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One person. Somewhere. That certainly must sum up the entire profession! Honestly when people ask me about teaching I say don't do it. You get a steady paycheck and summer is nice, but there is no dignity left to it.

Teacher pensions are paid by tax money because......... wait for it......... their income is supported by tax money. That's how the public sector works. So where else would the pension funds come from?

Recently while teaching I had a typically crappy day with the little angels and I thought to myself: "Do I really hate myself this much?" Life's too short; I'm out. If I have to spend one more day in a classroom I think I will off myself. Where would I fit into that statistic?

I went through this with my son as well. He was a winter baby (in Canada)so being trapped indoors with the non-stop screaming for months on end certainly pushed the limits of my unconditional maternal love. What could possibly harder than not sleeping at night and then having a screaming baby in the day? I know I went more than a bit nutso for a while. Totally relate to thinking your baby doesn't like you. Is there a limit to how much a new mum can terrorize herself? One day we went out for a walk along the river and of course he screamed the whole time. A couple of old busybodies approached me and warned that they had seen a coyote, and to be careful with the baby. I looked at them like they were insane; what creature would come anywhere near us? And then I started to think the most sinister thoughts..... "Um,the dingo ate my baby" ::o Obviously I did not feed my baby to coyotes that day.;-) I told my husband later and we actually had a great laugh over it. Still do. Edited to add: I never ever thought about actually feeding my precious boy to any coyotes so I hope nobody will start on the evil mother hates her baby wants to feed to animals stuff. If you have loved every second of motherhood and it's all been $hits and giggles, than I salute you. But our first six months were hard hard hard.

I can never sit still for: Johnny Come Home - Fine Young Cannibals Mirror in the Bathroom - The Beat and of course Vogue - Madonna Special mention goes to Superstition - Stevie Wonder because he just must must be on every dance list

I have this totally freakish need to do the horror movie run up the stairs at night, like someone is chasing me. If I'm the last downstairs, I have to go upstairs, turn all of the hall lights on, and THEN go back down and turn off the downstairs lights. Then the stair run for life. I really do know that nobody is chasing me. It's worse with basements; have been caught by my husband doing the shameful run/scream/look back as I go up the basement stairs. There's really nothing you can say once you've been seen doing that. Not much of a problem in the UK obviously. I grew up with one of those really grumbly "Home Alone" type old basement furnaces. I blame that.

Lovely post Molly.(tu)

Except nobody actually knows where Wales is outside of the UK. ::o Honestly, if you go by television then the UK is London(Mayfair)/some village where Miss Marple lives/ and a massive generic country house with girls in frocks. Maybe Mr. Bean. Oh and Austin Powers. A bit of Braveheart and Trainspotting for Scotland. Don't forget the Victorian dentistry, that's a popular one.

You only get to see west coast/ east coast/ southerners on British tv. The Kardashians are NOT average Americans. There is a huge big middle, that's mostly where the normal people are.:)) Too boring for telly, though. Although I think there are desperate housewives everywhere, judging by this family room!;-)

In all fairness, to assume that one show represents the entire American birth experience would be like watching an episode from a hospital in the Orkney's and pretending that it represented care in the UK. I know it's fun to generalize about the American system but it's not real. High production American shows about real life........ are not real life. I have to laugh about what I sometimes hear about "Americans" based on television and the media.

Could it be a latex nipple on the bottle? I know if I wear latex gloves my hands really react. Maybe try silicone and see if it's any better? Just a thought.

Actually I think people feel bashed because they are judging themselves harshly for having to make a poor choice where there is really no other choice. Sadly it seems like your worst critics are always the mums who don't can't empathize. PND coupled with the agony of not being able to feed your brand new baby creates a perfect storm. Not to mention that if you are not able to breast feed than you miss out on the therapeutic effects of oxytocin. Bottle feeding is a lot of work and those mothers are that much more exhausted. Combine with whatever issues led to BF problems in the first place and it's a lose lose lose situation. To peddle horror stories to women in this situation is just incredibly insensitive. Nobody is pretending that formula is as good as breast, but you never hear the caveat that statistically your child will be just fine on it once you adjust for societal factors (maternal health and education, access to health care etc.). When will people start to look at this as the very real and serious mental health issue that it is?

jennyh Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sophiechristophy Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Re: evidence showing nutritional benefits of > > breastmilk vs formula: > > > > > http://www.bellybelly.com.au/pregnancy/baby-formul > > > a > > > WOW - managed to get half way through, think i > might go and slit my wrists now. Thanks for that, > what a lovely balanced article in the good spirit > of this discussion. it would seem that my > daughter has beaten the odds by surviving 6 weeks, > still, she may well get scurvy or grow another > limb or develop some hideous killing disease in 30 > years time. Then again so might smokers, > interesting. *hugs* It's not worth it jenny. I promise you, soon enough the children will all mix together at school and you will never be able to guess who was bf and who wasn't.

