Don’t mince your words.

Society has changed considerably in the last 30 years.

I remember being taken to A&E with a broken arm after falling out of a tree when I was about 9. After patching me up, The doctor exchanged knowing looks with my mum in a “Kids, Eh?…” kind of way and ruffled my hair and called me a cheeky scamp.

Compare this to when my wife took my 7 year old son to A&E with a broken arm after he fell off the couch. The doctor took him away to a separate room without my wife and asked him ” How did this REALLY happen?”

Different times.

So it’s not at the expense of you own happiness –
It’s more like, “Society in general and other parents, teachers and Social Services in particular are judging you. All the time. So don’t leave your kids unattended”

And what does one call one of the these brave souls who ride their Gnarpoons on the Gnarmac at Gnar level 9??

Gnaratroopers?

Gnarchers?

Gnarseholes?

Jist wonderin’?

Over the last year the sex has returned and it is actually better than ever. No idea why that has happened but clearly a good thing.

She wants a third one but doesn’t want to spook you?

My mate gave up using nicotine patches.
He only needed two.
Put one over each eye and couldn’t find his fags…..IGMC :D

Having re-read this thread and my previous ( a wee bit ranty?) post I’ve realised that I have perhaps come across as being negative and have maybe totally failed to answer the OP’s question, specifically…

Does it get better by itself once kids a bit less dependent? Have you done anything to successfully overcome this?

So…. YES, It does get better. It’s bloody hard work and there is a period where your whole life seems to be subsumed by the kids. My experience is that once the youngest one starts school the pressure eases a good deal.
Have you done anything successfully overcome this? YES… loads. The one piece of advice that I’ll offer to the OP is this.

Routine is your friend.

Get the kids up at the same time everyday. have a routine for washing, dressing, meals, homework ….everything. Get the kids to bed at the same time everyday. Make your life like a military machine. If everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing and when they’re supposed to be doing it makes the whole experience much less chaotic.

All my kids are in their bedrooms by eight EVERY night. They are allowed to read etc. until lights out dependent on age.This is the routine and they accept it without question as it has always been thus. This is grown-up time for mummy and daddy. If this wasn’t the case then I would have been in the nuthouse years ago.

Is it all worth it? Absolutely. Despite the effort required and the chaos it’s the most rewarding thing i’ve ever known.
Just accept that you’ve graduated from marriage to family. It’s a big step but a great one.

For all the other couples with 1 or 2 children. You have NO IDEA of the impact when the kids outnumber the adults in the family unit!!!!

+1 for this.

My three are 12, 10 and 6.

The first one seems difficult at the time, but in hindsight, once you find your feet and gain a bit of confidence in your own developing parenting skills it’s actually pretty easy. You’re throwing the resources of two adults at the needs of one child.

The second one is a much easier prospect. You know what you’re doing from the outset and the stresses are from trying to split your attention between two children which , if there are two adults, usually works out OK. When the kids are a bit older, they generally either play together or play apart.

When number three rolls along, the whole group dynamic changes. The jump in stress levels between 2 and 3 is massive. The kids rarely play all together or all apart. Instead, they usually form constantly shifting loose alliances of 2 kids to the exclusion of the third which triggers bouts of tribal warfare. Constantly.

The whole world is also against you if you’ve got more than two kids…..

Want to buy a car that’ll take three child seats? “Oooh! that’s a specialist item sir?”

Want to book a hotel room? ” Sorry sir, only two adults and two children to a family room.

Everything in supermarkets comes in packs of four or six. “Daddy gets two! Why is your tummy so big Daddy?”

Family tickets to theme parks / cinema / anywhere bloody else? ” Sorry sir you’ll need to buy an extra ticket for the third child.”

Babysitters? ” What? All three of them?”

When I was a kid, most of my friends came from families with at least 3 kids. The only child in your class at school was the exception. Now, if you’ve got 3 kids at the same school you’re viewed like the Clampetts.

