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

[poppy34]

New thread here

arggh! this is not our week.

1. DS1 fell at the bus stop yesterday and ended up with a rock cutting his head. There was blood everywhere and we had to take the bus to the surgery to get a nurse to clean it.
2. the car is a write off and the insurance company is offering us about £800 less than replacement value.
3. Fraser just fell and scraped off half his fingernail (fortunately not the nail bed part) and it is really hurting him. He's been upset for the past hour and has just settled down.
4. DH put a deposit on a car in Glasgow over the phone last night and started the financing but when he phoned back this morning he was told they sold it to someone else at the same time as us. We are now waiting to hear if their financing fails (which apparently it might) but are also querying who got the deposit in first. There's nothing else in our price range that's an automatic and that's the only license I have.

Can people send us some good luck? DH is now very down and miserable and it's not a happy house here.

AH, sorry to hear about your injured children and car troubles. Sending you lots of luck and hope something else turns up . . .

Didn't watch the debate but will be voting tactically against the Tories as I always do. I'm old enough to remember Thatcher and the terrible damage she wreaked on our society .

Essie, had to laugh about shoving Will and Kate - are you going to shove them over a cliff? Enjoy Queenie's visit - that'll be fun for everyone, she always strikes me as such a fascinating woman !

Aww, Aberdeen, what a shocker! Sending you lots of positive vibes.

This morning I am mostly fretting about my scan this afternoon. It isn't till 3.40. The day is dragging by.

Major battle of wills with Peter at the supermarket. He took his shoes off in the car, wouldn't put them back on again. So I Insisted that he go in the trolley. He resisted, resulting in a wrestling match. AIBU to not let DS walk round Sainsbury's in socks? Then we went to the swings still no shoes on. Refused to put them on, despite him knowing that we were at the swings. Told him that no shoes meant no swings. Still refused. I drove home: cue much wailing from the back of my car. I now have a very active toddler on my hands who hasn't burnt any energy off. Wondering how to get him to have a sleep before I drop him at my friend's this afternoon whilst I go to the hospital. His shoes are only three weeks old. He can't have grown out of them can he? The previous pair lasted about 7 months.

LOL at Neenz "deciding" to vote Labour. I never got the impression you were considering any of the alternatives.

AH I don't think there are necessarily lots of Labour supporters on the thread. It's just that Neenz, Eddie and DGT are fairly vocal in their opionions

Abdn. That's bad luck about your car, and horrid about your injured boys. I drive an automatic (well, in theory. In fact I don't drive at all) and it was a real pain when we were car shopping.

Spider hope the scan goes well. Is Peter keeping you on your toes so you have no time to fret about it? . I laughed at your voting comment! I'm undecided, with no sign of settling on a candidate

Lol spider, I'm actually not a Labour supporter - I'm just definitely not a Tory .

Sorry to hear about your frustrating morning - it may be worth having P's feet measured again as there is the tiniest chance they are hurting him. Of course, there's a much bigger chance he was just being a toddler!

Hope all goes well this afternoon. Look forward to hearing all about it.

Btw, what does everyone think about the Twitter/FB links?

Abdn that really sucks. Sending good vibes your way!

Taxation is a very difficult issue because of course no one wants to pay heaps of tax, but the tax cuts of the last Tory govt meant schools and hospitals were starved of money and the most vulnerable in society were thrown on the scrapheap. I like the Lib Dems' policy of a 10k tax threshold and changing capital gains tax to the same as income tax. It should be the very well off (earning over £100k a year) who pay more, not the middle income families. And how anyone supports a family on minimum wage (or even 2 x minimum wage if both are working) I do not know. Tax credits obviously help but it is still trying to survive on very little. There should be more affordable social housing so people don't feel they have to slog their guts out just to buy a nice home. It's hardly any wonder people choose not to work, and don't get me started on taking benefits off people who won't work - how will they do that when it is not the unemployment benefit that is the key factor, it is the benefits given to support the children (housing benefit, income support etc). You can't take those away. You have to make it more beneficial going to work than being on benefits and the only way to do that is raise minimum wage or keep paying some of the benefits after people start work. Not cutting benefits. The Tories' inheritence tax policy shows where their priorities lie . It saddens me that it is so popular when it affects so few people. I think people don't really understand it - they think you have to pay tax on everything you inherit but actually it is only 40% on everything over £325k (£650k for couples). What greedy bugger needs more than that tax free? So what if house prices have risen to take more people over the threshold - do they wish prices hadn't risen so their inheritence would be even less? [rant]

