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  • Caro - poor M, hope she feels better by tomorrow.  S used to hate medicine too, then one time recently, I think when she had a throat infection in April, I started making stupid noises every time I squirted a bit in, and counted each one, and she thought that was a great game.  She now requests medicine at the slightest hint of a cough but it's generally Nurofen or Tixylix, not sure what she'd be like with a nastier tasting one!

    No experience of car seats abroad so can't help with that one I'm afraid.

    Anjelicals - I'm positive S would drink much less milk from a cup or beaker but then how much do they need at this age?  She has 2 bottles of 180mls (which I've recently reduced and might do further) a day, and always has cheese for lunch and usually a yoghurt.  Someone mentioned cutting down milk to increase appetite?  I just can't work out with her whether she'd eat better if she was hungrier, or whether being hungry would send her into such a tiz we'd be no better off image.  She's also horrendous before breakfast, in fact before milk, then cute as anything straight afterwards!  Last night she had one mouthful of her tea, having had sultanas and grapes beforehand.  Maybe I should just cut out snacks altogether but would that just make her grumpy?  It's not like she's fading away...!

    Just had a lovely morning in the park in the sunshine with a friend and her 2 boys.  Sophie and her little friend ran around chasing each other, picking up leaves and playing on the swings and slide etc - I sat on a bench feeding N for most of it as usual!  Can't wait till he's either quicker at feeding or on solids!  Now got a bit of peace as S was exhausted and has gone straight to bed and N is still snoozing in the car seat.  I'm on something of a mission to sort this tip of a house out at the moment.  Anyone got any ideas on what to do with all my old maternity clothes?  Do charity shops take them?

  • Blimey PP, that's a sure fire way to give a young girl an eating disorder surely?!  Just wait a couple of years and she'll be comparing what she eats and looks like with her friends, I think it's far healthier to just make sure she realises that chocolate is a treat...(and yes I would SO have spent the lot on chocolate too!)
  • I know! I just can't believe she did it. I think it's fair to say that most women can remember a time when someone passed comment on their weight, and it sticks like mud, even when the comment wasn't true. My dad told me at the age of about 12 that the red shorts i was wearing made my bum look big. it was only the past year or so that I started to wear red again, and I, like many of us on here, have had my issues with food.

    she's a silly cow!

  • oh no - that is bad, pp.  the best message around sweets and kids isn't that they make you fat, but that they can make your teeth fall out. so urging caution on that front would be more sensible really...

    just remembered what my original post (that i lost) contained that my successful one didn't...

    this morning, J woke up all excited about christmas (yes - i know; we have carols on in the car: i blame school - it MUST be their fault!). and when his dad phoned, he said 'i'm going to have christmas at mummy's house this year' (i hadn't said anything to him about this...)

    T then said 'no you are having it at mine'.  i was like 'WHAT?!'.  apparently i had said this. err, no! what i actually said was - why can't we just do xmas day together - for presents and a meal - and then go our separate ways.  at the time T said 'i can't imagine wanting to do that', and i said 'well i'm not going to make a big deal out of it'.  which - to be fair - i am not.  if it really means that much to him (and i am sure it will - he will want the brownie points from all the pressies, no doubt), then we will have 2 separate christmases.

    i had said to T that we needed to discuss xmas in mediation.  i brought it up in a session and he said it was too early to talk about it.  that, to me, means we have no agreement...

    and actually, when i have worked it out, it is my weekend this year.

    anyway - when T was off the phone, J then said to me 'why can't we have christmas together?', and i said 'because daddy may not like that idea'.  he then said 'perhaps we should call the police and tell them that daddy won't let us have christmas together'.  OMG! i was shocked.  poor child... and all i am trying to do all the way along is what is actually best for the kids. 

    in my mind, there is no doubt that best for the kids is, mum and dad swallow pride / emotions for a few hours and do xmas in one of the parent's houses (would be happy for this to be T's).  non-resident parent arrives at 7am; presents opened and breakfast. play with presents. have lunch; non-resident parent leaves.

    we shall, however, see.  christmas really doesn't mean anything to me, and if he protests and throws his toys, i will let him have it - this year.  but really, for J to come out with something like that.  image

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    Caro, would definitely second CM on buying a thermometer.  It's not something you use every day but I know if Kit seems to be burning up and it's useful to know the exact temperature so you can determine whether or not a visit to the GP is necessary (and whether the medicine - Calpol/Calprofen - you are administering is actually bringing the temperature down).  We have a 'swipe across the forehead' digital one; Boots I think.  Not mega-cheap but not dollar either.  It doesn't have to touch the child at all so handy to take temperature during the night if needed without waking them.

