Jill

Blimey, you must be the most organised woman in the World. You organised a holiday, a party, a house move AND you found time to get pregnant Impressive Seriously mate, have a fab holiday & party, may your house move go smoothly and BIG BIG BIG Congrats on your forthcoming bundle of joy. <'>

The sad thing is that my hubby can still quote Pie (is it Pie or Pi, see I can't even spell it never mind quote it ) to all its decimal places! Quite useful in a pub quiz I guess, but what else do you use it for?

Hmmm, that's real food for thought & I thank you for posting. I reckon I am going to discuss this with hubby tonight again and reconsider. We may still go ahead with the DTP but now I am not so sure. Thanks again for the info - it's appreciated. Also, I know it sounds soppy, but I HATE that part when you are in the doctors, holding your child so that this stranger can stick a sharp object into him that hurts & makes him feel ill later. Unless I am 100% sure the benefits are worthwhile it's not something I want to subject myself or him to.

OnlyCrazyGal <'> Personally the poem touched me in parts - the bits I didn't like I skim read. I appreciate that you posted it with the best of intentions to lift people a little in the midst of a world that sometimes judges us harshly. I thank you for those intentions - it's the reason I like this site, because we all support and help each other & let's face it, we ALL sometimes need that help and support. All the best mate. PS hope the peas and burgers didn't defrost whilst you had your head stuck in the freezer next to 'em Mind you, this weather, I might join you in there for a cool down, hutch over a bit there floss, got any lager?

Just a thought - I know someone else has suggested self employment and you didn't fancy it, but have you thought of retraining in preparation for when your mortgage is paid off? The angle I am coming from is that hubby is in full time employment, he's just completed a three year two evenings a week training course to be a plumber. He does some plumbing work in the evenings and weekends to supplement his income. He employs a chap to do his tax stuff at a cost of ?300 per annum. His intention is to ultimately go self employed when he has a few customers lined up & is sure he can make a go of it (it's a scary prospect with bills and a mortgage!) So, that was my thought - you could perhaps start an evening training course now in something completely different that you fancy doing. When your mortgage is paid you'd then have something else you could do that you would enjoy more and you could pay someone to do the paperworky bits. It doesn't solve the "now" problem, but it does give you something to look forward to. Plus, even if you didn't end up doing whatever it is in the end, you would at least be meeting other people with similar interests on the course? Ignore me if I am talking gibberish, it happens a lot.............

Enjoy the rest Brooke - Grandma and Grandad help us by having The Boy occasionally & it's nice to have that break and be rejuvinated for his return - it means we have new energy for him, which is great for him & us! Don't adopt - I am sure that there are parents on here that would let you "borrow" for a day or so! I put my name down on the waiting list for your services now

I love this comp - even tho I am rarely intelligent nor funny enuff to come up with a caption. The Catrix - pure class! Obviously this forum attracts posters of an above average intellect (and me)

shoes

BD At least he didn't ask you to carry him too

CMJ No, please do post it. I won't be offended cos I know that you are only posting it for my info & I appreciate that. I am interested in what you have to say.

If we're sharing yukky food stories............. I used to love a certain porridge type product for breakfast (central heating for kids for those old enuff to remember the ad) and was wolfing down the bowl as usual when I felt a rather crunchy bit in me teeth. Thinking that mater had perchance overheated the milk, I put my finger in my mouth to withdraw what I thought would be a bit of burnt milk (I was about 9 yrs old at the time). Wasn't very impressed when I looked on my finger to see a half chewed earwig. As for your paperclip - the supermarket will take it seriously and you will probably get a replacement / money back and an apology. It's a pity it isn't a named brand tho cos me big sis once opened a box of "lighter chocs - with honeycomb centre" and found they had all bits of cardboard on - basically cos the shop had obviously let them melt a bit then go hard again then sold them. Sis boxed 'em up and posted them to the manufacturer and got 24 boxes back to apologise, even though it clearly wasn't the manufacturer's fault!!!!

Oh PSP that's so sad. On the plus side tho, I think it MAY be that it's sad for you, but not necessarily sad for Luke. I think the key bit here is that "Luke wanted to stand with me" so although you felt sad that he wasn't mixing with the others, p'raps Luke was actually much happier with you? It is hard tho isn't it? As The Boy gets older I am starting to notice more now the gap between him and his peers & the kids on the street do sort of play with him but they'll all run off at a certain cue and he doesn't notice until they've gone. Then again, he doesn't seem bothered & just carries on doing what he's doing.