Sorry I was going to delete all that but it has taken me so long to write I thought it would be a shame

Haha x-posted with loads of people there as it has taken all morning to write that post as well as have a friend over, give DTs their lunch etc etc

Good luck with your scan, Spider, I am sure it will be fine. Time goes so fast, can't believe you are 12w already. The shoe thing sounds tough - I think you just have to continue being really firm and eventually he will give up fighting you when he realises he won't get his own way. That is fine when it is the park and you can just take him home, not so easy when it is the shops and you have no choice but to go in with a screaming toddler . I definitely wouldn't let him walk round the shop in just socks. I am in awe that you let him walk at all - the Dts have no choice, they have to go in the trolley (often with a 'cake' - rice cake - or two to keep them quiet!) but then there are two of them I suppose!

Rolf, I think our constituency is going to be a really close race. Have you ever met Debi Jones the Tory candidate? I have and she seems OK but I know a lot of people can't stand her. She is from Formby. We got a leaflet from her saying we should vote for her because 'she is married, has a teenage daughter and elderly parents - she knows the issues that affect you' . Good job I am not a single mum!

Personally I would make inheritance tax 100%, unless you give it to charity - that would be an impressive redistribution of wealth!

at 100% inheritence tax!

Eddie: I stand corrected

Seen the Twitter and FB icons. What am I meant to do with them? Still hoping MN will bring out an iPhone app for the site.

That's it, Eddie is a communist, clearly!
There are lots of cliffs around here, btw, so I could deal with The Threat. I could also just simply outwit them. The royal family - known for their intelligence. Fascinating indeed.

Argh got to go to get Iestyn but Spider good luck, sounds like toddler behaviour I'd say. And many many good vibes and prayers going your way Abdn - it all sounds dreadful.

Spider fingers crossed for this afternoon!

neenz the tax credit system has forced a lot of mums I know out of work because their combined salaries meant no help with childcare and yet they still struggle and live in crap areas with bad schools. It's not a fair system at the moment and I think it should be revised so that it doesn't hurt some families while heavily supporting others. (Most people I know voting Labour are either on low incomes or high incomes.)

But actually I think tax is a good thing. Paying for well run services makes the country safer, happier, and better for all. We do need to seriously pay down the deficit but then I worked in government and I know that there's more than enough waste to save money if we are sensible about it. I suspect I'm a natural Lib Dem voter but I'm very nervous about how they'd handled DH's self-employed status. I will probably vote conservative as a protest vote (chances of them getting in here are very slim, we're a Lib Dem seat) but if it was a safe conservative seat then I'd probably vote Lib Dem. I don't want either party to think they've got it sorted.

If the tories don't win it'll because the inheritance tax is the wrong idea for the next five years. I can see why it's taxing twice (taxed when you make the money, taxed when you die) and it's not fair to those who's parents die young etc but right now is not the time!

I find it really interesting how many people will not consider the Tories because of Thatcher rather than considering and rejecting Cameron's policies. Obviously I was in Canada 13 years ago and although I knew about it, the emotional side didn't come through. Thank goodness the Lib Dems are doing well because otherwise I could see Labour getting undeserved support just because they're not Tory - and we should be able to vote for something instead of against something else.

Neenz - the plan was to get a coffee and cake in starbucks first, hence walking into the store before getting the trolley. I have let him walk in supermarkets twice now when we are nipping in for a couple of items. I think it is good training for him, and it is a relatively safe environment, but thus far not resulting is high levels of obedience. Tried it on Tuesday and he ran away when I was looking for a new home cards. He was two aisles away before I caught him! There were pensioners directing me in his direction .

Eddie - 100% inheritance tax: maybe SWP should get your vote?

I had a couple of months with T when she was great about walking with me. I'd bring the pushchair as well, but she'd hold my hand and walk to the shops about a mile away. But in the last few weeks she's become Pure Toddler and runs away, stands still and pouts etc! So I'm doing a lot of PinDown in the pushchair, just so we can get moving.

