June 2008-keeping little hands off mummy's creme eggs

[poppy34]

New thread here

Yes, that's the one. Sorry about that random post - someone came to my door so I had to stop mumsnetting, sharpish!

I would have added some links. With train sets, all you need to do is check whether they're 'compatible' i.e. do they fit Brio. The good news is that most are - there are Thomas the Tank ones in ELC, Plan Toys have one, the Tesco one, my Eichhorn (Lidl or rather German) one and also IKEA has a bargainsome one, with a decent bridge. (All bridges are not equal.) But yes, do e-bay - massive bargains there. LOL btw at the warning on the John Lewis train set:
'Warning: This toy contains magnets or magnetic components. Please don't leave children unattended with this toy as magnets sticking together or becoming attached to a metallic object inside the human body can cause serious or fatal injury. Seek medical help immediately if magnets are swallowed or inhaled.'
What on earth is the metallic object inside the human body?

Deb just a thought, are Eichhorn a well known brand in Austria? They appear to be German (ish - I got the set from Lidl). They're v. good quality but impossible to get here except from Lidl.

Ktpie I would like Iestyn to have a little friend too. But I don't know many mums and babies here and he doesn't really mix well with others - he sort of observes and plays alongside! He did play beautifully with Eddie's Alex though.

Iestyn is having the most outrageous tantrums these days. He had a prolonged one tonight for no apparent reason, one on Saturday because he wouldn't wear his swimming costume, and then another on Sunday because we tried to get him dressed. (!) Is this normal??

In answer to the tantrum question Essie - YES!

On your train set I found this at Amazon.

Essie - tantrum is normal don't worry, Eichorn is popular here but poor Ethan inherits so much from his 2 big brothers that he rarely gets new Austrian toys!We have an obscene amount of wooden train track and I agree not all bridges are equal and can cause serious meltdown ( adults and children)

Abdn - any car news?

Ktpie - no, not desperate just normal. I would love a friend with a child similar age to Ethan.

Finally got round to getting Ethan some new shoes today, poor child was walking round in shorts and fur lined boots yesterday. 1st shop said he'd gone from a 20 to 23, I was shocked and thought bad Mummy but when I tried on a 23 it was huge. Needless to say I tried another shop - v traditional and got some lovely shoes in a size 21. Weird thing here is that they don't do any different width fittings, bit like education, one size fits all (no differentiation)When you've been brought up with Clarks it takes some getting used to. Or maybe because no-one wears shoes indoors it's not such a big issue. The boys wear slippers in school, we have to take shoe off at the speech therapist, and at a drs I went to.

Thanks for all the train links - we have loads of wooden train stuff as MIL's wonderful German friend brought her son's entire collection over from Germany last year. She divided it into seven bags and handed it to all her friends when they flew over last year on a tour!! Very Germanic .

Aw, Essie, it was sweet how well A and I played together - until Iestyn tried to push A down the stairs ! It's a shame they don't see more of each other cos they did seem to hit it off .

Dh is in London for two days - he's doing a trade show and they have Johnny Ball on their stand ! I'm sooooo jealous - JB was one of my childhood heroes .

How weird not to wear shoes indoors!

And at no differentiation!!

How strange on the shoes indoors thing Deb. From what I can gather on shoe related threads the obsession with fitted shoes isn't as common outside the UK. Actually must confess that I caved and bought S some converse today - and didn't get them professionally fitted . However, I did get him measured yesterday, watched a startrite video on shoe fitting and in a past life I did actually work in a shoe shop so I'm reasonably confident they're ok. They're velcro ones so no laces to worry about. No doubt his feet will grow now...

essie when we moved here we found it very strange that people do wear shoes indoors! It's a huge no-no in Canada, maybe because of the snow and slush. You'd have a party and end up with thirty pairs of shoes at your front door even in university...

That makes sense ah!

I do have some friends who insist on a shoes off policy, but we've always had wooden floors downstairs so not worried about people wearing shoes indoors (although I do try and get dh to not wear them upstairs where we do have carpets - it's a constant battle though !).

Ah, now, Goddess, my Lidl train set was the biggest bargain ever, then. I paid under £20 for it, it's genuine Eichhorn (apparently a Good Thing) and it has 81 pieces. Yes, I said 81. He shouldn't need more, but DH is mad on trains, and, er, it really appeals to my OCD, the whole collecting stuff...
Bridges, now, we've had a couple of tantrums over those!
A superior bridge - see the Ikea one, this one and also the Brio solid one. The Tesco set also has a good bridge. My Eichhorn set, alas, has a dodgy one - it has two up (or down!) pieces, and support blocks. Like this - the two blocks holding up the bridge are not fixed. This is Not A Good Thing, due to regular collapse and catching of trains...and tantrums!

