December 2006- where they've grown so much we spend more time talking about our lives than our children

[Indith]

Well that and our pregnancies and other non-dec '06 children

Tis a good thing I feel.

Oh Anne, I like your new name. I'm here in my slippers () dinking a lovely cuppa made by my dh.

Poor baby Indith.

AQ - I take off my fascinator to you (everyone should have one dahling!) - Seriously, I am in complete awe of you. I need to give you a great big hug, you wonderful woman.

I seem to be playgroup friends with mums who have children of different ages to mine and we're fairly mixed in our ages too.

Margo what is a fascinator? I don't dare google it

Anne, very romantic name, hello! I do like clues...

AQ, I would imagine even superwoman would be entitled to delayed shock, and there can't be courage without fear, or superwomanishness without tears and feeling overwhelmed: thats the whole point so you are still my hero. And I agree with Indith, help helps a lot...

Thanks for messages re dh, he's wiped out by the double ABs now but coughing a bit less - hope?!

Eli - a fascinator is a feathery hat type thing. MIL wore one to my wedding.

oooo, I want a fascinator

AQ, superwomen absolutely have a good cry when they need it. Otherwise they would go mad with their superwoman-ness You are doing beautifully. Survival is the key right now and you are not only surviving you are posting on MN!

Indith, it does sound yeasty/fungal. Can you get clortrimazole over there? That has worked for ds2 but his didn't seem to be as painful.

Wondering if it was a full moon yesterday. I am filling in for a doctor (just yesterday and today) and had the most bizarre people. By lunchtime I was ready to just hide in my office and pretend I had fled, lol. Fingers crossed for today...

How's the counselling going, Jabber? Full moon, oooooooh....makes me think about Halloween, which I believe is a major event in the US, no?

Indith, your poor poor ds Strangely, dd2 has also had something yeasty in the nappy region, which keeps clearing then coming back. She doesn't want to go in the bath anymore (she loved her bath with a passion) because it 'piques'...perhaps we should be looking forward to nappylessness in the forthcoming year after all....

Thanks for asking eli. After a very rocky start things have really turned around in the last week. I have been truly in shock as dh has suddenly turned into superdad. He claims that he has had an "epiphany" I am quite happy about it but for more than a bit was suspicious that he had decided to lull me into a false sense of security and then knock me off for my life insurance However, it seems to be genuine. We agreed to do 6 sessions and then re-evaluate so I think that's two more to go. Honestly I would have never believed that it would have helped this much.

Oh, and yes - Halloween!!! My favorite holiday One of my good friends is trying to get all the women in our social "group" to dress up as Sarah Palin. She says that's the scariest costume she can think of, lol.

That is what we have for him Jabber. Glad tis not just him (well, not glad...you know what I mean). Eli I've wondered if it is worth getting the potty out, he does love playing with it in the bath, may introduce other uses! Poor dd though, a bath that piques cannon be nice.

Jabber very glad the sessions are working for you, long may it continue

Oh and take a look at the moonwatch

Hate halloween...or rather way it is these days, all the local chavs will knock on the door, not even in costume and mumble trick or treat while looking like they will trash your car if you don't hand over some cash. Sweets are not enough anymore. Eejits. Tis a miracle they've not started yet actually. Then of course the week after halloween the carol-mumbling will start. Jingle bells, batman smalls, give us £5.

Bah humbug and all that.

Oh I almost forgot! We had breaking news yesterday

I asked ds to find doudou before going somewhere and off he trotted. Not in the kitchen, not in the living room, finally looked in the dining room and said "doudou dere"

2 whole words together and in context!

I know this is nothing in the face of all your g&t chatty children

Indith, 'doudou dere' are probably the two most useful words to put together in the whole of the Engish-ish language Well done ds, and get well ds's poor penis.

Jabber, am so glad the counselling is helping. Six weeks is not long, think its impossible to re-build trust in that time, but hurrah for epiphanies and turn-arounds!

Halloween is fairly low key in our street, mostly v small kids who know each other, accompanied by embarrassed parents saying 'only ONE Emily'. Though I've seen the occaisional 14 year old witch after 8pm, and been torn between annoyance and mirth. Have also seen the other extreme, and hate it: one nasty youth scared my mother and left paint on her doorstep because she'd turned all the lights out and hidden And that, believe it or not, is in a 'nice' part of Oxford, not some inner city ghetto

Jabber, lol at your friend - she has a very good point!

