Crepes, Cats and Calamari

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Here you go.

Auriga

BTM, how bloody childish.

DD1 rolled in on the dot of 11. She's in the habit of asking when we want her back. I should have fessed up to pretty well never checking her schoolwork but she has a pretty good work ethic and gets things done.

I also feel I should admit I pretty well never cook at the weekends. Though I had cooked the ratatouille we finished last night with sausages. DD2 and DP accompanied it with DP's mainstay of oven chips. I had sweet potato fries which are surprisingly nice as well as being a Proper Veg. And Lidl prosecco.

Rudy, that coral dress looks v orangey on my tech but coral is usually ok on me - maybe I should order it as well!

Thanks for all the support/suggestions re DD. So far she has been v resistant to involving school because she thinks it will make things worse but I think it might be worth a try.
There are actually 6 of them booked - one is an old friend (who is also good friends with friend 2 so a bit caught in the middle but seems to know no more than DD) and 2 others who are OK with DD bit send a lot of time with friend 1.
I am also worried about her going away with them for the same reasons. There is no way of getting the money back it is all her hard earned cash and she/they had been planning to go away for years

Drat, BTM, what are these teenage girls like? I really find it difficult to comprehend what they think they are doing: yes, I (and DD) had fallings out with friends, but it never lasted long. It all sounds so much more serious (and nasty) now. Like PPs have said, I would be tempted to cancel the holiday - 3 is not a good number.

Auriga, sorry the sciatica is so bad again, what else can be done. I hope the tree planting goes well and the weather brightens up for you. It's absolutely glorious here, although cold.

Lalsy, you have relieved me about the Sketchers, I thought it was just me. I have walked badly since a child and at one time wore some specially made inners in my shoes (wonders what I did with them - mmmm, ponders). I will have a look at the Geox, Hatty, although I have a code for the Hotters for 30% off.

Rose, fortunately my head is just about the only place where I still have hair (well, and my chin!). I sympathise about the loss, though.

Still pleased with my temporary teeth, and smiling when I catch sight of myself in the mirror.

X-posted with BTM. Hopefully if there are six of them it will ameliorate the situation then. Poor kid.

Rudy you are right about taking on a puppy. This has been a long thought out thing. I have wanted a dachshund for 37 years but we never got involved with having a dog because of various ailing cats or child responsibilities (!) it didn't happen. The people with the puppies haven't responded with their address, so prob not happening.
Auriga, damn sciatica. I feel for you. You shouldn't be in pain. Can you up the meds so that at least you can exercise. Walking was good for me.
BTM, bloody girls. Poor dd, so awful for her. Teenagers can be utterly vile, but I'd be thinking if some kind of intervention. I think they need a bit 'guidance' over what is acceptable behaviour. Mollys advice spot on.
Stropps, cheering you on !

Dd has moved house and is settling into her own bedroom (yay) in a student ( yay) House with a pal ( yay) I think lessons have been learned. I hope so anyway, but you never know what challenging shite she will come up with next.
More applications to finish today.I am crawling out of slump gradually.

Well DD is up - she didn't have much to drink apparently! And in good spirits - the other girls that she went out with last night were lovely to her and after Friday night out too, she is realising that she has lots of friends, even if those 2 are being horrible

Cremo, that is great news about your DD - hope she has a fantastic time there!

Auriga, sorry about the sciatica. Hope the tree-planting went well.

I am of you MI never having to cook on the weekend. Even if it was oven chips, if I hadn't had to cook it...

Whip 'em into line, BTM. Seriously, I do feel you do too much for them all!

BTM - DD2 had a situation like this last year. They kept sending texts saying ypu have to work out what you've done. DD2 told them to fuck off and went with other friends. They have never spoken since. They were supposed to go on holiday together but luckily nothing was booked. DD2 was obviously supposed to grovel to fit in. Much manipulation. These were 18 year olds. Girls can be total bitches.

MI, I'm a bit under the cosh atm! TBF, DD does say she would cook, so I really ought to take her up on it. No-one will eat if DH cooks

Hatty, that sounds about the size of it - so sorry your DD2 went through it. My DD won't grovel (and too bloody right) but she would apologise and try to make amends if she genuinely has done something to upset them. It's really the holiday that is the issue, plus the having to sit next to "friend" 1 in one subject.

