DEfinitely get level 7, I wouldn't call it "extra" at all. DS has been right through now, and it really did add a lot to his skills. DD is just coming up on the end of level 2, and we will definitely roll all the way with her too.

booze or ice cream

busy days for some of you! I'm dealing with a vomiting DD (day 2), juggling choir, music exam and rehearsal commitments for DS (and organising people to sit with DD while I get him to the ones I have to be at / drop him to the ones I can stay away from), and a house with all of the living area (3) furniture moved into one space because the floors have just been polished and it haven't quite cured yet. The funriture was all shoved in very quickly because we got just over 1 hour notice that they were coming due to a cancellation... I wasn't saying no, because it'd be after Christmas if not now). I'm also closing rapidly on a couple of deadlines for significant pieces of writing that I've done nothing but outline so far. Meant to be cooking a family dinner tomorrow (will have to cancel if DD isn't better), and drowning in laundry because I couldn't get to the laundry room for 3 days (only access is over expanses of newly polished floors). It never rains but it pours, right? Still, the weather is beautiful, the floors look wonderful, the sick kiddo is finally big enough to hit the bowl fairly consistently, the bigger one is being extremely helpful and I am amazingly grateful that I have a DH who can work from home when I need him, a MIL who can help with sitting and delivering boy child, and wonderful friends who will also act as taxis for DS. Oh... and in the midst of it all, I'm actually managing to stick (mostly) to my eating plan and I'm pretty close to my first 10kg down. :-)

yes please

11 hours? If the door as kept shut it should all be fine. We were three days after the quake and our fridge and freezer survived intact (just... the power turned on just in time to save the whitebait in the freezer). You keep eggs in the fridge? Mine come from coop to bench and sit there until I use them.

well, no one from child protection has turned up at my house today, so I may have got away with it.

I grabbed out at my five year old to stop her dashing out at a van yesterday (she's usually not a problem near the road but she was excited to see her friend and the van was coming FAST!) and managed to grab the back of her head instead of her shoulder. To make it worse she has wonderful, glorious, CRAZY curls that my ring got caught in and she then proceeded to yelp and squall while I tried to untangle her, then she pulled away so hard as she came loose that her head smacked into the side of the car. Yes, I'm the mother you saw grab her child by the hair then slam her into the car :blushing: To make matters worse I tried to apologise / hug her and she was having none of it, screaming at me and pushing me away. Worst mother ever.

I'm not sure where you're up to but in NZ we're up to Season 1, Episode 5 - or maybe 6. I'm watching it on delay so I'm only up to 4

I'm only up to episode 4. It's "ok" - I'm still not sure about it 100% though. It gives me shades on Numbers and some aspects of The Pretender. I could go either way at this point.

hmm I like TSH, and while I didn't like The Little Friend as much, I didn't hate it. I'm waiting for Goldfinch for Christmas

won't somebody think of the CHILDREN??

My counters are fairly clear, because it messes with my head if they're not. Kettle, fruit bowls, coffee machine/grinder and paper towels live out. I do find that DH tends to leave toaster, sandwich press, rice cooker and blender out is he uses them. I'm currently designing my new kitchen and want to include a whole section of counter that has a roller door, behind which is space for all of the appliances. When pulled down there is about 30cm of bench space visible, when open you can just slide forward the appliance you need. I think that will go a long way toward making the kitchen my happy place again. I'm still trying to work out the best way to store knife block and chopping board in that space.

I just bought a box of 144 pencils (and 36 erasers). I'm hoping we may have two left by the end of the year.

Your son is my newly 8 year old's new hero. He loves maths, and recently discovered the existence of the olympiad, which immediately made it a goal for him. When I told him there was a boy on here who had applied he is beyond excited for him, and wishes him the very best for the next step.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: not a failure, not even close

no, but I don't think women should either

I have a question - being a non-halloween country. I was surprised to see a US based friend posting on facebook that she was loading up the kids to take them to the "better ToT neighbourhood" and then commented that richer people have better treats. I thought the point was that this was a community thing - so kids form your neighbourhood that you at least know vaguely from around and about, visit the places you can walk to from hom sort of thing? Do people really take their kids to different areas for more loot, or is it just my friend?

Both of my children are DF and GF. We are a nut free househould too. The only issue we've ever had was my son got a little low on magnesium and zinc at one point - turns out many people get enough of those from the fortified bread and cereals, but GF ones don't contain the added extras, so we have to be extra careful to make sure they get enough from the foods they eat instead. Fortunately he's an awesome eater so he's happy to eat pretty much what ever is offered. His sister on the other hand... oi vey!

I know it's time for new glasses when I start missing the edge of the bench. In my case it's astigmatisim that is the culprit

My kids often get "why" when they say they're homeschooled. DD solved that problem in her own inimitibly blunt style... "cos mum says so. Isn't that why you go to your school?" Someone did ask DS once if he was dumb or disabled so he was homeschooled. DS told him that they'd finally got the mask right so he didn't scare people when he was out in public :-)

congratulations

I was too lazy to put up a gate, so I spent a day or so making sure they could come down safely instead (backwards, feet first). I think I tried for about three days with the gate, but DS discovered he could climb through the railings so at that point, yeah, I gave up, lol!

We call our cats pussy. As in, "Here pussy, puss, puss, good pussy" yelled out into the night or at random cats on the street. DD really wanted her username on something to be "GoodPussy". I said no.

I recently read my children "The Queer Adventure". They read a lot of other Enid Blyton too, and I collect it so they have access to the older versions that haven't been sanitised for modern language. So Dick, Fanny (here that's a female's privates), gay (happy), queer (unusual) and yes, even ejaculated are words they meet very frequently. Mostly I just leave it until it comes up in a contxt where I need to explain the two meanings. Queer I had to explain to them because they've never heard it used to mean anything other than unusual so they were going to put their foot in it sooner or later, Dick I actully don't think we've ever used dick for penis so again I had to jump in there explain before someone more worldly embarrassed them. The bigger issue we've had with older books is the 'N' word, and the overwhelming attitude that black people just weren't as smart / worthy / "real" as the white characters in the books (actually, not just black - the gypsys get a pretty hard time from EB too, and many of the older books we've read stereotype jews). Our conversations around slavery and racism and all that goes along with that have been far more difficult than the simple "uncomfortable" words with different modern meanings. That said, I am completely incpable of reading and Dick and Jane book without entirely inappropriate intonations (Look, look, look at Dick. Big, big Dick. Dick goes up. Up, up, UP goes Dick. Dick is BIG! Big, big Dick.) I mean, c'mon! (ok, I'm 12).

wonderful book! Kakapo are one of my DS's passions.