mima08

Hiya nunheadmum, i think our posts must have crossed yesterday evening. Just a quicky on exercising - if you are used to doing one form of exercising, it won't be as effective after a while (or you will have to up it all the time). In the past I found it really effective to rotate the exercise every 6 weeks, e.g. mixing running with swimming, aerobics, etc. And definitely some light weight training, the type with lots of repetitions. That can be squats, press-ups, that type of thing - the more muscle you have, the more energy you will burn, just in daily life... Best of luck to all! mx

Well done you, Pebbles! 20min is excellent, and I do know from previous experience, jogging does lead to results. Yay to all of us here :) mx

Definitely hooray for all the successes - I am very impressed with all your progress, so today my light bulb went on & I joined the gym.... overcame all the excuses and went for the first session - feels great! Hope to see some results soon, too.....keep up the good work, everyone! mx

Hiya I am so sorry to hear your problem - sleep is a holy thing in my house, and I need a lot of it. Unfortunately, baby does not agree, and to my shock I found myself in a similar situation in the first year.... it is only slowly getting better now. One thing I found really helpful were the meditation tips on Buddhism for Mothers. I had never done meditation before nor am I very much into buddhism, but the approaches to calming myself really helped. Hope things look up soon mx PS: for babies with dummies, once they are older and can take put them in themselves, I found that Sainsbury;s and Boots are selling brands which have a "glow in the dark" back - amazing!!!

hmmmmm - interestinly I found out that my weight changes depending on where in the bathroom i put the scales... even though it's not on carpet. So am now trying to find the perfect spot, hehehe. In honesty though, diet has taken a dive over last week - there was still chocolate in the house & LO was difficult, little sleep and, yes, you guessed it: not sticking to the diet plan..... buhuuuu This thread is really inspirational- willstart serious exercising!

I think the most helpful thing I read about dealing with the tough times was in "buddhism for mothers" - that everything is transient, i.e. it will change (of course, lots of people had told me this but reading it in the book I finally got it... kinda). hellosailor Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hope everyone gets some sleep tonight.. Hear, hear - wishing all of us best of luck :)

Well done you guys! I am impressed with your efforts - both on the counting and the exercising fronts..... Unfortunately my efforts have been rather limited, unless you mean the chocolate and wine consumption efforts: they've been great... :( oh well, write this weekend off & get my butt into gear, only months to go to get a flat tummy....(or something that can squeeze into jeans at least!) Keep up the good work! mx

hmmm - we are 14 months on and sleeping through is still a hit& miss. If it's not growth spurts (feeding like a horse), it's a variety of coughs and colds making sleeping difficult.... Sharing the getting up with husband and taking the odd night in the spare room to get some real sleep....obviously more difficult while breastfeeding....hope it gets better soon (for you & us ;-))

Thank you! Will get on to them now... mx

We went to Latchmere a few weeks ago (before the beautiful weather) and although the pool was great, I really disliked the changing facilities: they were so dirty! They had obviously not been cleaned that day and I am not sure if it had been cleaned all week. Maybe I'm spoiled by Peckham and Dulwich pools but that level of dirt (including dirty nappies on the floor, bins overflowing and a strong smell of....) almost made us turn around... having paid ?9 for 2 adults+1 baby we decided to stay. As I said, the pool was great and maybe it is not normally that bad, but we'll be trying Bromley and Greenwich instead.

Hiya, just wanted to ask if anyone else has come across this problem: my buggy (bugaboo plus) has started to develop a wobble. Specifically, the left front wheel wobbles. A lot. Mainly when walking at speed (and as I am continuously late for things, that happens fairly often). It makes the part of the frame wobble too, and is so much that I have to stop pushing the buggy to stop the wobble.... My husband believes this is normal as the wheels are so swively, but I never noticed it before (i.e. in last year!). Anyone else who had this problem and what did you do about it? thanks! mx

Hiya - a proud 1.8kg over the 2 weeks, so chuffed! Have upped the exercise too, sit-ups, press-ups and squats 4-5times a week plus more walking.... But then there is Easter looming, and I will eat some chocolate...ok, more exercise needed! :))

excellent! made us laugh :D mx

Great thread, can we make these into a recipe book? My go to meal is couscous with peas and tuna - depending what's in the house, I add some tomato sauce, or sweetcorn & herbs etc

Grotty - your averaging method makes me laugh - off to the poundshop now ;)

:( I just cheated on the diet weigh in - I just guessed 1.5lbs in the week. Still not bought scales, that is my excuse. But the belt on my jeans is a lot looser...