Isn't Poppy quite keen on trains? I'm sure I've seen her mention Thomas the Tank on here in a knowledgeable kind of way. I hope I'm not doing you a disservice, Poppy!

Iestyn got new shoes on the weekend. He's up to 4.5 now ( from 4...he really does have small feet!) so we got Clarks shoes. Thank goodness - the prices of others were ridiculous. His first shoes were gorgeous Hush Puppies ones, but I can't seem to find stockists anywhere. (Except Cardiff.) And I'm pleased to report that my strop in the Clarks shop a while back may have worked - they seem to do some shoes in a size 3 now. Tantrums get results, clearly.

Also for Poppy - Iestyn's overpriced last shoes were French - Bellamy. Lovely, but sooooo expensive!

Thanks Essie. I think I've got a slightly OCD-y collecting things thing. I'm also a bit obsessed about things matching so have so far been put off the ikea train stuff because of the plastic link bits. It upsets my karma.

Glad Iestyn has reached the dizzy heights of 4.5 - just goes to show how differently they all grow. There he was for ages with tiny feet, and now he has the same size as S. I think I've mentioned it already this week but realised S has been the same size since well before Christmas! He's had new shoes (because last ones came up a bit smaller than current ones) but his actually size has been the same for around 6 months maybe? Maybe he really has stopped growing

I don't mind shoes off indoors generally (although we have similar flooring policy to you Eddie) but I would find it odd to have to take shoes off at the doctors. I think slippers in school could be quite sensible though. Better for growing feet?

T got her 2nd pair of shoes today. Her first ones were 4F. Here 2nd ones (MONTHS later) were....

4G .

They are red. I love red shoes, and struggle to get shoes for DD1 as she has v narrow feet, so it was lovely to get T the first ones she tried on.

T seems very pigeon-toed. Anyone else noticed this with their child?

I got a letter through about this horrid biopsy I'm having. I am to go in at 7.30am and arrange for someone to phone through after 4pm about picking me up . I was planning on getting a taxi home around lunchtime. It's under local anaesthetic so I'm assuming I just got a form letter that doesn't really apply to something so straightforward . I'm seeing them tomorrow so I'll ask, but I must say I'm getting thoroughly worked up about it.

Loving all the train talk. My boys loved their brio trains, and they've been in storage (with my maternity clothes) for the last few years. DD1 didn't use them and I'd forgotten about them. I'll see if DH knows where they are and we can see what the girls think of them. I love trains . It's really difficult to let the child play, I find. I'm always trying to "improve" the layout

Yup, I'm always trying to improve the layout and I get quite cross when Iestyn takes bits off and ruins the perfect setup!
Goddess joking aside, I do have a bit of OCD, but not serious enough for medication or anything like that. It's all about completion, matching etc etc. (I'm not a girl who could do the eclectic non-matching thing in interior decoration/clothing...) I do have to watch it - things got a bit out of control about a year ago when I was stressed etc and I got totally obsessed about tommee tippee cups... But I've also rejected the Ikea track because of the links so we are equally bad. I've also separated the true Brio (downstairs) from the Eichhorn (upstairs). And I do get quite crazy and go looking for missing bits of duplo because there's an inventory of parts on the box. Freak!!
On the plus side, my D.Phil was on order and lists. And it worked well. I don't know whether I picked it or it picked me though!

Rolf the letter on getting a lift sounds a bit extreme! Now, please don't take this the wrong way because I don't mean any offence, but is the letter perhaps aimed at little old ladies in their seventies? Ones who might have a relative to care for them a bit, maybe a bit frail and prone to being wobbly? (Obv. the problem can affect young women who have had children, but also is a problem for older women as they age: I'm thinking of those adverts which make me clench my pelvic floor.) Just a thought - sounds very OTT for something quite straightforward. I'm sure it will be fine, though - and the taxi home sounded pretty normal to me.
My Mum had a colonoscopy (is that right? Camera up your bum...) and she drove herself home, 1 hr later. And a friend of my Mum's had two new knees put in under local - yes, local - anaesthetic. He couldn't drive home but was fine and left the same day.

Btw, my cousin Karen is home from hospital. She's ok - but it's a couple of weeks for the verdict on whether they have got it all or whether it's chemo or whatever.

No offence taken Essie . I reckon you're right. I'll confirm with them tomorrow, but I bet I can get myself into a cab.

