Thanks MP for organising the flowers. I got a message from H to say she got them. I let her know you were the lovely lady that organised them and that we were all thinking of her.
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Thanks MP for organising the flowers. I got a message from H to say she got them. I let her know you were the lovely lady that organised them and that we were all thinking of her.
I am so glad she got them! No need to thank me
I was actually going to ask you all to delete the posts about it so she wouldn't need to see who arranged - the thought and gesture is from us all
Hope everyone has a good weekend planned
Busy here - school board strategy day on Sunday
Crazy week next week too - and dh will be overseas.... Grrrrr
Hello beautiful ladies, I cant begin to tell you all how blown away I was to recieve your lovely flowers today....especially seeing as I have not logged onto belly belly for so long. This has been a terrible time for my family, we are still in shock. However, the beautiful flowers that people have been sending, the phone calls and emails have helped enormously. Thank you MP for organising xxoo
Oh H hunny :hug: I can't imagine what you are all going through right now. I'm glad the flowers have helped you a little - MP was fantastic in getting it organised so quickly and it was the least we could do in place of real hugs.
I can only imagine the shock you are all experiencing and the devastation of your dad's passing. it is just so earth shattering losing someone that has always been there. Sending you so so so much love H :hug:
We've shared so much on our life journey over these last 6 years...
Isadora, such a terribly sad time for you all, I hope you know how much you are in our thoughts at this time. :hug:
Arte - how's it going lovely in-quarantine-lady? Shocker timing, coinciding with school hols! It's never convenient but jeez louise. Is E getting better yet?
Yes Ginger, shopping with DD was that bad. It provokes a concentrated dose of bolshie rudeness, combined with the cognitive drain of a) finding something that she might actually deign to wear and b) the shop having it in the right size/colour. She has spent too much time being bolshie and not enough selecting clothes and I'm not much of a stylechild either so there's pain all round. But she's filled out all of a sudden so she's bursting out of last year's clothes (all hips and bbs) so it was a bit of an emergency. I couldn't threaten to leave because she needs the clothes too much. LOL
All busy here, enjoying having DH at home for a few days, but it's not helping my essay get written. I wish I had a superior level of study dedication but I do not. :p
Isadora, thinking of you and your family xx
MD, H sounds like me shopping lol. E is fine now and the other kids didn't get it so hopefully that is the end of that.
does online shopping work with her at all? i buy a lot of the kids' stuff online these days as i hate taking them to the shops.
wtf????
Whatty? Whatty what? Ginger did we miss something??
ETA
No, I don't think the online thing would work because she's got no idea what size she is or how things fit. It was a stab-in-the-dark kind of thing even picking things to take into the change room. Also, when she gets the clothes home, she doesn't ever spend any time trying things on, seeing what they look like with other things, choosing what looks good together. They just get lobbed into the jungle of a closet, then whenever she has to actually pick something to wear other than the 3 tshirts and 2 shorts that she wears every. single. day. there is histrionics because she hasn't got the first clue about any of it. I do try every now and again to talk her through choosing, but TBH I can't deal with all the dark looks and snappy/rude comments that go with it.
But mostly I just don't understand it because you would think that being taken shopping by someone who loves you who is going to buy whatever you think is nice would be a good thing. :confused:
there was a spammer telling Cally she was lucky she didn't have to worry about stationery :lol:
it's so weird md! i loved shopping when i was young (still do a little ;) please take this with love, but do you think she might have some body issues going on?
Wonder why I was so special!:
MD - are there any funky aunts or family friends that could help out with the clothes?
School holidays are too long. And I just realised that I was out by a month somehow with my course and the major assignment is due in only 3 weeks and I haven't started and the exam is three weeks after that. Not sure why I thought it was all a month later.
Arte, that's what I call The School Holiday Effect. There's some kind of warp in the time-space continuum that swallows up an entire month of your existence while seeming on the outside to be a perfectly normal fortnight. :p. Good luck with it all.
Cally, of course you're special. You should be asking why you wouldn't get special spammy attention!!