HIya, we went to south Italy last year during the summer holidays - you can fly easyjet or thomsons to Naples and hire a selfcatering appartment. We stayed in a lovely place, called Domus Cliento, about 1.5 hrs south of Naples, great appartments with a pool, nice little town about 5-10min walk. Small beach but larger ones easily accessible by car, lots of yummy italian food. We were 2 adults, 1 teenager and a baby and paid about ?2k to ?2.5k all in for 10 days.... PM me if you'd like details of the accommodation. mx

ohhhhh - nice presents! And Ruth - I could do with the medicinal G&T.... What I would really, really like is to sit and watch a dvd, lazing around on a sunday afternoon when the weather isn't great and not feel like I should be doing something else. But - the image of my one year old proudly presenting me with a mothers' day card this morning was just so very lovely :)

Poor you - so sorry to hear this! I hope you are being well looked after and getting over the shock - thank you for alerting the forum! mx

Hiya - all the comments are really motivational. I have just signed up for the Tesco.com version of w.w. - because i can link it to my online shopping (one of my biggest problem is being disorganised and never having the right food in the house). And they let you use light versions of ready meals for those (many)days where I just don't want to cook.... We shall see if it works - it looks good in theory :) mx

Hiya, I definitely don't think that anyone "should" feel guilty. Quite the reverse, we are all trying our best - so these guilt feelings puzzle me and I wish I didn't have them. I, too, really enjoy my work, and logically know that I have a great setup and it is the best way. The guilt feeling is really illogically - and to those you don't feel guilty: I envy you! :) mx

thank you all -the reassurance is very appreciated. Yes, it is a mixture of guilt and heartache - totally irrational, as I am also very happy with the current set-up.I know - that sounds mad - another side effect of motherhood ;)It just does good to hear from others and realise it's not just me to feel like this.... mx PS: I too look at my son's picture on my phone throughout the day - even though I had just seen him....:)

Hiya, little emotional outburst warning. I know there are many working mums who have some feeling of guilt when it comes to leaving their little ones when they go to work - just HOW do you cope? I only work 3 days a week and I am doing something I really love (setting up my own business) and childcare is fab - but I get regularly overcome with feeling tremendously guilty for leaving my son.....and really emotional when I see children, or puppies or kittens or...... how do others do it?

Hiya ClareC - gosh, my 13 months old has also been having MAJOR tantrums. He will get himself into such a state, turning all read with anger, tears streaming - not a pretty sight... I often think that he simply doesn't know how to break out of the frustration (and distractions often don't work anymore).... I spoke to a lady who does the developmental assessments (sorry, I forget the name) and she said because they are so young, explanations are of limited help (although good practice for you to get into the habit). Reflecting the emotions back seems to be the main thing (we also do baby signing which helps sometimes) plus of course making sure not too tired/ hungry etc.... Maybe someone has a magic solution? Or just some tips? I will keep all the tips on older kids for future reference: can see myself (still)there in 13months time.... mx

Hiya -the anticipated age range is 6-8years up to 12ish, probably the Dr. Who generation?! At the younger end, they might need a little help from the parents, but hopefully that should be part of the fun. I should also stress that it is free to play the game. So for example, if a clue is hidden at Buckingham Palace, you can find it without paying any entrance fees etc. I found a way (a bit long winded) to attach the introduction to the game to this thread as pictures (although it reduces the image quality). Any opinions would be very appreciated! Thank you! Miriam x