    CM, your manic weekend sounds like my idea of hell!  I don't really enjoy entertaining.  It takes me forever to decide what to cook - I am not a great cook although can usually manage to turn out something edible by following a recipe - and am paranoid about the food going wrong.  I made lasagne last weekend just for me and hubby - something I've made many times before but the white sauce just would not thicken.  Not sure why as I'm sure I used the same quantities I always use.  I have my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and my mum coming for lunch next Saturday and the thought of it is already sending me into a flat spin!  Need a nice simple (preferably one-pot) lunch dish - any ideas anyone?  Dessert may have to be something with plums as I have two huge bags of them in the freezer.  Maybe crumble but can I cook them with the skins on?  Not sure how to remove them!  I don't want to make jam with them as a) we don't really eat it much, b) I haven't got anywhere to store masses of jars of the stuff before I find people to palm them off onto!

    MM, yes I think most kids get grumpy when they're hungry.  So do some adults image  I find that after a certain point my blood sugar level just plummets, to the point my arms and legs feel wibbly and lifeless and I sometimes even start to shake.  And will bite the head off anyone within a 10-metre radius.

  • Oh dear PP!

    When M asked for chocolate again in the shop the other day I did say that we only have it once in a while otherwise we would get bigger and bigger and not in a good way. And she said 'Like Daddy?' ha ha!

    Since Aidan was dropping his milk and wasn't bothered with bottles I have finally got Martha drinking milk out of a cow cup instead of a bottle (I know - she's 2 1/2). She loved it so much though that I thought it wasn't a massive issue but since we have moved to the cup she doesn't bother with it really but is eating more food. Aidan also isn't drinking much milk at all now but he eats heaps so I'm not fussed.

    Caro - hope M is better for your trip. Have heard that you can get calpol pessaries if she really does object. Not sure if they are just on prescription though.
  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    Crossed posts - PP, that's dreadful.  Remember my dad saying to me when I was about 14 that I should "watch [my] bum doesn't get too big" and worse still, a "friend's" mum apparently commenting to said friend when they were discussing weight/size that I wasn't fat, "just short and dumpy".  That latter comment really stuck - I was 18 at the time and looking back at old photos, I was certainly larger than I am now but definitely NOT fat.  Our unflattering school uniforms certainly didn't help with a svelte outline either!  I get SO cross when young girls are made to focus on their weight/size and develop unhealthy relationships with food when they are perfectly fine as they are.

    CM, I had idly wondered how you and T were going to handle Christmas this year.  If you can both swallow your pride/emotions then obviously being all together for at least part of the day would be great for the kids.  However, I can understand how tough this could be for you.  If T is going to split hairs/be unco-operative though, then based on how the weekends fall it's yours this year ...

    Kit hasn't drunk milk for ages.  Sometimes he has a beaker of it mid-afternoon but he never has any in the morning/evening.  I don't think he's really had much at all since he stopped having a bottle at about 2 ish (can't remember exactly when we stopped the bottle - do remember that he just wasn't bothering with it any more and barely drank anything, just messed about with it).  He has lots of dairy though - soft cheese, fromage frais and yoghurt - so I'm sure he gets plenty of calcium.  He does like milk on cereal though and he usually has Weetabix which needs plenty of milk as it absorbs it so quickly!

    I would not spend £1 on chocolate image  I'm just not that keen on it.  I know that makes me an alien amongst women ...

  • Z drank hardly any milk once I stopped bf when he was 1.  I tried all sorts of cups and bottles but he just wasn't interested.  I really worried about it as everything I read said they should still be having milk - but what can you do?  Couldn't force it down him.   He did always have it on his cereal though and had yoghurts and stuff so hopefully he was getting enough calcium.  

    Anyway, I don't think he's suffered for it and, interestingly, he's just started in the last couple of months asking for milk as a drink.

  • Minks, yes plums with skins on fine. Just stick them in the dish quartered with some sugar, give them 5 mins blast in the microwave. The nstick crumble mix on the top. Also nice if you swop some of the flour for an oz or so of porridge oats. Yummy with custard!!! Hmmm...

