Poor kid! Ds had that when he was 6 months old, with a nice belly scar to prove it! He was literally trying to crawl away from the pain, up the bed, or out of my arms and over my shoulder. He never has a recurrence but I worried about it for years. (Incidentally, they chose to take his appendix out at the same time so if there was a recurrence we'd have one less potential 'stomach pain issue' to rule out.)

Australia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, UK. Some of those were just visited for a couple of days though, and only the main city. This year we'll add Italy, plus revisit a few on the list. I really can't say which I liked most. I could say "____ is amazing because ____ " for each of them. I think that's what's so fantastic about travel - it helps to build a "different but equal" mentality. I have a special love for Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries. And I remember Sweden as really beautiful. My "home base" has various been in Australia, the Middle East and Africa, so figuring out the furthest I've been is too hard! Oman to New Zealand, probably? In December we fly Australia to the UK, which might beat that. ETA - Tanzania! How could I forget my honeymoon destination?

Our school spent at least 4 of the 5 years we've been there insisting aftercare was impossible until one parent on the council did all the work and went to them with a precise proposal. Yes, there is demand. No, your insurance does not cut off at 3pm and preclude other parties operating on the premises. Etc etc. That's what I would suggest then: come up with a precise proposal about how each option would work and what the costing would be and how many parents would be needed for it to break even. We were sent a link for an online survey to gauge interest - perhaps you could set up a "dummy" survey to show the organisers how it would work. Alternatively, would it be feasible for you to hire an au pair or at least a driver for this period to take the pressure off? I know a couple of mothers who do this. In one case the au pair had most of the day off but did the school run and some after school care. In another it was only during the summer holiday months.

Dd15 sounds similar - it's not terrible acne like dh apparently had, but it's much worse than I had. She find that products have to be changed after several months, as something reliable will stop working. A simple medicated soap bar from the supermarket has been the product that was effective for longest. She has to wash twice a day, and she swears that changing the times makes a difference (like washing later in the morning during holidays, although I'd imagine it has more to do with more relaxed eating habits etc). At the moment she is using a product which apparently has charcoal in it and it seems to be working (the soap bar doesn't seem to be working as well any more). It's also been interesting to note that specific acne products don't seem to work better than face products marketed more generally.

Long sleeved rash guard for my red-head 15 year old! I always make them apply a good quality water resistant sunscreen at home, then rashies can go on after several hours to deal with the hottest part of the day. Plus hats and more sunscreen on the face. But yes, it's a challenge, and is only 100% successful if I'm there. I have taken to texting reminders if she's out without me!

Here at least it is perfectly legal to have a drink and drive if you're within the legal limit. It would be pretty hard for a restaurant to police how many drinks each customer is consuming and how fast to figure out blood alcohol levels.

Do you take advantage of stopovers? We always try to get in an extra country for a few days when we travel. So when flying to New Zealand we stopped in Singapore, when we went to Singapore we threw in a few days in Malaysia, and on the way to Europe we're taking a few days in the UAE. It's not quite the same as a full holiday but you can see a lot in a few days if you're motivated! We really only have my mom that we have to see in our home country and we fly her to us rather than us going there. It means we don't see other family, but I can live with that. It seems heart-hearted I suppose, but I agree that family holidays are not the same as 'true overseas holidays' and we've opted for the latter. Our situation is probably unusual though - most people I know have larger family groups they want to maintain contact with, and choose as you do to fly 'home' rather than go on holidays.

My mom let me try wine and liqueurs occasionally as a teen, although alcohol never played much of a role in my family. Current thinking is strongly against this practice as I understand it, but based on my experience that's probably what we'll do. I never experimented with alcohol as a younger teen and have only been 'drunk' twice (late teens - out of the house already, and I'm talking probably 3 drinks) and knew that I looked pretty ridiculous both times. Overall I think that it has much more to do with the family drinking culture than anything else, and alcohol is not a big part of our life. I predict serious problems with caffeine, though!

Quality underlay is a huge factor in the 'feel' of the floor, as is board thickness. Ours has chipped where cutlery was dropped on it - kitchen and dining room. It is fine with normal water spills but the 'undiagnosed' leaking washing machine did some serious damage - keep several extra packs of boards for such disasters (actually we lifted the wet boards, dried them out in the sun and resused the wonky boards, as they were under the washing machine and not visible). I still love the floor!

I don't see an issue with the age either. I was 20 when I met my husband who was 28. Married 20 years. There was nothing to 'look out for' - either you want the same things out of life or you don't and dating is the time to figure that out.

Hate to ask an obvious question but have you restarted the computer? I got locked out recently but after I restarted the computer did accept my password.

For myself, I don't drink at all before driving. Dh will drink within the legal limit. So he balances limited drinks with time before driving with food consumed. If he's driving the kids I ask for zero alcohol. I would prefer the kids don't mix alcohol and driving in any way, but I don't see how I can insist on more than the legal limits. We'll do a lot of talking about that in the coming years.

A real estate agent stopped by 18 months to 2 years ago. I told him we would be selling in the future and he popped by a year later to check in. I actually liked that he'd not bothered me in between, but had in fact kept us on record. It seemed organised. We're ready to sell now and I'll start by contacting him.

