Toilet Training
Amazingly somehow I haven't touched on this subject yet so it is about time.
It's one of the most difficult and frustrating parts of parenting. It is also one of those areas, like trying to get fussy toddlers to eat, where there seem to be no end of smug other parents going on about how their little cherub was out of nappies by 18 months.
I also get more than a little irritated by the theory bandied about in some circles that if kids are still in nappies at 3 then the parents must be lazy.
There is plenty of other more well.intended advice floating about too from people who genuinely want to help. But just as with the fussy eating, what they did with their kids is not a great deal of use to me, because every child is different.
I'm at the point with Jamie who will be 3 next month where I want to get him toilet trained. But he is refusing to co-operate. I am loathe to push it as we tried that with Ollie and all it caused was a huge load of upset and screaming and crying. This went on until around his 3rd birthday and then suddenly it was as if someone had flicked a switch in his head and he went from flat refusal to keen almost overnight.
I am hoping that will happen with Jamie too. Now he has not been quite as fractious over the whole thing as Ollie was. We have discussed it at length and he clearly understands what to do. He just doesn't want to. He is quite happy to play at sitting on the potty when getting dressed in the morning and likes to shout "I've done it" when in fact he has done nothing at all. Eventually I give up and put a nappy on and within 30 seconds I hear "I've done a poo, Daddy", and the whole nasty messy clean up operation swings into action.
I have just resigned myself to the fact that he will do it when he is ready but I really hope it is soon. It is not just the expense of nappies, it is the hassle. Also it is not particularly pleasant now that the warm weather is here having two weeks worth rotting in the bin outside. There is also the freedom factor - it is a lot easier to go out places with the kids when you have not got the constant worry of having to find somewhere to change them. Once he is out of nappies, our horizons will expand considerably.
So I am not going to rush him and console myself with the thought that it cannot be much longer. Hopefully this will be the last summer of stinking dustbins. I am quite looking forward to the day when I no longer need to change nappies as I have been doing it now without a break for six years.
A few loose ends to tie up. I never got round to finishing off my list of favourite doctors and don't have time to go into great deal on each of them, so here are the remaining 7 that I did not cover before:
7) Sylvester McCoy
6) Christopher Ecceleston
5) Peter Davison
4) Patrick Troughton
3) Tom Baker
2) David Tennant
1) Jon Pertwee.
So Pertwee is the winner! I have to say I agonised over the Top 3 and changed their places several times. It could easily have been Tom Baker if I was in a different mood today. Certainly though, those Top 3 are far and away my favourites with Troughton a very strong fourth - such a shame so many of his episodes have been lost.
Chips - I am afraid to say that I have admitted defeat and bought a new deep fat fryer. It is only a small one, enough to make chips for me and the kids. It is what is known as a midi-fryer. It was only £15 and does the job perfectly. No matter what method I tried with the Actifry I just could not make chips as good as the ones I make in a fryer which as I've said before are the "best chips in the world" according to Ollie.
Susie the cat is still here. She isn't officially living with us, just a frequent visitor. She comes round for a few hours each day and we give her a few biscuits. She seems perfectly happy and fit so it looks as if we have become her second family. She finds the kids a bit intimidating though. It has not taken her long to work out our routine and she tends to disappear between the time they come home from school until the time they go to bed. Then she will tend to wander in - we have the back doors open in the warm weather in the evening so it is like open house. As of today a second cat has appeared in the garden and also seems to want to be our friend. It seems word is getting around the cat community that there is a little sanctuary for them right here in Bicester.
I'm busy working on Book 2, "Austerity Dad". I think this is going to be a huge improvement over my first offering. I have learnt from my experiences of writing that first book and also taken on board some of the "constructive criticism" levelled at it via the review process on Amazon. I have high hopes for this new edition. I've been very pleased with the success of the first book, I'm up to 119 sales in June in addition to the 46 I got in May, OK it's hardly best-seller territory but at least some people out there like it enough to buy it. I am just hoping that some of those that liked it are kind enough to leave me some favourable reviews as the last few reviews I had were not particularly good. No 1* reviews absolutely slating it yet, but those are unavoidable - every book has them, even best-sellers. I just hope I get some good ones to balance them out.
Until next time, blog fans.