    Good one pot lunch is JO's pork chops with parsnips and pears. Pears very in season. We had it for lunch on Sunday with green veg on the side. Does need a bit of light gravy as juices do run dry a bit, but tis yummy.

    See below. I personally have made the minted sauce, but its fine just with some mustard really.

    Jamie's recipe for tray-baked Pork Chops with herby potatoes, parsnips, pears and minted bread sauce from his book "The Return of the Naked Chef"  -  serves 4

    When I make this dish I ask my butcher to slice me a two-rib pork chop.  I then ask him to lose one of the ribs and a little of the fat and to bat the meat out slightly, leaving me with a huge pork chop that looks fantastic.

    8 pork chops, or 4 double pork chops
    1 x rosemary, garlic and lemon marinade *see below
    3 parsnips
    3 smooth-skinned pears
    680gr / 1 1/2lb potatoes, scrubbed
    salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 x minted bread sauce recipe **see below

    Rub and massage the pork chops with the rosemary marinade and, ideally, leave for 1 - 6 hours for maximum flavour.

    Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7.

    Wash the parsnips and pears and slice into quarters lengthwise, removing the cores from the pears, then cut the potatoes into 5cm/ 1/4 inch thick pieces.  Dry them with kitchen paper, then put them into an appropriately sized roasting tray with the parnips, pears, pork chops and the marinade.  Toss over to lightly coat everything then season and roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the chops.

    While the chops and the veg are cooking make the minted bread sauce.  It's great smeared all over the pork.

    *Rosemary, garlic and lemon marinade

    2 good handfuls of fresh rosemary, pounded
    6 cloves of garlic, crushed
    10 lugs of olive oil
    3 lemons, halved, juiced and skin squashed
    freshly ground black pepper

    Mix everything together and massage on to your chosen meat.  Leave the meat in the marinade until you're ready to cook it

    **Minted Bread Sauce

    3 handfuls fresh mint
    1 handful stale bread
    EV olive oil
    Salt and freshly ground pepper
    Red wine vinegar
    1 or 2  teaspoons Dijon mustard

    Finely chop 3 parts mint to 1 part finely chopped stale bread and stir in some olive oil until the mix has 'loosened.' Then balance the flavours by carefully seasoning and splashing in some vinegar to taste. The flavor improves with time as it sits.

  • Hubbie and I are going out together on Sat. Shock horror. I'm so excited image, but not so excited about having to stay with grandparents in yeovil to get night out, but beggars can't be choosers!! I'm sure ASK in Yeovil is fine. Probs going to go to footie during the day too.

    Just had melt down about TV and what cups to have their drink in. Arrhhh!

    I expressed 12oz at 6am before my run today. Thats how much milk I'm producing!!

    My two were pretty good and only had one bottle a day from 8 months, and the rest from a spouted non leak cup. They switched their bedtime milk to cup after a year. Harry now drinks very little milk or yoghurt, but eats cheese, and does have milk on his cereal and loves custard, but don't we all!!

    PP, thats really bad. I think the bad teeth is a much better way to go like CM says. I often say that to the boys when they ask for more apple juice or chocolate. Always nips it in the bud for sure, and they are very good at cleaning, having their teeth cleaned.

    Glad you're feeling more human JT. Always good when you get out of the house. We go all over now, it is amazing when you get over the fear of it all, and now I can't remember what it was like with just the boys.

    Right time to get them away from the tv, and doing something!!

  • 12oz!!! No wonder they were sore MM!

    I'm down to one breastfeed a day now, left boob has already dried up! Have found it pretty easy to drop them quickly but one NCT friend is still trying to just drop one without getting sore boobs.

    And any night out is a good night out MM, I'm sure ASK will be great, make sure you stretch it out with 3 courses and wine image (tasty looking recipe too btw).

    CM- that will be tough at christmas, but if you end up having christmas separately the kids will love getting a double christmas (I loved it when I was young, get more presents). Hope you get something sorted.

    PP - that is horrid! And as you say, us women remember everything (my Dad's wife laughed at how big my bum looked in my new jeans I was showing them, I was 14 - not a good age to have even the slightest negative comment about your body!).

