Hi girls... not in the best frame of mind today... had an arguement with DH over the phone about several parenting issues. His suggestion was basically "why don't you put the boys in care and return to study?" Pffft! Why on Earth does he think that will make life any better??? We disagree about verity's diet for example... he buys her crap like Fantastic Noodles and lots of other high salt/sugar fodder because apparently I should be getting up earlier to make her proper healthy snacks for school like his mum did until he was in year 12! This is despite the fact that the last time I did the shopping I bought none of that rubbish and verity "made do" with taking cheese and crackers to school (for example)... ie she has been perfectly capable of making her own lunch since she was about 7 yo and now all of a sudden he thinks I ought to be doing it. He seems so bloody hell bent on turning this family into his own disfunctional experience of a family in which he grew up. He dumped ANOTHER wet towel on the carpet last night which made my blood boil. So I'm going on strike... he can pick up his own clutter from now on and I won't tell him where stuff is if it hasn't been returned to it's rightful spot anymore. I just can't get OVER how he thinks me returning to study will fix all the chaos in our lives!!! I know it will make it worse and i certainly won't be able to study amidst it all! Geeze men have short memories... can't he remember how incredibly difficult it was when i was studying last time??? And we only had Verity... can't he remeber how he resented having to take on more duties and picking Verity up after school etc and how he said that it was having a negative impact on his job??? The thing is he has never studied since year 12 (when his mother was dutifully doing EVERYTHING for him)... he never went to uni... he worked his way up the ladder at the bank to where he is now... doing a bit of online training every so often and doing paid for courses within work time. He has never had to write essays at home... and quite frankly I know he doesan't have the time management skills to study at a tertiary level and juggle kids at the same time. Sure he is very clever and can problem solve a lot faster than his colleagues... but it's all done in the serenity of an office... trying to nut out stuff with the noise of kids and having to do things in a stop start fashion just isn't his style.... nor is multitasking.... so I really resnt him suggesting i take on more at this stage of my life amidst the chaos that he himself never "has time" to deal with.

Phew! rant over.... must be something in the air again... I'll come back when I've calmed down a bit.

ETA: Oh Geeze I didn't read all of today's posts before typing in my little tirade. Girls girls girls! Please don't let the Media Barons win! That 60 Minutes program was MEAN'T to divide opinion and force people to "take sides". I for one won't take sides because in all honesty I agree with a little of what you have all said. I also do respect people who take the time to fully research an issue before stating their opinions... however it is also ok to have an opinion based on your values. I agree wholeheartedly that most of us are actually practising a lot of Attachment Parenting already. Regarding the BFing of older children I reserve judgement. It is not a black and white issue. Something that does spring to mind though is that if our family was thrust into poverty I would continue to express my milk for as long as possible because nutritionally it will always have value akin to gold. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable attaching an older child (beyond 2yo) but if some people do then that's there business... what would society prefer? A mother doing this or a mother feeding a child crap like Maccas every day.... compare both sceanrios and question which choice has the greater cost to society? Which child would grow up healthier and which child will grow up being a drain on the health system due to ill health? How would you like your tax dollar spent? When in doubt i try to look at things objectively... please don't be offended. What I'm saying is that when you are outraged by an 'extreme' you've got to look at the other 'extreme' rather than compare it to the 'norm'. Regarding kids doing their "business" outside. Yes, this grosses me out... but come summer I bet you all will be tempted to let your little ones play outside in the backyard without a nappy...and voila! they will do it on the lawn... just make sure a journalist isn't in the vicintiy because you too could be labelled a "freak". *sigh* Just hose it into the grass and move on... your little darling won't turn feral... if you don't make a fuss you might avoid it becoming a barrier to effective toilet training.... gotta keep emotions away from elimination or else you're setting yourselves up for huge hassles.... that's just my experience. I'm not saying to praise such behaviour I'm just saying "reinforce positive behaviour and ignore the negative" and you will have more results. Then again you might prefer to spend a fortune on Little Swimmers when you want to let your child have water play at home. Oh and speaking of being grossed out: I am currently grossed out by Wade's need to constantly pick his nose... but through constant and kind words i am daily reinforcing that "we don't do that on the train.... we don't do that in the shops.... we don't do that at Kinder...." and you know what... he (generally) doesn't. However if I scolded he would become sneaky and then he would probably do it in public because what a child thinks he is getting away with is not what we think is! He will end up embarrassing himself on the first day of school when he is discovered. But if a child has good, constant, and gentle communication about things like this it will work more effectively than shame. Shame just leads to sneakiness. Apply it to any scenario. Ok... lecture cut short by a waking Niall.... later girls... love you all