Oct/Nov 2008 mommies!

Goooood Morning

Vix - Please don't be afraid to say something, everyone's opinion deserves to be heard. I have to say I still find all the schooling business baffling because we were brought up where there was no option of being held back, it seems so foreign to me.

Yoza - Sorry I didn't comment yesterday, I missed your post whilst typing mine I hope you have luck with a school for Siba and good on you for giving DH a stern talking to, the sooner you get the right help for Siba then the sooner he's likely to be happier

Is Father's day this Sunday ooops, I haven't sent anything to my dad...let alone arranged anything for Theo.

Ladies some of you may remember my SIL breast cancer returned around this time last year and at first it was thought she wouldn't even make the birth of Nina but they managed to find some treatment to keep the cancer at bay. Sadly about 2 months ago she went for her check up and the cancer is extremely active again and has spread, they found a nodule on her lung. Her doctor basically said to her, Lee-Anne, now is the time to start crossing things off your bucket list.

I'm not telling you this to be sad and depressed, I actually want to share the positive things that have come out of it, its a bit of a long story but please try and bear with me as I think it deserves to be shared.

Her DH is Cyprian and on the top of her bucket list was to take a trip to Cyprus to see where he came from, she's been signed off work for good and her DH was retrenched 18months ago and hasn't worked since, partly due to not being able to find work and also due to not really wanting to give up what little time he has left with Lee-Anne and needing to be there for her on the bad days.

So anyway, they have no money for a trip but they have lots of friends and Lee-Anne is one of those magical people that has masses of friends and will talk to anyone and everyone and makes you feel special. A charity somehow managed to hear about Lee-Anne through the grapevine and they have organised and sponsored a trip for her to go to Cyprus! They left on Sunday and are spending a month in Cyprus, a month in France to see her best friend and a month in Ireland to see friends they haven't seen for years. A swim race was held somewhere in Cape Town to raise some spending money for them and their accommodation in Cyprus is sponsored by distant relatives of Nicky, they're getting a luxury villa with its own private pool etc. I honestly couldn't think of a better way for them to spend some precious time together.

If that wasn't enough, how touching is this, at the last minute there was a problem with their accommodation in Cyprus and it is only available 2 days after they arrive so they were literally landing blind and going to have to find somewhere to stay. Because she had to take so much medication on the plane with her etc it was made clear to the cabin crew of her situation so she was bumped up to First Class, Lee-Anne being herself started up a conversation with fellow passengers, she shared her story to the couple that she started talking to and at the end of the flight the couple offered to share a taxi into the city when they landed. The next thing, the couple have hired a car (a Mercedes no less) for Nicky and Lee-Anne and have booked and paid for them to stay the two nights they are without accommodation in a 5star hotel! How generous is that?

I hope they have an absolutely brilliant time and that she manages to stay healthy for the duration of their trip. I can't stop thinking about her without getting choked up as it must be such a difficult time for them both knowing that its probably the last trip they'll have together but I am so happy that they have been given such an amazing opportunity.

I must get back to work, just wanted to share

Nicole cool gifts! Men are generally difficult to buy for!!!!

There is also a big rugby match in PE later in the year...SA vs NZ (I think???) and the tickets are R600!!!!!!!!! I promised to get him a ticket...but man..R600????? I'm sure we're still paying off those world cup tickets on one of our credit cards! lol

This morning Addison came to lay by me after she woke up...very affectionate and saying I am her mummy. And she says to me: You're nice mummy....you're nice! Nice to meet you!

LOL!!???? HUH???

Nelria could we get ID's in matric??? And learner's licence? I can't remember now...lol. All my friend celebrated 18th bdays and here we were counting down for 17....the only downside was really the STUPID kids making fun of my age...like I was the moron for being younger.....EISH!

Vix....until the op....are you using anything for C's ears at this point? And when do you get pics from shoot? I cant wait to see it!

nelria...sick kids???? Shame man....I am SOOOO NERVOUS for when Addison starts school!

I cant wait for tomorrow afternoon...LONG WEEKEND!!!!!!

Thining of booking G a massage....he loves them. I cant really afford it but waiting for some extra cash to come in....so can spend some of it on a lunch and massage for him. He is working so darn hard....i think it'll do him good.

Hi Ladies

Mandy ouch on the early wake up

Lelani CONGRATS to Chanel!!!!!

Nelria sorry to hear you are sick hope meds become effective quick quick.

Simone toe and fingers crossed for you!!

wrt: to the school thing like yesterday - dont have much of an opionion/answer yet and aims to cross that bridge when we get there, i do tend to stress about things that are still so far away in the future - but thats just my personality and i think the school will ultimatly decide if your child is ready emotionally to go to the next standard, i know they kept my cousin back in Gr R as they felt that emotionally she was not ready, she also struggled to cut with scissors etc and according to my aunt it did her the world of could. The creche K attends at the moment only goes up to the age of 5 years so he would have to attend a Gr R they year he turns 6.

Simone also looking forward to having Lisha back - cant wait to hear about her amazing holiday!