    Caro - we're off to Ireland on Sunday (first hol since baby and time off for hubby, sooo excited!) and we are going to have to take our car seat as none of the car hires will supply a under 12mth backward facing one. Is that normal policy?! Tried all the big firms. We're taking one of our ebay maclaren buggys and the back carrier (as hubbys carry on) as expect we'll do a lot of walking. So I think we will have to check in the car seat. Must find something to wrap it in so it doesn't get destroyed!

    Maggie has been really grizzly the last few days, not really eating her solids and waking at 5am. Got her into bed with us this morning, haven't done that in months. Anyway, hubby reckons he can feel a sharp bit on her lower gum so maybe a tooth explains it?!

    Also saw a health visitor today to check whether Maggie should really be vomiting so much (I thought reflux got better with weaning?) and she said Mags should be on far more food and lots of protein/carbs. She's nearly 7mths so I guess I should get on with it, but she hardly eats what I offer. And the vomiting is normal apparently....
    First time I've gone to the clinic and won't be going again (although have to for the 8mth check) as I waited over an hr and Maggie was sooo bored.

    Interesting talk about beakers/bottles. Mags great on bottle and I do feel she's not great at her sippy cup because its just got boring water in it. And should she drink much water yet? She hardly has any, all goes down her chin.

    Final question! Had a discussion with NCT girl who said you can't do bottle at bedtime once they have a tooth/teeth because you then have to clean their teeth, Maggie always fall asleep straight after her bottle...

    Right, promised hubby I would go chat to him in kitchen whilst he made curry but instead I'm on here!
  • Wow CM, busy weekend ahead, but such a contrast to last weekend so sure you'll love it.

    Good milking, MM! I'm rubbish at the pump nowadays, but still feeding J every 3-4 hrs during day and then bedtime 7pm, he usually goes to 5am. I am still looking forward to dropping feeds (although this makes me feel guilty as well), because I'm sure this will help with my knees, which are still *no* better 3 months after starting physio, grrrr.

    Oh, MM, jealous about your night out, have fun!

    Caro, no words of wisdom from me, but hope M is better and you are able to travel safely on your hols, have fun image

    PP, what a witch! Not good. Just yesterday I told my mum I need a down long jacket for the winter here, as I'm already feeling the cold, and she said "but then you'll just look fat!". Erm, no, actually, I'll look like a skinny bird wearing a down jacket image Not one for diplomatic comments. That was after she told me I needed my roots done. Yeah I know!!

    Sonya, that's carp about having to wait, if there's one clinic that needs to be well organised it's mums and tots. Rubbish. So did they say that babies are normally sick a lot when starting solids?

    Had a biiiiigggg fright today, J had some carrot (stick, fairly well cooked - by hubby) and then some water out of his doidy and suddenly choked really badly, took him out of highchair and calmed him down, started to bf about 5 mins later and he suddenly choked again and went limp. OMG. Gave him a good pound on the back, seemed ok but I feel sick just thinking about it and what could have happened. Not sure I'm cut out for baby led weaning if this happens regularly image and I don't want to leave him with a babysitter if it's possible he'll choke. Yikes.

  • Thanks for all the words of wisdom image  M still not well, coughing up lots of goo, including all over the floor in sainsburys - people looked at me as if to say why was I bringing my child with TB to the supermarket.  She came home, slept, refused lunch, then we played at home all afternoon and she seemed to perk up and did lots of running up and down the kitchen, but every now and then stopped to cough her lungs up.  Refused supper, and by 6 was miserable and falling asleep again.  So she's going to love getting up at 4am!  Am grateful hubby and I seem ok so far.

    Have a good few days one and all.

  • Sonya - we hired a car aand car seat in Dublin when Martha was little - it was sh*te though - the most basic you can imagine - so you are probably better off with your own - at least you know its okay!

    Birthday cake made - slightly lumpy icing - but you can't have everything!

    Caro - happy hols!

    Johbo - hope J is okay. It is a bit scary when they choke, although I think mine have only really gagged, so not a full on scare. Then again I almost managed to choke Martha trying to get Calpol in her when she was tiny - poor thing - never tried to force it on her again after that!!
  • Wow, busy few days....

    MM - I can't believe how much you are expressing!!  Your body probably thinks it has twins to cater for again!!  Hope you are getting less pain now, and enjoy your night out - woo hoo!

