Fab Feb 2009 bar: toddle on in, grab a pew: mummy's in need of a drink or two...

[dinkystinky]

New thread for us to natter on about our toddling terrors... complete with some virtual booze. Mine's a french martini....

New place is really lovely but I am soooooo knackered! And DS3 has turned into a total Klingon with all the upheaval.

Cheers for the message from MOS Swampster - was missing her dulcet tones on the board. Glad you love your new place - fingers crossed DS3 calms down and de-clings soon...

swampy Yes, hope ds3 calms down and settles in soon.

Morning all - hope all is good with you. SM - hope today has started better (and later) for you.

Latest instalment of the Adventures of Danny the Destroyer... Danny has taken to putting shoes in the kitchen bin. Not his shoes - his big brothers. He puts his shoes in the CD rack, of course. I despair. He has also taken to rolling tins (from the food cupboard he has access to) under the cooker- at last count there were 5 tins of tuna, one tin of bamboo shoots and a tin of canned tomatoes down there. I think he's squirreling them away for a rainy day. And he has singlehandedly managed to kill all of DS1's night lights/reading lights - god only knows how. If only I could harness his powers of destruction for the forces of good...

dinky... A has a shoe fetish too.

he removed all the shoes from the shoe rack and drags them all over the house. Last week when i was packing away the shopping i turned around and caught him taking stuff from the bags and putting them in the recycling. His most annoying hobby atm though is throwing things down the stairs... he potters about up there a methodically picks up every toy and checks to see if it'll fit through the bannisters and is extraordinarily pleased with himself if he can fit it through to chuck it down stairs.

swampy... glad to see you back. Don't worry, the worst is over and you can start enjoying your lovely new house. It must be a third child thing, A is a klingon too... much more so than dd or ds1 ever were, it's exhausting as he won't take any substitute for mommy when he's feeling needy and it's impossible to get anything done.

MOS [waves into cyberspace] good to hear from you.... hope MNHQ get their arses in gear soon so you can rejoin us

Afternoon girlies
Jacob has been sooooooo good today.
I started 2 threads yesterday about tantrums and hitting and got loads of fab responses.
This morning we got up to a whole new attitude.
I have overly praised the good bits and ignored the 2 tantrums.
We have had the best morning in a long time!
I am now going to be the positive patient parent I used to be.

Luke has a thing for the bin. He likes to take things out of there and eat them. Yuk!!!

Hurrah SM for J being a great boy today - long may the new era last! Yuck on the bin food - think its a male thing. When pregnant with DS1 I found DH eating homous I had binned - he told me it was fine - I pointed out the mold on the top(which he had missed seeing somehow) and he went very (but not in a good way ) seems to have put his bin food ways to one side for the time being.

Have joined SuSylvester's diet thread (the nothing makes you feel as good as being slim feels one) - is hilarious!

Oh yes - had a chat with the boss I blubbed on today. They're aware of how unhappy I am and seeing what they can do to alleviate the misery - lets see what happens...

SM that's great news. sounds like a good plan and remember not to panic if he still has moments.

swampy glad you've managed the move without seemingly losing any kids en route. hope you get settled soon and enjoy the place.

lovely to hear from mos although her techy problems i guess are the same that stop me accessing mn from work still.

i think I is coming down with another cold, temperature thing. fingers crossed it doesn't turn into a croup episode.

dinky i'm really glad they've followed up on it (did you have to prompt them?) and at least seem to be concerned. hopefully there will be some respite soon.

for confidentiality reasons i've avoided talking about the specifics of my work misery but what the hell, its public domain anyway. basically due to US shareholder type issues (ie. not because our company is doing badly, quite the opposite) we are massively downsizing our uk office. and guess who's remit that falls under? so not only do i not know what will happen to me in the mid term i've had to undertake a bulk redundancy consultation and deal with all the staff. it has been the most draining, emotional and shitty experience i've ever had at work. and it just seems to drag on endlessly. this week it's not quite so intense and i've been home in time for kids every night so far.

Sounds like lots of work stresses going on at the moment. KBN what a horrible position to be in - particularly when your company is doing ok. I've been on the receiving end of redundancy - but would hate to be on the other side too. Hope I's temperature doesn't develop into anything significant.

SM - so lovely to hear you are all having a good day. We've had a horror story here and I need to adopt some of your positive parenting!

Dinky - so sorry to hear about your work issues - none of it can be easy, particularly on the spectacular sleep deprivation you are subjected to. Hope your chat today bears some fruit.

Good to hear MOS's news - thanks for that Swampy, and hope you are settling into your new pad nicely.

Pempe - good to hear from you again, and must admit I'm feeling rather envious of your work on a yacht. All sounds very exotic!

An emotional couple of days here. Yesterday was my Grandpa's funeral, which was wonderful. All us Grandchildren got a bit tearful seeing everyone pay their respects - the journey to the church was lined with villagers bowing their heads. Was a long and lovely day and I think he would have approved of the drinking in the local pub afterwards!

We had DD's paediatrician appointment today - the good news is they don't think she's showing enough autistic trends to need diagnosing, but there are a few "things" that may need addressing. They think she has a mild case of selective mutism (because she never speaks at nursery, or if we are with friends etc) so is being referred to an SALT. She also has some behavioural traits which they are going to follow up with a "portage" team - I'd never heard of this before and still don't completely understand, so am going to post on the Special Needs board. Upshot is, she has some issues, but should be ok - woohoo!!!

Hope all is ok with everyone - gotta start clearing the house which looks like a conflict zone.....

Hi STW - hope you're ok after a stressful - but hopefully cathartic (re the funeral) - couple of days. Glad that DD's appointment went well today - all sounds promising.

