u/Necessary_Doubt_9762

I almost want to go running outside to sing and dance in it. What a beautiful sound & smell to wake up to. I thought I was dreaming.

I’ve always been interested in learning another language. French or Spanish are at the top of my list but I do have a couple of German friends who I think would be willing to converse with me in German if I started to learn it. I can’t move to any of these countries to immerse myself in the language and culture.
But honestly, I can’t imagine it. I am in absolute awe of bilingual people and love hearing people talk to their children in different languages. But I’ve no idea what the best route is?! If anyone has any advice, I would be appreciative! Especially if my 5 year old can learn alongside me.

This may be controversial, I don’t know, but I strongly dislike the thought of boarding schools (I understand that they can provide stability for children of say Military families who are often posted to different countries but doesn’t mean I have to like them). I can’t imagine sending my children away from me for weeks and months at a time and perhaps to a different country. I imagine it must be quite scary for so many children.
I can perhaps see an argument for those who are 16+ who choose to board for their last few years of school and are able to return home if they need/want to but sending a 4 year old away does seem absolutely abhorrent to me in all honesty. Even if I was a billionaire I wouldn’t send my kids to boarding school. Private school, yes probably, but they’d come home to me everyday.
However, Im happy to say I could be completely ignorant about my feelings towards boarding schools. So I’m just inter see to hear from people who have experienced them? How are you doing now?

I use a prep machine. We have the newest version (unless they’ve bought out another version in the last year) and every day it’s telling me the water in the jug is too hot to make a bottle?! I have to empty it and refill it every time I need a bottle. I didn’t have this issue with the older version with my older daughter. The prep machine is in the same place as it was then, it’s not in direct sunlight-we have a conservatory that blocks the direct sun and when I feel the water it’s room temp. I don’t understand why?! Is anyone else experiencing this? Can I keep the jug in the fridge? Or do I need to get in touch with Tommee tippie?

We have two kids. My husband is done, completely done. I am not. I am finding it really hard to accept we won’t have anymore kids even though it makes sense to stop. I’m very blessed that I had easy pregnancies and two healthy, happy, wonderful kids. Financially, things are alright. A third kid would put a spanner in that. We would need a bigger car and house to accommodate and I would like to be able to take our two children on lots of trips- we wouldn’t be able to do it with a third so stopping does make sense. I keep telling myself all these things but I can’t help but feel sad about it.

I am just looking for ways to accept being done? Is or has anyone else been in a similar situation? What helped?

I currently have an Uppababy Vista V2. I love it but it’s bloody massive. I’m using it with my second baby now and I’m just a bit over how much room it takes up and my baby can’t really lay flat in it because it’s a bucket seat. My daughter is only 7 months so I’d like something she can still parent face but I can eventually world face. Also bonus if it can lay flatter and ideally folds up smaller and in one- my current one has to fold down in two. I’m probably going to look for it on Facebook/ebay and will gratefully receive recommendations!

I listened to a podcast about Ian Huntley earlier and it was a deep dive into his life and crimes and didn’t really focus on his victims (sorry, i don’t actually know how much detail I’m allowed to go into so keeping the girls names off of this post) and at the end the host encouraged everyone to take a moment for his victims and families. It got me thinking as obviously there have been a lot of high profile cases covered by podcasts, Netflix, social media etc and I wondered what the impact of that is on friends and family?

As above. It fell out of my pocket and I grabbed it just after it fell in the toilet. The charging port was not submerged at all and it is currently still working.
What is likely to happen please?

I’ve got two children. 5years old and 7 months old. With my first it’s like time sped up but now I have a second it’s like it’s just going in puffs of smoke and I’m really struggling to accept it. My baby is definitely no longer a newborn, my oldest may as well be a teenager (not really but you know what I mean) and I just feel so sad. I said to my partner earlier that I feel like this newborn stage just went by so fast that I didn’t even really have a newborn. I made a point of slowing down and soaking it all up as I felt I rushed through it a bit with my first so I didn’t want to do that this time but I feel like time is being stolen from me haha. I’m perfectly happy as in no PPD/PPA but looking at photos from the last 7 months makes me feel hopeless that I can’t just stop time or go back in time to hang out with a newborn again. I feel like it if I go back and look at photos of my eldest. I love them both so much and I have truly enjoyed every age and milestones and I’m excited to keep watching them learn and grow but I do just wish it would all slow down!!

Does anyone else feel like this?

Hello.

I’m due back in October from my 2nd mat leave. Prior to going on maternity leave I used all of my annual leave hours to give me an extra month off before I started mat leave. They reset in April 2026. My manager has just informed me I need to use all of my accrued leave before I return in October but I don’t think that’s right as it won’t leave me with any leave the between my return and April? He also said it’s based on what I was working before maternity leave (30 hours) and not what I’m going to be working (28.5). Can someone advise please? I work for the NHS!

So I have a 5 year old who drives me to despair at dinner times and I need to manage my reaction better. I am aware I need to do this as I’m worried I’m going to cause her some sort of food issues. So I’m here for advice.

So every single night without fail, my 5 year old will moan about dinner. To be honest she moans about eating anything that isn’t a snack (i do not allow snacks for an hour or more before dinner). I always make sure there are things she will eat and I know she likes on her plate. I generally make meals i know she will like. I encourage her to help me make food which she likes to do but will then refuse to eat it. Even stuff like pizza or nuggets has her moaning. Her favourite saying is “I don’t want that” or “I don’t like itttt” or “my tummy isn’t hungry” despite telling me she’s hungry when I’m making food. She will then sit and make whinging/whining noises when we are trying to chat with her or each other about the day (we eat at the table-if we eat in front of the tv she is too distracted to eat so this isn’t an option). I end up snapping at her every single night. I tell her she isn’t eating like a big girl and I thought she was a big girl and she won’t grow taller if she doesn’t eat. Tonight I said I was going to tell her teacher that she doesn’t eat like a big girl at home. And then I told her how many bites of dinner she needed to eat (which she did do without moaning). I also sometimes tell her she can have pudding if she eats her dinner and I know that’s not great. She also hardly touches her school dinners. I’ve tried packed lunches, teachers sitting with her etc and she just hardly eats. She’s very petite.

I know I don’t say very nice things to her and I know it’s creating a problem. Tonight was particularly stressful for different reasons but I am overall at my wits end with her eating and I have no idea what to do. She’s not even a massively fussy eater once I get her to try the food and she does eat quite a wide range of foods but it’s the whinging and complete refusal to eat that is just driving me insane and I don’t know what to do. If she chooses not to eat she wakes up in an absolutely foul mood in the morning because she’s hungry. She will have an absolute meltdown if she says she’s hungry after dinner and I offer her dinner again and she refuses it again (I don’t give her anything except her dinner). I’ve tried serving her less, I’ve tried offering her a cheese sandwich when she doesn’t want to eat her dinner. I’ve tried a huge number of things to be honest:

I feel like it’s a power battle and I hate it but I really do need her to eat but it’s a nightmare to get her to but it’s also a nightmare if she doesn’t eat as she’s hungry. I dread dinner every single day. I don’t know what to do.