    PP - that was a really awful thing to say, wasn't it?  Poor kid, hope she manages to shrug such stupid comments off.

    Joh - my blood ran cold when I read about your scare - he went limp??!!?  Must have been absolutely terrifying.  Max is still getting purees and yoghurts and some rice crackers, not brave enough to start him on anything properly solid yet.  We laughed this morning as I have been giving him a few Cheerios in the morning from my bowl and I held my spoon out for him this morning with one on and he managed to spit up neatly into the spoon all over the Cheerio!  Poor thing couldn't work out why we were laughing.

    Interesting comments about car seats.  Max still squeezes into his rear facing one so we are going to bring that back to UK, it's one that also fits onto the stroller so will be easy enough to carry, just hope BA don't damage it.  With all people are saying about the ones you get with a hire car, I think we have made the right decision.  I think they usually charge the earth to rent them too.

    CM - hmmm, Christmas.  Despite you feeling that the day itself is not that important, I'm thinking you are giving in too easily if it is scheduled to be your weekend.  From what you say, T NEVER considers your feelings if a day is scheduled to be his but there might be a reason you would want to see them, so why should you?  I'm usually one for an easy life but hate hearing how you compromise for him when he is so inflexible.  I know it is all about the kids, not about you or him, but still - why should you give in?

    Was out with the running group last night and there is a lovely couple who run who have been married for 37 years and have 4 kids.  The husband took me to one side last night and said that his wife had said I was the best 'new Mum' she had seen for years, I was so chuffed as not having my parents/in-laws around, I don't get any of that kind of feedback.  I did say that Max made it very easy as he is so well behaved and good natured, but I was imageimageimage inside!

  • Oh yes, Yve - good luck, thinking of you - hope something starts to happen soon.
  • Caro - hope you guys have a nice break and M starts to feel better soon, good luck with the 4 am start ...

    Kinsey - is Aiden's birthday tomorrow then? One year old already, where does the time go?

    PP - that's horrible of your SIL. What did she expect a child to do when you give them a pound to spend in a sweet shop, of course they're going to spend the lot. I never buy my girls sweets (much to their disappointment), I had lots of fillings when younger from too many sweet things and don't want their teeth to be ruined the way mine were. My dad always buys them chocolate though but I don't mind as that's once a week at most - also makes Grandad very popular in our house.

    Johbo - that's really scary, have to admit the whole choking thing is another reason I've not tried the baby led weaning. In fact we've only recently started Anna on some finger food (she's tried some toast and a little cooked broccoli and pasta pieces) and she's 8 and a half months already.

    Sonya - that's rubbish about not giving them a bottle once they've got teeth. All of my girls have always brushed their teeth and then had a bottle afterwards as babies and they all have perfect teeth. Anna has 2 on the bottom already and the top 2 have just broken through the gum too so I just give her the brush to chew on after her bath and then she'll have a bottle and go straight to bed. 

    I'm sooooo tired this week but I guess that's to be expected after Sunday. For the last couple of days been struggling to even stay awake at my desk and have had a few head-nodding moments where I actually almost dozed off at work. Went to gym at lunchtime today to use the cross trainer and am toying with the idea of an early morning run tomorrow though as am starting to get a bit twitchy and cross with everyone so think I need to get running again. Right, early night for me - goodnight all!

  • PP two things struck me - no 1, the child was given £1 to spend on sweets - what else was she going to buy?!  Also she bought 3 individual items thereby enabling rationing quite easily.  Actually it was 3 things that struck me - where did she shop to get 3 choc bars for £1?  I wanna know!!!  You can pay up to 69p here for a blimmin dairy milk! 

    I give Lou chocolate sometimes - my mum tried the whole restriction thing on me and it totally backfired whereas friends of mine who got sweets all the time simply don't have the same relationship with it.  Also, chocolate is better than pure sugar sweets that you suck and that leave hideous sugary remnants all over their teeth for hours on end!

    I am keeping up, kind of, via my bberry but my room at home with the pc in it is frankly uninhabitable cos it has so much junk in it. can barely find pc so we are just avoiding the room but it does mean I can't post as for some reason the bberry won't let me login on RW, only on facebook.

