This
If I ever get to be a stay at home mum my kids aren't going to get a moment's peace from all the arts and crafts and education and crap I'm going to ram down their throats.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:00, 4 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

until they are about 5 and at school
it's lovely if you can.

after that, omg, how dull would your life/conversation be?? and also, when your husband comes home really knackered and stressed after winning bread all day, whilst you've just had another manicure and spraytan... no no no.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:01, Reply)

I think I would probably still try and maintain my own income
through things like my corset selling and stuff, I don't think I could sit on my arse all day, I'd be well bored. If I couldn't work I'd have to involve myself in loads of charities and things and become one of those annoying busybodies.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:05, Reply)

Too right sitting about all day gets boring
Hence why I've taken about 2000 photos in the last month and a bit, and helpfully strained my eye.
(PenguinOfDeath is Scottish, and most likely angry, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:06, Reply)

photos?
do you have a website??
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:07, Reply)

Don't have a site for my photos
Just use my Flickr account.
(PenguinOfDeath is Scottish, and most likely angry, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:10, Reply)

ta for the gaz

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:24, Reply)

not working doesn't mean you just have to sit on your arse
my mum didn't work and yet has had a productive and interesting life.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:10, Reply)

totally true
but in wilmslow they just sit on their arses waiting for their car to be 12 months old so they can have a new one. trust me.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:26, Reply)

Yeah right
they'll be plonked in front of Ceebeebies while you swig neat vodka from the bottle
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:01, Reply)

haha

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:05, Reply)

My mum used to keep old birthday cards
Then occasionally she'd say "Ooh, shall we write on the birthday cards!" like it was a big treat.
By the time I got to nursery I could read and write and I hadn't even noticed she was teaching me.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:02, Reply)

My mum was similar
I was gobsmacked when I got to school and there were kids who barely even knew the alphabet. What had their parents been doing for the last 5 years ffs?
(berk, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:04, Reply)

yeah this
if we went out anywhere my parents would make me add up the bill and little things like that.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:06, Reply)

I couldn't believe it when the other kids
only knew the one version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" but none of the Mozart variations.
(LongJohnBaldry, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:08, Reply)

twinkle, twinkle, little bat
was Wolfgang's seminal piece, I felt.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:19, Reply)

"how I wonder where you're at"
Is ending a sentence with a preposition, though.
( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 13:08, Reply)

my parents were teachers
so taught from day one. It does bemuse me when children go to school unable to read or know basic letters though. Five years worth and the parents haven't bothered even with regular storybooks/ tracing words etc
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:08, Reply)

But everyone should do it regardless of whether they're teachers. There's no excuse.
My mum was married at 17 and had me at 18. She was a hairdresser.
It's not difficult to give a kid the basics. Just singing it at them usually does the trick.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:16, Reply)

that's what I'm saying :)
all you have to do even is just read storybooks to them, and make sure they trace the words. Play the Alphabet song etc.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:24, Reply)

Sesame Street was good, except for the 'zee' thing...

( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:29, Reply)

my mum wouldn't let me watch Sesame Street in case I picked up Americanisms
I like, totally, showed her.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:33, Reply)

My friend keeps saying 'zee' when he's spelling
I've managed to convince absolutely everyone to say 'What?' every single time he says it now, he's starting to get quite frustrated.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:36, Reply)

The music was ace though
We've got an audio tape of me singing 'I'm Gonna be a Country Girl Again' in the style of Bufy Sainte Marie. Because of Sesame Street.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:38, Reply)

and me
i was a swotty little toddler who kept asking my mother what words said, so she taught me to read (she was a primary school teacher anyway). still can't count though.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:07, Reply)

I can't count either
But I remember when I was about 3/4 my mum had been teaching me about letters that go together to make other sounds (th, sh, ch etc) and there was a sign saying 'Beware of Vehicles'. I saw the c and the h and got mixed up, thinking it was a 'chuh' sound.
I spent ages being terrified of these mythical 'Vechiles' behind the post Office fence.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:09, Reply)

awww
that's really sweet.

maths is for losers anyway.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:25, Reply)

I liked it better when I got older
Like algebra and interesting things. But I CANNOT do arithmetic.
It frightens me when people ask me to tot things up.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:32, Reply)

aww you'll make Chompy cry saying stuff like that

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:34, Reply)

nah
he doesn't rate my opinion highly enough for that!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:39, Reply)

Now kids we're going to do some baking
"we've got 12 orders in get those done by 12 and you get a gold star. Mummy's going out now clean up after yourseld"
(PsychoChomp, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:07, Reply)

This is funny because kitty will never get 12 orders.

(PsychoChomp, Thu 14 Oct 2010, 12:18, Reply)