BTM, I should have thought before I posted. My bad.(I had just had a row with DP about something else, but that is no excuse.)

(And I'm just cooking lunch)

No worries

Hatty, I told DD about your DD2 and that cheered her up a bit to know she's not the only one who has been in a situation like this!

I am doing shepherds pie and making soup. I am mainly doing this to not think about work situ. I am also trying to convince dp to cancel holiday and suck up the loss (we wouldn't get money back, but we haven't paid for it all either and I just don't think we can afford it).

BTM sorry to hear about DD and Rudy about DS - that is just so horrible (but I also suspect just bloody thoughtless too....)

Oh BD

BTM, posting as another whose dd has been through similar and come out the other end wiser and happier. In dd1s case it was a DoE expedition rather than a holiday that she had to grit her teeth through. I never found out what the root cause was and don't suppose she did. But the experience didn't kill her and she is now much better at making friends and being a friend and has a much wider friendship circle. And all of that has made her much more emotionally resilient. I don't expect this helps you much now - I remember feeling helpless watching her go through it but with hindsight still think it was right to leave her to it and resist the temptation to try and sort it for her. I hope it ends happily for your dd too.

BTM - it was the complete mind games that were so awful - they wouldn't even tell her what she was supposed to have done. She was expected to work it out and then apologise. She was also very upset that another girl went along with it because she didn't want to be pushed out of the group.

BD - so sorry about the holiday.

Hatty that sounds like almost the exact same scenario! MrsW sorry for your DD too. We are trying to keep out of it as I think they are too old for parents to be getting involved. DH reckons mediation wouldn't work because "friend" 1 seems to have decided to cut DD out of the group and wouldn't want to change that.

So DD has to put her big knickers on and woman-up. Hopefully it will be the making of her!

Gah! Teenage girls. I hated them, even as a teenage girl. I got shut out of my group one day - they just turned their backs and wouldn't talk to me - and I never understood why. I just ignored them back. For the rest of my school life. Perhaps not the most mature response, but I had no idea what to do.

Fans of my glasses odyssey may be interested to know I've just picked up my Asda varifocals, and I'm quite pleased with them! Slight swimming feeling when I move my eyes rather than my head, but I am also hungover, and have also just been trampolining, both of which are probably not helping. Middle-range vision isn't ideal, though, like people's faces or a computer. Will have to experiment with head waggling.

DD1's nemesis from her last school (invited the entire year, except DD1 to her party) enjoyed a moment of fame last year when she went with Brooklyn Beckham. DD1 allowed herself a small smile when he went back to Chloe Thing.

Most of them are lovely, though. I like teenage girls. And there is a lot of loyalty and friendship amid the angst.

My sixth form was full of rather thick and bumptious teenage boys who hated clever girls and were mostly very unpleasant to me but I'm not about to say that all teenage boys are awful and I'm sure I'd get a well-deserved reproof if I did.

I agree, MI. dd had this at primary - it was horrible, I look back ashamed we did not do more (we didn't know the full extent). At secondary, her friendship group went to great (and exhausting!) lengths to make sure they didn't take sides when individuals fell out, and looked after anyone feeling insecure. Most of the teens I have met through my two are delightful - bit bonkers but delightful.

Watching great painting thing on TV , which has entertained me with their renditions in paint of Floella Benjamin ( remember her! From Playschool)

Settling in for CMW weepfest and SSGB Len Deighton thing. We have been watching a bit of The Man in the High Castle as well, so am a bit up to here with moody dystopian TV series'
We are having a pick n mix tea, with falafalalalalalfels,🎼salads, various and big rips of ciabatta and hummus.
Dog trail gone cold. Back to browsing kittens. Plan was to have both grow up together. Please don't tell me I'm mad. I've known this for some time.

Apologies for ridiculous teenage girl generalisation - I was extrapolating from my own miserable teenage years.

MI - DD1 still encounters men at uni who are threatened by clever confident women. I feel this continues throughout life. Look at Trump.

Agree Lalsy, the teenage friends that come round are lovely on the whole and quite energising.

Crem - Is Floella still going strong? I remember her on Playschool too.

Am unsure whether I'll get to watch CTM this evening. Having to watch an interview with Fillon at the moment. I'm hoping SSGB revs up a bit.