June 08 - if your name's not down you're not coming in!

[EddieIzzardismyhero]

Welcome to our new cliquey thread !

Ah, yes - the actual holiday! S was great on the flight Deb, thanks for asking. Both flights got in about 45 mins to an hour early so it was really quite short. He was mesmerised by my iphone, so that worked really well. Next trip I'm taking my ipod touch for him though so I can get my phone back . Mind you, a family we met had an ipad which their girls watched dvd's on etc, and I soooooooo want one (even though don't need one at all!).

The accommodation we stayed in was lovely. The owners had the right balance of being friendly, but not over-intrusive IYSWIM. They had chickens and a rabbit which S just loved. He ended up in bed with us most nights [sigh] and would wake us up (early) each morning with 'wabbit, wabbit' and DH would take him to say good morning to them. They also had a big trampoline and wooden garden toys and seemed to provide a new toy for him each day to suit the weather - wooden train stuff, big ride on tractor, paddling pool etc.

We went to visit lots of lovely places too. We hadn't really done any research or thought about what we might to before the trip (v. unusual for us) but the owners were good at recommending places. We had a good trip to the market at Loches, lovely relaxing lunch in Chinon, visited the gorgeous Chateau de Chenonceau (amazing profiteroles) as well as the Chateau du Rivau which was brilliant for kids. It has all sorts of kid friendly stuff to see scattered through the gardens on a fairytale theme - 7 dwarfs, an Alice in Wonderland maze etc. S loved it.

Well, that's probably more than anybody wants to know about my hols!

Sorry to hear Ethan is poorly Deb - hopefully all that sleep will help him mend quickly! S slept in DH's arms for about 2 hours today so DH ended up having a big nap too!

Lol DG, that's exactly what happened in our household - we totally forgot to buy The Observer yesterday to get our wall chart and I said to dh that there was no way I was displaying one bought from the bloody Sun so he searched and found this or this. He couldn't decide which one he preferred so bought both!

He wasn't too sure about the second one cos he thought the "Come on England" sounded a bit too jingoistic!! I did point out we were English and perfectly entitled to support our own team!

Out of interest, will you be cheering for the USA on Saturday ?

Amber, so sorry to hear about the spotting. Good luck for the scan tomorrow.

Neenz, you are absolutely NOT allowed Dan for a boy - it is my favourite favourite boys name in the world ever and we couldn't use it for obvious reasons, so I've banned everyone else from using it too .

Good point on the bikes thing spider, probably not! They don't want our toddlers racing around and terrorising old ladies I suppose! On the helmet thing, we're going to make it a rule from the start - no helmet, no bike. If he throws a few tantrums then tough. I figure get them started young and then hopefully it'll be such a habit by the time they're older that they'll feel strange without one. That's the theory anyway!

Sorry to hear E's poorly Deb. We watched the last bit of BGT and were totally blown away by the winners - they were absolutely incredible!

Right off to order the playhouse - 15% off on Mothercare today!

DG, your holiday sounds idyllic, I'm very .

Ooh, which playhouse Eddie?

Thanks for wallchart links. I take it USA are playing England then? I've not given any thought to the world cup tbh, but yes, I won't be supporting England, sorry . Contrary to popular belief, it's not about hating the English though, we just hate the English media belief that they have a god-given right to win . I can't speak for my fellow countrywomen but IME we generally get more than a little hacked off about the representation of sport from the English based media - you know 'yay, for the great English sporting hero' versus 'yay, isn't that Andy Murray a fantastic British sportstar' .

*Disclaimer - in case any jokey sarcasm gets lost, I've spent a lot of my life in England and consider myself to be truly British and don't hate England at all!!!

