Fab Feb 2009: when they're good they are very very good, when they're bad they're todzillas...

[dinkystinky]

New thread for us to chat about our little jekyll & hydes...

Danny is currently stood next to me rearranging my DVD collection - I will be doing a work out to charlie & lola tonight apparently, while DS1 will be watching Billy Blanks Taebo with his pre-bedtime cup of milk and DH's history docu is hiding out with Diego in the city of lost toys...

Calpol lives on the window sill upstairs in this house. Never gets back in the cupboard! A bit like the wine that never quite makes it back into the fridge !

Hope all well, busy weekend here so just stopping in to say hi. More crap sleep - thinking about trying Sam in a bed soon, so have been reading thread with interest!

He's currently "helping" me to unload the dishwasher and wants to know the name of everything. He's so lovely I have to forgive him the lack of sleep. Just.

Right, I can hear stirring upstairs so will see if O wants some milk.

enjoy the sunshine!

SM - another early start for you today then? Hope you've had a good first week at work.

STW Not an early start as such, I'd woken up so thought I'd just have a little look before trying to get back to sleep.
I worked 2 days and really loved it! It's agency work so that's it for now.

Off to London today fror my friend's daughter's birthday picnic in the park.

hello all and welcome back to all the strangers who we thought had forgotten us

DD2 started 'big' school today /
Very emotional. They are sooooo very young, she will be 4 in two weeks but out here they go into F1 (the year before reception) technically it is not compulsory but if they don't go to F1 there is no guarantee of a place in F2 so essentially it is compulsory.
She looked so sweet in her uniform and somehow I managed to tame her mad hair.

H starts at her old nursery tomorrow, just 2 mornings a week. What will I do with myself! I'm still working on my 3rd counselling course and want to try to finish the next assignment before 20th October when we go on holiday and have lots of CPD to do and of course prepare for my signing classes which re-commence Monday and Tuesday. (frantically listening to all the songs whilst I type as I swear I've forgotten all the signs!)

Also, an odd one, have had a request to teach adults BSL. Am not sure. Have never taught adults before and the last year or so I've been focusing on 'kids' signs and am guessing the adults will want to learn more than just a few songs about animals

I'm thinking maybe keep it casual if I do it and not in my house, maybe at the coffee shop for say an hour one evening a week and keep it very basis. I'm fundraising for the national deaf children's society (as stupidly signed up to trek Jordan next October with DS1 and we need to raise 3.5k) so might say perhaps just donations to this charity, say SR25 per week (about 4.25 GBP)
I think I could cope with it if a casual class and not formal.

Views?

Right, in answer to lots of questions from various posters.
H still likes his milk in a bottle. We've also had funny looks when we try to put it in a cup/beaker although he drinks water/juice from a beaker.

still b/f but really trying to keep it to just first thing and last thing with a view to getting my boobs/life back in the very near future.

Don't keep calpol in a fridge, only ABs.

H does say much (worried mum emotiction)
main words are mummeeeeeeeeeeeeee, dadde,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ace (grace) arse (alex) and he attempted please yesterday. Should I be worried?

Tantrums. He excells. Gets it from big sister. This will pass. This will pass.......

Right, off to sort out his lunch, will be back later.

Hope everyone ok and well done to those who are just getting jobs.

PS. MS chutney sounds YUMMY!

Hey everyone,

another lo who has milk in a bottle here, QK (hi!), we've tried but she's not sure of milk from a cup...

We just use a blanket atm, but will stick to grobags for a while. When we get close to taking the sides of the cot off, I'll get some of the nifty fitted sheets with the duvet that zips directly onto the sheet, so it's like the next level up of sleeping bags.

And one of my own - what cups/beakers do people use for water/juice? We use the Tommee Tippee Easy Drink Beaker (recommended for 9-18 months), but I'm thinking we ought to shift her onto an older cup/straw beaker...

Moo says quite a list of words and signs a lot too, but not always in the right context!

Various health updates -
MIL has now accepted she's fine and hasn't been having heart attacks, but we are waiting for final confirmation from M's cardio consultant before telling her, so we can tell her once, as opposed to the drip drip information we're getting!

