October 08 - More birthdays to go!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

10th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - loulou33 - Boy - Joe Louis David - 6lbs 12oz
16th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - Ksal - Girl - Emma Rae - 6lbs
21st Sept (Due 5th Oct) - myjobismum - Girl - Naomi Caitlin - 5lbs 10oz
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz
3rd Oct (Due 26th Sept) - purpleflower - Girl - Rebecca Jill Erzsebet - 8lbs 10.5oz
4th Oct (Due 30th Sept) - Aubergenie - Boy - Stanley - 7lbs 12oz
8th Oct (Due 6th Oct) - ronshar - Boy - William Dexter - 7lbs 11oz
9th Oct (Due 17th) - Marthasmama - Girl - Martha - 7lbs 10oz - Elective c-sec
10th Oct (Due 1st Oct) - CantSleepWontSleep - Boy - Duncan Elliot - 8lbs 4oz
12th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - pistachio - Boy - Thomas Fraser - 10lbs 2oz
16th Oct (Due 11th Oct) - heather1980 - Boy - Alexander James - 9lbs 5oz
17th Oct (Due 10th Oct) - pepperrabbit - Girl - Jessica Rose - 7lbs 15.5oz
24th Oct (Due 29th Oct) - Ekka - Boy - Matthew - 7lbs 15oz
26th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - jenwa - Girl - Phoebe Jasmine - 9lbs 2.5oz
28th Oct (Due 23rd Oct) - RachieW - Boy - Jack - 7lbs 4oz
31st Oct (Due 20th Oct) - KnickersOnMaHead - Boy - Samuel Paul - 9lbs 11oz
5th Nov (Due 29th Oct) - Honeymoonmummy - Girl - Poppy Grace - 6lbs 15oz
5th Nov (Due 30th Oct) - MamaG - Boy - Harry James - 10lbs 9oz

Re schools, I think it totally depends where you live Star. The school I work in is a state school in a very deprived area with all sorts of social problems and 90% of children are not first language English speakers, but it's a great school and I'd be happy for S to go there. I've got a friend in another part of London who is considering home-schooling her boys becuase she's so unhappy with the local school.

Most parents definitely don't pay though star. Some do, and others would choose private schools if they had the choice, but can't afford to because they are very expensive.

Am knackered . Ds asleep, but dd wanting constant entertaining. Have a cake baking in the oven that we've just made ready to take to a friend's tomorrow.

Thanks for that info I've sent an email off to the powers that be at my school asking about a scholarship/bursary for Q and we'll see what they come back with. There is NO clear policy on this and they have allowed some families free places and others not on an "individual decision basis" . It has caused a LOT of upset actually but then the younger teachers with no babies think it's no big deal...
Every other international school I've worked at allows faculty children to go free or at one it was claimed as a benefit, so taxed in their paycheck but they didn't pay for it iyswim.

I explained that on my salary and DH's that we couldn't possibly afford to pay the fees, but we'd really like him to be here with me and it will determine where we move...etc. So we need to know soon.

Also, the youngest class starts at age 2 - so next year!! . So my friend can still look after him but he'll go there 8.30-11.30 and then she'll collect him. Since he would be on my campus, I could go over at that time as it's lunch time anyway and talk to his teacher and see him Would be lovely. But it's over £3,000 per semester for the younger ones (more for the older ).

Christmas at Ronshar's - yay! How far are you from Surrey?

Sorry you're so sleepy csws I hope DD gives you a break soon.

pistachio. Lovely DH Glad you got to rest today. I hope they are better soon!!

some families free places and no others I meant.
and paycheque (when in rome...)
and I ended lots of sentences with prepositions... sorry I was writing an essay today and all wrapped up in spelling and grammar at the moment!

not others even! What is my problem!!!?

I'd be happy to host a xmas meet up, though we don't have a HUGE house, but we're probably too far south? We're about 40 mins south of London by train (Hampshire)

Ouch for your head myjob, but yay for all 4 kids having a great time.

Sorry to hear about your London experience CSWS, I have to keep reminding myself when half term is or else that would be me....

Happy birthday J and all the other babies I missed

Re cots, we changed dd's cotbed to a bed when she was about 20 months but didn't bother with any side bars etc and she learnt very quickly not to roll out.... She has the run of upstairs, but we have a stairgate at the top of the stairs so she can't get downstairs on her own.

Well, dd has decided she only wants to wear 'grown-up pants' so we're attempting potty training, but not certain its a success yet, I feel I don't really know what to do.... And we had a dietician appt for ds today and his allergy test results have come through and it appears that as well as milk & egg allergies he is also allergic to soya, nuts and wheat . Mind you, still debating what to do.

Got to go, dd needs me

oh & fish as well

Oh god Ekka - soya is so hard to avoid. Is there anything that he can actually eat? Did they test for seafood?

Star - I don't think that this tiredness is D's fault.

Ah, x post re fish.

CSWS, this is the problem, we're getting to a stage where I'm wondering what on earth is left to eat... Raw veg I think {grin].

But, seriously, if it hadn't been for these tests, we would probably have gone along happily thinking that he was ok with just avoiding milk & eggs and that he would always have a little residual eczema. So I'm now wondering what line to take. If we cut out everything then he may possibly become totally eczema free but at what cost to everyone.....