    CM, my bro in law and ex sister in law have been separated for years now, almost as long as they were married.  They managed a very civilised separation and Christmas wise they do it year about to wake up in the house with presents (and santa when they were younger, now they are 16 and 13) and then about 1.30 they are driven in to the other parent's home and have Christmas lunch and spend the evening there.  TBH that tends to be the better part of the deal as the rest of the family pile in about 5pm and we have a big present swop then.  It does mean both parents get something on christmas day.

    At work, better do some!

  • soooo tired. was up until 1am talking to my germans. image

    that sounds such a scare, johbo

    and TurboT - imageimageimage indeed!

    MM - i think if you do quite a bit of expressing your body doesn't regulate milk supply as easily. when J dropped his night feed and i used to express for him first thing in the morning, i used to express 10+oz off each boob!! because i stopped feeding him on the boob at 12 weeks and then expressed everything from then on, i used to express off everything that was there, so it kept refilling, i guess. i suppose if you feed on the boob, the signals are different and sometimes the baby takes less, so perhaps it is more easily regulated and easier to cut down? i don't know.  all i know was that it was HELL cutting down with J, as it is REALLY hard to cut down from 20oz to nothing! and boy, was i in agony if i didn't empty my boos in the morning.

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    TTid, bet you were made up by that comment!  It's always nice when people make positive comments about you/your child.  I was in Marks & Spencer with Kit the other day and because he was a very good boy while I was looking at furniture, testing lots of sofas and going through books of fabric swatches, I bought him a book.  He put it on the counter himself, said "please" and "thank you" and was generally chatty with the lady on the till.  She said what a lovely, polite little boy I had and how you don't get many like him these days.  Felt very chuffed!  (She doesn't, of course, see what he's like behind closed doors at home sometimes!)

    MM, that sounds delicious - I think I've actually got that book of Jamie's; I know I have of the Naked Chef ones.  I always shy away from meat dishes but forget that if I buy the meat from a butcher I can ask them to prepare it as the recipe requires - usually just get our meat from Sainsburys as no time to buy some things in one place and others somewhere else.  Was quite surprised yesterday though when the Sainsburys shop was delivered that they had not been able to supply chicken breasts.  No chicken?  What's that about?  You can't get a much more basic item than that!

    CM, tend to agree with TTid.  Don't give in to T too easily.  Why should he always have things his own way just for the sake of keeping the peace?  You don't share a home with him any more so no need to back down on things if you feel strongly about them.

    JohBo, LOL at your mum's comments.  Subtle as a brick!  My grandma was about as unsubtle as they get.  I have very fine, straight hair and she ALWAYS used to remark what a mess it looked, pretty much every time I saw her, and tell me she wished it was curly.  And used to moan all the time that she never saw me in a dress - well, one Christmas I wore one when we went to see her and all she could say was, "Don't like you in navy."  Grrr!

    Kit does get chocolate and sweet things in moderation.  I don't see the point in depriving him of things - and he doesn't actually seem to have much of a sweet tooth anyway.  He prefers a plain biscuit over anything chocolately and the other day chose some breadsticks and a cheesy dip instead of a fairy cake!  (Strange child!)

  • Minks I don't use any special pork chops, just the usual ones you buy in the supermarket.

    CM, I don't express all feeds, just 10pm feed only, but have reduced that now to 2oz although there is more in there, but boobs seems fine, so going to drop it this weekend. Only express morning feed once a week on weds as its the only time of day I can run. All other feeds are BF for now unless am racing or want some time out.

    Madam very grumpy today, which is a nightmare, usually so happy. But crying and crying today, either teeth, hungry or has a cold like the rest of us. Which one? No idea? I really want to lay off feeding her solids for now.

    Johbo that sounds very scarey. Your Mum would drive me nuts too. Mind you my Mum comes out with some howlers too, but not usually directed to me personally, not very often anyway!! My roots also need some work, but its not going to happen for a few weeks for sure!

    Oh she's off again, only 30 mins till nap time. Just hope she sleeps!!

  • poor S! hope she is happier after a nap. agree re: solids. you don't want to go there until you REALLY have to.

    oh and forgot to mention - one of my germans turned up last night and as i was giving the steak and kidney pie in the cook pot a stir she announced she didn't eat meat!!!!! a german that doesn't eat meat?! anyway she had apparently forgotten to read her email and therefore hadn't noticed the one saying that if you had any dietary requirements you needed to let you host family know. but wouldn't you think to do that ANYWAY if you were veggie?! anyway - no harm done. defrosted her a lentil and chickpea curry that i had in the freezer for the kids. and she had it with pastry and veg image

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    Good job you had a back-up CM - if that had been me I'd have gone straight into panic mode, while cursing vegetarians under my breath (apologies to those veggies amongst us!)