M's next set of tests will be in a few weeks so just have to wait and see [twiddle thumbs emoticon]

My de-breif went well, albeit with a fair amount of snivveling from me! M gave me lovely cuddles though! I saw the normalising childbirth ob, and she was lovely, and said she would be involved in any future pregnancies so she can ensure my care reflects what has happened in the past. She pretty much confirmed my very non-medical quess work at what happened, and has recorded on my notes what are no-nos in the future (no synotcinon for me!) and also apologised that the medical staff at the time allowed me to see panic at what was happening. She explained my pretty muddled recollections and it seems a lot of it was drug induced!

She was very confident that M's issues were an unhappy coincidence, and she thinks it is unlikely to happen again. Must loose some weight, and then there is no need for any of this to be repeated. Phew!

She was just so nice, and gave me a lovely cuddle. She was also very impressed with M's ladybird nappy! She has referred me to the chief midwife and also for some counselling, so I'm not done with this for a while, but I'm feeling much more positive and I'm sleeping better already (mainly because I was dreading the appointment itself!).

Nice to see so many of you back on board, feels like the good old days again!

Off into town to buys some M&S bangers with my new staff discount card - MS has put toad in the hole fantasies into my head! Happy weekend all. x

Hi all

Good to see some of the old faces back on Fab Febbers!

MOS - your world sounds manic....hope DD2's first day at school went ok. I'll be snivelling this time next year when it is my DS's turn.

MrsY Sounds like the debrief was really useful - I thought about doing the same after DS was born but never quite got round to it.

In regard to drinking cups, both Lilian and DS just use the Tommee Tippee ones for milk, water, juice - have tried all sorts of other ones but to be honest these seem to be the best. DS still uses one and doesn't want his drink in a 'proper cup' but takes the lid off half way through anyway

Hope everyone has had a good Saturday? Not great here - both DCs have nasty snotty colds and DH is being a complete arse. Moody and distant is his usual mode at the moment. He hasn't said a civil word to me for the last couple of days - have no idea what I have done to deserve it. DS asked me this morning why daddy is always cross..... Honestly it's like having another 3 year old in the house. I have decided to ignore his petty behaviour and try and act normally but it isn't easy when you start up a conversation and don't get a response.....

Hello all.
MrsY Glad your de-briefing went well.
Re drinking cups, I've now moved Luke onto a proper cup when we are at home. He has a sports bottle (as has Jacob) for when we are out, but at home they both now have proper big boy cups.
That is going really well. Luke rarely spills his drinks, he can sometimes get a bit down his top, but it is jacob that will pick the cup up and throw it on the floor.

Calico Hope things improve soon with dh

hello all,
MrsY glad de-brief went ok and hope you soon get all the info you need ref M.

Calico hope your DH stops being an arse soon. Is he worried/stressed about anything at work? My DH has been a miserable git the last few months and that is down to stuff going on at work. Hope things improve soon

DD loved her first day at 'big' school and H is at nursery today for the first full morning. No phone calls yet so hopefully all going well.

Suppose I ought to get off my arse and really start preparing for signing classes! Managed to spend over 2 hours in Cinnabon this morning with a friend whose little boy is same age as H and who also started this morning.

I just ordered one of these
Hoping it will help get the kids in line!

oh, I was expected to find it was a cattle prod

lol mos

DH continues his toddler behaviour today....
I asked him if I had done something to make him angry - he said no in a very curt voice and walked out of the room - wtf??!!

Ggggrrrrhhhhhhh

Afternoon all. Danny has another fricking virus so was up most of last night with the little insomniac (was worried was another ear infection so off to the emergency doctors this morning to find out it hasnt got to his ears... yet: fun way to spend a sunday morning but on plus side at least managed to find a lovely playground near the hospital) - hate that there are so many bugs doing the rounds at this time of year.

MrsY - glad the debrief went well.

Calico - sorry DH is being a dunderhead. Its horrid when the kids pick up on it too. Suggest ignoring him and his sulk and going out to friends with the kids for the rest of today.

