June 08 - a Coalition for all (even those with May or July 08 babies).

[DomesticGoddessInTraining]

Abdn liked the title so I just went ahead!

Afternoon. Just getting the thread back on my list. Not much going on really.

Anyone else's DC's keen on play dough? P suddenly showed an interest at playgroup a couple of weeks ago. I bought him some in a set that was in TK Maxx on Friday, and he is v v keen, and keeps dragging the box out of the cupboard. Only trouble is that it seems to require alot of input from me. Makes a change from trains and TV though.

Abdn - how did it go?

Neenz - loved your photo on FB, Daniel looks gorgeous. What do T and E think?

Spider, I find play-doh takes lots of Mummy input (we don't do it often!!!)

Ethan's new thing is to stick his hand down his nappy (typical man)usually at night and the result is that his willy moves and he wees up out of his nappy and all over his pyjamas. Will have to look for some sort of sleepsuit with fastens down the back, that sounds like a straight jacket doesn't it

Gosh it's quiet on here just now!

Abdn, hope the job is going well. Sorry to hear about your rubbish flight.

Eddie, a CM sounds like a good option for you - especially as you don't need holiday cover. How are the settling in days going? Could you organise a CM sooner rather than later? FWIW I'm not convinced that their reaction to settling in days are a fair reflection of how they get on. S was a dream on his settling in days but was terrible when he actually started. He loves nursery now though, although there are days even now when he gets really upset.

Rolf, your DH definitely owes you a lie in!

Spider - S likes playdoh but we just really some playdough, rolling pins and stampers (all from elc) rather than any of the actual sets.

I've been feeling like a terrible mother over the last few days. S has been really whiny and had a major meltdown when we were out yesterday. It was awful. He wouldn't go in his buggy and was screaming and screaming. PEople kept staring at us and I found the whole thing very stressful. I could have quite happily just gone and left him in the street and just really wanted to tell him to shut the F... up. I didn't do any of these things obviously but it was just horrible. I feel like I'm constantly having to say S don't do..., S stop doing..., S you must listen to mummy when..., etc. We started introducing a time out which involves putting him in his bedroom (only for about 30 seconds to a minute). However, he can now reach the door handle and comes straight out again. I don't like the idea of holding the handle and effectively locking him in. Any tips on using time out to effectively improve behaviour would be very welcome

Spider did you go to ITNG? We saw Hairy McLairy at the Festival yesterday which was good. Biscuits did you know that Penguin was on at the Festival - I think it was you that recommended the book to me?

DG could you put a gate on S's door instead? With time out they don't recommend that you stand right outside the door anyway cos it gives the child an audience. Leave him for two mins as well. Could he be teething? They get their back molars around this age don't they. Could explain the meltdown in the buggy. Calpol is my answer to everything

DH has been in work today so I got the three kids up on my own for the first time and it was not too bad. I got Daniel settled first with a feed and then it was like having just the twins - we forget D is there. Last night he fed at 10.30pm then 3.30am and 6.30, and we got up for the day at 7.30. I am finding night times pretty easy atm altho he is still sleeping on the bed. T and E went to the GPs after breakfast and a friend came for lunch so it has been lovely. I feel like I am on holiday but its back to normal tomorrow with dh at work and me with all the kids all day for the first time

Thanks Neenz. I think we need to dust off our copy of toddler taming and attempt to regain the upper hand. I think DH and I have both been quite tired out and stressed by difficult bedtimes, general whinginess and regular tantrums recently and have managed to turn into snappy shouty parents when we weren't looking! We've just had a terrible bed time and are both just sitting down now to get on with studying (me) and work (DH).

I had forgotten that we thought we might put a gate on S's bed once he was in a toddler bed - will have to mull it over. I don't really want to fit another gate to another door, but a pressure one could be a bit of a PITA as we have a number of games we play that involve running out onto the landing from S's room so that could be an accident waiting to happen! I'm quite sure it's not teething so won't be breaking into the calpol just yet.

Anyway, sorry, I'm being very moany. Neenz, it sounds like things are going really well with you - I hope tomorrow goes ok!

How is everyone else doing? Anyone else got a particularly whingy toddler at the moment?

Poppy, if you're lurking - hope things are going ok with you.

Valium/Dewin - what are these rolo things you're on about on facebook?

Quick post to pass on sympathies to DG, yes, very whingy toddler at mo - and tantrums over the most ridiculous things .

No answers I'm afraid - keep reminding myself it's only a phase and counting the days til I go back to work .

