were into september not long now frantic label sewing, shoe buying and general getting organised and breath!!

[bodenaddict]

hi ladies here is our new thread

Oh I've been to Seattle (just for one night and a day), on my way to a trip to the Rockies. You're right though, your DD might struggle a bit going straight back to school.

thanks for the advice Acinonyx. She likes apricots - will shovel some down her in the morning! She always does tend towards constipation, and she definitely doesn't poo at school. When you say go easy on the dairy - do you mean cut it out altogether, or just not eat lots of cheese? She has a cup of milk at bedtime - should she stop? (sorry to pester you with questions but you seem to be a bit of an expert on this!)

Hello - just making sure I don't lose this thread.
Had a bit of a wobble yesterday - boy was weepy at school complaining of sore ear - trouble was the sore ear kept changing sides of the head! Not quite sure what the problem was, think he was just extra-tired, bit of a shock going back after half term. He was fine today though.

evening all

Thanks for your lovely comments about ds . I am rather fond of him!!

Sorry about the poo issues. Very very tricky. Poo and friendships, both tricksome and out of our control.

Aranea - that's brilliant news of your dd moving around the social scene. She sounds so like my dd, looking for a 'best friend'..

Another unbrilliant day here. DS seems very unsettled at school after doing so well before half term. When I asked what I could do to make things better for him he said "take me out of my school, and send me to the same school as dd, where i was happy" Arse. I do have to say that I think he's slightly putting it on, but either way he doesn't seem very settled.

Anyway, just because I'm so excited by the new biscuit emoticon, I'm going to use it . LOL LOL.

Oh moodlum - they really know how to get you where it hurts, don't they? Do you think he knows you're anxious about that?

he knows it was a big deal, whether he went to dd's school or the one he now is, although we did try and play it cool. Because DD went back on Monday, and he was still on HT he obviously came with me to pick her up, so its suddenly been refreshed in his memory, iyswim?

Apparently he tried to kick someone today, which is really out of character for him, and when they asked him why he did that, he said that he was scared the boy was going to hurt him? The teachers handled it really sensitively, but even so, they did say it worried them that he said that.

And he's only just gone to sleep, so I can expect more distraughtness (its a new word I just made up btw) in the morning.

Sorry - I'm banging on a bit this evening

Aranea - I was told that dairy and eggs are to be cut back but we really struggled with cutting the dairy as dd would live on cheese if she could and loves her milk. It's not so bad now, but in the past if we were waiting anxiously for a delivery I used to ration her to one cup of milk a day and no eggs.

Oh how I wish dd would eat fruit in the morning.

moodlum - you have Exposed a Weak Spot to your offspring and it will be milked shamelessly.

Hi everyone - Not posted on here for ages but have been popping in to read up on how all the lo's are doing. We had a very quiet half term, I had yet another bad cold & was feeling yucky with morning sickness. Luckily dd seemed quite happy to spend most of the week at home drawing & playing. We are having friendship problems too, that seems to be so much harder for them than the phonics etc. My dd has got a fan club of older girls who she spends lunchtimes & playtimes with & a girl in her class who idolises her but although quiet & very nice doesn't want to share my dd with the older girls. Dd gets very frustrated about this yet yesterday morning said girl was playing with some other girls instead of dd & dd was very upset.Their teacher has been off since the last week of term, she's had an op & will be off for another 3 weeks ish. Dd seems to be coping with it well, the classes are being covered by current staff although lots of different ones, the head had them one day & he looked a bit frazzled by the end of the day. According to dd one boy kept pooing everywhere so he had to keen cleaning up everywhere, I thought this was quite amusing.

THanks Acinonyx. I have now brutally denied her her yoghurt fix, and provided dried apricots, baked beans and apples aplenty.

Hello roundabout! Sorry you've been feeling ropey - but very glad the pregnancy is obviously going well!

Ooof.... if it's not one thing it's another.... dd1 now says she doesn't want to go to school because she is fed up with having to sit on the carpet and learn letter sounds when she knows them already. And she doesn't want to do PE because she doesn't like running when she is tired, and the jumping hurts her feet. Oh dear. The PE is no great surprise really (I'm pretty sure she is mildly dyspraxic) but I am a bit worried about how she feels about the letter sounds. She says they're all having to do them because some children don't know them yet. Though she also seems to be under the impression that the teacher probably doesn't know them either, which is why the teacher keeps having to ask about them. Do you think I should mention it to the teacher, or will she file me under 'nightmare pushy parent' forever if I do?

Aranea - I love the fact that your dd thinks the teacher doesn't know them either - LOL - that's why she keeps asking!!

I know that doesn't help but good on her for just not getting why they keep asking

Another week down.....enjoy your weekends everyone.

Hi all, mega busy rl. Will be back soon x

Time to iron those polo shirts again!

haha I was going to post that myself this afternoon golgi.