Rolf - hope all goes well with your appointment, I'm taking Ethan to see an orthopaedic specialist next week about his walking. Stefan was pigeon toed (both feet) and he grew out of it but with Ethan it's his right foot and he seems to drag it,especially when he's tired. His left is quite straight but the right is getting worse I think, so we went to the GP, he said he didn't think it was serious but sent us to the specialist just in case. I'll let you know how we get on.Other people had started to mention it so I had to do something. Fingers crossed for a friendly child friendly Dr with some English!!

essie there's no way someone went home the same day after having two knee replacements. NO WAY! I think your Mum's friend is exaggerating! They do do them under Spinal anaesthetic though, which is local! Oh, and on the metal in the human body magnet thing, perhaps they are referring to people who've had surgery and have surgical clips. (although these are nearly always non-ferromagnetic these days, so clutching at straws a bit there!

Rolf Essie's probably right about the reason for the letter. Don't get panicked.

Trains I was looking at the IKEA one today. resisted for now!

Shoes still a 3.5 here. C's feet also not growing (saving me a fortune)

Totally agree about having a friend for the Los. C loves to play with her birthday buddies that we met through antenatal classes, and it's good to have Mum's in RL to talk to who are going through the same stages. (DGIT get your tickets booked for ITNG so you can come and hang out with us and all S's birthday week buddies too!)

the Fraud Pox seems to have cleared up here. Not at all convinced that it was real chicken pox - I guess we'll find out if and when she really gets it!

Essie - for a Mother of 1 child who isn't even 2 yet I am impressed by your knowledge of wooden railway bridges, it has taken me much longer to discover the complexities involved with good track making.

I do remember the tommee tippee cups Essie. Hope my flippant OCD comment didn't cause any offence.

We also have a huge amount of wooden train track and the bridges are very important. DS1 has a 'tower bridge' type affair which splits in half and raises on the top, but also has two tracks running underneath. Its great but its a bugger to fit into a design. You also need a turntable. If you haven't got a turntable (with all points full) and at least 3/4 bridges you are judged to have failed on the set building in this house.

In the house we are trying to buy one of the bedrooms was designed for a boy and when they built it they put tunnels under the corner of the wall where the desk is. Bascially, it means that a hornby train track can go into the wall on one side and come out again from the other wall. How cool is that! DS1 is very much looking forward to inheriting that room. It apparently also has special paint on the ceiling so flecks glow at night and light up like little stars. I want that in my room...

. Love the sound of that boys room sybil !

wow sybil, I'd have a fight on my hands for that room!

Ducking in to wave Hello- I have been lurking just because life is still a bit chaotic (Amber will testify I'm sure) but have been loosely following chat. Am trying to talk DH into ITNG to prove it!!

Birthdays: C is getting this and I'm very excited about it. She'll also get yet more books, and a Puppy-themed party. I love kids parties!! We're doing what we did last year and having the party the Saturday before and Annabel's Christening on Sunday. Which is why Cecily went down with Chickenpox yesterday I reckon ;-)

Oh, and we are really getting into the trainsets we have (Brio) bought on eBay whenever there's a bargain. My mum is getting us Duplo for C'c birthday so no doubt I'll start compulsively collecting that too

Big waves to all. Hope you are well xx

And Good Luck to Amber for tomorrow [fingers crossed emoticon]

Ooh, glad you popped in Puree I wanted to hear how your party plans were coming along. . What do you have planned for C's party? Hope the weekend goes well - will there be as many cakes this year?

Amber good luck for tomo - it took me 3 attempts to pass mine!

Puree - I like the trike-to-bike, I've not seen them before. E has a smart trike which she loves - T not so much cos his feet don't touch the floor. E's only touch cos she stands up rather than sits on the seat.

Loving the train talk (esp Sybil's cool kids room) and will look out for Brio at a later date cos I am pretty set on the Plan garage for the twins. I have found a used one on ebay ( I was looking for brand new but this one came up in the results!) - it has the garage and lots of vehicles and some track as well and only £10 atm so I might go for that.

Rolf, 4F to 4G - how cute! E is in 4.5F. DG I wouldn't worry his feet are not growing - E was in her first shoes for over 5mths.

For the twins party I am just doing some sandwiches/pizza/cakes etc and some beer/wine plus my friend is lending me an inflatable slide (a small one) which was a big hit at her DS's 2nd birthday. I'll borrow a few extra garden toys from friends and pray the weather is nice!

I do find that very strange about taking shoes off in public places like doc's and schools! But it makes sense I suppose with the snow. In Australia we didn't wear shoes at school, cos it was so hot. I don't mind taking my shoes off at other people's houses but never ask people to do the same here - I think if they dirty the carpets I can always clean them (we only have carpet on the stairs anyway so no big deal, although it is cream )

I have a bit of a cold and had a mad busy day yesterday so was shattered by kids' bedtime! But today has been so chilled cos MIL took the twins from 9.30-11.30 this morn and they have been in bed since midday so I have hardly done a thing - result! I am seeing the mw today which I am actually quite excited about [saddo]. I want to know whether I am big for 24wks cos I feel like I am!