Polly D

Am loving the addition of all the crisps in these dishes! Our slightly strange family staple (and my hangover cure) is: plain boiled white rice, squirt of ketchup and a fried egg on top. It's a poor man's version of a proper Spanish dish called 'arroz a la cubana' but this is how it's arrived in SE London 36 years down the line.

Ah good to hear from you, and glad you're settling in okay. Totally natural and normal instinct to have re leaving the boy while you do something adventurous. There's a series on BBC1 at the mo, a 4 parter on Sunday nights in case you can get it on i-player, called Single Father. Mother of 4 kids gets killed on her bike, leaving Dad (David Tenant) to bring up the kids. I felt sick the whole way through watching it, decided never to cycle to work EVER again, and that I would start writing my son letters telling him what he's like and what I'm like so that if I died he would know (imagining that my husband would be a bit rubbish at that kind of thing). I even thought: "I know! I'll hide the letters in his red book and then they'll be found". I'm probably confessing a bit too much here, and I'm not even drunk, but irrational or not, the idea of leaving our bubs to fend for themselves is heartbreaking.

Awh sillywoman, I AM tearful! Lovely tale x

Brilliant trickery! Yipppeeee, salad, thanks mummy!

Agh, mine too (20 months). He definitely throws things when he's frustrated and wants to show he's angry: e.g. if he's playing with something at a playgroup and someone else tries to, ahem, 'join in', then he (my son) will lob whatever he's playing with off into middle distance so no-one wins. Or at breakfast he could be eating his weetabix and then he'll spy a banana which he wants and so it all goes wrong, chucking everything off the table in a rage. I end up shouting 'don't throw' and feeling really cross with him. He knows, I'm sure, what he should and shouldn't throw, i.e. a ball: yes, his cup: no. I feel like it's a really unattractive character trait of an otherwise usually fairly affable boy (well, this is how his grandparents describe him).

Blimey, our cleaner usually does more than required and I'm constantly feeling guilty about it. It's v poss that womanofdulwich is right: can you talk to your cleaner?

My big worry is a wheelie bin full of two flats' worth of two weeks' worth of nappies Crossed in the post with mrsw

Thought this was quite an interesting site. Did the calculator thingy which gave me some 'food for thought' ha ha, no pun intended. But also made me feel bit guilty.

This cartoon is very popular in Spain currently, and although it's probably aimed at little ones younger than your oldest, it might just suit her as it's for language learning (I mean for her language learning, it's not intended for that). And maybe your youngest will pick something up too. http://www.pocoyo.com/ I've got a DVD of it if you want to borrow and see whether she's interested. Send me a PM if you want to borrow it. You could also see whether there's anything of interest here: http://www.grantandcutler.com/ I used to work there and they have a great range of things for kids: stickers, flashcards, nursery rhymes etc. Unless she doesn't seem interested full stop I don't think attempting to learn a language can ever be a waste of time/money, although 1-1 classes at her age might be excessive.

Would she sit on your knee and look out of the window? Or too much faff on a busy bus. I usually try to placate R with raisins and a biscuit on the bus but it's pretty hard.

I rang JAGS yesterday and you don't need to be a member: just drop in for the session with ?3. Seems we may see a few of us there!

Gaviscon, and on and on and on. You can even get it on prescription from the doc so free.

Anyone tried these classes lately? Am thinking of taking my son (19 months). He loves football but I suspect he might be put off by a shouty man and a whistle but hope it's worth a go. If anyone has been lately with a little one and has anything to add, I'd love to know. Thanks

My friend too: http://1000reasonsimabadmom.com/

Like you Lochie, my mum always said the same thing but I had to put my son (19 months) on a course of antibiotics a few months ago, for a suspected ear infection and the doc cheerfully said 'if he seems fine after a couple of days he needn't finish the course'. So...who knows?!

Ugh, bad luck. How about if you put some books in his cot at night so he might look at them in quiet for a bit in the morning? Sadly (and unhelpfully) I just don't if there's an answer. R has been waking and crying loads in the night lately but I suspect/hope this is a tooth thing.

Turn the monitor off! snowboarder Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > randomv Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Are you sure it has nothing to do with naps? > > I really don't think so unless I'm just doing it > all wrong. We quit the morning nap recently as > internet/book sleep gurus suggest that could help. > No help. He now sleeps for a max of 2 hrs (if > I'm lucky) from about 12.30 - 2.30. He's tired by > bedtime and lights out at 7. He practically falls > asleep over his lunch. He won't sleep for longer! > So basically has a max of 12hrs sleep in a 24 hr > period. > > Oh well I'll just keep going. Just wish I didn't > hear him wake! I do know it could be (and was) a > lot worse....Blimey when I think back..!!

I'll probably be bashed around the head for this but my son did exactly the same thing at 5 months and I suspect it was due to hunger. While I'm sure Fuschia's explanation has more credence than my suggestion, given the science, I still look back and wish I'd started weaning my son at 5 months rather than waiting until 6 months as the HV advised. However, I must point out that I'm not in the health profession, just a mum who was in the same boat as you one year ago. Good luck

You can buy the table from their Lack range which seems to me to be more or less the same and only costs ?4.99.

What makes me grumpy: people assuming that all parents are selfish. Where would you like me to stick my buggy quite possibly containing sleeping child? Should I really drive everywhere even though we have a good public transport system? Then you'd moan the roads were clogged up with smug mothers driving outrageous cars. Get over yourselves fellow grumpsters. Being a parent does not automatically make one selfish. And if I'm on a bus with son and buggy and a wheelchair user got on, I would of course move and/or get off.

Could it be bleach?

Your good deed for the day has been done Waynetta for making me chuckle at the end of a very long and stressful day.

During the week Village Way on Lordship Lane usually cut kids' hair for a fiver - or free for their first time - but at the weekend it's a lot more because they're busier of course. Have taken my son there twice: v helpful staff who didn't bat an eyelid at a screaming toddler.

You have my total support and sympathy Fi but has this woman been a friend for a while, and is she often smug and superior about life, i.e. work, home etc? Maybe she's just not your cup of tea as a person. Nothing worse than coming away feeling like you're the only one in the world who feels the way you do about your role as a parent, if it's at all negative but I think we know, if only by looking at the kindred spirits on this 'ere forum, that we're not alone. Take a look at this blog written by a friend of mine in Costa Rica for some chuckles and light relief: http://1000reasonsimabadmom.com/

We were camping in Dorset in the rain and I couldn't find size 5 wellies anywhere! Just as R discovered puddles. Good tip re Peckham. Does the shoe shop on L Lane sell them?