sillywoman

OK, casting my mind back a long way - I think I took a Pavlov's Dog approach. At bedtime (proper) whenever I put a baby into his bed I'd say the same words - something like "night-night, sleep tight, see you in the morning (I'm ever optimistic), & always put on his musical mobile (Mozart for brain development - yeah right!), even if he was already asleep. Then when it came to daytime naps I figured the routine would signal to their brains that this was the time for sleep. I think the approach was quite successful. Certainly I seem to recall they all slept fairly well in the day, and went to bed (initially) very well at night.

Excellent information F, have bookmarked it for future reference.

LOL at your freudian slip James :))

What a lovely thing to post MrsAk. Incidentally I was just commenting to a friend the other day that the feedback I'm getting about the Kings birth experience from Mums & Dad at reunions has improved dramatically since about Easter. Apparently Kings are up their full complement of Midwives on the labour ward and births are down since they've limited the catchment area by postcode. So instead of having to care for women in labour on an overcrowded and understaffed labour ward, Kings are able to give the kind of care they always should have been able to give, & wanted to give. However with one Mums recent experience in mind I should add that this may not be the case if it's a full moon!

Gotta defend your own Otta.;-)

helena handbasket Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 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? Oh, just back & it seems I missed a shedload of 'stuff' happening. Was just going to post to say "OK, Amen HH" :)). I do get where F & co are coming from, & agree that a 'rant' thread could be not only a pressure release but also a source of much empathetic amusement for us. WoD, I feel your pain. The cleaning cupboard could just be an inspired idea by HelenGV.

Hmm, actually we've found the opposite to be true of living around Glengarry Otto. Three years ago we got a community place no problem at DVI - no religion and given a place straight away, this year we had to be on a waiting list for a few weeks to get a place at DHJS. a friend in Ggarry is still waiting for a place there. Charter doesn't seem to be a problem. EDmummy, you'll probably get a place, but what a shame when someone else who really wants to be there because they can see what a great school it is could have it instead. A friend said recently to me that people in ED don't seem to really appreciate just how good The Charter is because of all the hype over KD. I've observed on this forum that certainly seems to be the case.

let it go, Mums. Let it go - in the grand scheme of things it won't affect your babes' development, & I bet your other halves are lovely Dads & husbands/partners? :)) 'Don't sweat the small stuff' - as a wise woman once said to me.

Nope, we're definitely East Dulwich, definitely NOT dulwich Village (I wish), and definitely firmly in The Charter catchment. Most of my children's school friends live in East Dulwich, Herne Hill & Nunhead.

Yes, we would have liked to send our eldest two to a Steiner, but were completely priced out. :(. I still think that it would have been the best option for my eldest boy. Ah well.

I did the London Ambulance course a few years ago and it was really, very good. Having done a 'proper' first aid course (i.e 2hours a week over a term) some years ago I can reassure you Buggie that I learned & retained as much with LAS as I did with the longer course. When I did the LAS course with some friends they did two types. One for small babies, and one for toddlers and you chose which course was appropriate for you. Do they still offer this?

OK just answered my own question with the aid of Proff google. Graveney does get better GCSE results and their british bac rate is 38% compared to Charter's 17%, buuut as a confirmed ED-re I stand by my "Pah". new mother has posted her request for information on the East Dulwich Forum WoD, not the Wandsworth forum. If her friends wanted to info about schools somewhere else then I'm sure she would have posted elsewhere. As your heart clearly isn't in the services our community has to offer here maybe your name is something of a misnomer? toast - WoD = womanofduwich.

Hmm interesting . .. so what's Graveney's 'british bac' stats then WoD?

Opposite ED hospital. In catchment for Dv primaries and brilliant Charter secondary. Lovely 4/5 bed houses. Small gardens though. Graveny? Pah. Bah humbug WoD.

Muslin cloths take dye brilliantly.

Agree re seldoc - do NHS direct still exist? I've found them helpful in the past. Buggie's the person you really want a reply from. She's our resident "do you or don't you take them to paeds A&E" expert. Buggie - where are you????

