[catalyst]

New thread time ladies

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/ind...howtopic=898413

[fillesetjumeaux]

Because I can...

I'm off to dinner with the Year 3 mums from Anna's new school, most of whom I've never met. Looking forward to delicious Italian!

[nadya]

Mandy - Have fun at the NT definitely an interesting place to visit. Would love to go some day.

Janet - Just read how D walked to school with one shoe on. I had to laugh. Hope your dinner was nice.

[Denghiu]

LOL at Janet and the shoeless child! The boys are so cute and I love all your little status stories on FB, they are always entertaining.

Liss- Get well soon!! Sounds like a horrid cough. I hear you on the bratty children! This wasn´t what I ordered, is it too late to bring them back!!??

Mandy- I am soooo hanging out for exactly that, no stress at bedtime to get them to bed, not having to wake them up in the morning! Friday, last work day for 6 weeks for me, and even though the kids really love pre-school, i think they will love not having to get up in the morning even more!

Naz- how exciting with the Perth trip. I say like Mandy, I want to go to Perth too!!

Alinta- I am ok with the hearing loss now I think. That is, as long as it stays as it is now. If it gets worse with time I am not sure how ok I will be. I mentioned something to Ava about her having not so good hearing and she looked at me like I was dumb! and said "but mummy *I* hear really good".

Summer is here, Friday is my last day before annual hols. then 6 weeks FT with the kids. I am really looking forward to it! What I wasn't expecting this summer however was how much I would miss Perth and all that comes with it! I miss it more now in summer here than when we had winter. I thought it would have been worse in winter, but I loved winter, I love summer here too, but I guess it is just so similar to Perth weather that it makes me reminisce about all the good times we had. Today I was daydreaming and really wishing I could go to PP for a play with the Poors, Codex and Reb!!!

[Naz32]

Hello from Sadie the cleaning lady

How boring is folding clothes - I mean really its just a never ending task. I cant wait till summer just so there is not as much washing!!

Im making a fish pie for dinner tonight. They are having one at preschool next week so thought I would get in first. Preschool was a good day yesterday - chicken drumsticks with rice and carrots for lunch which she ate, weetbix for morning tea which she ate and then vegetable bread for afternoon that she ate so much of her tummy was poking out. The new menu that they started on Monday seems much better for Lily than the last one so hopefully she will settle down abit now. Im packing a vege sanga and apple and yoghurt for her each day as backup until we are over it so she is much more relaxed - although still not happy about Liz having curlier hair than her!

Friday the shop will finally be ours. :Gavin is working so hard to get everything over the line and sort out some staffing issues that he has to deal with before the settlement. He is so stressed but thriving on it. Priceline are being very supportive and helping himout with corporate visits and helping him get the store up and running at full production so he is thrilled at the support.

Mandy your trip sounds fantastic - its such a grfeat part of the country to explore. We met heaps of families doing 6 month trips with theirkids all up through Katherine to Darwin when we did out trip - the campsites are great fun in the evenings.

Janet - We used to joke that Sarahs Indian name was One Shoe On when she was little as she would never have two shoes on lol Loving all the pics of the kids on FB - what a lovaely little (big lol) family you have.

Not too much else to report. Its a rainy cool day today up here and SImon has slept through the middle part of the day but now we need to pop to shops and grab the girls. Hopefully BBL

[Mulan]

Oh my gosh naz you are so spot on with folding. It's my least favorite housework.

I got some details today for a cleaner and it seems she charges different rates for different suburbs but my friend thinks she bases it on our income. The same cleaner charges one friend $25 an hour in a lower socio economic suburb, another friend $30 an hour in a nicer suburb knowing her wage s higher also. Then she quoted us 40 an hour and my neighbor $45 an hour and he's a miner. So I know Celia has a cleaner, do you still have one Liss? can I ask what you pay her? I've got someone else coming next week to meet and get a quote. I refuse to pay a cleaner more than my nett pay as that just seems financially stupid, I'd rather drop 2 hours of work and do it myself.

How was the fish pie naz? Good idea making the same foods as daycare. DD began refusing preschool this week. One of her best friends left recently and another little girl has hurt her recently. Last week she said she tried to choke her and this week she is sporting a decent bruise on her nose with a little black eye. Although she has a great heart and told me it wasn't her fault because " .....'s mummy hasn't taught her gentle hands yet so I have to help her too" I still think this might be part of her not wanting to go. I mentioned the chokin and what DD said to the director so we will monitor a little more I think.

DD has a spot for big school next year. She is so excited. We are still waiting to hear about a spot for high school for DS. We need the psychologist report still though and still on waiting lists for that

Moa summer sounds great. It amazes me how it can go from so bitterly cold to so warm for you. I'm over winter here. The house is warm though. We have only run the heating a couple of times so far and not at all since the window coverings went in. It hasn't been as cold the last 2 weeks though.