MoS - glad DD2 enjoyed her day at school and hope H had fun too. Good luck with all the classes. New sign class for adults sounds good but keeping it casual and in a coffee shop sounds a v good idea. Wouldnt worry about H not saying much - he's the youngest of 4 so doesnt really need to talk much with all those people around to talk for him. You'll probably notice he'll start saying more stuff now he's at nursery.

hello all, been crap for the last few days as A's fever and grumpiness turned into full blown mini measles, he was covered in spots and absolutely miserable (and as per usual if the threads not about bum sex or an abusive dh you get no responses asking for advice on MN )

He's improving now but i'm getting all snotty and sniffly with some sort of bug and the weather is atrocious here so not getting up to much. Have shitloads of painting, varnishing, staining and building of furniture/swings to be getting on with this week though, on top of which my house is a tip so hopefully it won't be a nasty bug.

A took so long to learn how to use a bottle we haven't a notion of dropping it any time soon! He does use a Nuby Flip Top cup during the day though and occaionally steals the others sports bottles for school.

Calico, sorry your dh is being a tool.... when dp tries that shit I wait until the kids are gone to bed and then sit him down and tell him 'Either you tell me what your problem is and we talk about it like adults or you move out until such time as you can bahave like a reasonable human being but I am not living with you when you behave like this' 8 years and he hasn't moved out yet so it obviously works with dp

dinky Hope danny is ok and is feeling better soon.

SR Know what you mean, is why my visits to active convo is limited.
Hope A is ok and you're all coping.

Thanks all,

Dinky and SR hope your D and A are feeling better - are measals itchy?

MOS Hope big shcool and nursery continue to be popular!

SM, that looks pretty good, FC it works for you..

Off to bath M and then have a soak myself - will pop on later for more catching up, hope everyone is enjoying their Sundays. x

Oh no SummerRain - hope A recovers quickly and isnt too bad with the minimeasles. Poor little man! And good luck with all that home decorating/DIY you have headed in your direction... Danny still grizzly as all hell unfortunately but not much we can do about that. Have buggered my right shoulder some how so cant even bear to carry a handbag on it, let alone have a grizzly toddler clinging to it, so today has been fun Also seem to spend at least 60% of my time either packing stuff up or posting stuff on gumtree to sell so have v little time to myself to try and rest shoulder. Will be pleased when have finally moved!

ouch dinky Have you had it looked at by the doc? If nothing else they'd be able to strap it up and give you some heavy duty pain relief. sening you virtual tea and

My course material arrived today so it's back to the grindstone for me now, want to get well ahead so that when my second course starts in January I don't have to kill myself to keep up

A woke at 11.30 last night in agony with his teeth and by the time the gel and neurofen had had an affect he was so wired he couldn't go back to sleep... I gave up and brought him to bed with me at 2am and the little sod snuggled up and slept quietly all night.... if i'd known he'd do that i'd have gone up hours earlier with him!

Thought I'd come on and let you know that things have improved here as far as DS and his 'I prefer daddy to mummy' phase goes. DH has been at work all weekend so we've had lots of fun time just the two of us and he's been more than happy. Unfortunately as my DH works 12 hour shifts, including working 2 weekends out of 4, DS has a lot of time with one or the other of us and not much time with both of us so it's not suprising that he plays favourites I suppose.

Went over at the weekend to see a friend I met through NCT who's just had her 2nd baby. I was broody, I want another one!!! He was so tiny and so incredibly cute. Won't be happening for us any time soon I'm afraid, we can't afford double childcare.

As far as cups go, I seem to have bought every cup on the market to find the best and have settled on a Tommee Tippee toddler cup that has a spout. Seems to work well and doesn't leak. DS is a dab hand with a straw now so we try and use those as much as poss too.

DS is doing really well with words but most of them come out as a variation on the original if it's got more than one syllable i.e. biscuit is bittit, etc. At the weekend he managed Digger, I was v proud.

MOS I wouldn't worry about H's words just yet unless you've got cause to think there's a problem. I'm definitely no expert but I think at this age they're still taking it all in and learning so much and have still got plenty of time to come out with lots of words. I have a tight knit group of mummy friends with DCs all the same age as DS and they're definitely all at very different stages in terms of speech. Some aren't saying much at all, others are coming out with loads. I don't think it's anything to be worried about just yet?

