May 07.The one where the toddlers try to eat the wrapping paper and climb the Christmas tree!

[TheGreatScootini]

New thread..we-ell it is nearly December and I like to start the festivities early doors

You are not miserable CM..You are going through a horrible time.
Tis a bit tumbleweedy on 't thread these last few days though..

Tell DH I have ALOT of jobs for him to do Mrs JB.I am so sick of the sight of this ruddy shiny wall paper!

Girls back tonight.I am looking forward to seeing them but I cant pretend it hasnt been nice to have some peace

She'll be asking for (god forbid) pink sparkly slippers, angel wings and glitter lip gloss soon SOH.

Woo Hoo for Ella and M, they are doing so well, Can I just add, especially for any first time mums that this talk of potty training is VERY early, they are clever little soles copying older siblings except for the tank who, as we know is a genius. 2-3 yrs is the "normal" age for tackling the delights of toilet training. J will be dry and clean by 2.2 so she can go to school in Sept! Bliss, 3 at school all day what will I do? For anyone who wants to think about it now and make it easy later there is a book I swear by, it's by "you know who" and called potty training in one week! Mine have been clean and dry within the week, it is fantastic and very, very easy to follow if YOU have the commitment and are ready to do it. Toilet training is far more about you than the child tbh.
Oh god, it's starting, I may need to dissapear whilst the toilet age is happening, it's one of "my" things! Sorry.

Yes have to second what MmeJB says. With ds i had no desire to start potty training and dreaded doing it. Ella does copy Jack and if she was happy still in nappies then i would be waiting until the summer before i thought about it. Lots of my RL friends have waited til pre-school age before attempting it.

The Tank's not a genius though it's very nice of you to say so.

You must remember that she is brought up by me in quite an isolated environment and doesn't go to nursery. Of course she goes to other stuff but she is with me all the time and it's just me and her most of the time. She is copying a grown up. She's a little adult. It worries me enormously.

Nah she's copying you SOH, she's a big kid!!!

Snigger

Toilet training not a chance in hell I would just like him to say mummy and stop frickin screaming all the time. We drove an hour to John Lewis today to buy some material for blinds with our Christmas pressie money and the little darling made such a fuss that we cracked and came home after an hour. Honestly the tears that were shed in the car on the way home. Ridiculous I know but we never have cash for buying nice house things and I am desperate for the family room to have some sort of window dressing. Not at all post giving birth hormones flying around. But seriously if anyone has any idea how to cope with A's tantrums advice gladly welcome. MrsJB, Scoot, AM?? I know you have had the dreaded spirited children.

Not sure i can offer much help JAM as i am a shouter and screamer. Dh says not to put him in his room when he is naughty otherwise he might think that going to bed is a punishment Also, i was at work full time when he was this 'lovely' age so only had to deal with it for a few hours a day and even when on ML he still went to nursery. It must be so hard for you having to deal with it all day and also have to look after L. I think he is too little for the naughty step and i guess nothing else sinks in.

Sorry not much use there!

Sympathies Jam, R too is 'spirited' and a huge shock after the text book baby I had the first time. Unfortunately I too am a shouty mum so not the best to give advice I'm afraid! Maybe he's just showing a bit of a reaction to not being the baby any more.
AM hope the house sort out went well. Mine came to a grinding halt when an old NCT friend rang and asked if we wanted to meet at the park. Although the house was desperate, some adult chat and fresh air for the kids won hands down. Hence, I'm still living in birthday and Christmas toy hell.
SOH, M sounds soo cute - good on her for getting a bit girly. R is obsessed with her dolls but now is also a huge fan of things like Happy Land and Little People. She had a lot for Christmas and is in love with the girls in her gypsy rose caravan and rose cottage!

Erm well i managed the kitchen and playroom and after that lost my enthusiasm. Skip got delivered yesterday pm so having a fill the skip morning to shift the paper, boxes and old crap that has all been shoved in the garage to make room for the new stuff.

OOh i like the look of the rose petal cottage pieces. A friend has some for her 3yo dd. Ella loves dollies and little people but also will happily play with J's cars and 'boys' toys.

AM - she's a right cheeky cow. And I can say that because I've met her.

Not AM, the Aussie.

I've won a MN prize, don't you know? £500 worth of Blossom Mother and Child vouchers. Farking useless.

haha, just looked on their site and £500 would buy you loads...... if you actually needed any of it.

It was so nice having the house back to ourselves last night. Although was annoyed to find that she had drunk most of the milk so barely had enough for a cuppa.

I'm going to ring up and see whether they sell any accessories, bags or something, that aren't actually changing bags. Or else someone that lives near London (ahem, Scoot) will have to go and try and buy me something from their non-maternity range which is only available in store.

I'm slightly concerned now having told MNHQ that I am not preggers that they will take the prize off me!

There's a simple solution to that of course Pink

As I've been telling everyone over Christmas, as I was vomiting on Christmas Eve and therefore didn't drink on Christmas Day, unless I actually am the Virgin Mary, I am definitely NOT pregnant.

Knuckle down then before the prize expires. I also entered a competition for which I have bugger all use for the prize - a sheepskin boots and jackets, very useful in the tropics But I didn't win

That Auzzie she's taking the piss there April, sometimes you should stop being so nice.

Wow these girls are going great guns with their wee wees. J is quite interested so I think we may go nappy free quite soon. Of course it is so much easier to do in the sunshine and when someone else has the pleasure of cleaning up the teeny tiny puddles that emerge. But as MrsJB says, there is no hurry, each at their own speed and it's frankly a very tedious business.

