It's Monday, and all things doth conspire against me, Horatio...
Well, actually, they don't. Not really, it just feels like that.
For example, Husband has commandeered the desktop, so I am -for the first time - struggling with our laptop. The very same laptop he purchased, claiming our office was too small for him to work in, that he needed to spread out, and wouldn't it be nice to be able to sit in front of the tv and log on... For a while this did indeed prove to be the case. But now it seems that the office is no longer too small and the only chance I get to go in there is when he takes a loo or a coffee break (the latter having a direct impact on the former, especially since he is now addicted to the Nespresso maker), so I have been relegated to using the laptop. \where nothing is where I expect to be and which takes 3 times as long to make a connection, boo hoo... \so apologies if there are tiypos, capital eltters missing, and a fragmenbted a pproach to this post...
Then, the dishwasher packed up over the weekend. Well, we thought it packed up. Luckily I read the instructions that the previous owners of our flat very thoughtfully left behind (they will definitely go to heaven...). What kind of idiot would not know that you need to add rinse-aid and salt to their dishwasher by the time they reached the ripe old age of 41? However, after a swift trip to the supermarket this morning, the missing components were purchased and order has been restored to the kitchen. And thank heavens, because I can just imagine the dishwasher repairman filling his mates in on the stupid woman who called him out to fill up the rinseaid compartment... No, actually, I don't want to.
Let's move on...
I am engaged in a battle of wills with Boy #2. At 2 years 3 months he still refuses to drink his milk out of anything other than a bottle with teat. Juice is fine from a sippy cup, or with a straw. As is water. But milk? Oh no... I wouldn't mind if he had been breastfed for more than a few weeks, but it's not as if he and I were able to enjoy a long and fruitful boob to baby relationship. (There were a host of medical reasons why it didn't work out, which I won't bore you with now).
In any case, he clamps his mouth shut tight as the proverbial gnats bottom the moment he spies anything other than the beloved teat coming his way, and the resultant tussle usually ends with him (and me too, I'm afraid to say) in fits of giggles and liberally splattered with milk. I know, I know, I should let him go thirsty. But unlike his brother, who would drink rather than eat, Boy #2 will quite happily go without drinking all day. So the milk is important in keeping his hydration levels up and the eczema at bay...
Oh well. If he's still using a bottle with a teat when he graduates, then I'll worry...
For what it's worth (and at great personal humiliation), my Mum assures me that she was terrified I would go to school still using a bottle.
ReplyDeleteI guess I gave it up when I was about 3. But if he's giggling and not screaming, that's a super good thing - he might just already be playing you a bit, and getting himself ready to move on.
Salt? Salt?! What are you talking about salt for? What does salt do for the dishwasher and where do you put it?
ReplyDeleteDo you 'add a dash' according to taste or what?
Yikes! and I'm 50 what?
My eldest shared your bottle-only problem. Problem, did I say problem? I don't use the word problem when talking to mums about children. Anyway, I took the view that the insistent health visitor "get your child off the bottle" advice was really aimed at mums who let their child potter about for hours on end with a bottle hanging out of their lips. I couldn't see that downing a bottle in record time a few times a day was really going to damage his teeth formation. I think you are right to weigh up the benefits of healthy milk versus the downside of drinking it out of a bottle.
ReplyDeleteCould you set up an older bigger boy to say "bottles are for babies" in the hearing of your boy? Harsh but often effective.
Oh Potsy, kick the hubster off your computer. It's a slippery slope, you know! Can't he go and work at Starbucks? (On his computer, not behind the counter, obv.)
ReplyDeleteMya x
D'you know, I've always thought that I was a loser for not wanting a lap-top - turns out I was right, now there's a turn-up! Bottle-wise, I had the same problem with Son, many years ago. We solved it by (pretend) flushing it down the loo (with him doing the flushing), saying that "big boys don't have bottles". It did work. The other possible way is to cut a (big) hole in the teat so that it doesn't work as comfort. Good luck Margot xx.
ReplyDeletePS. An Award is waiting for you at my place. :)
PPS. An old friend of mine had a tumble-dryer that stopped working after a couple of years, and when she called the repair man, he said "Have you ever cleaned the Filter?" No, she said. She didn't even know it was there.
Ladies, thankyou all. I feel a bit less of a soft-touch mum and a domestic numpty having read your comments...
ReplyDeleteT's Child, thanks for risking your reputation and sharing, that's good to hear. Actually, this evening there were no giggles - just downright blue-faced screaming. So, I think I'll put the teat back in the bottle for the moment...(3? I can live with 3... It's better than 9...)
Aims, maybe you have some whizzy dishwasher that doesn't need it. Or maybe your water doesn't need it. But you might want to check the instructions if everything ever comes out covered with a fine white layer of 'stuff'...
Hi Iota, tried the Boy #1 comment already, but Boy #2 either doesn't understand, or - and more likely - doesn't give a stuff what the rest of us think. Ho hum.
Mya, not a bad idea. Except that now he is a nespresso addict, apparantly Starbucks coffee doesn't cut the mustard. I wouldn't mind - but there's still no sign of George Clooney...
Hi MPiiTW, you know what? Until we moved here (and not for a good 6 months until after our arrival), I had no idea about a filter either... Not covering myself in glory on the domestic front, am I?
Thanks for the award, btw - will be over to check it out asap!
ah, now i am glad about the bottle thing. I've been stewing over that thorny issue with my 2 yr 7 month old (you see, i'm worse than you, you can relax)...but she needs that allergy milk i tell myself. and in fact she REALLY does, so there you go, we're fine, let's carry on with the bottles!
ReplyDeletePigx
Hi Pig, there's not that much difference between our little angels. And on the allergy milk thing, well that was my excuse too until very recently, but we successfully have Boy #2 on whole milk now (hurrah!) so I no longer have that get-out clause. But, like I said, as long he isn't still using it when he graduates...
ReplyDeletere your dishwasher... prefectly normal! After a very long time my other half discovered that putting salt in resulted in cleaner dishes
ReplyDeleteAnd I had a friend once whose hoover exploded... she didn't realise she was supposed to change or empty the bag now and again, although quite where she thought all the muck was going I'm not sure!
Hello HHC, thanks for the visit (and hope you don't mind the abbrev.). It's amazing isn't it, the difference the salt makes? I never realised before now... And am so glad to know it's not just me!
ReplyDelete