Now THAT made me laugh! Demented hours of shush/pat/pick up/put/down. Two years of my life! Oh those torturous nights, hundreds of them all in a row........ brings back all sorts of un-mummy like words and thoughts......;-)

I think everybody wins. Mum gets a break, and junior gets to socialize and learn a few things.

I have on several occasions found my four year old dusting my living room. When I ask what he's doing, he says "I can't stand to look at this dust for one more minute". He does quite a thorough job, I have to say. It may be time to hire a cleaner.

I have been following this since the first walk in April and have not been able to quite pinpoint what it is that doesn't sit with me, as I am also confused about the message. Of course rapists are bad. Of course rape victims are not guilty. And of course the Toronto police officer should have thought it out before he spoke. But I think what I find uncomfortable is how it has twisted and contorted into some sort of umbrella feminist movement. The girls who had the original conversation with the campus officer are among the least oppressed in the world, on one of the safest campuses in one of the safest countries. Even in the nineties, when I was spending my days and nights on Canadian campuses, I never felt oppressed, or afraid. Most people were socially enlightened even "way back then". Canada has also had various "take Back the Night" walks for at least twenty years. This is essentially what I would have thought the original Slutwalk was about; to send the message that women will walk when and how they want. I have a feeling college students today are barely even aware of it. If they are really serious about female oppression and violence against women, then there is a huge gap in the story; the most oppressed women and by far the worst victims of violence in Canada are First Nations women and those in the street trade. Statistically it's shocking. So if these girls are serious about this, where are they in the conversation? I've not once heard them mentioned. And of course I realize that anyone CAN be a victim. But these women ARE the victims nine times out of ten. I guess that is where I get uncomfortable with how the original story has mutated throughout the world. If these girls were really committed creating change, they should have started with the actual victims living around them instead of going straight to Facebook and the media. To be clear, I do not in any way condone the police officer's comments. Or rape. Or horndog college boys. etc. etc.

Yep that certainly is a terrible, no good, very bad day! Hope tomorrow is better (kind of has to be, right)? Good venting!:))

We need more sausages.

Ruth_Baldock Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's too hot to start, I shouldn't have said > anything, I'm overtired, and I want ceebeebies and > my dummy (oh...no...wait) > > *retreats* It's okay, it's okay, sshhhhh, ssshhhhh, there there. I'm not playing today, had enough. You're okay though...... ssshhhh (cue African lullaby and Sleep Sheep wave sounds).

zeban Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sorry HH, on a public forum you can't really > dictate who can comment on a thread! Pleeeeeeeease don't start. It's the Family Room.

Maybe there should be a "rant" section on here for frazzled mothers being driven mad by their loved ones? :)) That way you can get it out of your system but only people willing to shout "amen!" are allowed to comment. Sorry Sillywoman, that wasn't a slight, you are totally right but sometimes one just needs to be told "It's not you, the situation is completely insane and well done for not being committed yet". Because let's face it, mummy can't really break out the bottle before supper. Er, right?

Actually Canterbury is now about an hour from London as well. And Whitstable is just down the road......

Ashford, Kent 1. peaceful (not gorgeous) 2. at least half the price of London 3. 37 minutes to London (St. Pancras) 4. surrounded by beautiful, truly beautiful countryside 5. definitely don't need a car and 6. easy quick access to sea by train - take your pick of seaside towns and 7. lovely Canterbury is 15 minutes by train for theatre/shopping/restaurants and 8. quick train access to loads of lovely villages Check it out, but don't judge by the walk from the train station because that is really grim. Kennington area is nice.

Ha, is there actually a double buggy that fits on a bus? I honestly don't know how I would manage two children on any level. The critical double buggy issue would probably make my head explode.