I’ve been with my wife since we were 16. We’re now 43. It’s hard work but it’s worth it. The OP describes his relationship as ” Functional”. That’s a good result. It’s a much improved state of affairs over “Dysfunctional”

There is light at the end of the tunnel when they get old enough to wash, dress feed and entertain themselves. However, the teenage tunnel is fast approaching…..

My wife and I always wanted two kids.

Now that we have three……..we only want one :oops:

Game of thr…..never mind. Too late :oops:

real men pluck (then sneeze uncontrollably for 15 minutes because each hair is hard wired directly to your brain)

Having studied the martial art, Aikido for quite a few years. I have become reasonably proficient in the practice of “ukemi” or breakfalling. When I am thrown by an opponent then I use well practiced techniques to absorb the energy of the fall and to redirect that energy to regain a defensive posture as soon as possible. These skills are now so ingrained in my muscle memory that I no longer have conscious control over them and they just flow from my actions automatically.

When applied to biking these almost mystical skill immediately piss off and abandon me. :oops:

Still nursing a couple broken ribs as a result.

+1 for the “sack of spuds” technique.

Bike mustache from poundland. Only a quid! :D

This?

NOOOOOoooooo! You were supposed to keep the letter confidential! 8O

I think you might have blown it. :oops:

I get to run the maintenance dept. of a chocolate factory.

You are an Oompah Loompah and I claim my five pounds.

Have you tried using your arms and legs? :lol:

Definitely not a parakeet – they are enduro green,

You’re thinking of the closely related species ….. the Gnarakeet :D

Quantity Surveyor – Hate it with a passion. When you boil it down to it’s barest essence it’s fundamentally arguing with people about money. I’ve come to realise after 20 odd years that it’s far to adversarial and confrontational to suit my character. If only I could find some other job that paid half as much I’d give it up today.

I wish i’d been a lumberjack , leaping from tree to tree through the forests of British Columbia………

The UK’s only naturalised parrot – it is large, long-tailed and green with a red beak and a pink and black ring around its face and neck. In flight it has pointed wings, a long tail and very steady, direct flight. Often found in flocks, numbering hundreds at a roost site, it can be very noisy.

Where to see them
Found mainly in south-east England, particularly Surrey, Kent and Sussex.

It were a parakeet I tells thee!

Definitely a bird. The flapping wings continuously is a dead giveaway.

….or a bat….or a huge insect…..or a tiny pterodactyl….or a greenfinch but the size of a jay….or a green jay.

Could it have been one of these?

Uk’s only naturalised parrot[/url]

Pubic hair and nipples that pointed downwards.

Those disappeared with the Hedge Pron.

No more bush in the bush?

Walk like a gangster with one shoulder drop and one leg dipping with attitude. Start with the greeting “Yo! Yo! Yo!”.

……and be sure to mention your numerous ” mad skillz, yo!” as many times as you can.

Show solidarity with them by ordering the most expensive things on the menu. Then don’t eat any of it.
Be sure to complain that everything takes too long and constantly fidget in your chair.
Refuse to enter conversation with anyone and sullenly stare at your ipad until it’s taken away…. then start kicking one of the other kids under the table.
When the food arrives, be sure to throw a loud tantrum because it’s not what you wanted although, clearly, it IS what you asked for.
The food arriving is your cue to then go to the toilet twelve times in the next half hour whilst shouting at the top of your voice about how you’re ” really, really bursting!”
Oh, and definitely knock over at least one drink.

That’s exactly what my last experience of taking my kids to Pizza Express was like.

Best of luck.

Do a rap to introduce yourself, complete with homie-style gangland posturing. Kids love that shit!

Yeah! This….. and refer to them as “blud” and “dog”. Ya get me?

It’s well gangsta, innit!

Are you familiar with the works of Stampy Longnose?
Do you know the difference between a Creeper and a Spider Jockey?
Have you vanquished the Ender Dragon?

If not then you’re probably screwed.

or , alternatively, just be yourself and chill out. They’re only kids, not Aliens. Just don’t try too hard.

oh, and watch out…..THEY CAN SMELL FEAR!