    MM, cool, will just use Sainsbury's pork chops in that case!  My roots need doing too but will have to wait until the end of the month when I get paid again!

    Still can't decide what to do about Kit and preschool.  Only one of the two I looked at the week before last can take him now, the other would have availability from January.  The one that can take him is held in the village hall.  It's OK, but there's only a tiny concreted outside play area which they told me they don't use much.  The children just stay inside, which I don't like as Kit LOVES being outdoors.  The toys all looked rather old and tired too.  The other preschool is held in a light, bright community centre and although the outside play space is also concrete, there's a canopy so the kids can go outside in all weathers.  They also have use of the sports field beside the centre and have teddy bear's picnics, sports days etc. which sounds really lovely.  The sessions are also more structured; the village hall preschool is essentially just free play.  Not overly bothered as for Kit it's more about getting him to socialise with other children, which he doesn't seem to like doing very much.

    On top of that, from January he'll be eligible for a place at the nursery attached to the primary school we hope he'll go to next September.  This is full-time only though (i.e. 5 mornings a week).  Now that he's not at his old nursery any more, he isn't attending anything and he was only there two afternoons a week.  Just not sure whether going from nothing (at the moment) to full-time (in January) would be too much for him?  Or whether to go for the preferred preschool 3 mornings a week from January and not go for the primary school nursery at all?  Or go to the village hall until Christmas then move him, which seems pointless given he struggled to settle at his previous nursery.  Just so confused as to what's best for him (and us!)

    Sorry for "me" post but we need to make a decision about what to do.

  • If it was me Minks I would go for the preferred pre-school from Jan. I know my two wouldn't cope with pre-school full time just now, and you do have the vouchers so cost is no issue. I would also go for a couple of mornings at the other pre-school just for half a term. or you could if he settles in well mix and match, and from Jan do one morning at the village hall pre-school and two mornings at the other? That way he gets to meet lots of different kids?

    S sleeping. Hurrah! Have cleaned bathrooms, dusted and now having lunch. Just need to do some hoovering now!!

    Ooh CM, what  nightmare, and yes you would have thought she might have mentioned that!!

  • i have just spent THREE HOURS on the phone to our blimmin service desk in india.  ARGH!!! my laptop was blue screening and it is new so i knew this wasn't right.  called them and they said 'what the error message?'; err - it's a blue screen; gobbledegook! then she said 'could you take a screen shot?' errr?! no!! if you know anything about IT, you know that a blue screen is a terminal error and you can't do anything to your machine when it is in that state!

    so then she went away and about an hour later came back and said i needed a patch loaded.  she then proceeded to try to download the patch onto my desktop but it wouldn't run.  so she went away again and then came back and tried to download it onto my P drive but it still wouldn't run.  (why did she think it would run if she loaded it on a network drive rather than my hard drive anyway?!?!?!).  anyway eventually she did get it to start, and i looked at what the file was - it was a patch for microsoft vista.  but we have XP.  argh!!! so i had to tell *her* that she was wasting her time as she had downloaded the wrong file and perhaps that is why it wasn't working.  honestly!!! and we actually use these people to deliver services to our customers! scary...

    i would do as MM says, minks, and try him at the non-preferred pre-school for a couple of sessions until the place is available in january. although i actually WOULD probably send him to the school nursery.  he will be there from sept anyway and, certainly, J would have got more out of 5 sessions of nursery by that stage than he did at pre-school.  remember, Kit will be 4 in feb and at the pre-school there will be kids who are (presumably) just 2.5.  he will probably be quite bored - J was.  he never really enjoyed pre-school that much and i think he would have got a lot more out of school nursery.  that is certainly what i will be doing with E when the time comes.

    he will also have to get used quite quickly to doing full days at school come september (J was doing 9-2.30pm on his first full week at school; and then the next week he was 9-3.15pm). so to build his stamina and also set expectations that school is every day, i think you can't beat 5 sessions a week.