Lelani for Father's Day - I bought Dh and Xbox game and pair of boxes. He is very difficult to buy for.

no news this side really, just a bit hectic with having 2 days off this week. K being super cute and hardly having any tantrums these days - really cool. But still his still eating pathetically no matter what i make him grrrrr.

Have a lovely day ladies.

Morning ladies

Pfairy good to see you:) Yes you are spot on with the ages. Back in 'our' day...you had to be turning 6 before June for Grade 1, but my mom had me assessed and tested and even though I only turned 6 in Dec, they allowed me to skip 'pre-primary' and go to Grade 1. As Vix says...each kid individually is different and one may be more emotionally ready than the next one....but the only way to know is to see down the line.

Which is why I am wondering if I am reading right about some of you wanting to send your kids to Grade 1 when they will turn 8 that year?

I have no doubt Addison will be ready for school at the stipulated time...I am glad I dont have a choice to send her earlier as I think 5 turning 6 in Grade 1 is too young, but if it was allowed, I would have sent Addison if I felt she was ready...it worked out fine for some of us here.

Vix dont be silly....of course you can come give your opinion...I really dont think anybody would/can be offended...we're all just sharing ideas and opinions:)

The Dec/Jan baby thing was really just me rattling off as I think in my head...it wasn't meant to be a serious contender as to when to have my child...just to clarify. But the fact of the matter (after speaking to schools yesterday) is that say Jono was full term, born on 16 Dec and my child was full term born on 2 Jan....they are 2w-3w apart in age, but in reality as far as I understand....they would be a year apart academically as they would not allow my child to go to school the same year as Jono. Where would the schools draw the line? 5th jan? 10th of Jan? So that is why that scenario crossed my mind.

I got a call to apply for a job...didnt mention the pregnancy though:( Figure if I get the interview and the job and then I would say something before signing a contract. Its with a big insurance company....I'll get feedback today as to if I'll get an interview after they check my references. So please keep FX!

Had a good evening...Addison came and fell asleep next to me on the couch...she slept til 7am in her own bed...shame she was exhausted after staying up so late the night before. Missing her today.

Lisha...min dae!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to have you back my friend!!! Travel back safely:)

Pfairy so when do you officially leave??

galooooooooo

ladies sick sick sick and it sucks xen also sick lea just nose so will see if my meds pull through or not

- school have no clue i was 5 turning 6 in dec - hated not being 18 in matric but only draw back for me so no opinion o this really

helen i dont know if the stuff i recommended is meds - cant say i think its just that ingredient its litllte sweet sugar balls u suck so maybe - homopathic

lelani - whooooohooooo go chanel

so boy mummies - do your boys stand or sit? at start of training?

yoza - way to go girl re siba

ok x awake early so gonna run grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Morning all,

Pfairy- I'm so pleased you came to clarify the school age issue because I wanted to say something but didn't want to get into yet another heated debate It was starting to sound to me like parents in this country have way too much choice over when their children start school and that to me is wrong, there are people who believe their kids are advanced when really they're no further than any others and then kids like C who just needed a bit of interaction at creche to suddenly start reeling off all the shapes and colours etc. For parents to choose when their child is ready to me seems very wrong. Everyone is so hot on the subject about having a late Dec or rather early jan baby but let me tell you in England the school year runs from sept-Aug and no one gets the option to be held back just because you were a 31st Aug baby! I certainly will not be holding C back just because he was born in Oct, to me it's not about his age in yrs and months that matters but that he is a full term healthy child who is doing things at the right time for his age and will certainly not benefit any more by being up to a year if not more older than his class mates. The twins I will see how they cope in grade R because they were actually due in Jan and being 6w early it does put them back develpomentally a lot, jonathan was concieved a week later so he's actually 7w prem. But for that I'm sure I will get special permission IF I feel they need to stay back but if by the age of 5 they have caught up there's no way I hold them back.

On the other side, psychologically I'm a little concerned as to how the child will cope if his/her parents are constantly fighting with the decision to hold them back a year..... I personally feel that a child who has great self confidence and great support would do better than one who had to grow up knowing they were held back a year by their parents because of their age? We've already had this discussion in my jan/feb thread which I find crazy, I mean even here with our kids, we still have 2.5 years until our children will be going to school and here we are deciding if we think they are academically ready? Wow the difference in my child from 24m to 30m was incredible, every 6m his achievements amaze me, he is on par with his cousin who is a year older yet 6m ago he still looked like a baby in comparrison. Personally I think enroll your child for the year they turn of age (I think someone said 6 can't remember now) and IF during grade R the teacher is concerned about development rate they will tell you to consider repeating the year.

Sorry not attacking anyone or any post individually but I just find it so alien that parents have so much choice over the age a child is ready for school and in England only the extremely extremely bad cases get to repeat a year and generally those are the kids that get ridiculed and act out because they are assumed to be 'dumber' than those of their age group.

Hope I'm not now causing another fight, I'm kinda tired of feeling like I should bite my tongue on every single subject that comes up but I know that my approach isn't always so well accepted or understood and I don't want to upset anyone.