage in their hour?

that's cleaner envy.

I've just tidied my chocolate Biscuits! :D

Loopy -dusting lampshades?! Cleaning inside of windows?! Things I'm not even sure I've done since moving to this house although that was 2 weeks before DD arrived, so maybe I have an excuse ... more cleaning required I think :(

I can only get things done in the day if there's a distraction! The baby bouncer works well for a bit, though she likes me to be in her line of sight. The thing I'm most productive at during the day is playing the piano/composing bits and pieces at the piano, but only because she likes sitting in my lap, or in the bouncy chair smiling at me if I'm working on songs, like I am most of the time at the mo.

Have also found moving the baby bouncer to different door frames to be very useful. She spent about 20 mins bouncing and chatting away in the door of the study the other day, while I actually filed some paperwork that had been unfiled since we moved in.

Oh, I meant to thank you brookers for the Shred! Not for me, but my DH! He's been on level one for a couple of weeks... he's attempting level 2 tonight. It's working though, that and healthier eating have helped him lose half a stone or so :)

I think I did say I'd do it with him initially...

Okay, I don't want to say too much about the level of cleaning in my house, in case you all start avoiding me out of disgust! I have to ask though, do you notice the level of cleanliness on other people's houses, or just your own?

I'm all about tidiness and hygiene. So most days I'll tidy downstairs - sitting room / dining room / kitchen. I also keep food surfaces like the dining table and kitchen worktops super clean. DH does most of the washing up straight after dinner, and we both keep the bathroom clean when we go in in the mornings - washing the bath / sink before using it etc. DH does most of the laundry because he generates most of the laundry! (Male clothing is just bigger and bulkier than female or baby clothing. DD and I could probably get by on a couple of washloads a week). HOWEVER general household cleanliness isn't really a priority for either of us... I couldn't tell you the last time we cleaned a skirting board, or washed a window. As for polishing/dusting [lazy slattern emoticon]

So I ask again, do you generally notice the state of other people's homes?

Not so sure whether things are improving or just changing with DH at the moment. At least he's FINALLY arranged to see a Dr about his depression. If he sees someone decent that could make a huge difference to our lives. Plus he's finally starting to miss DD, so is making marginally more effort to see her unlike his first two prearranged afternoons to be spent with her both of which he cancelled at the last minute so he could spend precious time with his wretched brother instead

I certainly never notice it at anyone else's house Scream but worry that other people notice it at mine .

I'm pretty sure my mum and sister notice it but they are both total clean obsessives.

But then I don't really know if any of my friends are clean obsessives, because i don't notice how clean other houses are. if they are they might well notice it. They still seem to come round though?

I do notice if houses are tidy but it doesn't bother memo e way or the lever, it just registers because I have eyes!

I don't really notice mess particularly, but I notice dirt. Only in specific houses, though - like one of my friends has laminate floors and a collie which sheds black fur, so I notice fur/dust balls if she hasn't swept her living room. And my dad and stepmother's house is always a tip and I notice that - v dusty, grubby marked walls, sticky worktops, paper everywhere, black mould in the shower. I think I'm more critical of that because I used to live there and Dad used to make us help clean it! Still, people notice mine - Mum does, my sister does. I tend to do a massive blitz before we have visitors, but the massivest of blitzes can't get it all. I remember being really pissed off with FIL once after I had spent hours cleaning before their arrival - he said that if (neat freak) SIL came to stay I would have to clean up! I still don't know what he thought was so bad.

I have cleaner envy too. £11 an hour, though? Hmm. How much do they do in an hour? I would manage maybe the hoovering and that would be it, but I expect they work a lot faster than I do with less MN breaks.

I have cleaned the windows maybe once or twice in the 2.5 years we've lived here. DH cleaned the outsides but he never does it very thoroughly and I think they wound up smearier when he'd finished.

Biscuits, I was on gin-tidying duty last night! With elderflower cordial and tonic, mmm.

Scream, I would have been furious with DH for cancelling on DD. I hope you made him realise just what a shitty thing to do that was. I don't care if she's too little to be upset by it. (Child of divorced parents here; would have been devastated if either hadn't turned up when arranged)

I suppose it makes sense that if I don't notice dirt in my own house, that I wouldn't notice it in someone else's

I don't tend to notice in other people's houses, I don't think! Besides, I think lots of people have more important things to do than keep their houses looking absolutely perfectly shiny clean. I know none of mine have ever looked like that!

Scream, ahhhh skirting boards. Ours are atrocious. Every time I'm in the bathroom I notice how appauling the one in there is (also needs a lick of paint, which wouldn't take long), but I'm usually in the middle of doing something so never get round to cleaning it :(

I'm sure some people notice. My parents probably don't (they live in quite a big house, so once you've finally cleaned the last thing, the first thing needs cleaning again!). I'm sure my step MIL notices... because she's that kind of person. Their house is IMMACULATE - no clutter, feels like a show home. Except for my FIL's office which is clutter tastic . Me, I like a bit of homely clutter...

I'd have been furious with DH for cancelling on DD too, as Too says. I hope arranging to see a Dr is a step forward though :)

Ahhh running my first choir rehearsal in ages later with a new choir. Hoping the kids behave, and hoping Iz is happy being looked after by someone else (she'll be in the room, and enjoyed it last time we were there, but you never know..)

