December 2012: Everyone loves nap time.

[halestone]

Started a new thread for us before we run out of room.

5!! That's way too old. Poor things. I guess they're the same children that don't know their name, can't put in their coat etc. there are some shocking parents out there.
Interview went quite well I think - it was very informal which was a bit weird. I'm not sure it would be worth the travel though but it was good to put a toe back in the water. I'm on the train home now eating m&s seed and nut mix roasted in soy sauce. I may have found a new obsession.
Bless As little legs beasty. T is a great long thing like her mummy and is very good at walking up the stairs. It just goes to show that smalls come in all shapes and sizes - a friend has a ds a month younger than T but he weighs a stone more than her! He's the same weight as dd2 who's 4 and not small. His breakie is about the same as Ts whole days food. T has fallen from the 91st centile weight wise to the 75th. As I tell dd1&2, everyone is the perfect size and shape for them.

Ds stole a packet of nuts from m&s earlier on

Good choice ds!
So apparently the interview did go well - the co have phoned the agency already and said I'm current fave - want me to meet the CEO next week! Still not sure it'll be worth it but I guess it depends on the package. It's a good feeling though.

Wow WL they must really like you! What are the hours? Could it open up more exciting opportunities?

Hmm, I'd have preferred the Jaffa cakes

Yum jaffas!

It's 3 days a week which is great, but one of my concerns is that I think there's v limited scope for the role to develop its a very tiny company. It's in Waterloo too so travel costs are quite high. They did seem really nice though.

Well done WL. Work out a minimum you need and take it from there- if they're that keen they might pay, and if they don't onto the next one. And you know your cv/ interview skills are spot on.

I've decided to relax about A and stairs. He's been up and down them all day perfectly safely. He slides down backwards on his tummy. Very fast! Just need to keep all bathroom doors closed, because he still has unhealthy obsessions!

Yep, that's my plan beasty. DH thinks he might be looking at reduced hours soon (co facing loss of major client) so we def need it to mean more take home pay.

Sounds hugely positive WL either for this job or finding one more to your taste. Don't forget the long-term effects on your career - you might have to pull your horns in now to cover childcare etc but it isn't all that long till our babies get their 15 hours at nursery which will reduce things a bit :)

Congratulations WL Hopefully they will offer you a good package that gives you exactly what you need. If not like Beasty said at least you know your interview skills and CV are impressive.

We're at the airport, see you in a week!

Sometimes small companies can give even more scope. And would it be a good stepping stone to something in another company in a while?

A's legs are stumpy like his dad's, DD's are long like mine! Doesn't stop him climbing though. Caught him with just his toes on a patio chair, leaning across to the antilop highchair trying to play with the buckles.

Have a great time spotty!
I'm exceptionally lucky that I d

That sounds like great news wl! And happy holidays spotty.

Interesting what you said about stairs pidj - O has been walking up stairs on his feet since he started walking more or less at 10 months, but I think this is because he doesn't crawl much. He's definitely not showing other signs of readiness to train though, so happy to leave it till he initiates things frankly.

Utopian i agree with you, i think babies should definitely be left until their ready. Like someone has already said it can do more harm than good to start them early.

Spotty have a great holiday.

Hello ladies!

spotty have a great holiday!

utopian I find pregnancy = crazy super vivid dreams and the heat definitely makes it worse! Oddly, I've had some weird zombie dreams too. I try to keep away from zombie things and horror movies because my brain is just too crazy and I end up with stupid bizarre dreams that then keep me awake. Sorry, that's not much help.

wl great news on the job! FX they make you a decent offer but whatever happens I hope it has at the very least boosted your self confidence I'm super crap at interviews. I do so much better if it's "a chat".

I'm pretty sure DS won't be an early potty trainer even though if I'm honest I'd love it if he did because he objects mightily to nappy changes he waits for a nice fresh nappy and then he has a poo. Even last night, after a bath, lots of squatting going on and he did a tiny nugget (bit of an accident) and he held the rest until about 30 seconds after we put a nappy on. But then I suppose at least we know that about him . He doesn't care about being wet or dirty, he is much toooooo busy to want to stop for a change.

I need more English books for DS, can you ladies please recommend some good places to order from? I was thinking amazon UK; but then realised I am blonde I have to be careful I don't end up paying postage for each individual book. Also, book recommendations very welcome!

hales how is H doing with her cough? Hope there have been some better nights for you all!

Yeah I'd have left it if the Dr hadn't suggested trying pants for the rash!

Nutella, there's an MNer with a book business - nickelbooks.co.uk/ She's amazing :)

Stupid lost post! I was going to say that I'm incredibly lucky and I don't have any childcare costs - with me doing 3 shortish days and DH doing 4 long days on a rolling pattern, we cover quite a bit and our mums are great at covering the rest. I know we're lucky but they can make things so much harder. No costs was the reason I was able to leave a corporate job for a community job.
I need to wait for the 2nd interview next week before I get carried away.
nutella the book people do cheap books plus free postage over £25 but not sure about international. Our libraries offer a free foreign language book service, any chance yours might?

www.thebookpeople.co.uk

wl & pidj thanks that's great! I will check them out.

I haven't looked at the libraries here because I haven't found our nearest children's library yet and joining a library here can be quiet a fuss but the German children's books are awful a little bit moralistic boring different and don't seem as fun as the stuff I remember from being a kid.
I have asked a few mums at the international group about books they want to sell/hand on and they were all about rather serious things like "why hitting is bad" when I just want something like "where's spot?" And "the hungry caterpillar" in fact we had the hungry caterpillar in German but DS managed to destroy it :(

Kindle app on your phone and download some? Not the same, but would tide you over till you can get some delivered?

R spent the entire day in the same pants and trousers :o He wee'd at 6:15 and 8:30 in nappies, probably in the sea while paddling, then in his nappy at 1:30 when he woke from his nap and I'm assuming in the bath because I don't really think he's not wee'd since 1:30 today and his pants were slightly damp as if he'd leaked a tiny bit when I undressed him. So nothing on the toilet, but no wet clothes accidents either :o Might be the Hippo-Potty-Pants I made him that he loves (Hippos say Err apparently) and refused to pee in?

Hippo pants sound cute pidj. Dd2 is currently obsessed with my pants and as soon as I got in from work today she was up my skirt checking which ones I had one! Sounds like little pidj is doing super well. Sounds like you had a lovely day too.
So I've done calculations and I think its v unlikely that if I get offered the job they'll offer me enough to make it worth while after the extra tax, ni and travel. Hmmm.

WL be honest and see what they say. Worst case is that it isn't worth your while, but they might surprise you.

Both DC are in the bath at the moment, trying to get all the felt tip off ready for the funeral this afternoon. Must remember to ask nursery not to do anything too messy with A this morning as we'll be driving straight on from picking him up.

Love the pants Pidj.

We've got DD's first 10 minutes at school this morning. I hope she likes it!

Argh. Didn't get to sleep after 1.30 and T has had me up since 5.30. Not happy.

Hope it goes well beasty. What a difficult day for you all. Will be thinking of you.