DD1 does go shopping with her grandma once each holidays but usually comes home with one thing that not's really the right size LOL.
Ginger - thanks for your suggestion (received with love), but I really think it's the actual opposite - it's been care factor zero with her appearance for a long time, now she cares but she has to learn how. But really it's just more of the same inattention, poor listening etc that has plagued us all along, and tbh I just don't have the cognitive energy for it anymore.
Both kidlets back at school now - though Miss E was heartbroken to be wearing her summer uniform because the uniform shop had run out of the right size in shirts :wall:.
maybe online shopping would be the go MD? If not for actually buying something, but more just for looking at what styles are in etc and what will look good on her - kinda like researching it before you actually hit the shops.
Not such a bad suggestion (the online thing). In fact, if I could even point her at some catalogues/websites from places that she thinks (by virtue of her peers talking about it) have some kind of stamp of acceptability that would probably help enormously.
I think most of the trendy places that young people like to shop at all have online sites now too - check it out online, try it on instore.
isnt 'the iconic' the latest hipster online site??
Cass, I have no clue LOL. Plus I have a lurking suspicion that every clothes shop is booby trapped with outfits that are automatic fashion-disaster material, designed to snare the clueless and punish them for their morbid lack of glossy-magazine reading. :lol:
How is peeps? Plodding along towards the end of my last week of leave, still haven't finished my essay - eep :shhh: I'm testing the bounds of the score deduction-system for late essays. Because that's how I roll. :o However, my study is now approaching a level of tidiness and organisation that means that I can actually walk to my desk and sit down to a clean and functional workspace. Which has not been the case since I vacated the study when our double-load of house guests arrived (how many months ago was that?). Anyway, I think that's a significant achievement when you subscribe, like I do, to the idea that your house is an outward representation of the inner workings of your psyche. I love my job but I so. totally. love staying at home and noodling around by myself as well.
That's enough about MD - how are y'all doin'?
ETA - I meant to say Arte - I finally caught up with some of your school/tiny school thread and composed a reply only to discover that the thread is being moderated :o - uh oh - I'd only read the first couple of pages and obviously didn't get to the pointy end of it, so not sure what the point of contention is/was. I hope everything is ok :grouphug:
Just the same old MD, didn't catch the end of it but last I read it had turned into a homeschool vs mass school vs parents choice. I wish I hadn't ever started the stupid thread.
Good to hear you have your study space sorted. I don't have a study area, I rotate from couch to table to bedroom depending on where the kids aren't :) How are you getting along with H and the ADD? Any progress?
All good here. Finally got my kids clothing order - imagine having to wait 8 working days for delivery in this day and age!! After several sternly worded emails they finally realised they had lost it and sent me a new one.
Cally, I took a page from your book and chose coloured jeans. Not for me, I am way too fat and frumpy to pull off something like that, but A thinks they are very cool. Poor kid actually has some fashion sense but is stuck with me buying her clothes for the foreseeable future lol.
Off to the city for the weekend tomorrow to go to my brother's engagement party. My baby brother is getting married! I can't imagine him as a grown up lol
ohhhh Arte! oh la la! a wedding! does this mean you get to frock up and have a Big Person night out?? or is it with kids in tow??
oh and 8 working days aint so bad...being a Bugaboo addict i am used to waiting up to 8 weeks for things :lol: gosh i am a sucker for that company i tell ya.
MD: well, you are one step ahead of me: I keep thinking that the glossy mags are full of crazy fashion disasters hahahaha. urgh, i am so unfashionable it hurts.
BBL....
Arte, sorry your thread derailed. FWIW (based on the bit I read) I think you raised some interesting points that other BBers might consider when choosing schools. Will post thoughts when or if thread resurfaces. No progress yet with H, still on my to-do list to organise the assessment process. Lots of reading/light bulb moments since, though. Are you happy with the kids clothes order once it finally arrived? (nothing worse than waiting and it turns up wrong). Enjoy your city weekend trip!!