Not really a whingy toddler but rather an exuberant, boisterous toddler who loves to try it on. We are getting some intentionally naughty behaviour which is rather exasperating. E.g DH announced that I could save myself from lifting P into his carseat as he can climb in and out himself. Yesterday, I thought I would embrace this new age of independence and of course P climbed in past his seat and sat down on the space next to his seat, waved at me with a big grin and said "bye, bye" his new favourite word. He refused to get out, or get into his seat, and eventually climbed into the driver seat. I had to haul him kicking and screaming out and the force him into his car seat. That was yesterday and today we have had various permutations of the above scenario.

Infact DH is getting some uncharitable thoughts from me in general in addition to the car seat situation:

A) He brought P back from the park on Sunday and today when I went to get P's shoes I found crusty dog poo on one shoe.

And worst of all -

B) I have a glucose tolerance test in the morning and can't eat anything from 9pm until 9.30 tomorrow. DH has just plonked himself at the end of the sofa and is wolfing his way through a tub of chocolate brownie Ben & Jerry's.

That's cruel, Spider.

DH is on his way home. Shall I pretend I have fallen asleep and not let him in?

Neenz glad things are going so well.

Sorry about the stroppy toddlers. I have reached that point in the summer holidays when I have had enough . So although T isn't being too bad, she picks up bad habits from the others and finds it hilarious to display them. She argues with them and says "yeh yam" or "no not"

Grounds for divorce I think Spider

Rolf - ooh yes, lock the door, tell him we all put you up to it.

Neenz - sounds like you're coping really well.

DG - I used to hold Stefan's door handle, when he had time out at this age

Not got a whingy toddler - just a VERY loud one, today we tried looking at some old photos of Tristan at 2 years old and Ethan was outraged that none of them were of him, he got so worked up about it that we had to start saying yes they were. Obviously life without him is not possible in his mind, but OMG he was so vocal about it.

Just have to share this - my lovely friend here with all the children arrived at the door with a huge tub of freshly picked blueberries the other day, mil sat and de stalked and deleafed them for about 3 hours yesterday and today she baked the most delicious blueberry pie,

Rolf - yes, you should. Most definitely!

Spider - my DH would in fact be sleeping in the shed as a result of such behaviour!!! Sorry to hear about the car seat incident. Having flicked through toddler taming this evening, I can't help but think that all the tips and methods of coping with toddlers are absolutely fine if you're at home and time is on your side. If you're trying to get in a car, or trying to get a toddler into their buggy so you can make it to the bus stop in time, or if you're running late for something, you've got no chance!

Eddie - glad to hear that you're looking forward to starting the new job.

Rolf, you know if you lived in Scotland the school holidays would be over already...

Now, was it Dewin who got pg envy at pg announcements even though not ttc? My one good NCT friend is pg and an old school friend who had DD at the same time as DS has just announced (I'm only in touch with her via FB) and I'm feeling all very envious. Not broody as such, but I guess just envious that they're at a stage where they can happily have another. I really need to finish my postgrad and we really need to move before we can contemplate it (not to mention the fact, we haven't decided that we def want to ttc for another).

Actually, after all my whinging ( where does S get it from) I must say that when I was putting him back in bed for the umpteenth time tonight he did stroke my hair and say 'miss oo mummy' .

Deb - S thinks all baby photos (including his own) are pictures of his baby cousin!

Hmm, not sure I'm actually looking forward to starting work, just think it would be easier than being at home at the moment .

A is adamant that all baby photos are M and gets v cross when I tell him some of them are of him!

Hope GTT test goes ok spider x

"Grounds for divorce I think Spider

Rolf - ooh yes, lock the door, tell him we all put you up to it.

Neenz - sounds like you're coping really well." I second Debs on all of the above

Spider- you must be starving, but hope GTT goes well.

Eddie- slightly envious of you going back to work. But only slightly.....

DG- firstly, Rolo Morsels are very easy: you need one of these You smoosh pastry into the tin with the smoosher (that's a technical term btw) and add pone Rolo to each pastry case, then bake in the oven until melted and the pastry is crisp. Easy, and particularly good with squirty cream on top!!

Secondly- you are not alone. I am continually telling CJ to stop that, listen, blah blah blah. I feel like an utter nag. But we are having reasonable success with the naughty step. I also sometimes if she is having a giant paddy, shut her in a room and leave her for a few minutes, then go back and ask her if she is ready to join in again. It does seem to work. I thnk that sometimes they get into a tizz over something and don't know how to back down gracefully. When out and about it is harder, but I stick to the naughty step system. If I need her to do something I:

1. ask her nicely once
2. Tell her to do it
3. Tell her that I need her to do it, and she can either do it herself, or I will do it, and if I have to do it, she will have to go on the naughty step when we get home.

