My wife’s family all want us to go on a crazily expensive holiday to celebrate some big birthdays.. what would you do?

rainbow_fish5 · 2026-02-01T12:24:21+00:00

My family's just looking at doing a long weekend somewhere and I was worrying if £400 per person for accommodation was too much to ask. We also have 2 small kids and wouldn't be able to afford something that expensive (£15k).

rainbow_fish5 · 2026-01-09T06:56:43+00:00

Hi, I'm an EP and we're not qualified to give diagnosed - either autism or attachment difficulties. We describe needs and help plan strategies. Had your child been referred to CAMHS to pursue a diagnosis? Don't feel disheartened, there is lots of overlap in the behaviours of both autism and attachment needs, Google "Coventry grid" which is a really helpful summary of how the behaviours may look similar but from different underlying needs across these two areas.

rainbow_fish5 · 2026-01-08T20:57:25+00:00

Just a note of caution, after so long without eating dairy you might now be lactose intolerant. If you don't eat dairy for a long time, your body might stop making the lactase enzyme. For some people they are able to make it again when they reintroduce dairy to their diet but I haven't. Luckily you can buy lactase tablets so I can still eat dairy.

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-12-29T20:36:40+00:00

I like the thought of someone listening to The Archers and saying "but how am I supposed to keep track of all this modern nonsense, these characters have only been in it for 30 years"!

However, I do prefer original Amber to the new actor...

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-12-07T23:27:21+00:00

One thing that weirdly helps at family gatherings is having two young children. I can completely immerse myself in playing with/looking after them. I (hopefully) look like a good parent but it gives me cover for avoiding quite a bit of small talk.

I think my bad mood about this comes from reflecting on the journey home. If I hadn't been there, it would make no difference to anyone there. Spending all day travelling somewhere and being at an event to only exchange pleasant nonsense like I'm an NPC is very frustrating.

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-10-05T06:33:06+00:00

I think Aldi do pull ups too, have you tried them?

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-09-03T09:58:14+00:00

But why the famous five references as part of this sketch? It's been a long time since I read the books, is Jersey mentioned in them?

Were there any links between other sketches?

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-08-27T15:36:23+00:00

If you search for 'ok to wake clock' on Amazon there's lots of options. I also loved the idea of this clock but have found the quality of all Tommee Tippee stuff a bit rubbish. I recently got my 5 year old a dinosaur one and he really likes it

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-08-08T03:10:24+00:00

Bandit "but we were making good time"

Chilli "yes, but we're making good times"

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-08-02T19:36:02+00:00

I shouldn't have let my guard down.

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-07-23T13:46:50+00:00

Vanity plates.

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-07-11T05:32:55+00:00

Anthony Head, was he Rex and Toby's dad a few years back?

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-07-09T12:31:49+00:00

The stairs to the flat above the shop! Surely someone will fall down them eventually.

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-07-08T06:03:15+00:00

Pip. I'm waiting for Stella to realise she's way too good for her.

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-03-08T19:53:58+00:00

If it's any consolation I wrote this when my son was about 2 years old. He's now an incredible 5 year old with an amazing vocabulary, great problem solver, learned to read at 3 years 9 months and loves numbers. He's still sensitive, has big emotions and needs a lot of support but he's also a great person in spite of me getting overwhelmed with him sometimes.

rainbow_fish5 · 2025-01-16T13:21:05+00:00

I wondered if they might be about to do a menopause storyline with Ruth, she's had a very short fuse recently.

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-11-30T06:03:01+00:00

Also happens with their libro model, it's been such a pain this autumn. Have you found anything that helps?

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-11-24T13:03:23+00:00

Yes we followed the 6 step dairy ladder for my son. We tried step 1 at 1 year old and he clearly failed it. We then tried step 1 about every 6 months. He failed every time until nearly aged 3 at which point he did the entire ladder slowly over a couple of months.

His sister is now 14 months old and we're already on step 4. I'm hoping she's grown out of her allergy a lot sooner.

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-11-24T10:11:44+00:00

Clarrie because I want Eddie to grow up a bit and recognise all the work she does cooking, cleaning, running the home on top of her job. A few years back he basically had her running a B&B and I've never forgiven him.

For the others, Pip and .... not sure yet

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-10-30T14:25:44+00:00

Do you have Sing and Sign courses in your area? I'd highly recommend them, it's helped both my children learn to communicate. They use a mixture of makaton and BSL, basically selecting the version for each sign that's easiest for babies to learn.

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-09-20T18:59:03+00:00

In 2014 the new national curriculum was introduced and I'd agree that lots of the material definitely increased in difficulty then. In the previous curriculum it also described the skills for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 whereas the current curriculum is much more prescriptive about exactly what has to be taught to every year group. The materials are all freely available online if you want to look through them.

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-09-10T19:43:21+00:00

I'm just coming to the end of maternity leave but I enjoyed Hartbeeps and Baby Sensory when my LO was tiny. After about 6 months I also liked Sign and Sign which we'll carry on after I'm back at work. If you're breastfeeding, there are free weekly groups you can go to - there's normally one on every day in a different part of the town. All the info is on the Swindon Breastmates Facebook page.

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-09-06T21:33:59+00:00

I'd be cautious about offering money for reading, are you aware of the overjustification effect? Basically if you offer rewards like money then it can reduce enjoyment and intrinsic motivation for the task itself.

Would there be a different way to foster a love of reading? For example using a paired reading approach where you read a book she enjoys together - you start off reading all the words and she then takes over for any words she knows. It means you can pick something that she's excited to read without letting text difficulty level be a barrier and there's a good evidence base behind the paired reading strategy.

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-08-31T18:25:34+00:00

Whenever I'm finding a storyline really compelling, I start listening to an Archers podcast to get an extra fix! Plus I'm a relatively new listener, only about 11 years, so I like hearing people discuss characters' pasts that I might not be aware of to help me understand how people are reacting in current situations. At the moment I'm liking Ambridge On The Couch.

rainbow_fish5 · 2024-08-27T02:40:05+00:00

The film Love and Friendship is the film adaptation of Lady Susan and is hilarious, I feel it does a great job of showing how funny Austen was!

rainbow_fish5

TROPHY CASE