School holidays are in full swing now. The kids are running through the house in one door and out the other as I type.
Maya: great report! Well done chicky! Weather was fine at the G... result was not oh well...there's always another year!
Tali: for you... I hope you get the best Christmas present imaginable with a BFP.
Nic: Good to see you
I think our Junies thread will keep pottering along I know what you mean Tali about children growing older and new ones arriving on the scene but this will still be a constant because we have so many lovely members in this thread. I post fairly lightly in here only because I have so many other threads vying for my attention eg ATM a Cholestasis thread that somebody needs help with... but I always drop in here and read what everyone is up to.
Well, Bath, at least the Pies lost!! I was sorry bout the doggies.
Our Junies are still giving us good conversation here, I agree I always come back here, too, when the other boards fray at me a bit. Also, I avoid talking about Oscar in my current belly buddies thread except where it's related to pregnancy and making comparisons etc. so that the first timers don't feel like an older child is intruding on their headspace! Particularly at this stage of the game where we are all waiting on newborns, and that's the only reality for many of them - I'm cool with that
So, I think I'm the last one standing in this thread who hasn't had a second kid YET...always the last to catch onto a trend
I have my GF on board with my intention to have Oscar here no matter how grotty he may be. DP is still thinking of a 'back up plan' in case Oscar is flying off his nut from tiredness or whatever and I keep saying that he stays with us, no matter what because having this baby is about our family, thick or thin. He's now outnumbered I can see where he's coming from, I just want him to see that it's more important for Osc to be integrated into this change (particularly if we're going to be home and HE'S the one who leaves) than for him to attend to me in labour (as I'll have at least one middie and my GF!) if GF can't deal with him, for whatever reason. Both GF and I recall our younger siblings being born and being sent away (we both would have been about 2 at the time and the memory is still palpable) and I never want Osc to feel that we can't deal with him (not till he's a grotty 13 year old!). So, that was really the last sticking point that I think isn't that sticky with the middies and GF on board with the same idea as mine.
So far, he's handling it great - he talks about meeting the baby in the birth pool and we were chatting about helping the baby with clothes, baths and sharing Babu. I'm glad we waited till Oscar was a lot more articulate and able to reflect back his understanding, it's been a much more bearable journey for it.
I'm still in a state of flux over kinder next year - does he come with me to uni and do the kinder program? Will we even live somewhere I can travel to uni from or will I be studying from home? In that case, will I send Osc to a childcare place that has kinder? Or just kinder and hope for the best in study time? If we have moved further out, where's my head gonna be with my trusty support networks so far away and establishing new ones? ARGH! We need a long lost relative to leave us with a good inheritance so that we don't have to move too far for what we want!
Nic - how is Nix going with the appointments?
Tali - never say never!
Bugger, neighbour's kids have come to play...why wouuld their parents do that when I'm 38 weeks pg? It's hard enough keeping Oscar from mischief!!
Oh no! I hope the neighbours kids are behaving themselves! I so know what it's like being the recepticle of every kid in the neighbour despite feeling fragile! I had 7 kids to look after by myself on last weeks rainest day!!!
Regarding siblings at birth: on reflection it's something I wish I could have offered Wade (I think Verity would have felt uncomfortable about it at age 9) when Niall was born. And also, not just for his sake... for mine! I really think having Wade there to cuddle between contractions would have helped my own natural ability to deal the pain. I took photos of Wade as a newborn along to my hospital labour... they really helped... but having him there would have been better. So good on you... I'm sure he'll be fine... and benefit in many ways. People assume that a child watching a birth would be "scary" just in the same way that it scares some women watching TV doco style births... but kids have a totally different outlook. It's like how a young child would happily go up to a snake and crouch down next to it for a closer look... the child only receives fear by a contagious process. I'm not saying that giving birth is like a snake! LOL Maybe a poor analogy... although I'm not that scared of snakes... they don't mean to be dangerous after all Anyhow, I'm just one for normalising every aspect of life for kids when they are young.... not making everything taboo by hiding everything... a bit like death too... a child shouldn't be sheilded (I think) from death. If a pet dies when the child is at school i would never suggest getting rid/burying the animal before the child got home. I'd involve the child in the farewell and grieving process. I just think it's respectful.