P.s. Where's the lovely Fluff and mini Fluff? She's clearly having far too lovely a time with newborn snuggles to come tell us all about it :)

biscuits in the hour they are both here, they usually clean the bathroom, one of the ensuites, the downstairs cloakroom, dust/polish/vacuum our room, corridor/upstairs landing, DS1's room and the lounge, clean the kitchen, and then sweep/mop the floors in the bathroom/ensuite/cloakroom/dining room/kitchen/utility/downstairs hall. Extras get done if they ever have spare time - things like wiping tops of door frames, wiping down internal doors, cleaning windows/light shades, getting rid of cobwebs from coving etc.... trying to keep things as nice as possible as house is still on market and desperate to move closer to family....if it wasn't i might not be as houseproud right now!!!! (and its because of my mothers obsessively high cleanliness standards that i notice things that need cleaning or jobs that need doing, there is always a list of jobs waiting for poor DP to do!!)

£11 an hour seems to be typical pricing here, last firm i used charged the same, but they had VAT on top, this firm are smaller so no VAT. I also have someone that does our ironing (when i say our, i mean DP's shirts and our bed linen...) and she charges £1.40 per lb weight, she collects it every other Monday and returns with it on the Thursday, i hate ironing, and whilst i'd get rid of the cleaners if money got tight, i'd never want to iron again! (and in my defence we have no family closer than 2 hours drive, and my family refuse to drive here other than for one visit each time i've had a baby, and my dad refuses to travel here at all, so it's only DP's folks who visit occasionally, and DP is out of the house from 7.15am to 8pm 5 days a week so i can't imagine doing everything myself if i didn't have cleaners/ironing done. Besides, i breastfed DS1 for 15 months so saved DP a fortune compared to if we'd bought formula, i saved us hundreds on nappies by bulk buying when on sale, and i have never smoked and barely drunk for nearly 3 years due to being pregnant or breastfeeding so he'd have a job to justify us not having cleaners IYSWIM? :)

My 3 yo ds1 is currently moping the kitchen floor :o honestly can't get the mop back!

Wow that's impressive hawthers I must have words with my DS about it.

FFS as if we've not had enough illness in this house it now looks like DD is coming down with something . She's been snotty for about a month now. I started off thinking it was a cold, then as time went on started thinking it was more likely teething. But for the last 2 days she's started with this awful hacking cough which seems to be worse when she's laying down. If it weren't for DS being so ill recently I'd be inclined to leave it a couple of days and see if it improves. But as he seemed to have this just days before his tonsillitis started I'm worried now that it might be the onset of that. Can baby's even get tonsillitis? [thicko] DS had bronchiallitis just before he turned one and I think that was the first time he was ill. Shall I take her to the GP? She's been more whingey than normal and is a bit more vomitty than normal. She's also developed this gross habit of turning her head as she barfs so it goes everywhere.

Hope it's all gone ok for you today Ninja? And also that things are improving for all your poorly DC Dream?

hmm, mine does a better line in decorating it with milk and orange juice in the morning and crumbs all day long. hope he's doing a good job hawthers!

I've spent a nice afternoon while DS1 napped cuddling DS2 and reading my kindle. he was sleeping for ages, then he woke up and played for about 5 minutes, had a wee feed and went back to sleep. i am convincing myself that this means he'll sleep great tonight...

I've just enjoyed the snuggling as I've been thinking how much I'll miss my wee guys in a few weeks.

aw, he's just woken up with a beautiful smile...and of course a poo.

Musical, inspired by the photo of you and Iz playing the piano I dug the keyboard out from under the sofa. M loves it! It would help if I could actually play, though. I can read music to a very basic level (ie, I can work out slowly which note means what) so have downloaded the sheet music to Summertime, which is M's favourite song, and am very slowly picking it out (right-hand only). I wish one of us could play, or that I had a friend or relative who could, but we are sadly unmusical. DH has a good voice and perfect pitch, but can't read music. He can usually pick out a tune on the keyboard by ear faster than I can decipher the music, though.

Scarlet, Brooking that DD throws it off and no illness develops!

M will be fine mopping the floor Too just as soon as she can crawl. Get her a babygro made of mop material and away you go

We have a piano which I also wish I could play. I can read music but only treble clef, not bass clef, but I couldn't translate that quickly enough to actually play on the piano - I'd need to pick it out note by note until I could remember it. T'is years since i actually played (used to play the violin) so I have no idea if I could actually still read the music and translate that to the violin. i guess it would come back to me though? I can pick a tune out by ear though pretty quickly (again right hand only). I can pretty much manage most of the CBeebies theme tunes . Still DH is completely tone deaf so not much competition there

Scarlet brooking for dd - if in doubt nip her to the docs I say - I he needs ABs you want them ASAP don't you . Hope they're all on the mend soon (ditto for the dream household).

Also brooking for ninja and her DS xx

Every good boy deserves fruit for treble clef and green buses drive fast always for bass :) Treble I can do instantly but bass I have to think about as I am a clarinetist so never use bass. I only know about it as I have Grade 4 Theory

I can remember the every good boy deserves fruit / FACE but I think I had something different for bass clef. But again never used it, and never did theory (too idle). I only got to grade 5 violin so never needed my theory. I haven't played it in at least 15 years though!