Excellent, excellent news jabber, I am so pleased that things are better. My mother is a counsellor so I do believe they can work magic
Indith, I can't for the life of me figure out what a doudou is (dummy?) but v.pleased ds can both find it and talk about it! I am ridiculously pleased with every new word ds2 comes up with, you'd think I hadn't been through this already. We have to walk round the garden looking for webs cue 'where spider' (in such garbled way that only dp & i know that's what he's saying of course!). The clearest word yet is baby, the day he met the twins. Ahhhh.

AQ, aaaahhhh at your ds....that would make me totally teary, if I'd just had twins (and quite possibly if I hadn't ).

Doudou = favourite cuddly toy/blanket/attachment object (French)

Otherwise known as that filthy rabbit he carries around everywhere

Actually AQ, ds is spending a week with my parents from Oct 25th, mum has been looking at getting a couple of playdates for ds. Should sort one out with your ds2, boys can run riot without you having to clear up the mess and mum will coo over the dts and bring you endless cups of tea/coffee and cake while you doze on the sofa

Congrats to Indith's ds on the talking. Everyone told us with ds1 that "You can't wait until they start talking and then you can't get them to be quiet" lol, so true. Ds1 is now a complete chatterbox. I'm like AQ though, it's just like I've never been through it before when ds2 comes out with a new word.

Re: counseling, I'm sure we'll be going for a while yet, but we agreed on an initial 6 weeks on a weekly basis for starters. Tbh, I really thought we would head to the attorney's office after that but I suppose now that things are better we will just go for visits every other week.

It's really too bad that Halloween is not so fun in the UK. I cna't imagine dealing with mean teenagers and paint, etc It's so much fun over here. I've even delayed starting my new job for a day so that I can be home for it. Everything's pretty much over by about 7:30 so if I didn't get home until 7 I would have missed the whole thing!
Also going to an adult Halloween party the Saturday before. I'm not sure who actually enjoys the holiday more, the kids or the grown-ups, lol.

Wow, lots to catch up on. Jabber - am really pleased that things have improved with DH and hope they carry on that way. I also enjoy halloween, but then I live half a mile from my nearest neighbours so trick or treating by miserable teenagers isn't on the cards - perhaps one year I'll get got by some hikers or something

Poor DS Indith - not sure if it is relevant but we have had problems with cloth nappies on and off for the last few months, think it might be time to get the potty out too but am putting it off until next year. I have also done the vinegar thing with the nappies and even went momentarily delirious and washed them on 90 the other day - fortunately they were all unharmed and I gave myself a telling off for being so irrational. How's Mark II doing? Not too long to go now.

Indith, know exactly what you mean about toddler groups and cliques. I have got a lovely few friends with babies now who I've met at groups but only one of them is even close to me in age - it doesn't really matter most of the time, just sometimes. Toddler groups can be funny places anyway, and some of them just make you paranoid as much as anything.

AQ - would love to have you nearer, not only for groups, but so I could come and see you and your lovely twins and DSs too. As others have said you are doing an amazing job, just surviving the first few months is a feat in itself. And feeling frumpy etc is just hormones, I think everyone who has just had a baby (let alone 2!) feels like that for a while. B/F will soon get any weight off, and am pleased to hear you have spent the last couple of weeks letting DP take care of the house, that's what paternity leave is for. Hopefully the nanny will be sorted soon, and if not this one then you'll find someone. I still can't believe you managed to carry around a stone of baby, you really have done brilliantly.

Jabber - glad the counselling is working.

We have a fancy dress halloween disco to go to at DD1s school. She is so excited. We have a little party in the house (just us) and then go and knock on 2 neighbours houses (we know very well). We get a few teenagers come around but I make sure if they havent made any effort that they get apples and not sweets

OK, all I've seen is AnneofAvonlea and I've been transported back to childhood. I read all of Anne of Green Gables in a 6 hour car trip from Peace River to Edmonton when I was 6, and it has stayed with me my whole life.

Will now catch up with the rest of the thread ...