Cass, you can get away with being "unfashionable" because you have your own funky dress sense. Funky stomps on fashionable, everytime. In fact, I would go so far as to say that fashionable is a pale attempt to imitate the true funkiness that some people just have, effortlessly (deff not including self in that last statement LOL). People like Lenny Kravitz and my niece and you. I, on the other hand have funky librarianness, which is an awesome character trait, but not much help as I stare despairingly into my wardrobe every morning.
Any nice plans for the weekend? Weather here is PERFECT - warm sunshine and cool mornings/evenings. There's a medieval fair on so that'll be our big outing for the W/E. We all need a bit of a Vit D boost before winter descends.
MD, Would love it if you could PM me your ideas.
How was the fair? Sounds cool, I would love to go to something like that.
It seems that I have had a serious judgement lapse in this thread. Here I was thinking that sharing what W was achieving was a positive thing to balance out all the complaining I do about him. Apparently not, I am just bragging/topping. I had no idea that it would be perceived that way, not by this group. I apologise completely for it. I honestly didn't mean to make anyone feel like the couldn't post what their child is doing, which I really do love to hear.
It also seems that I obviously dump too much in here and a very negative view of me and my life can be formed from that.
Neither of these things will be an issue moving forward. I really don't want to bust this thread so please take the apology and let it be.
Anyway, back from brothers engagement party. No date for wedding yet but it was nice to spend the night with mum, stepdad and bro.
MD: ....winter is coming....
I love a medieval fair!! so jealous! my mum used to take me to Brisbane's one each year....so fabulous!
Thank you for being generous with my fashion sense :lol: If funky means wearing clothes you have had for an average of 9 years then I am sooo it PMSL. I had this pair of pants that i had worn so long that on a trip to the supermarket one day the bum wore out...in the middle of the fruit and vege section. EMBARRASSING hahahahaha :rofl:
Arte: how was the engagement party?? You know that i have NEVER been to one??!! how insane is that?! in fact, i havent been to a wedding in about 10 years :o that's really weird now that i think of it....
AFM: just had a fabulous party for my 3.0!! we got catering in from a refugee centre so it was all this gorgeous african and middle eastern food OM NOM NOM. and it was just so much fun. all the kids went feral and had their own party basically while all of us adults had copious amounts of vino and great catch ups. thankfully everyone is a local and was able to topple home...the last lot of guests left after 1am sometime hahaha. I feel so rock and roll having a late one like that now haha.
Cass, I have never been to an engagement party before either. It was pretty casual. Pool and food.
I think you are totally stylish! I always think you look fashionable in your FB pics. Your birthday party sounds lovely! I hope you had a great time.
MD, I had a thought during my own painful but eventually successful clothes shopping trip today - do you think H would do better if she were shopping alone? Some people are social shoppers but I find myself getting agitated when there is someone checking constantly/time pressure etc. I was finding it hard to be civil to the fitting room lady that kept knocking on my door.
But the fashion gods are shining on me this season finally - seems black is back! I stocked up with double my usual haul, knowing I will probably have to wait another few years for colours to come and go. I am probably some black eyeliner away from being a goth lol. I even nearly branched out to a tunic style top but they had no sleeves - I just CBF with the whole layering thing. I want to put on some pants, a top and a jersey if it is cold. I don't have the inclination to coordinate multiple items of clothing.
Arte - I didn't read your thread on the schools (I read the first bit and didnt have time to write) completely so I dont know what was said or by who, but I am really sorry it turned nasty. I am sure no one from here would have meant to attack you - remember things on the screen can come across way differently to if you were having a coffee and a chat. So what I did want to say is you dont have to filter what you say - I love hearing what W is up to, just as I love hearing what the other kids are up to - I have stopped updating with N and J and their various achievements but thats more to do with my lack of time to post in completness than anything anyone else has said. All kids (well all people) have strengths and weaknesses and I love that in here we post all of that IF we want to and as long as when any of us ask for an opinion we are Ok to get a range of them I think we are in a happy place.... as one of the best things about BB and especially our little group is how diverse we all are. It can be hard not to feel like someone is saying something to/about you but I have personally tried not to get into that as I know we are all genuine and care for each other - believe me as a career focused, full time working, private school going mum there are many many posts and threads on BB where I could take things personally... but I know it isnt intended that way. Just like as a loving, proud, focused, present mum there are so many posts I relate to. We need to find and agree our commonalities not focus on the things that make us different - you can read a lot into what is said or unsaid that probably wasnt meant that way. Anyway, I dont know what happaned and I hope you are not upset - but you shouldnt feel like you need to mot speak about W and what he does or your life genrally - or we lose the richness and honesty of ourfriendships.
