June 2007 - whoever said 9 months on 9 months off needs a slap!

[BumperliciousIsStillNotDressed]

Well?

Morning all.

Wow, you lot didn't half natter on last night! What has stuck in my memory? 8 teeth does sound very impressive! Sorry for those who have problems with family relationships, it all sounds very sad. Daisy, getting the cheque on it's own does sound odd, hope your sisters do keep in touch with you. Ria - I won't be here on Weds, so have a FAB day. 30 eh? Seems so far away ... [wistful] Oh and you pikey reduction grabbers are amateurs! My DH is emperor of the reduction aisle! Our 6 drawer freezer is crammed full of reduced price meat and fish. It sometimes feels like he buys it faster than we can eat it.

The jamlets poor eyes are getting worse and worse. All sore looking this morning, rather than just gunky. One of my eyes is feeling tingly this morning, so hope i've not got it too. And DH goes away in a couple of hours, so I'm feeling pretty miserable as well, so may be back later in search of a virtual hug.

, together with a quick spray of disinfectant. Is there anyone on here without a poorly family member? I'm really sorry everyone is feeling so down.

Fury, that sounds scary. How is he today?

My Ds is a bit better although still not eating or taking much of his bottle, and pooing for Britain. He is at least a little bit happier.

I'm knackered and it's p'ing down with rain so I think it may be a Cbeebies day today as I really don't have the energy to do anything more creative with DD. She did at least do some puzzles and painting with my DMum forst thing this morning.

Anyway, will stop waffling, and wish everyone better/happier soon.

DD isn't poorly, but she's fucking miserable though.

Glad your DS is a bit better FF, hope baby fury is OK. Poor jamlet too.

I would like it to be known that I hate rollering ceilings and am going to create a "Edward Roller Hands" type super hero (or get a new DH) before I do any more

Just off to give the kitchen panelling a once-over while the roller is wet, put a base coat over my much-loved Beatrix Potter nursery paper that my dad loving put up for DS2 that DS2 has always hated, then I'm going to get creative with my "USP" that will ease the transition for DS1 back to his baby room.

I'm almost chirpy

It's good to see that someone isn't miserable

Oooh, I think it would be much more useful (if you're going to create a superhero type) to make Larry Long Legs. If his legs were very long he'd be so tall that painting the ceiling would be a cinch - and would have loads of other uses too: cleaning windows, reaching the top shelf, picking apples from a tree, clearing leaves from the guttering, changing lightbulbs ... Mind, getting trousers to fit could be tricky

so, if you had an almost 11yo boy, a nasty old scratched interior door and 1/2 tin blue gloss paint...

tomorrow, when it's dry and I can do the arty bit, we will have a tardis on the landibg, opposite the bathroom - I can't wait to have adult friends roubd for a drink and for them to go to the loo...

obviously someone has swapped round my "b" and "n" keys and not told me

LOL Ria!

What a bloody good idea! Your DSs are lucky!

Trdis sounds great Ria I know who to call when I want something artistic doing

So, DP says "Shall we have a lazy day today?"

And how exactly does he propose we do that?

By him watching Match of the Day, reading the paper, watching rugby and watching football.

Not by feeding 4 small children 3 times, cleaning up after meals, folding dry washing, putting on another 2 loads and putting it away, getting clothes for tomorrow ready and making lunch? That's before we've fed ourselves.

Actually, that is all I have done today, so it was a restful day after all!

Even managed to colour my hair and blow-dry and straighten it. Yay!! Happy Foxy!!

They have no idea, do they Foxy....

FFS!!!

Bumper...I've got a miserable DD as well....roll on bed-time....

Well the jamlet just had a huge portion of fish (cooked fresh) & potatos (left over from yesterday), followed by some of the fruit part of last night's crumble with a little yoghurt. She did whinge rather through the first course, but kept opening her mouth wide, so I just thought she was tired and hungry all at once. I carried her through to the front room, sat down and she was HUGELY sick all down my top. Must have brought it all straight up I now feel guilty in case she had tummy ache and I kept feeding her regardless. I also don't know if she ate too much, is ill, or swallowed some of the eye drops that ran down her face and the taste of them made her sick? After I changed my top and all her clothes she was cryibg, but just had a small BF and is now asleep (normal for her at this time of day). Gues just have to see how the evening/night goes?