Jabber, glad the counselling has triggered an 'epiphany', and even more glad that you sound more in control and content. I too adore Halloween, but I need to find a way to make this work in our town. I took DD1 trick or treating last year, and no one answered their door Will start a campaign this year.

Eli, you must be so worried about DH. Glad he's feeling better.

AQ, we are all in awe. I really don't know how you do it.

Oli, your cakes are unbelievable. Did you do a course (I was thinking about doing a course, you see, but I need to know if you just need to be a natural cake decorator or if it can be learned!)

Indith, DD2 is also out of cloth now. Her nappy rash got so bad that she actually has scars around her anus I did all the recommended things with the nappies, but nothing fixed it. Things are getting better now, so I'll go back to cloth in a few weeks, but she would cry every time she weed, and would point to her nappy saying 'wee wee sore', which broke my heart. (BTW, Lidl nappies are £5 for 50 and they are fab) (I never thought I'd see myself type that )

dd2 was sulkily chanting

"AH! OH! mil-K"

translated as "I want milk".

I think she's beginning the terrible twos early

@ Eli, your filthy mind was working overtime there, eh?

Jabber - I'm glad the counselling is working. I have a few friends who have had marriage break ups as a direct result from their partners "need to find themselves" ( I'd suggest they try up their own backsides) Maybe counselling would have helped them too.

DD2 spent yesterday afternoon saying "Pissess (princess), ere aaaaah yoooooooooo (where are you)". Drove me to distraction. Her speech is far more advanced than DD1s at this age. DD1 said about 10 words age 2.

Blimey!

So pleased counselling is working Jabber.
Agree that halloween is the pits here. Spent my formative years in the USA and it is just wicked. So safe and so much fun. Nothing compares

Eli, hope DH better soon. Let me know if you want me to come round and beat any 'orrible mothers up. Calling you a granny Btw, I saw you mentioned a course you were starting. Care to divulge? Am thinking I need to do something too.

AQ,

DD2 never stops chattering as well. And wrecking the place

DH came home on Monday at 5pm I immediately asked "have you been fired?"!! He took yesterday off. Twas bliss. First time we have seen him in 8 weeks. Back into the hellpit this morning

And, just when I thought my life couldn't get busier, I am now class rep for DD1's class at school. Oh joy, joy, joy ....

Think foot is on the mend - managed to wear shoes for the last couple of days and have even been for a bit of a walk today. Am very pleased since I was starting to feel a bit useless and DD was fed up. Took me 2 hours to do the supermarket shop yesterday though - DD dropped water all over her top half and was absolutely saturated so had to go back to the car and change her into vest and coat as had nothing else. Then got half way round the rest of the store when she announced she'd poo-ed. Thought I could hang on til I'd finished but she pointed out where it was soaking through her trousers No spare clothes left, pouring rain outside and 40 minutes away from home. She ended up with a pair of nice jeans and a t-shirt off the supermarket sale rail, pretty good outfit for £4!! Me, exhausted.

DD been a pleasure again the last few days though after a nightmare weekend, why are they so unpredictable??

Sorry Lennied I have to lol at your supermarket trip Just when you think you can start getting away with taking less crap out and about with you!

Unpredictable is right. I currently have a little angel, long may it last. He is even more of an angel because straight after his last mouthful of lunch was swallowed he picked up doudou and headed upstairs all by himself for his nap! Have cleaned kitchen and bathroom, washed up, hung washing, made stew, gathered Rainbow and Guide crap for tonight. Break time!

Castles...8 weeks! You shall join the ranks of superwoman with AQ. How you stay sane I don't know.

Shall now go catch up with my antenatal group before I liven up your lives with tales of...hmm...you don't want to know

I do, I do, I want to know! (especially if it'll stop me being nostalgic about pg).

Margo, moi? How on earth could a granny like me have a filthy mind, eh?!

You're right, though, I did wonder...

Castles, its a - o god - novel writing course. 50,000 words in 5 weeks, hahahah, have already told them it won't be - but basically anything more than 500 words per week would be good, so am hoping it will give me structure and motivation. And then in January am going to do a workshop type writers' course at local adult college. I'm probably mad, but maybe I'll discover one or two live brain cells left in there....care to join me?!

Was touched by your feelings re dh reappearing, btw, you must miss him a lot. Any hope of things changing, on the job-intensity front...?