I'm also here especially to check on the Baby News! Thinking of you, here in Australia. Nikki

Still working on goals for 2010, but one that worked this year involved a 2 yo ds who liked to terrorize EVERYTHING. :001_smile: I accepted the reality, and cut down on the fights and the work by re-arranging things a little. I moved all his books from the living room where he pulled them all off the shelf multiple times a day, to my bedroom where he only really got at them nap- and bed-time. I took maybe 10 cushions from the living areas and stored them in one of those vacuum-type bags and put them away - I was picking them up off the floor at least half a dozen times a day. I packed a lot of toys into a closed cupboard. Those were the big things that made the house look much better, and freed up time for other housework. And as he gets older, he is getting a little less destructive.

:iagree:That's a lovely idea.

I think A might send water everywhere, either escaping from the shower, or when it drips off the bottom of the curtain. I am not sure about B. Given that you're in Arabia, I'm assuming cheap tailors, and I'd go with C. Might be worth at least trying B, though...

Rosie, How old are your kids? Someone just told me about Little Pim (www.littlepim.com). They have Arabic too, and I am considering getting the dvds to start ds3 on some fun Arabic. I know it's not what you were asking, but just thought I'd mention it! Nikki

Congrats on the piggy-success! And to think I lost sleep over roasting my first ever turkey to take to Christmas lunch at a friend's yesterday. Shame on me! Nikki (And the turkey worked out nicely too).

Oh my goodness! What an amazing thing to have happen. Where we were before, a baby was left on the doorstep of an expat couple who had been trying for many years for children. This happened just before they were due to leave the country permanently. They delayed their stay, and once issues of nationality had been sorted out, they left with a little girl! Really hoping for a Christmas miracle for you!

Truly Jean, I think you might be getting off lightly with the pig. I had a Sri Lankan woman who used to babysit for me, and the minister/priest at her church was Filipino. He laid on a meal for his parishioners (mostly migrant workers far from home) at Christmas, and she said dog was served. This was a treat and an honour, but she was rather horrified. Personally I think it's all just cultural conditioning, and I'd try the pig's head, but I'd draw the line at plucking hairs!

:lol: That is so my house! He keeps his clothes in the hall cupboard to avoid waking us when he leaves for work in the morning. I have to tell him - "You know, the postman sometimes come right up to the door."

I'm glad about that! My dd has definitely been exposed to far too much, and I feel sad for her (also a miscarriage I suffered when we were alone together and traveling). Again, I hope your friend recovers well, and I am so sorry to hear she needed to have a hysterectomy.

Interesting question! As far as I am concerned, if a child still needs help in the bath, they are definitely too young to worry about you seeing them clotheless. I still see my mother without clothes, so clearly same-sex nudity is not an issue for me, even if I'm not exactly comfortable with it. It seems that both European women, and Australian women (or maybe they're European immigrants to Australia?) are comfortable with same-sex nudity in a way that South African's aren't. I am talking about walking around naked in swimming pool changing rooms here - I always cover up and turn my back. Dh tends to walk around with no clothes, and I am less and less comfortable with that as dd gets older (she is 9yrs), and he is doing it less and less, although it is fine for dd to enter the bathroom when he is showering etc. On the other hand, I yesterday had 5 & 7 yr old brothers giggling and pointing because my ds, nearly 3, was running around naked after getting out the pool - fine with me and the hostess, but clearly not done at the home of the other guest. Now that I found offensive - if that is the result of complete modesty in a home, that poses a problem to me. I want dc to see the body as natural, while learning appropriate modesty.

I'm glad she's OK! If she has other children, you might help by giving them some space to talk if they need it. I had a complete placenta previa with ds3, had a bleed (and yes, it's LOTS of blood) at 36.5 weeks, we rushed to hospital (no reliable ambulance service). They were not sure if they could stop the bleeding (lost 2 units eventually, which is a 3rd of what you have, so not nearly as serious as your friend), and were asking me if it was OK to do a hysterectomy. I had just had dinner, so they couldn't do a general anesthetic, so I was awake throughout this. But my point - dd, then 7, was dragged out of bed and to hospital, and waited alone in my room while dh sat next to the operating room in case they needed his consent for a hysterectomy (not needed). Days afterwards I made some comment about my hands shaking during the C-section, and she interjected: "My whole body was shaking!". We'd been so wrapped up in me, we'd forgotten the trauma she went through. She was solidly comitted to only adopting babies for some time after that, poor girl. So check that any other kids haven't been "forgotten" in the chaos and panic. I hope your friend recovers soon.

Well, my favourite was: Seems to me like a lot us have noticed, and a lot of us care! Why, I'd say the parents of at least two million children have noticed and cared.

It was a book set in Israel, cashing in on the Dan Brown hype, gnostic gospels etc. It was dumbed down to an excrutiating level. And I cannot believe the author had ever been to Israel. Amongst other things, he said something about a character forgetting he was in Israel until he'd left the airport. No-one who's been through Israeli security checks could ever think that! Note to authors everywhere - don't set a book somewhere you've never been. Other people might actually have been there.

Darla, If you want me to scan or just summarise the questions from one lesson for you, I'd be happy to. PM me. Living overseas I am used to the trial of buying material I've never looked at, so I'm aways happy to help someone who's in the same boat! Nikki

How miserable for everyone! Ds hated the car seat too, and it was a trial. One thing that did improve things was to get him an MP3 player with built in speaker. He enjoyed holding it and listening to "his" music. That calmed him a lot, but I would say he was probably a bit older - closer to 2yrs. It is agony to travel with a car-hating child...