One trip of up to 10 days, usually at Christmas when dh is on (unpaid) shutdown leave, but possibly at Easter where the Easter public holidays and another Australian holiday sometimes occur near enough together to get a week away with only a few additional days off work (dh is not paid if not actually working). Possibly another long weekend away during the year. For about 18 months we had access to a friends house right opposite the beach in a coastal town and we went there 5 or 6 times over that period. It was wonderful, one of the happiest years. I once took the kids for a week and dh joined us over the weekends either side. I would never do that if paying for accomodation, although we all ended up benefiting from it, so maybe I should rethink that.

For the most part I use cloths not sponges, as I feel that something that dries out completely has to be more hygienic than something that remains moist. I buy the extra strong dishwashing cloths and cut them in half and keep them in a tub under the sink. I throw cloths I've used into the washing machine every few days. A pack will last me about a year before they start to disintegrate. For scouring I mostly use a metal pot scourer thing and I just wash that with hot water and soap. There isn't much I need the sponge for, just for scraping stubborn dirt off a non-stick pan. Usually I just use baking soda and a cloth, so if I do buy the occasional sponge it's just washed with hot water and soap and allowed to dry out.

I would also browse Etsy for ideas and have something personal made up. I like the idea of a ring for this as you can have something personal engraved on the inside. You might be able to do the same with certain bracelet/bangles? I'm not sure if you're religious but there are lots of examples of Hebrew-engraved rings online, and some examples of bracelets. (I'm not religious but was looking for a ring with a Hebrew phrase "This too shall pass" on it and found engraved items to be quite widely available.) That might give you somewhere to start.

The latest opinion seems to be that steam doesn't work: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-35108249 The pharmacist reminded us to keep ds well hydrated. We're giving him OTC meds but I don't think they're effective. Propping him up at night helps to reduce night time coughing I think. I'm getting woken by one or two coughing fits rather than all night coughing. Dizziness is not a fun aspect of a coughing fit but after two kids it's rather lower down that worries me. I have to stand still and cough now, or .... oops!

I don't think you'll be able to load the audible app (it says iOS8 or higher) but you will be able to play audible books by saving them into iTunes (I think it uses the Music app). That's how we used to do it pre-app so I imagine it still works.

Pay as needed and pay directly to school or landlord. If they're getting money for day to day expenses like food and clothes I would pay that to the child monthly. They can hone their money management skills with smaller amounts, much safer that way! But I'll second Melissa in my grateful thanks to the Australian government for making this an issue we don't have to worry about.

Dh loves chillis and I once had the kids plant a bed of chillis for him. They each chose a variety of types, made labels for each plant, and a sign for the garden bed. He really appreciated that.

We don't talk about things that don't affect them. There is absolutely no need for them to hear intense details about an event halfway around the world, or even in the next city. We might talk about an event if there is a clear lesson to be learned about personal safety, but even then we keep it abstract or at least thin on details. We don't watch TV news at all in a purposeful effort to keep unnecessary ugliness and fear out of their lives. That said, we don't shield them from scary facts in general - for instance I was once shushed by another mother when I told dd, then 6yrs, that a teacher was wearing a bandage because she had been attacked by a dog. It was a fact, she asked, I answered. And if they overhear me talking about a tragic event in world news it's not an issue - if they ask I'll explain more fully. Dd15 consciously avoids this sort of news. I'm glad she is wise enough to do that. I tend to read too much news and dwell on things I can't change myself, and it is not healthy.

We're at about 10 weeks with ds. It's driving me nuts. We had 5 weeks, a break of 1 week, 2 weeks, a break of 1 week and we're onto a second week. We haven't been to the doctor because there's no fever or ear ache or sore throat just a vile runny nose and a cough. He's taking vitamins by the handful and a cough-and-decongestant med but nothing seems to end his run of germiness!

It's not clear how long your guest will be staying, but for one night sleepovers we handle it like this: At our house: we usually keep them outdoors as long as possible, eat dinner by 6:30 latest and schedule a movie in bed from 7:30pm onwards. Early to bed children can fall asleep if they need to. The kids are allowed electronic time in the room when they wake early. If I hear them they are hushed. However it's very hard to keep any two kids who are conscious quiet enough for me to sleep so I expect to be awake by 6am. I don't get up earlier though. I also try to make the room as dark as possible. At other people's houses: ds takes an audiobook and the mother is informed that he may listen in bed for as long as needed. He wakes up whenever the early riser does and deals with it. I know people who set up a "quiet room" for guests who might actually want to sleep when they are having kids over for a slumber party. This room is out of bounds for other kids. If the family is staying with you rather than just the kids sleeping over and if it's more than just a day or two I'd let the mother know the movie-or-quiet room options, and that your family has a 'no noise before 7am' rule and tell her you'll stock breakfast-on-the-go items for her if she needs to take the kids out to a local park until then (yoghurt, muffins etc). I absolutely hate sleepovers at our house for just this reason: I always end up tired and cranky the next day. The kids handle it much better!

I also measure a cm more now than I have always been recorded as. I noticed the change a few years ago, so early 40s. I was just thinking about it today when I put my height into a calculator. It feels odd to use the 'new' height after 20+ years of the other.

I really like turkey bacon but you can't get it in Australia. We tasted it for the first time in the Middle East and we switched entirely (partly because it wasn't easier to get than the real thing but also because it seemed less fatty). I've done some searching here, but can't find it at all.