Foxy - MEN, pah! They have no idea

Jammy, I wouldn't worry, I'm sure she'll be fine. Something might have gone down the wrong way and caused her to bring it back up. I'm sure she'll be fine. If she hadn't wanted it then she wouldn't have eaten in the first place. In my experience, you can't 'force feed' a baby, if they don't want it then they just clamp their mouth shut or spit it out. I hope she's ok

Ria - that sounds very impressive

Norty and Bumper - I hope the miserable DD's went/go to bed ok and you get some time off.

Everyone else, heloooooo

Just wanted to send all of you that are having a hard time big hugs and virtual chocolate. Funny thing is I'm having a hard time of things at the moment too - feeling really emotional and stressed. Maybe it's normal at this stage? Or perhaps its a full moon? Anyone know when it gets easier??

When they're 34 according to one of our managers ar work

I think the difficultness just changes!

They are a bit easier once they get more independent.

Sorry you are having a hard time too pumpkinhead. Anything we can help with? There's certainly something in the air.

Foxy what a twunt, can you give him some jobs to do when he is like that. I huff and puff so much that DH does things just to shut me up! Sorry I didn't see your text yesterday till late. You've got yourself a date though I am massively underqualified!

Ria your door sounds great!

Hope the jamlet is ok jammy.

When do they get more independent? Just struggling with the whole thing really Bumper. Lack of sleep, v grizzly baby, no money, shit family. God, that sounds so depressing. I'm not usually like this! And I do have a wonderful DH.

Anyway, hubby needs the PC so I'd better get off this. Will endeavour to come back when I get a minute and am in a happier mood. Cake might help!...... Night all x

Evening all -Am after a bit of advice from those of you whose wee ones have started childcare already. Am meeting a local childminder tomorrow & wondering what to expect re hourly rate, retainers, holiday pay, providing own lunch etc. Can I expect her to do cloth nappies (not wash them obviously, just bag em & pass them back)? What should I check, qusts to ask look for etc?

Any advice gratefully received.

Hi Tallulah.
I don't know much about childminders, other than a woman I know said she charged £4 or £5 an hour for short term care (I was enquiring if she could take DD for the odd half day if I need to attend training courses at work). I also gather that some give food, some ask parents to send it in. I think it's reasonable to expect them to deal with cloth nappies - was certainly told that nurseries should.
If it's any help, when we were looking at nurseries I asked my sister what to look for (she works at one) and she said the gut instinct was the most important thing really.
Hope all goes well tomorrow!

sorry you're feeling shit too pumpkin. come and join us anytime.

poor jamlet jammy.

well done on doing your hair foxy. mine needs serious work on the grey bits, but I thought I might as well wait until I've finished painting.

I think I may have made a mistake painting the other side of the door blue too. Am considering a life-size dalek, but it depends on what metallic paint I have in the garage and also how much of it may be covered by the stuff on his hooks. DS1 is installed in his new bed, DS2 in the big room with all his brothers stuff. We could be in for a rough night!!! Tomorrow I have all the sorting out and redistributing of belongings to deal with. Bugger.

Baggins has been a bit grumpy today too.

Hi Tallulah. I've interviewd childminders but for older babies (when DD was 18 mo). All but one I interviewed provided food as part of the cost. In this are it's around £5.50/£6 per hr but I know that we are an expensive area for childminders.

My childminder doesn't charge for mine or her holidays. Most seem to charge for your holidays but not their own (they usually had a limit on how many days they would take off). they also usually charge if you cancel due to sickness but not if they do.

From memory, I asked (among other things):

1. What other children my DD would come into contact with (her own/other mindees/playgroups, etc)
2. What activities/outings she did
3. How she dealt with nap-times
4. What buggy/car seat she had available
5. What her policy was for chargind gor holidays
6. Sample 'menus'
7. What other children she looks after/has looked after
8. What training courses she has done/qualifications she has

I agree with Jammy that a lot of it is gut instint. The first CM I saw was very qualified, answered all my questions, etc but somehow it didn't seem right. Whereas the one I've got for DD was slightly less qualified, and a bit less 'polished' but I felt absolutely confident that she would take excellent care of DD and alsways tell me the truth.

I hope that helps, and good luck

Sorry, crap typing tonight!

Wow, Ria you really have been busy! Your DS's are so lucky to have such a creative Mummy. I was quite pleased with myself for painting my DC's rooms cream and applying 'Stikarounds' in various themes . Seriously, I'm very impressed.