Has anyone else's lo turned into a bit of a brat since returning to school after half term? - a loveable brat obviously! My dd is a nightmare at the moment, stroppy, calls everyone a poo poo head, has dramatics at every request for her to do something. Then if she's spoken to about said behaviour she collapses on the floor in tears saying she's really tired. I know she is tired, she looks shattered but she's having enough sleep but even wakes up stroppy. Am hoping it's just a phase, she's good as gold at school she obviously saves it up for home!

Yes roudabout (or should I say, poo poo head ), that all sounds familiar. My DD has an' half got cheeky. I really hope it settles. I guess as well as being tired they also feel quite independent now and pleased with themselves....and perhaps a bit big for their boots. I'm dreading her coming out with 'whatever' or 'face, bothered' 'talk to the hand' etc.
It really feels like so much change, so fast, for them. I talked to DD a bit about war yesterday when the remembrance service was on. Until now she hasn't known anything about wars (we're lucky in that, I know). But I felt I had to mention a bit about it as they have someone from British Legion coming in to speak in assembly this morning about Armistice day and why we have the poppy symbol. I don't know, I'd've like to have kept all that from her for another year - she was living in cbeebies world just recently.

Paisley - I know what you mean. My dd's non school friend is only 2 weeks younger than dd & they are living in different worlds now. My dd is so grown up in comparison & yet a few months ago they were so similar. I wish I could have kept her in C Beebies world a bit longer. At dd's school they talked about war & poppies a few weeks ago & dd keeps talking about fighting & dying & naughty people now. They do seem so young for it, she doesn't seem affected by it though at all. Lets hope it's a short phase!

Mine seems to have gone the other way and become civilised by school - he is keen to please and will do anything for a sticker!
He needs very careful handling of an evening and will dissolve into tears/tantrums at the slightest problem (wrong spoon, wrong flavour yoghurt, you know the sort of thing).

He knows about poppies as we have a war memorial in our village which is covered in them, and he was looking at the list of names, we explained that they were soldiers who were killed in the war. I have a sneaking suspicion that he thinks "the war" was fought with light sabres though.

Hi everyone!

Yes the real world is invading the lives of our preschoolers great school kids. Ours had to do a little piece on a saint or another person who had died. So that took a bit of explaining. Better from me than someone in the platground. Still though.....

How sad about all these tiny ones having to learn about war. Ds said he needed some money for a poppy tomorrow and I asked him if he knew what it was for. Can't remember what he said but it was very innocuous sounding so I think the teacher didn't tell them too much. They don't go to full school assembly though so maybe, if some of your reception classes do, that's the difference?

He was really grumpy after school today. He even hit a chair and he never does things like that as he's a gentle soul.

He had been absolutely fine for weeks and I so tempted fate today by thinking to myself "oh all that stuff about exhaustion and them needing a snack the second they leave school doesn't seem to apply to ds". well it did today.

I wonder what was different? He slept well last night and the only thing that changed was they stepped up the learning with him slightly today as he did a one on one reading thing. Could that be it??! Gosh can we go back to pure play then!?

Or did I just tempt fate?!

I found myself slipping with the drink and snack thing. I am back to bringing a fresh orange and a small sandwich for the car. The fall out is unbearable otherwise.

DD grandfather was in the Korean war [and came home alive and well, if changed] and so we do talk about the concept of war. We focus on the dignity and bravery, how lucky we are they are wiling to keep us safe if we need them too...rather than the fighting. Oh it's so hard, I want her to grasp the significance of those wars deeply, before boring history classes beat any interest out of her I don't want her to have nightmares though. They are so so young.
Think of those in African nations, baby brothers in the army and little girls victims of army terror campaigns

I have avoided talking about the poppies this year as dd has been very disturbed by references to wars, weapons, violence and death. She's a bit of a worrier and does nto deal well with narrative tension even in children's stories. I fear the world will be a challenging discovery.....

Yes, we haven't discussed poppies at all. I am dreading having those sorts of conversations really - Acinonyx, my dd is just like yours in a lot of ways I think. She gets very upset about any kind of jeopardy in stories. I've tried to explain the need for it in a narrative, but she is much happier with stories with no tension at all. She takes things very seriously and very much to heart.

So as mums of children with oddly similar traits.....are we thinking pantomimes would be a disaster? I'm thinking flashback and nightmares, my mum thinks 'it's behind you' and so on would go downa storm.

Anyone have thoughts?

I hate pantomimes. So we won't be going. I have to go to one with my school, I find them unfunny, and sit there terrified the whole time in case they decide to pick on me in a fake-jolly "let's make fun of your teachers" sort of way.

My boy would probably enjoy it this year, he likes Gigglebiz on Cbeebies and that's very pantomimey.