Pickle

We think it was the police woman's son.

Lovely news, congratulations!

I will freely admit that having 3 children I would happily have 4. We are already outnumbered, the house is noisy, there's always washing needing done, what difference would one more little person make (other than, and I guess significantly/shallowly for me, having to give up my relatively fancy car and buy a people carrier)? Ideally the gap we had between 1 and 2 would have been nice between 3 and 4 - but I would have to be 5 months pregnant already! It's not to be though - notwithstanding my age, I had a liver condition in pregnancy with all 3 babies which got progressively worse. With #3 it meant that I was really ill, which affected my older children (who even now will bring up the fact that they saw me crying, with bleeding arms and legs, and they were very aware that I spent a lot of time in hospital), and the last couple of months of my pregnancy were terrifying due to associated stillbirth risks. I couldn't put myself or my family through it again. I think anyone at the point of considering a 3rd really must want another one :)

Excellent, thanks for posting. We loved the fairy tale exhibition and signed up for an annual membership which I think will still be valid :)

The award for most bonkers thread of the week goes to.... V entertaining :)

Finished. My brain hurts.

Right, now just fish and rat left. Clues anyone?

Aah, got it, cheers. Same as you left now, apart from the glue - think of other words for glue/stick

Ha ha, yes, we got utterly confused last time too. How on earth does a central heating system know?!

Haha, got the glue!

I find this change much harder than when they go the other way, purely because there's no way I am getting up an hour earlier tomorrow to start things at the "right" time! It's Sunday, it's the holidays, I figure we will go for the gradual approach!

We are stuck on: 1. Rat with cheese 2. Glue 3. Fish 4. Burning outline 5. Man with tv 6. Man with fun 7. Three pots of gold(?) near the Nuns

How to waste an hour! 46 so far, starting to get pissed off.

Personally I'm not sure I could have handled it so well if the gap between 2 and 3 was smaller. At 3.5 my middle child was a fiercely independent little girl which made life a lot easier than if she had still needed "help" with everything. Also, it meant that both kids were at school full time by the time the baby was 9 months old. Having had two kids at home full time with a small age gap, spending my days with just one baby/toddler feels easy :)

We had 1 bottle of wine and half a bottle of champagne per person budgeted (loosely) at our wedding and went through a lot more! That's what happens when your guests are a mixture of Kiwis and Scots!

We had our 3rd last year, so my kids are now 6, nearly 5, and 14 months. Hand on heart, having a 3rd has absolutely been the best decision we cold have made. With our older two so close in age it has both changed the dynamic (in that they now have someone else to play with and can dilute situations where they are getting sick of each other) but strengthened their relationship. Financially, other than our inevitable long haul flight costs to NZ, we haven't really noticed the difference yet - breastfeeding and cloth nappies have helped in the first year. Personally I've loved having a baby again, and have felt a lot more relaxed and confident third time round, helped by a very chilled baby. There are the "hassles" of a baby that we have had to readjust to - carrying nappies, daytime naps etc., but this stage is so short lived it's just not an issue. I am the main carer, at home with the kids full time. I've never felt that I need any help from an au pair or similar, that hasn't been an issue at all. We don't have any family nearby and have managed fine. My husband has been away a few times for work trips etc and again I've found it no problem. I guess the ease of caring for them depends a bit on how old your existing two children are. I make sure that the time before and after school is geared more towards my older children, helping with homework, playing etc, and then during the school day #3 gets me all to herself. I know we are lucky to have had the choice, both in terms of being able to have 3 kids, and to be in a financial situation that made it a feasible option. P x

Admittedly I haven't read the whole thread, but surely through all of this, those "in need" are still getting the help from the state that they require. Stay at home parents with low or no income will be receiving various benefits, those in work will qualify for childcare allowance, those with an income below the threshold will still be receiving child benefit. To me, this seems like an embarrassing case of middle class Mummies who stay at home wanting what their middle class Mummy mates get by going to work, and shouting to the media about it. I haven't seen (for arguments sake) an interview with 17 year old stay at home unemployed parents Sheila and John moaning that they don't get the allowance. I'm a stay at home Mum, I guess a "middle class" one, we don't qualify for any state help, and I wouldn't ever expect it.

I have a Bee, it's still in great condition after 14.5 months of constant use, including two trips to NZ and back and all the associated rough handling by baggage handlers - I don't think it's normal for their life to be short?! Having had a Bugaboo Cameleon for #1, Phil n Teds when #2 arrived, and a McLaren, the Bee wins hands down.

Yes, colouring stuff for slightly older kids, a job lot of duplo style building blocks (easy to store in one of those big plastic crates), cheap and cheerful cars etc. I'm sure it would be easy enough to get donations from parents who would use the group. Either a minimal entrance fee, or free (in the knowledge that you'll sell refreshments). I've never been to the Crooked Well group, but understand they have DIY crumpets etc which is a good idea. Toast/crumpets/biscuits etc will keep kids happy for longer.

Just a reminder about this - if you have children who are interested please get in touch with Sharon to register your interest. P x

Personally I'm a fan of the cheap and cheerful playgroup type things - some toys for the little ones and an opportunity for Mums/Dads/careers to have a coffee (or even better, wine!) and cake. There are lots of structured ?5 a pop type groups in the area, but not so many unstructured drop in type things (in my experience, I could be looking in the wrong places!). But it sounds like your room could also be ideal for some of the established groups in the area to use as a venue too, great way to use the space when the pub would usually be quiet. Good luck, look forward to popping in one evening without the kids to check out the refurb.

I'd love to see some Mum/toddler things at the Clockhouse Laura, it's previously been seen as a bit of a no-go zone for people with kids!

This is the first mainstream show for a long time that I've really enjoyed. No idea who did it, looking forward to seeing how it resolves (hope we don't get disappointed by the ending)

Interesting that you all love your breadmakers so much... I had one for a couple of years and ended up getting rid of it, as found it a bit of a faff to get it ready in the evening and these days we don't end a huge amount of bread so found we were wasting quite a lot (with shop bought bread I put odds and ends in the freezer to use for toast later, but found home made didn't freeze well). These days the kids each have a piece of toast in the morning, and occasionally a sandwich in the weekend, but that's the extent of our bread intake!

A week of sunshine would do wonders for everyone, I'm sure - it doesn't even need to be warm, just to see the sun would be lovely. Neither of my girls have had chicken pox (son had them when he was 2), that would top things off nicely! Off to put on another load of washing, then attempt to tackle baby Pickle's car seat (I fear all hope is lost, there's a lot of crevices in a Maxi Cosi infant seat - might be time to go forward facing!)