Jason xx
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
It's one of the most difficult and frustrating parts of parenting. It is also one of those areas, like trying to get fussy toddlers to eat, where there seem to be no end of smug other parents going on about how their little cherub was out of nappies by 18 months.
I also get more than a little irritated by the theory bandied about in some circles that if kids are still in nappies at 3 then the parents must be lazy.
There is plenty of other more well.intended advice floating about too from people who genuinely want to help. But just as with the fussy eating, what they did with their kids is not a great deal of use to me, because every child is different.
I'm at the point with Jamie who will be 3 next month where I want to get him toilet trained. But he is refusing to co-operate. I am loathe to push it as we tried that with Ollie and all it caused was a huge load of upset and screaming and crying. This went on until around his 3rd birthday and then suddenly it was as if someone had flicked a switch in his head and he went from flat refusal to keen almost overnight.
I am hoping that will happen with Jamie too. Now he has not been quite as fractious over the whole thing as Ollie was. We have discussed it at length and he clearly understands what to do. He just doesn't want to. He is quite happy to play at sitting on the potty when getting dressed in the morning and likes to shout "I've done it" when in fact he has done nothing at all. Eventually I give up and put a nappy on and within 30 seconds I hear "I've done a poo, Daddy", and the whole nasty messy clean up operation swings into action.
I have just resigned myself to the fact that he will do it when he is ready but I really hope it is soon. It is not just the expense of nappies, it is the hassle. Also it is not particularly pleasant now that the warm weather is here having two weeks worth rotting in the bin outside. There is also the freedom factor - it is a lot easier to go out places with the kids when you have not got the constant worry of having to find somewhere to change them. Once he is out of nappies, our horizons will expand considerably.
So I am not going to rush him and console myself with the thought that it cannot be much longer. Hopefully this will be the last summer of stinking dustbins. I am quite looking forward to the day when I no longer need to change nappies as I have been doing it now without a break for six years.
A few loose ends to tie up. I never got round to finishing off my list of favourite doctors and don't have time to go into great deal on each of them, so here are the remaining 7 that I did not cover before:
7) Sylvester McCoy
6) Christopher Ecceleston
5) Peter Davison
4) Patrick Troughton
3) Tom Baker
2) David Tennant
1) Jon Pertwee.
So Pertwee is the winner! I have to say I agonised over the Top 3 and changed their places several times. It could easily have been Tom Baker if I was in a different mood today. Certainly though, those Top 3 are far and away my favourites with Troughton a very strong fourth - such a shame so many of his episodes have been lost.
Chips - I am afraid to say that I have admitted defeat and bought a new deep fat fryer. It is only a small one, enough to make chips for me and the kids. It is what is known as a midi-fryer. It was only £15 and does the job perfectly. No matter what method I tried with the Actifry I just could not make chips as good as the ones I make in a fryer which as I've said before are the "best chips in the world" according to Ollie.
Susie the cat is still here. She isn't officially living with us, just a frequent visitor. She comes round for a few hours each day and we give her a few biscuits. She seems perfectly happy and fit so it looks as if we have become her second family. She finds the kids a bit intimidating though. It has not taken her long to work out our routine and she tends to disappear between the time they come home from school until the time they go to bed. Then she will tend to wander in - we have the back doors open in the warm weather in the evening so it is like open house. As of today a second cat has appeared in the garden and also seems to want to be our friend. It seems word is getting around the cat community that there is a little sanctuary for them right here in Bicester.
I'm busy working on Book 2, "Austerity Dad". I think this is going to be a huge improvement over my first offering. I have learnt from my experiences of writing that first book and also taken on board some of the "constructive criticism" levelled at it via the review process on Amazon. I have high hopes for this new edition. I've been very pleased with the success of the first book, I'm up to 119 sales in June in addition to the 46 I got in May, OK it's hardly best-seller territory but at least some people out there like it enough to buy it. I am just hoping that some of those that liked it are kind enough to leave me some favourable reviews as the last few reviews I had were not particularly good. No 1* reviews absolutely slating it yet, but those are unavoidable - every book has them, even best-sellers. I just hope I get some good ones to balance them out.
Until next time, blog fans.
Jason xx
If you have enjoyed reading this blog, please take a look at my books on Amazon (Paperback & Kindle), where you can read lots more of the same! Click here.
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