Well the house is quiet... Verity and Wade are playing with the neighbours out the front and Niall is in the foyer playing with his Thomas the Tank Engine trains
DH on leave for a week as of tomorrow we're going to shift furniture!!!
Last edited by Bathsheba; September 21st, 2009 at 04:08 PM.
I agree, Bath - kids tend to fear what their parents fear. I've heard so many parents (through the Homebirth network) say that their kids have such a normal idea of birth with no fear about it They also reckons it makes a big difference in sibling relations (at least for the younger years!) to see their baby brother or sister being born.
My parents' dog died a few weeks ago and I decided to tell Oscar right away. I didn't want to explain it to him when they got here and he'd ask for the dog, and he 'gets it' as much as a 3yo can get the fact that the dog's not going to be around anymore. He was a bit young this time last year to fathom that his great grandfather had died. I had to explain to him that our dog was not well over the weekend and he eventually caught onto what that meant, too.
Well, the neighbour parent sent over sangas and melon, so that sweetens the deal a bit (sangas for the kids, I can eat my own thing from the safety of my study!). Geez, older kids need a lot more attention! I've got either brother or sister dobbing on the other or on Oscar - sheesh. Ok, one's gone home now, so I'm just dealing with the sister (who's too scared to watch the Dark Crystal, so Oscar has just learned to compromise and watch Hairy McLary!). The little brother sulked home after scratching his leg in a fall and I think I was supposed to make a bigger deal of it than it actually was...oh, well! All is quiet and I can think again...ETA: little brother is back with a Ben10 toy (fan-friggin-tastic) and they're watching The Silver Brumby. Oh, dear, what happened to my chilled out day??
Thanks so much, Bath
Teens - one thing at a time! These kids weren't so bad in the end. It almost ended in tears - Oscar got kicked in the groin by a frustrated 4 and a bit year old and we all had to have a talk about it. I'm sure he thought he was going to be sent home and be told off. Instead, about 15 minutes later he came into the study (where I can get a good view of loungeroom and the backyard) and said that Oscar had hit him on the hand, so I had a talk with Oscar about it. So far, since growing out of his experimental hitting from earlier days, he doesn't hit in frustration or retaliation (he hits ME in frustration, but not other kids), so it would be nice if he didn't get kicked in the nuts in his own house!
I hadn't really done this before, the having neighbours kids over - it's a new world for me! When they've come over, DP's been home and in the backyard and I've been able to hide in the house (it's only been happening recently), so it was bound to happen these school holidays.
Thanks for being online, Bath, to read my banter about it!
Better go do the things I foolishly thought I'd get done whilst 'supervising'...hope everyone is well and still enjoying the Cats win
Registered User
Well done chicky! Weather was fine at the G... result was not
oh well...there's always another year!
for you... I hope you get the best Christmas present imaginable with a BFP.
I know what you mean Tali about children growing older and new ones arriving on the scene but this will still be a constant because we have so many lovely members in this thread. I post fairly lightly in here only because I have so many other threads vying for my attention eg ATM a Cholestasis thread that somebody needs help with... but I always drop in here and read what everyone is up to.
I always come back here, too, when the other boards fray at me a bit. Also, I avoid talking about Oscar in my current belly buddies thread except where it's related to pregnancy and making comparisons etc. so that the first timers don't feel like an older child is intruding on their headspace! Particularly at this stage of the game where we are all waiting on newborns, and that's the only reality for many of them - I'm cool with that
I can see where he's coming from, I just want him to see that it's more important for Osc to be integrated into this change (particularly if we're going to be home and HE'S the one who leaves) than for him to attend to me in labour (as I'll have at least one middie and my GF!) if GF can't deal with him, for whatever reason. Both GF and I recall our younger siblings being born and being sent away (we both would have been about 2 at the time and the memory is still palpable) and I never want Osc to feel that we can't deal with him (not till he's a grotty 13 year old!). So, that was really the last sticking point that I think isn't that sticky with the middies and GF on board with the same idea as mine.
we're going to shift furniture!!!
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