AUGUST 2008 - One year on and you would think we would all be getting some sleep by now!

[oopsacoconut]

New thread!

You could come on the train from Cheltenham

OK really going now...

night hots - will check message was sent incase it was operator error - has been known to happen!!!

Can anyone explain to me why DH felt the need tonight to the fact he was expected to eat chicken for a second night running and then helpfully comment that we need to have dinner finished earlier on a football training night.

When we were having a nice chat later I pointed the unreasonableness of all this out in my best smily voice and he had the grace to be

On a brighter note, DS was the assist on his friend's goal. He was like Tigger on acid when he got home, God love him.

Some major disparities between his account of the game and DH's though

Mr Lentil would not fair well in the house of Dixie where am afraid chicken is a regular thing on the menu

We had chicken tonight too - 'tis the law on a Thursday, you just tell him

Hots i can't believe it only takes 2hrs to Sheffield - same as journey to London . I could possibly do 13th but a bit pricey (feckin theiving gits) but keep me posted

sazz come come come you know you wanna.

In my mildly hallucinatory state, I have given myself the MN haircut.

It looks fine actually.

DH slightly freaked by the fact that mn has its own secret haircut.

MN haircut?

on the dh front....haven't seen mine yet....

i am dressed and ready to roll. reservations made. starving! fed the kids, they are dressed for bed.......JUST NEED THE SECOND SHIFT!!!

honestly, i'd like to crawl into bed and snore. but will push on as i deserve a night out!!!!

I'll be there with bells on hotpot . Although I'm not some kind of weirdo morris dancer...

What's the mn haircut?

sazz is it cheaper to charter your own plane up to Sheffield rather than get the train? Is it any cheaper to go to Nottingham? I could drive you from there?

Morning ladies. Today is friday. Thats my hidying day

Morning ladies
Tired here, but going to try and motivate today. MIL is taking Seb out to toddler gym, so I intend to do some CLEANING. Our house always seems to descend into slime within a day of being tidied, so am going to put some serious work in today so dp doesn't have to spend his weekend cleaning.

albs Seb tends to go to bed between 8 and 9, and is generally up anywhere between 6 and 8 am. I shudder to think what time he'd wake if I put him to bed at 7. Him going to bed a bit later gives a better chance that he'll see his daddy briefly each day as well.

Very of all this meetup talk.
ts your talk of pilates has inspired me. I've been interested in doing it for a while, but never quite got round to it
Am off to google pilates classes.

I will look at that thanks cece. Have you decided on the 12th or 13th yet?

Red - we need some before and after pics

TS how was your night out?

Ann DD1 slept better and longer the earlier she went to bed. Sleep begets sleep and all that malarkey. A friend whose DS at 1 used to go to bed at the same time, now as a toddler asks to go to bed at about 7.30, so he will may well change his habits as he grows up. Nice for him to get to see Daddy though

Ann there is a school of thought (I'm certainly NOT an expert remember) that if you keep them up, they go to bed overtired and fall into a deeper sleep straight away which makes the cycle shorter or something now (did I mention I'm no expert) if you're not getting much sleep past 6am anyway I'd be tempted to give it a whirl and see how you get on. Dylan in bed asleep by 6.30 everynight depending on if she has an afternoon - if no afternoon nap she's down by 6-6.30 and thats a struggle for her, if there is an afternoon nap she's allowed to stay up until about 7pm (remembering please am NOT an expert)

was at the school this morning for DD's generation day - very nice to see what they've been getting up to and DD2 and Dylan didn't make it too horrendous for me either! Dh in bed and I'm meant to be making soup - haven't quite got there yet was all a bit of a rush this morning so I'm still trying to catch up with myself !!

right, off to put soup on before collecting DD2

Ann I would also balk a little at keeping Joe up till 8 or 9pm. He's usually in bed by 7pm and nicely tired for it, and since the nights got longer he's been helpfully sleeping in till 6.30am more often.

Having said that, I do understand about DP wanting to see him as well; in fact, my DP pointed out last night that Joe often makes a fuss about going to bed on nursery days, when he hasn't seen us all day. By the time we get home with him it's usually a quick snack+play, then bath or story and bed, and he's really protested about it the last couple of nights whereas usually he likes his 7pm bedtime. So I think we'll let him stay up a little later on those days and see if it helps, even though he's always fit to drop after a day at nursery because he has one short nap instead of two long ones

Ah thanks ladies I think I might try putting him down a bit earlier tonight. maybe by 730? Hopefully it will work.
DP just tends not to realise when Seb is really tired. If he is playing happily then he's not tired I suppose I can understand that, as he's not here during the day, so doesn't have the 'feel' for when to put him to bed. So when he is home, and I say I'm putting him to bed he generally comes back with 'but he's happy' or 'good luck with that' or 'he won't go to sleep yet, he's not tired'
Must make sure I have Sebastian fed, bathed and dressed for bed by 7 tonight

That's understandable; sometimes Joe even fools me when I know he is done in, but he's playing away there happily and laughing etc. They get a bit of a manic head on when they're really knackered, I find - the laughter becomes a bit hysterical, the bashing of toys more violent, and these days Joe's balance gets bad and he falls on his bottom more Tis quite sweet.

Cyteen, I do love that 'too tired to walk' thing. It is lovely.

I do think the 7pm setdown is a very English custom though. DD is down by 8 here and wakes at 7.45 ... Trying to put her down earlier when the human foghorn goes down at 8 would be impossible. She will go any time after seven though if she lets me know she is tired ...

Most of the other mums I know vary bedtimes around 8 o'clock, but nine is quite common. I often see my neighbours' toddler pottering along her dad on her way back from her grandparent's house after nine at the weekend.

I think people just use naps in different ways then ...

Steaky asked about it once when she was debating bedtimes and so I started asking around out of curiosity.

Still feeling vile here ... I woke myself up singing at 3am

That is true Red, and tbh we got the idea of 7pm bedtime from all our English friends/MNers but it seems to work for him. I think he just needs/likes a lot of sleep, e.g. showing no signs of wanting to drop a nap whereas I know other Aug08 babies have done. Basically he's a bedaholic just like his parents

Last time DP and I went on holiday to Spain, we were constantly amazed at the families just settling down to dinner at 11pm, toddlers and all, while we yawningly slumped over our table too much beer.

Cyteen, I meant to say days ago that it sounds like a good idea to apply for a different counsellor.

How has this week been?

Fine this week, I spoke to Cruse on Monday so no counselling until they can find me a new person. That's fine by me. As long as they can find one who (a) doesn't sit in his car with the windows rolled up and smoke a fag just before he comes into my house for an hour's sensitive conversation , and (b) doesn't have a weird attitude to parenting and kids that he seems insistent on discussing when we're supposed to be talking about ME.

Am not sure as over here in SCOTLAND we're quite different - I know of some who have their kids up a lot later than us (remember our nights are lighter) however I feel we really really need the bedtime routine, especially now I'm back at work, as my lot never know if its me or DH putting them down - doesn't matter who it is as long as its a similar patter - in saying that I'm not overly strict about it all and Dylan might be going down by 6.30 just now but that doesn't mean by next week she won't be up until 9pm!!!

when we're with family in Spain we're always up REALLY late and the kids all just crash during the day