  • Sonya - I remember worrying about the bottle/cleaning teeth thing as S used to fall asleep with her bottle at bedtime, but in fact it was never a problem cleaning her teeth afterwards, and eventually she took the brush and had a go which is what she does now and we "finish it off" for her.  We also used to worry about how to cope when I stopped bf as it was such a good comforter, but that also was never a problem!

    Interesting about nurseries, I'm just trying to get my head around them.  S will get free places from next Sept when she will be 3 but I have no clue about nurseries at all!  Can anyone give me an idiot's guide?  I kind of see them as an alternative to playgroups at the moment but having never set foot in one I'm not really basing this on anything!  I think I should be putting her name down now?

    Did a sponsored toddler walk this morning for playgroup, S walked nearly all the way and I think she was worn out but wanted to carry on and not go in the pram.  N snoozed the whole time, woke up for a feed then fell asleep again and has been asleep ever since!  Total of 3.5 hours now...think I'll wake him up for a feed in a minute otherwise he might feed all night image.

    I had a thought about the bottle/beaker thing - I remember starting S on water when she started on solids I think, and it took a while of me putting it there for her and her either ignoring it or hardly having anything, but eventually she had enough water and now always has water in a beaker.  Maybe if we do the same with milk she'll start off not having much but get better??  She does love milk, it's just a question of avoiding morning/bedtime strops...

    Hooray for nights out MM and lovely to have comments like that TT image

  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭

    Thanks CM and MM.  Both valid points.  That's a good point you make about the age-range at preschool, CM (and am amazed you remember when Kit will be 4 - but then E's birthday is the day after his I think?)  Logistically school nursery will be more difficult for us because he currently goes to my mum's on the days hubby and I are both at work, but there will be a way we can make it work - we will have to come next September anyway.  I do wonder if part of the problem with his previous nursery was that he was bored.  Kit's language skills in particular are very good for his age (everyone comments on it so it's not just me thinking that) and a lot of the children at his old nursery just couldn't communicate with him in the way that he needs.  I've noticed he gravitates towards older children and adults with whom he can have a 'proper' conversation.  I was also thinking along the same lines as you re. him having to get used to full school days come next September, so wondering whether getting him used to half a day every day would be a better way of preparing him for that eventuality.

    CM, totally feel your frustration with help desks!  Ours are based in-house but the impact of the recession last year meant that the department was trimmed by 2/3.  Obviously this has had a major impact on support - you're lucky if any request is actioned within two weeks.  Call centres based in India drive me nuts too - they don't understand how the systems in the UK work (I'm thinking of banks, utilities companies - and my particular bugbear, BT).

  • Camryn (2yrs 5 months) still has a bottle of milk some nights, probably about once every 3 nights. It's the only way she will drink milk and her big sis was the same, took her night time bottle til she was about 2 1/2ish and at 14 she has never had any fillings, so i wouldn't worry about teeth. Both of mine always wolfed their bottle down before bed too so I never worried about it affecting the growth of their teeth. Think the best thing you can do for teeth is avoid juice and stick to water for main drinks.

    Both my kids are skinny minnies so I have no problem with them eating a £1 worth of chocolate bars, they eat very well, plenty of fruit and veg etc, so I figure they need the calories. If I felt my child had a weight problem I wouldn't be sending them off to the shops with a £1 cos of course they'll spend it all on sweets. Poor little girl, someone should give her Mum a taste of her own medicine- shout and bawl at her and tell her what a terrible way to treat a young child and show her pictures of teenagers with eating disorders. You can't blame an 8 year old for being overweight, it's their parent who is at fault. I would never let on to a child that they had a weight problem either, would always address the problem as 'the family' are going to eat more healthily and exercise more.

    TT ;0)

  • JG - the nursery attached to the school or in the school (usually) is where kids can go from their 3rd birthday. you have to do 5 sessions a week and they have to be all mornings or all afternoons.  it's more structured than playgroup or most pre-schools (but not all - pre-schools do vary a bit). not all schools have them.  those that don't sometimes have a pre-school associated.  some schools have a pre-school AND a nursery.  so kids can do morning in the nursery, lunch club and afternoon at pre-school (you have to pay for lunchclub and pre-school then), so they are basically doing a full school day from the age of 3.  this can be useful when they have older siblings at school.  or if you have a child who is old for its school year and needs the stimulation.

    anyway time to drag my two germans off to rehearsal!

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