SOH, The Tank sounds just like dd, there was only her and I, stuck in London without many friends for a year and she grew up very fast. I am paying for it now though

Jam, ooooooooo sympathies, hormones or not the squealing is enough to drive anyone round the twist. J too is a squealer though it is becoming easier. I get down to eye level and say to him, 'stop squealing, tell me what it is you want' and he babbles some nonesense with a random word like 'milk' thrown in and I try and give him what he wants (probably spoiling him rotten in the process!). Otherwise if it is random squealing for no reason (eg if someone turns around to look at him from the front of the car if he is in his seat in the back!)then I tell him firmly 'no squealing, that's enough' and then ignore him. Likewise if I am holding him then he squeals for no obvious reason, I tell him 'no squealing' and put him down. When he stops I pick him up again. What do you do when he squeals?

As for the shopping/in the car/in the pushchair frustration the only solution I have found over the years that actually works is food. Raisins, packets of crackers, small biscuits etc and lots of them, continually.

I've started saying, 'A, use your words and stop screaming!'

We've had a right to do over the last few days. I bought A a Mr. Tumble DVD for Xmas, and in one episode, he dresses up as a baby in a moses basket. I swear to God, the child screamed when she saw his face in the basket, and is completely traumatised. This was Boxing Day, and she is still bloody going on about it.

She's bonkers. She keeps telling me, 'baby is gone' and we're all like, 'oh yes, darling, it's gone'.

Dh even told her it was dead and he'd shot it at one point. Oh yes, very helpful.

She's a sensitive little thing.

I'm a virgin Mary too PINK ((snort)) I am actually, CMC!

Jam, It's only really recently that Maddie has calmed and is becoming slightly more loveable. The stairs work well for her now, she hates the idea of going on them and understands wholely the reasons for being on them, but she is 3.4. I think you just need to ride it out, without doubt the best way to deal with a stroppy toddler is to ignore him/her. They get bored VERY quickly and forget about what they are stropping about and move on. Can you pop him somewhere safe and walk away? do you have a playroom? If not how about setting a travel cot up somewhere so that when he "starts" you could pick him up pop him in the cot and walk away, no eye contact, no talking to until he has calmed himself. Maybe a toy or two (soft ones) in the cot to distract him when he's ready. I won't use their bed/bedroom as a punishment, i'm afraid I'm with AM's dh on that one, their place of sleep should be a calming sanctuary environment for them, not one that allows them to think they've been naughty at bedtime. I know this solution doesn't help whilst you are out and about but with perseverence at home hopefull things won't esculate past the being able to distract stage whilst out. The one thing I wish we hadn't of done with Maddie is to reason/bargain with her from such a young age. It's only now I realise that then she was too young to understand, if you do this, I'll do that etc..... when she was in a state of hysteria. Her main objective was to get what she wanted and nothing you did to try and change her mind worked, I wish I had just said NO put her somewhere safe to scream it out and be done with it. This I am doing with J and so far things seem to be going well, 9/10 times now when we say NO or don't do that please, J knows that we mean it, if she tries to protest it, she gets the "look" and backs down. HTH

If all else fails, wine is good

God that was long, wheres TYG?, she's good at this sort of thing.

Thanks all, we do do the constant food thing when out and about. But its just the blood curdling scream. We do as much as possible ignore it or tell him no I did get quite cross with him yesterday when we got back in the car and told him he had made mummy sad child had no idea what I was wittering on about. But anyway we are doing all of the things you mention. Guess we just have to ride it out and not be so upset by the looks and comments from strangers.

Pink virgin mary

Dont blossom do nice childrens clothes or is it just baby stuff?

Jam - Honestly, A is exactly the same. She was lying face down on the floor in Next yesterday and kicking her legs because she wanted to go into the fitting rooms. Drew quite a crowd, actually.

The children's stuff I can see on their website only goes up to 18mo.

Well you are just going to have to get cracking girl 500 smackers is alot of money to not spend just because you are not pregnant.

Hmmm. I spent a few hours with bf and baby Daisy yesterday, and it was certainly interesting having A crawling all over me while I was trying to soothe the baby.

I take my hat off to you all. Seriously.

Hi all,

I think as well as what everyone else has said Jammy, that L really started acting up whe M arrived.She was showing signs of it before but once M was on the scene all hell broke loose.She loves M dont get me wrong but any jealousy she felt over her manifested herself in her apalling behaviour.I overcompensated a buit then and lavished loads of attention on her and probably not enough on M (but that said M is very calm and easy and the fact that she was largely ignored bar feeding for the first 3 months may be why )Ignore where possible.Try naughty step.I have recently statred having L count to 10 when I can see she is going to kick off (A will be a bit young for that yet but it does work for about half of the time which is better than nowt)
Believe me I have shed enough tears over L and her tantrums..I once told DH I thought she was actually mad,as there is no getting through to her at times.But rest assured it is just a phase.And dont beat yourself up if you end up getting a bit shouty.You are human afterall.Plus sometimes it works even if you feel like the worlds worst Mum...

Congrats on your prize Pink..Could've been the lotto, or some Topshop vouchers but noooo..Will help if needed..

Potty training >>looks horrifed and backs away quickly

Is that the Aussie I met AM?Tell her to get lost.The cheek of it!

How is it possible that I have eaten the following today ;a pain au chocolat, 12 Quality Street (assorted centres), a massive piece of cake, some ham, and am STILL famished?

I am going to go and get some lunch from Sainsburys..I fancy one of those festive sandwiches they do, plus some crisps..my god I will literally be the size of a house come next week..

I've had a McDonalds for lunch, if that makes you feel any better.

Superb idea!Why didnt I think of that?!