[mamaknits]

So I know Celia has a cleaner, do you still have one Liss? can I ask what you pay her? I've got someone else coming next week to meet and get a quote. I refuse to pay a cleaner more than my nett pay as that just seems financially stupid, I'd rather drop 2 hours of work and do it myself.

I pay my cleaner $62 for 2 hours and $21 for extra hours if necessary.
Note that he does nto do an amazing job but it is sufficient. I still do showers and things myself to get rid of mould and to give stuff a good scrub. He does a good job with the floors and toilets, though. I don't get him to dust (house always a mess), but he tidies up as he goes along. If I ask him to, he will do "extra" stuff like wiping down the gaps in the stair banister and that kind of thing.

I just wanted to add as well that even if the fee was more than my nett pay per hour, i would pay it if I can't find time in a day/week to do the stuff he does. It's not about it being cheap, for us, it is about it being done at all. There is a line in the sand, and $45 is very steep. I would be looking to see if I can get someone else cheaper.

This post has been edited by mamaknits: 30/06/2011, 10:19 AM

[azalia]

Morning

Mulan - Ive always said no to a cleaner, though it would probably be a good idea soon, I feel like my house is just too messy Id be embarressed to get one in.

Having a rotten week, feel sick still and the kids have defeated me, Im sure they know it too because they are not listening or obeying anything I say, and Im that over it Im walking away with tears. I tell them off for something and Im talking to a brick wall till I yell it which is hurting my head and draining my voice. Topped with Im at a loss with what to do about Masons sleep, since its been darker about 8 weeks aho Mason wakes at about 3-4am and gets up turns all the lights on and the TV. I get up turn them all off take him back to bed where he screams hysterically for about 30 minutes till I give up out of frustration cause hes worken everyone else up. I dont know what to do and Im so sick of it, hes making me really grumpy and then of course by 9am he is grumpy. He also always does his morning poo at that time, but he also does one before bed.

Sorry for my whinging post, I am struggling with their behaviour.

[lissiloo]

Hi

Alinta -- I could have written much of your post myself today. Except for the part about getting up at 4am, that only happens now and then

I've got Ella's lurgy from last week and I feel revolting, have been feeling crappy all week and not getting any time to recover. Jack is like the Energiser Bunny on speed, he just goes and goes and goes and gets into absolutely everything. He's been teething again, just cut his 4th molar so lots of sleepless nights with him. Ella and Poppy are whinging a lot, mostly because they can I think. Although Poppy has a touch of this cold thing too -- she fell asleep fully clothed in her bed last night at 6:30 or so (I had sent her to her room as she whacked me when I told her she wasn't going to have any dessert unless she ate more than 2 bites of her dinner, when I went in 5 minutes later she was almost asleep), and she's coughing.

To top it off my PILs are arriving this evening, and my cleaner has given me the runaround this week. First she changed her day to come on Wednesday, then she texted me on Wednesday to say she couldn't make it and we arranged for her to come today, then she reneged on today as well, so I have to try to get the house presentable for my fussy MIL, despite feeling like poo. And DH has been leaving before 8am every day this week, at least he is going to come home early tonight (or so he says). So glad school holidays start at the end of this week, will be nice to not have to be out of the house every morning at 8:45.

Sorry, this has turned into a bit of a vent hasn't it!

Ella got her first school report this week, no grades yet though, they save them for the end of the year for the preps. She is doing well though. Unfortunately she has to take part in a performance at assembly tomorrow and is freaking out about it -- I think that is why she is being such a PITA at the moment. I keep telling her she has to do it, and have been trying to give her ideas for coping (pretend everyone is wearing undies on their heads, know that everyone is only there to listen to their kid singing, etc). I talked to the teacher about it yesterday and she said Ella has given absolutely no signs of this at school -- she sings and does all the hand movements beautifully. So I don't know what more to do. I can only imagine she'll just stand there tomorrow looking frightened. Sigh.

Mulan -- $45/hr sounds awfully high to me -- that's like agency rates. Why don't you call her on it, ask her why she charges different rates? My cleaner charges me $50 for 2 hrs, she is a student, so maybe that's why her rates are lower. She does the kitchen, the bathroom and toilet, the floors in the living areas and kitchen and if the kids' rooms are tidy then she does them too. I get her to do other things like windows or dusting or cleaning the walls occasionally. I try to make sure the house is tidy for her -- toys picked up, dishes away etc -- have finally understood why my mum always wanted to have a clean house for the cleaner

Damn it, the little guy is awake. I'll be back in a day or two ...

Cheers
Lissiloo

[mamaknits]

I should add that my cleaner is thru an agency and the rates I quoted are agency rates, so $45 an hour is frightfully high