QK Glad you're feeling better re your ds's 'fav' parent.
Don't worry too much about it, ds1 always preferred dp, from the minute we bought him home from the hospital. It used to really bother me, I remember being so upset by it, but it changes, ds1 then went through a phase where he wanted me all the time (guess what, that upset me too!) and now if dp tells him off, ds1 tells me daddy scared him, and if I tell him off, he tells anyone else that mummy scared him. Little freak.
My 3 year old still calls a biscuit a didis.

Luke's words aren't great. he says "share", he yells "my mummy" (then him and J will have a fight)
nana is banana, jew is juice, durdur is dummy and sarsar is any other word.

Spoke to my agency contact yesterday. She said she had feed back from the school and they were concerned because I asked too many questions.

Morning all - shoulder still buggered so off to the doctors for killer painkillers today. Having to pack every evening clearly not helping matters. Thanks for the virtual tea and biscuits SummerRain - much appreciated Poor A with his teeth - have you tried anbesol ointment on his gums (it numbs the area so immediate relief)? The only thing that works with Danny and his molars am afraid is anbesol combined with nurofen - by the time the anbesol's worn off the nurofen has kicked in so he stays calm.

QK - god that was quick work by your NCT friend! Not sure I'd be able to cope with a third with Danny at his current age: he's very full on (DS1 is pretty easy though so they even out). Glad things are better on the favourite parent front.

SM - I shouldnt worry about it too much: surely the agency told the school that it was your first job: they should have expected you would ask questions and give you suitable guidance. I know from when I'm working with junior lawyers that its annoying when they ask questions all the time when working on something with me - but its the only way they'll learn/know what they're doing and as long as its a sensible question (not a repetition of the same one over and over) I'll answer and deal with my sense of being annoyed. Is all part of the learning process. Were you the first cover that the relevant teacher had worked with?

dinky I can completely understand their view and position, their main priority is to get the children through the day with minimal dramas. I know that agency staff can often cause more work for the regular staff and it is not easy for anyone.
The agency told them I had 'valuable' experience, so I think it came as a shock when I told them I had not worked in a classroom before (I was asked if I had only worked in mainstream schools so I told them I hadn't worked in schools)
At one point, I was left standing in the middle of the room like a bit of a lemon, and when I went and sat with a child and started talking to them about their set activity, I was told that this particular child had invented her own way of communication and that I wasn't expected to attempt it. Fine, so what should I do then?
I only wanted to understand what the children needed and how best I could help them and the teacher.
Plus there was the needing to know how firm to be with them, if these refuse to come to workstations, should I be physically guiding them there? Or what?
I'm not taking it5 too personally now, I did the best I could and at the time felt it was better to check things than do anything to unsettle the children than necessary, but clearkly that was the wrong decision.
We'll just have to see if I get another appointment there or not.
At least now, I have a very basic knowledge of SEN children in the classroom, which is more than I'd had before (had never even met a special needs child)

Anyhow, sorry the shoulder is still bad, hope the doc can give you something nice a strong.
Have a good day x

It sounds like your agency oversold you SM - they should have been honest with the school to say that you hadnt had any experience in a special school but had experience of helping in childrens centres. It sounds like you did absolutely fine - the teacher should have told you before you went into the class room which children should be left to their own devices and how you should be dealing with them in terms of getting them to workstations. They are meant to know the kids best (though possibly not, given its a new school year and term) - bet your next placement will go much better. When I was doing my A levels I helped out in a local special school on Thursday afternoons (kids were aged around 8-9) and it is really difficult to turn up and just get stuck in without clear instructions from the permanent staff - so am glad you're not taking it personally and you did absolutely the right thing by asking questions. I would have done too.

Thanks dinky Everyone is saying they too would have asked questions, so that makes me feel better.
My main problem is that (as you all know) I am quite talkative anyway, so if a regular member of staff stood next to me and the kids were all running around outside, then I'd take that opportunity to try to gain some more info, but I thought that would be ok, as everyone was just standing around anyway.
Oh well, no use dwelling on it I suppose.