Neenz I haven't met her but know a few people locally who can't stand her and find her vacuous. I do find the whole media thing very unattractive (she had a face-lift on TV), but on the other hand she has really put herself about to speak up for people in the area and get involved with local issues. She's definitely got the highest profile of all the local candidates. The Labour candidate has been parachuted in from Kent, which I presume means he's just here to earn some battle stripes en route to a safer seat next time? The LibDem candidate is another media/PR bod about whom I know very little. Is our seat considered to be a LibDem/Tory race? I assumed that with Formby part of the new constituency Labour wouldn't stand a chance ?

Afternoon everyone.

I did promise I wouldn't get into too much political debate on here so am trying to resist getting into the debate. I am very concerned about the Tories tax credit policies on middle income families - I think they're saying no tax credits for those families with a combined income of £50K is that right? I know that's not poor, but I think if you've got a couple of kids it's not rich either. Especially when you've got childcare costs too.

Oh I was annoyed when the leaders were all talking about middle class incomes. Without getting into a huge debate about the class system, it should be about incomes not class imo. A family with two adults earning £25K each aren't necessarily middle class.

Abdn I think it's an interesting point re: inheritance tax if you lose your parents young e.g. if you were still a child and I can see a valid argument for some kind of exemption there (assuming there isn't one already, I have no idea). But unsurprisingly, idealogically I have no issues with inheritance tax. IME people who have got serious amounts to leave usually have all sorts of legal tax efficient ways of protecting a chunk of their wealth. Especially where I work (which I can't say on here). You're right in that the emotional memory of Thatcher runs very deep - especially here in Scotland. My dad was on the dole for 4 years with 3 children under Thatcher and that kind of pain doesn't leave you. I don't think for everyone it's just being about anti-Thatcher though, I think many just aren't convinced that the Tories are that different these days.

Abdn what a thoroughly crap week you're having. I'm sending lots of positive vibes your way and hope your world brightens a bit soon. How's work going?

Spider sympathies on the toddler supermarket experience. S won't go in a trolley at all so we now have to all go or get it delivered online. He's also started taking off his shoes in the car so I hope that doesn't extend beyond that anytime soon.

Who's your labour candidate Rolf/Neenz?

Bill Esterson

my work's not going well either which is another crap factor.

DGT yes, cutting tax credits for families on 50K is a bit crap but then honestly the system isn't working if we need tax credits to support families making so much above the average.

There are many other ways to handle taxation that are simpler and more equal. Like combined taxation where families are taxed as a unit rather than individually. (Remove the clause about marriage and turn it into marriage or commonlaw status). Say £5K per adult and £3K per dependent - getting rid of child benefit. We live as family units so individual taxation doesn't make sense. But then counter this with high levels of taxation after a 'high' income threshold (say 70K/family or something at 49% - but a family on 80K might work out not too bad because they would have a higher tax allowance).

Think of the money that could be saved by getting rid of the tax credit system for most families - and keeping it for only those on the lowest incomes (around 20K or less) who need topping up. Sort of an extension of the Lib Dems 10K idea but with more allowance for different circumstance. (Actually, the Lib Dem proposal is probably the best financially for us personally by a long shot, maybe I should be voting for them. Anyone know their plans for corporation tax?). Childcare could be completely tax deductible for all families so that more women have the chance to work. Right now childcare tax credits are unfair and while yes, they're a lifeline to some women, it's not right that others are penalized. (I am bitter because I had to give up the job I loved and work at a job I don't enjoy just to make more money and pay for childcare).

Clean slate... I'm sure there's a better way! (Note these figures are all from my head... they probably don't add up at all and perhaps it's not fair to single mothers but again, I'm sure it could be balanced).

I've killed the thread (promises not to talk about taxation ever again).

and the car did sell before we could buy it. This has honestly been the worst week...

Aberdeen, you get my vote!

thanks Amber - just don't let me drive your car....

abdn We are a middle income family and if cb and child tax credit were cut we would really notice it, nearly £200 makes a huge differnce to us. Would hate to lose it!

It does to us too - I'm not trivializing it. We will really notice losing CB, it'll mean a rethink of my weekly budgets. But what I'm saying is that it should be in the tax system so you'd not pay it out in the first place.

Back from the hospital. The scan went well and the baby is perfect.

So relieved.