Was thinking more of the 'Independence' aspect Belle, but you're right Posh has gone for the 4th :)

July 1st? Not 4th? ;-)

Really well done Ruth - you were very brave to take the bull by the horns. I know exactly what you mean about the 'blaming activity' I find that happens a lot in conversations with my Mum. But you've done so much better than I ever managed to, you've arranged regular contact for her & Seb (& you), and are have managed to put all three of you in a position where your relationships can grow in understanding (you & Mum), & confidence (Seb). Wow! hats off to you Ruth. Now all you've got to do is have a baby!!:))

Hmmm, tricksy one all round. I do get where pocket's coming from. I'm in the same situation with no effective grandparents MrS's parents both dead, my Dad in the US, & Mum really can't be arsed to make the effort) & it is very hard to read of Ruth's 'heavily involved' MIL, and then try to empathise with her issues with her own Mum not being so involved. Especially when her Mum does seem to be making quite an effort to be involved in little Sebs life, she's just not being very sensitive or thoughtful about it. However I'm inclined to agree with those who have said that P's 'get over yourself' tone is unhelpful. And help is what Ruth has asked for Ruth, For what it's worth, I think you can't aim to change your Mum, but you can change how you respond to her. She does sound like she's making the right noises, she also sounds like she's got a lot on her plate. You say she has a child of 6, and works full time. You also mention you don't have a good relationship with her because of your stepfather. Is the child of 6 your half-brother? If so might there be some difficult 'second family' issues here? i.e. Might you be feeling that she's putting all her parenting into her 'new' family, and not being a Mum to you, or Nana to Seb? If so then this would impact on how you feel she deals with Seb. Your lovely MIL sounds like she treats Seb as an important individual and makes effort to take on board his likes/dislikes, hopes and fears etc. Your Mum doesn't sound like she has the resources to be able to do that as effectively - if at all- maybe because of the demands of her own small child & husband? She sounds like she's trying to fit Seb round her current obligations instead of making time for you & him to build and maintain her relationships with you both. She does sounds like she knows she's missing out on Seb and wants to have a relationship with him but she's trying to almost grab bits of him when she can. Of course you can't do this with small children, you're right. She needs to build a solid relationship him before you can think of him staying overnight with her. I think your conversation with her needs to be along the lines of "Mum, it would be great if you could look after him, but he's very little and he doesn't know you well enough yet for me to feel comfortable leaving him. I know that you're busy, but maybe we can talk about you finding a regular time to come and get to know him (one Saturday a month for example?). When he's more confident with you then we can discuss you looking after him at your house." I think the relationship building has to happen at your house, with your childrearing rules initially. You and she,& Seb sound like you need some time together. She may balk initially & get all offended, but once she's thought about it a bit she may well come round to seeing your point. Of course she may not go for it at all, and I can see that however you do it this will be a difficult conversation, but she's asking you the question Ruth ("why can't I . ."?) so I think you have to have the courage to answer it otherwise it'll bubbly away as a resentment on both sides for, well forever potentially. Go for it - you might be surprised at what comes out of it. Fingers crossed for you. HTH - a bit.

Same as everyone else has said. Sillykids called nursery teachers by their first name, but all their school teachers are known by their title and surname from reception onwards.

Will also PM you.

On the other hand, I had to move my son from DV pre school (some years ago now) to half moon montessori. When I went back to re-visit it 4 years ago, thinking to give it a second chance, nothing had changed at all. Still the same old issues. My 15yr old daughter and her friend are still traumatised at the memory of what they went through at that nursery. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, but clearly there are plenty of parents who love it there. It's all down to what suits your child & you of course. Check out as many nurseries as possible and go with your gut feeling.

They weren't Willard, but we are now. PR - I couldn't make the PWP last night (Mr S works a lot of evenings so we have childcare issues with evening events). I have written to the police though - no response as yet.

Thanks those of you who recommended the Almax, we'll definitely get one - might consider the alarm mine too ayresc. Wombat- our bike was a 12 year old BMW - not new & definitely not 'race-rep'. A workhorse. As the same fate befell our 24 year old, very battered suzuki trials bike 3 years ago, & our 15 year old Suzuki some months before that, all seemingly taken the same way - though those two were on the road with one chained to a lamp post - the latest was off road & chained to the house, I'm not sure how useful your advice to 'make it less desirable' is? Thanks anyway.