Use a U lock with one leg through the holes and the other leg tight against the door to the left of the enclosed box.
If the distance between each leg of the lock is the right size, you’ll be unable to rotate the left hand leg away from the door without fouling on the front edge of the box.
This effectively fills the centre of the u lock with the box enclosure which solves your problem.
Just find a u lock which is a tight fit i.e the gap between the legs is only slightly larger than than the distance between the left hand edge of the top of the box and the left hand edge of the hole.

The question was, is it possible to do it cheaper ourselves with hollow skirting than having to start knocking holes in walls (the answer being apparently no).

And artex, leave it, do nothing it’s fine, skim it, it’s fine. Make any attempt to move it and it kills everyone slowly and painfully. Why would you consider removing it to be in any way the ‘safe’ option.

Never suggested removing it.

The suggestion was to have it tested so you understand the composition of it. Then, when you do rewire the property by whatever means, drill into the wall to mount a TV screen / kitchen unit / shelf or bang a nail in for a picture, you are able to either :

a. Hack away at the walls and ceilings to form chases or drill to fix your surface mounted trunking with impunity coz’ your asbestos test confirms that there are no ACM’s present.

b. Given that your asbestos test positively identified the artex as an Asbestos containing material, you can safely remove the artex in the isolated affected areas using an appropriate paste and scrape technique before skimming over the rest.

If you don’t feel like paying for the test then paste and scrape anyway just to be sure.

Understanding the risks and managing them “safely” is the “safe” option.

Moustaches

In Glasgow it would be ” EEEEEEEeeeeeny Tiiiiiiiiee”…..

from the wee guy outside Buchanan Street Bus Station selling the Evening Times

Superstars on TV.

Curly permed premier league footballers at the peak of their career taking a tumble off a racer on an ash track sustaining injury and then getting back on and winning the race.
Brian Jacks mugging off all comers with his superhuman parallel bar dips and squat thrusts.

In 1976 alone ,you had, amongst many others, a world boxing champion (John Conteh), the reigning Formula 1 world champion ( James Hunt), the current Wimbledon champion ( the legendary Bjorn Borg) and the aforementioned curly permed Keegan all competing against each other in potentially injury causing contests for the sake of the telly

Such a show couldn’t be made now. It’s just not conceivable.

Deliberately and maliciously embarrassing your children in front of their mates. :twisted:

Nothing more satisfying than hearing “Aaaaaaw Daaaad! Don’t…….”

Did you manage to convice the mrs its a matter of safety an urgency and worth your money more than skimming some potentially asbestos containing artex which might kill you in about 30 years if you just start hacking away at it and release the fibres bound up in the matrix for looks!

FTFY

Charity collection boxes in the shape of life sized orphan children in leg callipers or sad looking labradors.

Grim faced men standing at bus stops first thing in the morning in donkey jackets and overalls clutching a home wrapped pack of sandwiches.

Kids catching bees in an empty jam jar.

Football in the street.

Choppers and Grifters.

Witches Hats, Swing boats and huge tubular steel spiders and caterpillars

My luxuriant head of hair. Ain’t seen that for about 15 years.

Long, low, odd size wheels, orange

It’s a Raleigh Chopper and I claim my five pounds.

A team of Huskies?

“Something we didn’t consider when buying, there is only 1 single socket in a lot of the rooms! “

Didn’t it get a mention in the survey report?

“But with 2p and half a mars bar as the budget, and already having to pay a plasterer to go over all the artex”

I’d get the Artex tested for Asbestos before you go cutting chases in to the wall for new sockets. It’d be highly irresponsible to plaster over it, then let someone hack away at in the future without even knowing that they may be at risk of exposure to Asbestos containing materials.

Health risks of Artex

Me!

on any recording i’ve ever heard of me. I sound OK to myself when I actually say stuff, but when I hear myself as others must do? Jebus, it’s awful 8O