x
Thanks MP xx It's all good :)
How is N's hebrew going? That is really cool - can't be an easy language to learn? How is work life going?
His hebrew - wow you have a great memory to remember he is learning that at school! It's going really well - he can write quite a bit in Hebrew and has pretty good vocab for a kid his age. J is also learning now at Kinder and has a lot of the basics!!
As for work - well I am here now if that's any indicator!!! ha ha ha. no, it is going well - a stressful role but i have worked out i like it that way. I have been selected as one of the top 5 women in my org so am on a big mentoring programme which is quite exciting. I have also recently been asked to be a key note speaker at a conf in tassie and also at a Business Week thingy here in Melbs so that's exciting too (as for having to have a corp photo session this week, well I hope the guy has photoshop!).
Wow! You are doing so well at work! That is fantastic, but also not unexpected :)
I remember all sorts of useless stuff lol Does he have any troubles going between the two written languages - with one going the other way? I love bilingual kids, such a great ability for them. Cass, are your girls speaking italian?
he is Ok with the languages going both ways... the biggest issue he has is being a lefty some of his letters he does the wrong way a bit (like N). he doesnt write a lot in hebrew yet, the focus is more on talking.. he loves it!
oh of course! hebrew goes the other way lol! that is super cool how quickly they are picking it up and learning. leila was totally fascinated by our friends speaking in hebrew and the writing!
our girls speak bits and pieces. their comprehension is 100% but the speaking is not so consistent...and it is entirely our fault and i am furious that we are letting it slip. if only DHs family werent so insane we could live there for a bit and sort it out properly lol
MP - agree 100% with everything you said, my dear. Good to hear you are thriving in the new position (but not at all surprised).
So awesome to have the opportunity to learn another language young! I always imagined I could bring my kidlets up at least partially bilingual, but since I've never had the opportunity to have an immersion experience, I've never quite crossed over into completely fluent (although it does mess with my sense of spelling and I sometimes dream in smatterings of the other language). Then if you're not using that language in your home, it all relies on the school you send your kids to. There was a very small window, when DD1 was little, that we could have sent her to a bilingual Auslan kindy/junior primary (which would have been awesome), but then the economics and timing of buying a house messed with that.
Needless to say, I think that schools like yours MP that teach in both languages are fantastic. I had friends that used to go to Greek school every Sat morning, and I remember being simultaneously horrified (school? on a Saturday??) and 100% jealous that they got to do all that cool language stuff and learning traditional dances, etc. Just demonstrating what a freak of a child I was.
Arte, I have never been to an engagement party, not even my own. In fact, we never even got "engaged", we just proceeded straight to the registry office (do not pass go, do not collect $200). That's great you have found lots of black. I had a similar year a while back when everything was chocolate brown and turquoise and paisley and folksy. I reckon I'll be waiting at least another 12 years for that style to swing back round again. In the meantime, layering will save me.
Medieval fair was awesome, as usual. Weather was perfect (sunny but just a tiny bit on the cool side). Even though we go most years, E had a whole new appreciation for it. She's very interested in how things are made and they have a whole artisans village with people spinning wool, blacksmith, making armour, carving wood, etc etc.
Medieval fair sounds way cool! Things like that never come off well in NZ - too small and although the promise sounds good it ends up being half arsed.
