There is a lot of talk around this at the moment as school enrolments are happening.  In the last article I read… just last night in bold across the top it said … Mother knows best

For all the reasons mentioned above it is a Mum that knows what their child’s learning ability is like, social skills etc.

Our son is only 17 months old though he much prefers interaction with older children ie: 3-8 years and seems to be a child who wants to learn everything fast.  I tend to follow his lead as I am astounded at his learning capacity.  So at this stage feel he will be an early bird at school ie: when he is 4 1/5.  That is how it was for me as well.

Interesting note … our son is the son of 2 first born parents and the grandson of 4 first born grand parents!  So not sure if this has anything to do with it as well.

We are in the process of buying a home and going through the calling agents, viewing homes and negotiation stages at the moment.

This is the first time we are buying a home as previously we always bought investment properties.  I am finding that we are very unemotional about the whole process (obviously a a benefit from investment buying) which is frustrating the agents no end.

It is a great time to buy and it will be interesting in the first interest rate drop if things change.

I would love to hear some stories from others on their house hunting experiences like the state of the home, things agents say etc.

We have had a couple of funny experiences … here is one to get us started.

Met the agent at the home, he had advised us in advance the property was empty and had been for several weeks.  So on arrival were surprised to hear and see a rottwiler in the back yard barking like mad at the side gate.

While waiting for the agent we were divising all sorts of stories of why the dog was there one being squatters moved in and the dog was there to stop anyone kicking them out.

Anyway the agent arrived and was back peddling as to why the dog was there.  He really didn’t know though wanted to appear he did.  It was funny to watch.  I don’t know why he just wasn’t honest in the first place it would have saved him a lot of angst.

What was also comical was the agent tried to pacify the dog and calm him down and even tried to open the side gate which came to an abrupt hault when the dog leaped at the gate almost knocking it down!

Oh I missed why Jessica was gone and the other girl came back.  It stumped our household what happened and was going to post the question though Dave you have already answered it.

Last nights show was fantastic.  Each dance was exceptional and I agree with Ann we just sit in amazment at the routines and how they are carried out.

The judge Mary drives us batty!  When she talks softly and intelligently it is great though as soon as she starts sceaming and carrying on it drives us crazy.

Our now 17 month old son watches it with us and he spends most of the time dancing along to the music.  He just gets so excited when it comes on.

I too like a good pot of tea.  I make ast stlg48 does though brew for 5 mins as I like a strong cup of tea.  At work I do use a tea bag for convenience though at home we like our pot of tea.

I learnt how to make tea properly when working at the Hyatt in London where in The Lounge we served the traditional afternoon tea and we offered 42 different varieties of tea!  So you can imagine how full a table got if each person ordered a different type of tea …. 4 pots of tea, 4 pots of hot water, 4 cups and saucers, 4 side plates, 1×3 tier stand with cucumber sandwiches – scones, jam and cream – and pasteries.

For every pot of tea and hot water we would heat the pots first.  On average in an afternoon tea season which goes over 2 hours we would make 90 pots of tea!

A new forum has been created for users to list the births, deaths and marriages happening within their family and community.

When posting your notice please use the title to put the name and date, and use the body of the text for further details.

Examples of titles:

( Birth) John Mark Ferguson – 18 Aug 2008

(Death) Mary Loise Smith – 1935-2008

(Marriage) Nicole Ann Johnson & Jack Kevin Richards – 25 Nov 2008