Facing reality :(

[LineLefty]

Well,

Thats it for me for a while. I've had 45 minutes of shed time in the last five weeks since my son Elliott was born. During that time I fired up the circular saw, woke him up and made SWMBO furious.

I think it's time to clean the shed up, oil the planes, stop kidding myself and come back in 6 months or so...........................

[silentC]

Maybe you should take up woodturning. It's a lot quieter.

Maybe that's what your subconscious was telling you when it directed you to post here in the Woodturning forum

[zymurgy]

Tip toeing around isn't going to make life any easier for anyone.

Fire up the saw, bang some nails - Elliott will soon recognise these as normal 'safe' sounds.

[arose62]

I agree with Zymurgy - get the kid used to sleeping wherever, whenever.

We'd have loud music playing, sometimes blinds open, sometimes closed, sometimes vacuum going, etc.

After a while, we could take them to birthday parties, weddings, bbqs, and when they needed a sleep, they'd sleep. None of this pfaffing around with quiet, dark, 3 stuffed toys, whole complex sleeptime routine....

Cheers,
Andrew

[silentC]

Actually, I should have said that instead of being a smart artist.

One of the best pieces of advice we got when our first was born was not to get obsessed about quiet. Leave the door open with the TV or the stereo on. Don't sneak around the house in case you wake the baby. After awhile, like Gordon says, they get used to the 'safe' noises and they sleep through them. Otherwise, they'll go on waking up at every sound. Worked for us, our two would sleep through an earthquake.

[LineLefty]

whoops, wrong forum sorry turners.

anyway, the noise isn't really the issue, perhaps my post was misleading a bit. I mostly work with hand tools whihc means that stock prep is time consuming.

Peopel often advise you not too keep the house too quite to teach them to sleep through normal noise, and it's good advice. But after 4 hours of colic related screaming - trust me - you dont want to risk waking them up by turning the stereo on. In normal situations though, standard household noise is fine, he sleeps through it.

The other danger for me is tiredness. I'm likely to stab myself with a chisel or cut my fingers off

[silentC]

4 hours of colic related screaming

The best piece of advice we got: gripe water.

[Wood Borer]

Linelefty,

The new arrivals certainly rearrange our lives don't they.

A little imagination and time coordination should have you back in the workshop and out of SWMBO's hair.

It is important that both you and SWMBO don't see the youngun as completely chopping off your social and recreational activities as this could lead to resenting the little fella - even subconciously.

To be able to both have a break from time to time will lead to a happy family. I'm not suggesting it is not already a happy family, but make sure you try to create an environment where frustration can't survive.

Remember that we were all demanding at that age but a little planning can make those demands less painful to maintain.

Good luck with the quiet handtools mate.

[Grunt]

It's probably a little late to recommend a condom.

[himzol]

Lefty,

Good luck with the colic thing, I never had the problems that most people seem to, so I can't relate, however I can sympathise. As for the quiet thing, definatly keep the loud music and other stuff going, God knows he'll pay you back when he's in his teens :mad:

Himzo.

[vsquizz]

Adam our youngest boy nearly get us divorced and nervous breakdowned and round the twisted in his first three months. The Doctors said "its Colic" there is nothing more we can do. On advice from my sister who is a midwife we took him to a chiropractor. I was very very nervous but it was like flicking a switch. He went from screaming for more than 8 hours a day to beautiful peaceful and happy overnight. It was wonderful (hardened parents know what I'm talking about).

Just thought I'd throw in my two bobs because I know what Colic is like. I don't think that all chiro's are suited to kids but PM if you'd like to know the one we go to.

The shed will still be there when you get around to it and Elliot will be in there before you know it. My boy is determined to saw the legs off my workbench

Cheers

[PAH1]

The shed will still be there when you get around to it and Elliot will be in there before you know it. My boy is determined to saw the legs off my workbench

Damn I know that one, the boys love the shed and everything in it. It is surprising how much they know about it, they already know what hammers, drills, saws, screwdrivers and paintbrushes do at 2!!! and they are able to use most of them at least well enough to do damage.

Seriously though you will eventually get back into the shed. Enjoy elliot while he is small, they really do not stay that way for very long at all.

[numbat]

I am sure that the setback will only be temporary - then as squizz points out you will have to then keep them out of YOUR workshop. Have you noticed that kids (well my son anyway) considers things ours - and his things are his?

I had to get my son his own Carbotec catalogue because he always had mine and he is only 8.

Cheers

[LineLefty]

I'll leave the carbatec catalogue out on the coffee table. Maybe then he'll start asking mum for a 14' bandsaw for christmas.

Thanks for the advice all, never heard of chiro for babies before. I'll do a bit of net surfing on it though and maybe get back to you.

Colic is a 1 in 5 day event and we're starting to learn to just help him get through it.

[Termite]

Woodwork will wait. The time you spend with the kids when they are young will be repaid in later life, now is the time that you make or break lifetime bonds.