I love being a mum too. I have four and I have always felt like I can't get enough of my kids. Enjoy it! 

My tip is to ask everyone to bring a water bottle and hat (put it on the invite). Saves so much hassle with cups and drinks etc. 

I would like to hear from the surrogate. Is she allowed to speak about her experience? (I assume there is an NDA).

I've been shocked to realise that the childhood years 5-13 were a lovely hiatus from parental sleep deprivation. Teen-agers are as bad for my sleep as toddlers were. Picking them up from extra curriculars at 9:30pm, waiting for them until midnight on weekends. Even when they are home the lights are on and they are up late! 

@mamamia-user-556745246 it is impossible to please everyone. I have never seen a mother's day breakfast at school but it sounds wildly preferable to our school mother's day which is a morning tea in the middle of the work day. Double galling that father's Day event is after work. 

These are lovely! Since money is a consideration (ha, in this economy when is it not!) I wondered about your coat. Do you have a coat and shoes that works well for one of these? If so, that's the one I'd choose. You'll get more wear if it goes with accessories in your cupboard. 

@jen_rrrr less than 5km is hardly a dead zone surely. Our (rural) senior school catchment is 70km East - West. There is a tremendous amount of privilege in these replies. Most people don't have choice about where they send their kids to school. The whole discussion reeks of classism. 

@gu3st Gen X? Nah. Long gone by the time my Mum sent me to the corner shop for a (plastic) bottle of milk. 

What is the correct amount of icing sugar in the layer cake? Assume it isn't 5400g? 

I'm sorry that he said that to you. 20 years after the fact I've never forgotten the medical professional (a friend) who advised that I would feel better when I stopped calling my "foetus" a "baby". Apparently, the problem after my second consecutive miscarriage (this one at 14wks) was all in how I was thinking about things.

@tanqwer yep, apparently I have a no spend life. 

I like blocks, and little wooden animals. My kids loved them and they last forever. 

@rush I'd be worried that the acidity might compromise the integrity of the condom. What does the research say about dual use? 

I don't really understand. Do you mean hikes and activities together with no kids every week? When do you spend time with your kids? Do you pay for a babysitter and leave them at home while you go to the beach?

@ed_flick this isn't right. Wegovy and ozempic are the same drug. Saxenda is different. I can't take ozempic but I can take saxenda. 

I spent so much more than this. $820 in school resource scheme + deposit for camp, $700 in the uniform shop (one kid is in first year of high school so needed the lot), $500 on 7 pairs of shoes, $350 on book lists and a graphics calculator, $150 on a senior jersey. That's for 4 kids, three in high school - all local state schools. I pay off the school every fortnight for the year to make it manageable. I wish the school understood what this does to families. 

I wonder how many of the other mothers being summoned to the fitting were three weeks post partum? No wonder Kate was angry. I was sympathetic to h and m before I saw their complaints. Not anymore. 

I'd encourage you to opt out. Think about giving your babe the gift of internet privacy instead. I've gotten 17 years in without posting any photos or my kids' real names online. They are thankful. Let them forge their own identities. 

@rush my dad too! Exactly like Hamish's except maybe a lighter shade. 1974. 

@yeahyepyes I don't know why you specify 'girl'. I'm the mother of a 17yo boy and I don't want him to go to schoolies (next year). The thing is though - he'll be 18, finished school, and earns his own money. It he's determined to go what can I do?