Oh, and if it's mothercare Eddie, can you buy it via the ELC website and get 20% off with a birthday club discount

Crikey, 69 Iestyns in Wales, and 80 in the UK! And it's joint 448th with Craig, Matteo and Ty. (Sorry for any mothers of Ty on here.)
The name I have lined up for my next boy isn't there at all.
Sorry, just read Spider's post. One of the Iestyns was mine, another was the one who lives across the road and another lives in Wimbledon.
It's funny because it isn't (wasn't) a common name at all, and I've only known 3 in my entire life. (I think there may be a few more in south Wales, and there was a good rugby player, Iestyn Harris, and there is a fabulous singer - a counter tenor - at the moment.) But it seems to be gaining in popularity. Partly because it's easy to pronounce if you're not Welsh, maybe? Let's hope it's not the equivalent of Jack for Wales.

But ROFL on Eddie and the name Dan. It's so, so hilarious with your surname. Not sure why but it is.
Amber hope all is ok. It's not uncommon in early pg right?

You know Eddie's thread? I may be in competition with random personal attacks - see my thread in AIBU (I know, I know...but still, calling me deranged and precious??)

My siblings and DH's sibling combination (Kate&Kate) are getting Iestyn a bike for his birthday. (Mine are serious bikers, and currently the debate is for Isla bikes, or Scoot. Thought I'd throw a new one into the mix there! Iestyn already has a helmet, although I am concerned like Spider given his hatred of hats of any kind. It's going to be a rule here too, no helmet no bike.

Deb sorry to hear about Ethan. Iestyn was the same yesterday, and not quite himself on Saturday. We had a newborn night with him on Saturday night (i.e. waking every 3 hours). But he's been fine today, give or take the odd random tantrum. (They're commonplace here.)

of people back from holidays. I suspect we won't be getting a proper holiday this summer. We have 3 nights for the Eisteddfod (and we're staying in a swanky hotel!) but despite taking 2 weeks off in August, DH has not made any decisions other than 'we will hire a cottage perhaps in Ireland'. Er, no we won't, there won't be any now, surely? Anyone know of any cottages?

PMSL at the representation of sport by the English media - spot on DG! It always cracks me up that Murray is British when he's winning and Scottish when he's losing!

We'll forgive you for not supporting England - not many people do, and we're crap anyway so we'll be out pretty quickly !

Oh, and you're right, you were too late - I had literally just put my order in! But then my friend tells me that it's out of stock on the ELC site anyway!

We've bought this - extravagant I know, but it's mainly being paid for by generous uncles and grandparents so we don't mind paying a bit more as it's going to be used by both boys .

I don't support England. In anything! I support any team playing England.

Eddie we got something similar but one with a slide. It's huge and plastic. But Iestyn loves it! (Also relative-assisted.)

Ooh, that's nice Eddie. I'm sure your original budget was half that

Not sure how many S's there were in Scotland, but I think a certain adversary from Eddie's thread may have used it recently

Link to your arsey thread Dewin?

DG, as a Man City fan I totally understand where you are coming from re the media and England - they are the same about Man United [grr]. I wouldn't care about Scotland (unless there were City players in the team) so I don't expect you or any Scots to care if England do well. I am very excited about the World Cup tho.

Did you hear the rumour about Steven Gerrard getting a 16yo pregnant? It is the subject of a super-injunction taken out by him against the news of the world so more than a rumour I think . Also that Alex Curran is having an affair with a Derby County player. It has not been in the papers but if you Google Steven gerrard sex scandal you should find something on it on some gossip sites.

Eddie, lol at not being allowed to use Dan . It's your own fault for marrying someone with such a silly surname . The helmet tactic is how we have got the twins to wear their sunhats - no hat, no playing out.

DG, your trip sounds great. We went to Chester Zoo which the DTs loved (me too). We also went to Blue Planet Aquarium which was OK but a bit repetitive = "Look, some fish! Look, fish!" etc etc

Deb, good news on the possible sale. i think sometimes even though things don't work out for the best financially they are still the best thing to do and will make you happier in the long run. I enjoyed the final of BGT but hadn;'t watched any other episodes. I'm quite glad cos if they were the best 10 acts I dread to think what the rest were like. Spelbound were great and I wanted them to win. What's with spelling the name wrong tho? Am I missing something, is it a play on where they are from or something like that?