The dietician suggested starting by avoiding nuts (except any that we've tried several times and not found a problem with - coconut being the one we've used a lot but he's apparently allergic too ) and cutting out soya but not avoiding wheat until after Xmas and see what happens. The whole thing is just a nuisance really, I don't know how many foods I'm prepared to cut out of my diet before I say that enough is enough. A bit of a disappointing day really....

However, kids have balloons out and are having fun with lots of runnign around so hopefully they'll tire themselves out and have a good night.

Hope you managed to get a bit of rest this afternoon?

csws - not D's fault. DD's fault for demanding entertainment constantly. But I can also see why you're otherwise exhausted

Ekka - good to see you again! I'll go to your house, too! Everyone can host a christmas event and I'll come to the all How sweet that DD wants to wear "grown up pants". What a sweet little girl. I sooooo can't wait for that age!

Are you still bf Ekka? when you stop, you don't ahve to cut out that stuff from your diet, too, right? Is he allergic to that stuff just from ingesting it or from touch, too?

Oh Ekka, that sounds really restrictive. No wonder you're fed up.

How strange that your school hasn't got a clear policy on admissions for children of staff Star. Any idea when they're going to let you know? Have you started flat/house-hunting yet or do you need to wait until you hear from the school.

S has been hilarious this afternoon. He loves playing peekaboo and popping his head out with a big "ba!".

Pistachio - I hope things have calmed down in your house now.

Oh I'd definitely be up for a Christmas do. Would offer to host but, like Star, we've only got a one-bedroom place full of crap.

aubergenie - If they don't grant him a place I'll just change to a different international school who will... I made that quite clear and they want to retain staff so fingers crossed. It's really weird because some teachers have kids going free and others are paying fully for their kids!! It makes no sense! Only teachers have a chance to get free places, though. Other staff members not a chance... that part is very clear I told them I need to know asap. I'm sure I'll get an email back tomorrow saying something vague.
We will need to sell our 1 bed first before we can move... which, in the current market, will take AGES and ages.

aubergenie - Q is doing that too - with the long living room curtains. It is SO funny.

Anyone up for a meet up in Greenwich or similar area near london or surrey some weekend sometime soon? I want Q to meet aubergenie's S. They sound so similar! It's so fun meeting people in our group. MN is so great!

Yes, I'd love to do a Greenwich get together. I bet 50ft would be up for it too.

cool - a saturday or a sunday? Sunday would be best if possible!

I could do a Sunday. I would have to bring all three of the ronshar children. W is ok because he will be contained in his pushchair.

Star dont watch Waterloo Road. What ever you do. Real schools are NOT like that.

Hello, thank you for all the birthday wishes. J has had a great day, he was very lucky and got lots of nice noisy presents today which involved banging things. Then we went to the zoo, Colchester CSWS it was a long drive, 1.5 hours there and over 2 back because of the Dartford Bridge but well worth it. It was so child friendly. J loved the penguins, they have a glass tank so he could stand against it and watch them and he also tried to chase a wallaby in the children's area He's just screamed himself to sleep though, I think it's a case of overtired and overstimulated! I'm going to put some pics on fb in the moment.

Star- I'd really be up for meeting in Greenwich. I feel very that I've missed other meet ups and I think the Christmas idea sounds great too. Good luck with the your school. My school sounds like Aubergenie's, in a deprived area but really lovely with great children. A place I'd be happy to send J to. It really does seem to depend on your area and it's always a bit of a postcode lottery when you apply. We have one apparently very good school less than 5 mins from us so will more than likely send J there or apply to. I'll definately be going for a look round before applying though to see how it feels as "good" or "outstanding" in an Oftsed report isn't always a true reflection of the school and it's ethos and atmosphere.

Aubergenie- Your comments about the cupboard really made me laugh. Every year I have the same thing, a huge cupboard stuffed to the brim of crap resources and paperwork and I'm never able to keep it tidy enough to find things. Hope you got done today what you wanted.

Ekka- Sorry to hear about the food intolerances. It does sound incredibly difficult. I think I'd be thinking the same as you about how far to go.

I might be up for a Sunday in Greenwich, as long as it's somewhere that I can drive to and park without a major hassle .

I hate the layout on 'threads I'm on'. Daren't even look to see how bad it is on my phone.

I'm having MN delete that last post as I've named my place of work and I don't want people that I know in RL figuring out that this is me iyswim.
How long does it usually take MNHQ to delete a post?? I've reported it just now. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but not many people at my school have just had babies so it would be obvious. damn it.

Here's that post again, without school names!
Fantastic! Bring all the kiddos! Fun! I agree with CSWS - good easy parking is essential Let's do it! When? And where/when is the christmas "do"? I always lol at that word, "do". ha! work "do", leaving "do". hahahaha!! I wonder where that comes from, and how it makes sense. so funny!

I've decided that I want Q at the school at which I am teaching. If he doesn't get granted a free spot where I am now, then I'll fight for it. After talking with a colleague, she said she thinks I can get it as I was not hired initially locally (we were in Japan at the time), DH and I are both American, so no reason to send DC to british schools, and DH and I don't have high salaries, so shouldn't be expected to pay fees, and it's in their staff retaining plan to make it possible for children of faculty to attend. If I still don't get it, I'll teach at another international school in london and that will be that. They will not like the idea of me going to either of those schools and leaving, so that is working in my favour, I think. I'm proud of myself for being so assertive already!