The Creped Crusaders - new thread!

[wilbur]

New thread for chatting. Oh and swapping S&B tips.

Having a manic day here - INSET day at school and I have 7 kids (inc my 3) over for lunch. While also trying to "work from home" and talk to removal people.

Thanks, folks. I have a) had a big talk with dd, b) spoken to the gp and c) been to circuits. The latter may seem a bit callous, but frankly I needed to burn off a bit of something or other. GP and I are both of the opinion that actually this is normal teen angst, gingered up with stressing about the social probs relating to the xchange and worry about dh, but she is also showing signs of being over-anxious so needs to be assessed with a view to getting some help with that.

GP does not think (and he's known her a long time and knows all the back story etc) she is doolally and doesn't want to land her with a label. I think the friend that dd confided in has cranked this all up a bit. Especially as dd has now told me that said friend was taken to the docs recently by her mother because she had expressed similar slightly self-destructive thoughts. Hmmmmmmm. Trouble is, dd has red flags all over her records because of her suicided dad so the school felt compelled to go on red alert.

I have now explained dh's diagnosis to dd, maybe she will worry less now she knows the score rather than pretending she doesn't know and imagining the worst, which I think is what she was doing. She will have to make up her own mind by tomorrow about what she is doing about France. If I didn't have to get up bloody early tomorrow to drive dh for an early appointment with oncologist in Poole, I would have some .

Sorry about all the drama. Blimey, it has been a bit of a week, one way and another..

Chocolate, Strops, do you have chocolate? Or "choclert" as DD2 calls it...

DD2 had to write a haiku for homework. We had a lot of shrieking about not knowing what to write about or how it worked, and five minutes later, she produced this:

This is a haiku.
They are only three lines long.
And sometimes they rhyme.

I don't think the teacher can criticise it for form...substance, maybe, but it is technically correct. and

Stropps good to hear re stuff.
MrsS :)
Anyone read this thread? Funny and heartwarming...

Yes, BD, I was following that one - lovely, wasn't it!

Stropps, great that it's all more positive. And I think you are right to hand the decision about doing the exchange over to her

MrsS, I love the haiku! Ruby, what was yours? My greatest moment of shame was when a dreadful poem I had written (all eco - WTF, this was the 70's ) was published in the annual school magazine. DM still has the said magazine!

Excellent haiku MrsS!

Updates on the shituations chez Strops: dd is adamant that she does want to go to France, so I am off to get her some euros and hope that she hasn't changed her mind again by this evening. She is now paranoid that "everyone will think I'm a loony"

Dh had v. useful meeting with the oncologist this morning. Very nice doctor and has made dh feel much better. Looks like treatment will start in early-mid July. Dh has some tablets to take now, which will stop the cancer growing in the meantime.

And I am off out with some friends this evening for mucho

Yay on all fronts!
When DD is moaning about doing something, we often find that giving her the responsibility of choosing whether to do it has a positive outcome

I am meeting a friend for a drink tonight, but as DH will be at the cricket with DS, I will be doing the gym run - no alcohol

But as DS on Scout camp for the weekend and DD at a sleepover on Sat, we will be going out to see a local band (ukulele, Herbs) - dancing and !

Gosh stropps, I'm so sorry you had such a scary day yesterday, although I'm glad the school/GP etc helped calm things down. It does sound like a combination of things - normal teenagers getting together to hype things out of proportion and also some genuine anxiety on your dd's part. What's the betting she goes to France and has the time of her life?

Hope your heart rate has come back down now, but it couldn't have come at a worse time either, could it? Anyway, good news about your dh's helpful oncologist being so reassuring.

I am humming over these trousers. I wear wide leg trews all summer, every summer, and my current crop are alll past their best and I also don't want drawstring again as the string gets in the way all the time. Plus I have big arse and smaller waist and have trouble getting tailored trews to fit. So these have elastic back and flat front - what do you think? The reviews for them are mixed.

Not sure Wilbur. They could be pretty voluminous. And are ££££.

Spotted these on Uniqlo's website. Nice or frumpsome?

They are a lovely cut Wilbur, but £££ and anything linen seems to crumple as soon as I look at them!

Herbs, yours have an elasticated waist!

I know! But only at the back! I thought that might be forgivable.

And anyway, so do Wilbur's!

My friend with twins is coming down to London next weekend, and has asked if they can stay the night. It would be lovely to see her, but her twins are Such Hard Work. And DP gets all frazzled about it. It would also mean moving DS out of his room, into ours, so guests can take over his room.

I'm hoping our other friends are going to offer to put her up! They have a proper spare room, and a guest bathroom, but live in an immaculate, newly done-up posh flat, which doesn't mix well with three-year-olds.

Mid ridiculous situation with high maintenance NCT friend. After decreeing that everybody must be invited to everything (after she missed out on a trip to a park), she has now invited some people and not others to her daughter's birthday party. I am not one of the chosen few. I don't know if she even knows that the non-chosen know the party's going on...

Strops. Glad your DD is still going to go to France. I think it will be the making of her. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, and all that.

I think the Uniqlo ones would be too tight over my arse - I have this problem a lot with trousers - if they fit at the waist I can't get my bum into them . Hence looking for some real palazzo ones. Agree re linen crumple factor, tho, might have to rethink.

Which haircut?

this one

or this one?

I am quite inclined to go for the short one as I think the second has mullet potential and I am trying to get away from the "mullety/woman over 40 haircut". I'm also going to go for brighter highlights and am going to try and get someone else to do it rather than the usual mullet woman. I should probably go to a "proper" salon, but this place has the advantage of being a) cheap b) quick and c) not having to make an appointment.

Although I am not sure my hair has ever been that short...

MrsS, I think I have the mullet cut Gwaan - be daring!

I like the 2nd cut - more flattering round the face, I reckon, and as long as you keep the layers on top long, it won't go mullet. And it's hardly short!

Should I just embrace the mullet then?

I like the first one. That's always how I want to look when I have my hair cut, and am then disappointed when I don't. The fact that I'm 20 years older, two stone heavier, and less genetically gifted that whoever that girl is makes no difference.

Re trousers, I too have issues with Uniqlo clothing, which seems to be designed for 13-year-old Japanese girls with no discernible curves. I don't quite know what I was thinking.

I'm considering some coloured jeans/chinos for my Lyme Regis hol. Probably cobalt blue or bright green. Not too tight, not too 'low-slung crotch', and preferably magically flattering. Oh, and cheap.

Blimey Oh Riley, lots to catch up on.....

Strops - I think now your DD has had her melt-down she probably feels 10 times better and will hopefully have a fantastic week in France. Fingers crossed....

Wilbur - speaking as someone who tripped over her wide-leg trousers at work this week while walking upstairs with two urns of hot tea, I must urge caution (I cracked my knee on the edge of the step, then sat in a pool of hot tea to recover, giving myself a wet arse for the rest of the day. No lasting damage, though).

MrsS - I like both haircuts; the second one is possibly more high-maintenance; I would need to put in a few hours with the Babyliss Big Hair to look like that.

Anyhooo.....I went shopping today; popped into Primark to look for something to wear for the Rewind 80s Music festival we are going to in August. Well, I had to pinch myself; I thought I had inadvertantly gone back in time. The place was awash with CND symbols, chain-print leggings (a la Gucci), stretchy lycra minis, teeny Jane Fonda shorts and a veritable sea of neon lace. I bought a truly heinous bagful of tat, which DD1 promptly raided; she has been walking around all evening looking like a Bananarama reject. Do "adults" really wear this stuff?