I also use the naughty step when out and about if safe and convenient.....

and now I'm back to sounding dull.......

LOL at grounds for divorce comments.

Just drunk my pint of lucozade. Yuck. P thought my burping was most amusing though. I am only having the GTT as a precaution in case they missed it when I was pg with P. My consultant said something along the lines of: "Yes P was 9lb 13oz but no reason why you shouldn't be able to VB an even larger baby . We will do a GTT anyway in case we missed it last time." I didn't find this entirely reassuring.

DG agree that it is harder when you are out and about or on a schedule. I think one of the benefits of being a SAHM is that we are rarely on a strict time schedule. So if P wants to take the mick over putting shoes on I can just say "fine, we won't go out" and leave it. Still maddening though.

Valium rolo morsels sound yum. Just what I wanted to read about this morning . Actually most of all I want a cup of tea.

Spider you have to love consultants like that. I bet he wouldn't like to push something that large/larger out of one his orifices. A friend of mine did give birth to an 11 lber vaginally though, and went on to have two more children so it can't be that bad...

Good luck with the GTT Spider, must be horrible fasting like that. at your DH for the ice cream! Cruel.

Good tactics Valium . The DTs are still pretty good on the whole, I think they complement each other in that T is quite forceful and E more timid, so if he tries to push in on a toy she is playing with she will let him. If I see it happen I move T away and that actually causes more problems cos then we get the tantrum! But it's not right that T can dominate her like that even tho it is more peaceful if I let him. When they are tired we get more whingy behaviour esp at tea time which is annoying because E does not eat very well anyway so she'll often reject the main and just have a yogurt and milk . I caved yesterday and gave her jam on toast instead but usualy I don't give her an alternative. She can't live on jam on toast altho I'm sure she'd like to. She always has her porridge in the morning and eats lots of fruit, it's just the meat/protein bit she is a bit lacking. I was a very fussy eater at her age too - all I ate was Vegemite sandwiches and orange juice so at least she is better than that!

Another good night here with Daniel - he is so gorgeous I just want him to stay this little forever! I didn't really enjoy this stage with the twins cos I was so tired so I am loving it this time

Thanks Sybil. How is the house? I keep repeating to myself that Deb's Ethan was an ounce heavier than P and she is about half my size.

Hope the GTT is ok Spider. V smart thinking from your consultant though .

I did let DH in! I couldn't leave him out in the car all night. He's in court today, in the court we call the Suncentre .

Why is it called that Rolf? I'm probably being thick it not being obvious. Actually I am jumping to some prejudiced conclusions about use of fake tan on Merseyside.

the house is really nice but very different from old house so taking some getting used to. Its a lot older (Edwardian) and very pretty with those diamond paned windows. It is also colder than the old house and with the sudden drop in temperature I am seriously considering putting the heating on!

The problem is we only had one room in the old house so we were all always in it. Now we have three reception rooms and a conservatory as well as the kitchen diner so we are really spread out. The kids are leaving trails of toys everywhere and i often don't notice until I go into a room to close the curtains by which they are in bed.

DH on the other hand, loves loves loves it, but then, hes not the one doing the extra cleaning etc!

I was thinking of The Sun newspaper spider!

sybil, your house sounds absolutely gorgeous but I know what you mean about the extra cleaning.

For those who asked about sleeping, M is now sleeping through . 7pm til 6.30am usually which is such an improvement. This has coincided with A's sleeping being horrendous but at least we've got the difficult one cracked!

Actually, that would be funnier and more logical than the real reason . After a particularly grim hearing we started calling that court the Suncentre and now use it for any court he's appearing in if he's not looking forward to it.

I read somewhere that Liverpool has the highest per capita consumption of fake tan!

Oh god, of course it's Liverpool isn't it - The Sun newspaper isn't read there anymore .

Opens mouth inserts foot . . .

Lol at highest per capita consumption of fake tan!

Hooray for M's sleep Eddie . That's wonderful.

Sybil your house sounds gorgeous. I love those sort of windows. I know I never post pictures here or on FB but if you feel so inclined it would be lovely to see it...

We're looking at paint charts for the bedrooms. DH wants to get the bathroom done first, but I'm holding out to get a few rooms looking good rather than have everything a work in progress. We he decided to have lots of small study areas ( 6 desks ) rather than extra bathrooms (I wish I'd fought harder, actually) so we have just 1 bathroom, so getting it re-done will be grim. It's the naffest bathroom you've ever seen, with a corner bath, "gold" taps and burgundy tassels (I'm taking a huge gamble here in assuming that none of you think that sounds nice!). Visiting children think it's gorgeous, and I'm quite sentimental about it as T was born there.