Your wish is my command, DG: here.
However, just to create a right ruckus (evil ) I've started a 'subject specific' thread. Watch it all kick off here - it's started already...

Oh and I read Eddie's thread.

How annoying is EPIS?

Her style of posting is very irritating.

Not to mention her actual posts.

Dewin, bloody hell - TSC is being as aggresive and rude to you as EPIS was to me! Unbelievable! Slags her own MIL off constantly but then gets all superior to you!

I think Dan with our surname sounds like a comic book hero ! It did really upset me for a while cos honestly Daniel is my most favourite name in the whole world bar none. I used to dream of having a son one day and calling him Daniel and then ended up married to one of the few surnames imaginable that makes this impossible! Go figure!

We're v lucky as we're being left a slide by our friend who's house we're buying . A has already played on it many times! She's also leaving us a play kitchen and various other bits and pieces that her DS has grown out of!

Busted DG - what a good memory you have!! Yes, our original budget was half that! Dh is feeling in a very generous mood at the moment !

Lol at the name Spelbound being spelt wrong - I wasn't going to point that out cos I thought I might sound like a right pedant, but I imagine it's cos they think it looks cool whereas it actually just looks ignorant!

I'm second language English, I never get things like Spelbound or think they're funny. Always stupid.

You should see the other thread...

Eddie I always wanted to use Rory as a name, but it doesn't work with our surname as it sounds like a lion. And anything beginning with P - Peter is an excellent example - sounds like a tongue-twister. Peredur, Pryderi, Prysor...Peter, Patrick...

Dewin, your AIBU thread was surprisingly quite tame (well what I have read so far) except TSC of course. Why is it when you read a really obnoxious post you look at the name of the poster and think 'oh, them'. The 'royalty' don't have the manners to be polite. They obviously can't disagree without being nasty.

I do think a trip an hour away when he doesn't really know your PILs is too much. What if he has a meltdown because he is confused as to who these people are and where's his mum? Better for them to take him somewhere nearby, and I think a trip to the zoo is an exciting trip for you too and I wouldn't want to miss it. Well done your DH for learning Welsh! Very impressive. I think you are right to teach I Welsh as his first language and the GPs are being VU to think it is 'pointless'. Grr.

Ooh Dewin I only read your first AIBU thread (the PILs one) - just reading the other one now!

I know, the first one wasn't too bad although I do find it odd that I'm seen as 'precious' and 'overprotective' etc. I don't think so - I work ft, he goes to nursery, and he stays with my Mum. The issue (and you got it so why isn't everyone?) is 1 hour away, me a long way away, language problem.

The other thread is largely filled with people who just don't get it. Odd, because I thought mumsnet was an educated middle class kind of thing; but so many people just don't get that I don't need to teach I English (and neither do any of you need to teach your children); I'm not banning him from English, and he'll be fluent in both and totally bilingual. I'm puzzled as to why everyone seems to think I should start teaching him |English now - that's not how bilingualism works.

But I guess I've read the studies, they haven't, and it's not an issue they need to deal with.

But the opinions!

That's mumsnet for you Dewin - the place you say all the stuff you wouldn't dream of saying to folk (I hope) in RL!!!

I thought your threads were very interesting on the whole though. I have no experience of bilingualism (I even needed my spellchecker to spell it ) and tbh, if I hadn't read all that you've posted on it I would probably find it a wee bit odd that Iestyn isn't exposed to English via your DH.

Urrghhh. I must go to bed. Have to go back to work tomorrow!

Good luck tomorrow Amber. Thinking of you.