KBN - sending you huge hugs and industrial quantities of virtual fig vodka to help you get through this rubbish time. That is so shite putting you and your (profitable) co in that position as the parent co is in difficulties - but so so so common at the moment.

Thanks for support everyone.
kbn what a horrible position to be in.
STW this is the thread I started that has helped me loads
Am so pleased O's appointment went well. Must be a relief to have some answers and know what the next steps are.
dinky I might have to have a look at the dieting threads soon. If I manage to stay positive in my parenting the next step is to apply that thought to all areas of my life, become happier which will hopefully mean I stop comfort eating and will soon be ready to drop some weight.

STW - glad things went well for you on both days. Must have been very stressful but glad that the news re your DD is hopeful. My niece had selective mutism (wouldn't speak outside of the home) which resolved itself slowly over a couple of years. As her confidence and independence grew - and with some support - she gradually regained her voice. No idea what triggered it, just one of those things. My sister said it was like her comfort blanket that she gradually got rid of.

SM - glad you had such a great day - could do with some of that vibe here.....DS playing up all day as we had friends over. I think they were keen to leave!

KBN - sounds like a real nightmare for you. Virtual hugs on their way.

STW... dd had selective mutism. She never spoke at playschool or at all with people other than family, and even grandparents couldn't get talk out of her immedietly, she took a while to relax and start speaking each time she saw them.

She started off school the same way but between september and xmas she changed dramatically and is now an incredibly chatty, social little girl who talks to strangers in supermarkets and on the street. She still has moments in school but the teacher i aware of her issues and doesn't push her and she's blooming in there.

Her playschool teacher called round a few weeks back and hadn't seen her in ages and couldn't get over the massive change... she turned to me at one point and said 'I can't believe that's the same child i had at playschool!'

So don't panic just yet, just give your dd lots of time and patience, never force her to talk or make her feel bad for refusing to speak and create lots of situations where she's with people without you there to answer for her (something that i think helped dd hugely was going to her friends house regularily without me as it was a nice safe environment but she had to talk a little if she wanted anything)

Thanks Calico and Tulips for sharing your positive experiences! I'd never heard of selective mutism before yesterday. Interesting that your niece seemed to use it as a comfort blanket - Orlena's always been a sensitive thing and has lots of fears and I think it's her way of staying in her comfort zone - and also, it's one of the few things she's in control of at this stage. Tulips - lovely to hear that DD is a happy socialite now! And wise words about putting O in situations where she is happy and feels safe, but I'm not there to do the talking for her - I have realised that I speak/answer for her a lot. Got lots of information now and will be given some guidance so hopefully I'll come out with a chatterbox at the end of it!

How's everyone doing today? I'm looking forward to the weekend when I get my hair cut and coloured AT LAST, see some friends on Saturday afternoon and go to a baby shower on Sunday!

Ah just remembered, Sam was trying to sing along to Twinkle Twinkle this morning - gorgeous!!

Ah, that is so cute STW! Weekend not looking great - Danny has viral conjunctivitis apparently (come on today) so will be spending my weekend rugby tackling a screaming toddler to get drops in his eyes. Joy, joy, joy...

dinky Oh dear. Hope he's ok.

Hmm, the antibiotic eye drops made him scream so much last night he threw up - not a great start to the weekend. Still onwards and upwards. Hope yesterday was a good day again SM.

Rosie - any news?

Hello my lovelies

Gah, Well am a bit didnt post yesterday as feel a bit rubbish - dont think it is my month after all. I got 4 bfp's in total on Monday and Tuesday (very very early) and basically when i was expecting them to get stronger from Weds onwards i started getting negatives, i have had 4 days of negs now including today and af is due today/tomorrowish so i think it was a non starter. Am pretty sure i was pg as i dont really see how i could have gotten those positives but clearly its all gone a bit tits up (i know chemical pgs are really really common) so just waiting for af now. If i hadnt taken photos of the bfps (you can see them clearly in the photos i wouldnt have believed it myself - just goes to show doesnt it, DONT TEST EARLY!!! (makes mental note to listen to onself for next month!)

Dinky i bloody hate conjunctivitus on little ones its such a shame but it should go fairly quickly i hope. Milo is poorly too - the usual super high temp with his teeth for two days, i just alternated with calpol and ibruprofen but boy he was hot! Seems to be on the mend this morning though hope things pick up your end too.

Well im going to mooch around feeling sorry for myself today lol - still at least can get DH to spoil and pamper me - i want chocolate i think

Rosie xxx

Oh Rosie - I'm sorry - sending you hugs to cheer you up. But you are a veritable baby-mama so am sure you time will come for no5 - in the meantime, enjoy being spoilt, and pampered by DH, drinking wine, eating stinky cheese, doing the baby-making thang and everything else you cant do when you're up the duff

P.s. sorry M is poorly too Rosie - I swear there are so many bloody bugs doing the rounds this year our kids are ill every other week with something new!

Oh you both made me blub ... i AM feeling sorry for myself today arent i? I know its really stupid but just in those couple of days you have all the hopes and dreams of another lo and even if you are being careful not to get your hopes up secretly in your heart you are making plans for double buggys and that kind of thing.

I am going to go to cafe rouge for lunch i think, steak and frites are the only answer.

Thanks for your kind words though, it means alot. I had a horrid ms 9 months before i got pg with Milo at 11 weeks and would hate to go through that again so i suppose i should be grateful really - i am just a blubby mess today and will be back to my stoic and scatty self in a couple of days.

Oh Rosie - didnt mean to make you cry. Hope you feel a lot better and brighter after lots of pampering and a lovely lunch at cafe rouge.

Rosie so sorry . Hope you feel a bit better today? xx

Dinky - I know what you mean. I swear that Lilian has only had couple of illness-free weeks in her whole life - it's either conjunctivitus or a cold and usually both - yuk