MD, with you on the language jealousy. I would love it if they included Maori in the school curriculum. We are fortunate enough to have a bilingual teacher at kindy who shares a lot of culture and language but I have only picked up some very basic words and I am very conscious of pronunciation iykwim. We are only really taught colours, shapes, numbers and a few instructions in early school. Sad, because it is an official language of the country and I really think it should be taught (as well as sign language).
MP, I think it is pretty common to be doing backwards letters regardless of begin a lefty or righty. I have heard mothers group ladies talking about their kids still doing backwards S's and 3's at age 7. Then there is that whole bdpq disaster.
We got a Wii in the city. I don't expect to talk to DH for several weeks lol.
Hi everyone. Seems like winter has set in down here.
MP - you do sound like you're doing very well at work.
Re languages - Not much happening here on that front. Would be such a great skill, my sister is fluent in another language, went and lived there for a year in uni.
We had another birthday party today - getting to know some of the other mums which is good. I'm taking Wed off and helping out with maths which will be fun.
:rofl::
DH and I looked at the aisle of those things and the games in kmart yesterday...we both knew that bringing that into the house would spell disaster for all involved hahaha - especially with the perfect excuse of looooooonnnggg winters.
What a missed opportunity that they dont teach Maori! so, excuse my ignorance...it is one language? Here in Oz it would be really hard to teach an indigenous language...there are like over 200 lol. i speak a smattering of Murri but it is no where near enough to get me anywhere...just places me (in that people know that i am from that part of QLD lol).
Cally: maths = fun :o
Cass, yip, Maori is one language. There are regional variations in some pronunciation but most of the tribes consolidated/ were conquered etc over time so most of the original dialects died out in favour of a common language.
It was the long winter days that got us the machine lol.
Cally, good that you are getting to know some of the mums :) How are your headaches now?
Headaches seem to be going better lately, thanks Arte. My latest plan is to go to the physio and see if there are some strengthening exercises I could do for my neck that will stop it going out so frequently (appears to be the main cause) - I see a chiropractor every 4 weeks which was helping for a while, but I've noticed it is out again within a week of that visit, so it's not really a sustainable thing.
DD learns some of the local language at school, but just a few small phrases.
We've got a Wii, we really tend to use it infrequently. Maybe because it was a hand-me-down from MIL, we don't really have any interest in it. Occassionally DD will want to use it for bowling, but that's about it.
Oh, it's cold! So not a winter person.
Cally, did you mention it's cold? :p LOL.
I don't feel cold, but i have a cold, and it's at that horrible just-bury-me-under-a-pile-of-quilts-and-go-away stage. Feeling sorry for self but it's not quite an attack of the man flu so I should make it out alive.
Cally, have you tried seeing an osteopath instead? I remember my mum used to see a chiro a lot and like you say the effect always seemed to wear off. But when I took E to an osteo, it seemed to be a gentler, more incremental adjustment, that had a longer-lasting effect.
Arte, I loved hearing Maori spoken when I was in NZ. I'm surprised it's not taught intensively in schools.
Re the bdpq disaster:
b = the bat comes before the ball
d = the dog's head comes through the door before his tail
and you draw pictures with the b or d overlaid.
But with p&q I'm all out
E hasn't had any birthday party invitations yet. I"m assuming this is because of the way the age cut offs work at our school, they all must've turned 5 between july and jan. Either that or I just look like a scary mummy by failing to observe the yummy mummy fashion conventions (*snorts*) :rofl:.
I've mostly resisted having a tv game thingo. We have an old PS which we whip out for singstar every now and again, but tbh I try to minimise the screen time. DD1 is desperate to have a wii, and DH wants a ?kinetic? whatsit. My sister had a wii when they lived here before and it was well-loved and used, but they upgraded to the ?kinetic? whatsit and now the kids just seem to fight over it all the time. So I would say based on that that wii is the G.O. - should be fun.
ooohhh i hate winter too!
today wasnt so bad, i even was able to wear a layered singlet for 2 hours!!! but now the chill is creeping in :(
we dont have any game consoley thingos. my girls wouldnt even know what they are hahahaha