Dewin I wouldn't want any of my children to go somewhere an hour away with people they didn't know. T hasn't seen my ILs since she was a newborn, and if they came to stay I'd definitely give it a couple of days for her to feel comfortable with them, before letting them all go off on a day trip together. And I know that your ILs brought up their own children, but people can become de-skilled and I'd want to make sure I felt confident that they'd take good care.

That said, I feel quite sorry for your ILs. It must seem as though your mother gets all the joy. I'm not saying any of that is your fault (or theirs), but it must be sad for them.

Welcome back Sybil DGT and Neenz . I noticed that you were all away but kept forgetting to comment on it

Hello to everyone else.

dewin - just ignore tsc. I've had a couple of run-ins with her and can't think I've ever agreed with her on anything

eddie I read you thread (or some of it - was long!). It's so silly that some people just focus on one bit of a thread title and pick at that rather than reading the context of your actual point and discussing that. Some people just like to pick an argument imo, whether or not they agree or disagree with what you're saying

debs sorry to hear ethan is not so well, and amber hope all is ok

glad you all had good hols DG, sybil and neenz!

On that subject - neenz or dewin, do either of you know a good campsite on anglesey to recommend? I'm hoping to go next month - have camped in wales several times but never in anglesey

I'm way behind and wont manage to catch up - fingers crossed for amber today.

Bikes - we're a no-helmet-no-bike strict family but have found the met ones are so comfy they forget they are wearing them. Neighbours of ours also have the scoop - be warned it's significantly bigger than the isla bike and their 30 month old twins aren't big enough yet!!!

dewin the nappy issue and the distance would be too much for me! As for language though, I'm sure he'd be able to communicate in other ways so if you could convince them to take him somewhere close (the beach?) that would be reasonable. Then if he poos they could bring him back.... (or has a meltdown but easier to use the poo as an excuse). Or I like the suggestion that you all go together but you might wander off for a coffee by yourself...

Language - stick to welsh!

Can someone give me a good shake? Iestyn moved up a room at nursery today (first move) and I'm in tears here. Why?

Allnew yeah, great recommendation: my garden. No, seriously, can recommend many - I live on Anglesey. What kind of thing are you looking for? Basic or luxury? Location any issue - do you want to go somewhere or do something specific? Anglesey has fabulous beaches (and I can tell you the best ones that aren't full of Scousers ) and if you're on the south of the island, you're 20 mins from Snowdonia. The north of the island and you're just over an hour from Ireland. The train line - if you're coming by train but I'm hoping not, it's not easy to travel around here - is on the western side. I live south west. E-mail me or message me on facebook if you want an extended conversation.

Thanks for good comments on the thread! It's quite funny, one of the issues I have with the 'don't do nappies' thing is that it diminishes my role into that of a poo-servant: she gets to pose around and be fabulous, I get to scoop crap. Nobody mentioned that. But mumsnet is rather pro-MILs anyway.

With the language thread, I'm just gobsmacked at the lack of knowledge (and, dare I say it, ignorance and stupidity) about bilingualism - but then why would anybody need to know this: I do, because I need to know, and I've grown up with it (plus I'm also interested and read lots). But I'm just amazed that me speaking my own language and never speaking English could be seen as point scoring or disadvantaging Iestyn. And I'll admit to posting AIBU knowing full well that the answer is 'good God no, YANU in any way' as a sort of test or an experiment for my amusement. (Naughty me, and it wasn't even a real question - hence I'm not offended, but I do feel the need to educate mumsnet now!)

Ooh, Allnew (and everyone else) - just realised I made a silly comment about Scousers. You might be a Scouser. No offence meant: I have no problems with Scousers and get mistaken for one all the time. And if you like Scousers a lot I know some beaches where you can mingle with them.

haha, no I'm not, so no offence taken

I'd like something v close to a nice beach. Definitely not too basic, nice toilet and shower blocks a requirement! South side so as to minimise travel (coming by car from MCR). Don't need any specific other amenities - just nice place for children to run round a play really