We have just received our Mosdos Ruby. There are about 6 questions in the textbook - you can see these in the samples on the website. We will do these orally. There are also 2 or 3 creative writing questions - we may or may not do these, depending on other writing assignments. The workbook has 5 or 6 questions requiring sentence answers, and another requiring a short paragraph. Then there's two pages of vocabulary (one word answers) and a "graphic organiser" which doesn't seem to require much writing. HTHs!

45 minute commute versus 15 minutes commute is a difference of 30 minutes. That's 1 hour a day. Rough guess, leaving off weekends and holidays - 230 hours a year. Is space to roam worth losing 230 hours a year of time with Dad? That's how I'd decide... It might be different if Dad was the one who really, really wanted more land.

We don't do Santa. As a child, I remember being disappointed that I had been lied to, feeling a little stupid for ever believing. I don't like the inequality of the Santa idea. What really sealed the deal for me was seeing an interview in the newspaper with South African kids attending a preschool in a well-off area. Most of the kids from wealthy families, and expecting the latest popular (and expensive) toy from santa. Other kids were obviously at the school because their families sacrificed hugely - they were hoping santa would bring them a soccer ball or a doll. If you're well off and your kids get a car for Christmas, and I'm not and mine get a generic brand MP3 player - fine. I can live with that. I can't live with kids thinking some "independent" old guy from the North Pole treats kids differently! But that's just a little rant ;-) If we see something the kids want / need, they get a santa gift. Otherwise I just prep dd and tell her to nominate a gift as "from santa" in case other kids ask what she got. Worked fine for the past 9 years!

I'm "homesick" for Oman lately, so if it were one week right now, that's where I'd want to go! If it were somewhere I'd never been, I'd head to Morocco or Lebanon.

I've been wondering about a Baked Alaska with Christmas cake at the base, instead of sponge. I'd stir red and green cherries into the ice-cream before I set it in the bowl. This would depend on how far you are traveling, as you'd have to keep the ice-cream really frozen, then assemble and bake where you are eating dinner.

I agree that it's personality rather than spacing. My sister and I are 3 yrs apart, and don't get on well, never have. I planned on 4 years apart for mine, but with miscarriage and secondary infertility I ended up with 6yrs and 3 months as a gap. I think they will get on OK as they are older, but for now dd9 is pretty resentful of ds3. I think it's partly her personality, and partly that she received too much attention as an only. The household became too child-centred, and that meant her-centred and she has had a very hard time adjusting to that changing. I don't regret a bigger gap, but we benefited more from it for the first 18 months when dd was at school and I had the mornings to focus on ds. Having them both at home is exhausting, and I always feel like I am short-changing someone.

We flew a lot with kids in the past 5 years. I'd start by looking at the airport's website, and seeing what they do to cater for kids. Some might have playgrounds etc which could make things easier - at least break up the dvd watching. We were invited into a "VIP Lounge" at one airport as it was run by the mother of my dd's best friend. Although they didn't specifically cater for kids, Internet access, a quieter environment, good food in buffet style and attentive staff made it a fantastic improvement on just hanging about with the common folk :tongue_smilie:. At the next airport we paid for entry to the VIP lounge, and although the lounge itself wasn't as nice, it was again money well-spent. Depending on the length of the flights and length and time of stopover, I would even consider booking in at an aiport hotel. Just having some space and quiet helps a lot. Have a bath, relax, order food etc. We've done that, and also not regretted it. My Best-in-Class for airports has to be Singapore's Changi Airport - as well as relatively cheap airport hotel rooms, it has a POOL. On the off chance that your airport does too (and that it's in a warm part of the world) it would definitely be worth paying for entry and carrying wet swimsuits with you on your second leg! Worst case scenario - take a soft ball along, and find a deserted corner of the airport and play ball games. Done that too, at one of the worst airports with little to do. An "allowance" for kids to buy something from duty free goes down well - a new toy can provide a fair amount of entertainment value. I'd also consider whether leaving the airport is feasible, especially on a 6 hour layover. Is there a shopping centre with playground nearby? Or a hotel where you could pay day-entry to a pool? My bottom line of this is: 1) Ring the changes - try to do something other than sitting and watching dvds, as this is what they'd be doing on the plane. Be as active as possible, while recognising everyone might be tired. 2) Accept that happy layovers might mean spending money. I hate doing that, but if considered as a percentage of the cost of your holiday, it is usually tiny, and probably worth it to ensure your journey is less stressful. 3) Pack a light farbic backpack into your wheeled bag in case you pick up extra toys etc at duty free! Enjoy your travels! Nikki

I had a lovely "girly" dress-up box for my dd, with a fair amount of stuff I'd sewn myself - a wedding dress and veil, a "princess skirt", a tutu, a mermaid tail. Ds is nearly 3, and getting interested in dress-up. The mermaid's tail has morphed into a fish's tail. And while it's very sweet to watch him strolling around with a pink feather boa around his neck, announcing "I'm a pwincess" to all who will listen, I think it might be time to "masculinise" the dress-up box. So, what are good dress-up ideas for little boys? Things that are easy to sew would be helpful, otherwise easy to put together or inexpensive to buy. Thanks, Nikki

Thanks! I had looked for info online but not found anything satisfactory. Will try googling "Litha" and see if I am more successful. I second Rosie on the Big No to bonfires, unfortunately. Nikki