Yeah, we get that all the time! To me (being an NT) it seems such hard work to get things you want that way, when you could just laze back and ask & mummy will get! I wish sometimes people were fitted with VDU's on the front of their head, then I would be able to see what he was thinking and save bruised thighs from head butting. Then again, it would be quite dangerous if I had a VDU - there are many situations that would get me into (considering what I think sometimes) and I most certainly would have been sacked by now

Thankyou all for taking the time to help with this one. We've decided to go ahead with the DTP but not the MMR. We're going to use the leaflets to line the cat litter tray

I'm pleased you've finally got it confirmed properly. It is a horrible time & I so feel for you that you've had to go through it twice. It is true, you are on the motorway now (as you put it) and I am glad that you have this support network to ask for directions from time to time if you need it. I'd have got lost several times without it. Take care mate.

All I can say is that we are currently "under discussion" with our LEA about a school for The Boy (he's 4). There is no doubt that they would have forced us down the mainstream route if we did not have that official dx & I can tell you that would have been disastrous for The Boy. So, for us, getting the dx means we now have a strong case for special school & it has helped us to "convince" the LEA of the same.

Don't have any brilliant or inciteful answers for you mate, but if it's any consolation The Boy does this too. For a long time he would ask for crisps if he wanted some. Then he started taking us into the kitchen, indicating he wanted picking up, then would open the cupboard door & get his own crisps. A much more long winded way of showing what he wanted, but it was as if he had forgotten how to ask. Then he started going into the kitchen and saying "chocolocolate" (yes, he did say it like that, this isn't an odd misspelling) when again he actually wanted crisps - and cue a big tantrum if he got chocolate instead of crisps. Then, this week, he suddenly started asking for crisps properly again. So not sure why, but you're not on your own.

We've just had our appointment through for The Boy's pre school booster innoculations. We've discussed the MMR booster at length & researched on the net & decided that The Boy's not having that for definite. However, what I hadn't realised, is that they now also give Diptheria, Tetanus & Polio as a three in one jab too. Have any of your little ones had this? Any adverse effects that you spotted? TBH I think we probably will go with the Dip, Tet and Polio one, but def not MMR. You don't have to read any further if you don't want to - the rest doesn't give any further info is just me ranting and raving Just to get it off my chest - my HV is the most patronising, condescending, annoying, git of a woman in the whole world.............and she has a hairy chin. Her first few words to me - just a few weeks after birth of baby when was feeling a bit blue - were all around "what, you're not breast feeding" and "what, you're going back to work" she was all very "I had four children, breast fed them all, gave up my job to stay at home and be a proper mother, brought them up like children should be with mother at home" (presumably scattering errant breast milk all over the place whilst she was at it.) Bloomin horrible woman. She's just had a go at me on the phone - "I rang you at home, but then I remembered that you are one of those working mums ha ha ha ha". She always does that, makes out it's a joke so it's not actually anything you could report her for. Then I got "what, not having the MMR booster? You don't believe it caused your son's autism do you?" "no, but I am not convinced about the necessity of the booster nor am I sure about how it affects the gut of children that ARE autistic, so we won't be having that one" "I'll send you a leaflet, that will give you all the information so you can make an informed choice" I didn't argue. She can send as many flaming leaflets as she wants, but he's still NOT having the MMR. AND she calls me "dear" on the phone all the time - how annoying is that from someone who's probably only about 5 or 6 years older than me? Right, done now, feel better, thanks for listening - a response to the earlier question would be much appreciated thankyou!

Park

I'm rubbish at maths & after reading this I've got a right headache now

Brilliant! I bet you were full up!

We rang our Health Visitor up (even tho we hadn't seen her for 2 years) and she sorted it for us.

Funny your post - it could have been written by me. We've just come back from a week in Cornwall and I felt exactly the same thing <'> We've only got The Boy so it is easier in that we can gear our day around suiting him & doing what he wants. Normally on holiday tho we have been able to tire him out and get him in bed by 9 ish. This year he wasn't having any of it & the earliest he went to bed was 11. I think that's what did us really. We're used to having a bit of "us" time before bed on hols, but we didn't get a break this year & I am actually quite glad to be back at work! I would recommend the cottage we stayed in tho. It was on a farm & very quiet. It's actually geared up towards people who want to take their dogs on holiday but, in a bizarre way, that made it good for us because there was a huge garden with a six foot secure fence & lockable gate! The bedrooms were on the ground floor, so no worries about little wanderers falling downstairs in the night because we already were downstairs & the living area was all open plan so could keep an eye on him & stop the button pressing of various kitchen implements before it started! Gluttons for punishment tho - we're off again for a short caravan break in Sept!!

Clare If we did, then he was a fit fella on his push bike cos I live in Derbyshire It does make me wonder tho.............ours is a muck magnet an all!!!

No advice on colour schemes Pingu - I've given up & we are going all white cos it's easier! Just wanted to send sympathy vibes, we're going mad, we've ripped out all the doors, all the skirting board and lifted the wood block floor!!! Feels like your room will never be liveable again doesn't it??