Keef

We are members, but never did classes, and haven't ever wished we had.

Yeah, get your own bloody park, and leave Wells Park for us Sydenham dwellers! ;-) In all seriousness, I think Wells Park is a beautiful place. Not particularly big, but lovely. The water play thing is popular (not least with me, when Mrs Keef's nephew is around, and I can get away with it), but sometimes it will not be on, which is rather annoying!

Mrs Keef works for Guys&Tommys NHS Trust, and I think she said she'd have to go back for 6 months, or have to repay money. F**kers didn't pay her a penny in the last year though, as they delayed her contract, so she didn't quite qualify. As a result, I don't think she feels any loyalty towards them anymore!

We have an adrenaline junkie too, so I too have frayed nerves.

I have always loved festivals, but the thought of going with the baby is just awful. Respect to any of you who do it. To me it would take all the fun out of the weekend.

I thought the actual "coaching" scetches were really not funny. The speech bit did have some funny moments though. I used to really like Gavin & Stacey when it started out, but Smithy just annoyed me more and more, and whenever I see James Cordon on anything, he just bugs me for some reason. I think he tries far too hard.

Need to think about the gate thing. Definitely plan on getting one at the bottom, but not sure about the top. Thanks for the tips. It's amazing how difficult it can be trying to show them stuff. I almost fell backwards down the stairs the other day when I was trying to crawl up them!

Our daughter has taken to bombing it up the stairs whenever she gets the chance, but as yet, has no idea about getting down, and when she's on your lap or something, she will happily try to dive straight off you, so I'm worried she'll just try to take a plunge. Don't want to just put a baby gate at the top of the stairs, as there is a school of thought that suggests the are like a red rag to a bull, and baby will just keep going at it, and they could both end up going down. I know that going down backwards is safest, but am not sure how to show her this. Anyone got any tips?

How about less other parents, so you wouldn't have to worry about getting a school place? Sorry ;-)

That is a really scary image! (I'm not really a cat person)

Lorenzo Ali is a local photographer, who actually uses this forum. He's a great bloke, and personally, I think he's a great photographer. His site has some nice examples of his work.

We're not there yet, but Mrs Keef has already said it will be vagina. That is what her mum did with her, and all the other options that I've heard are so bloody ridiculous.

I may come back and redo this, as I'm not giving it much thought... Question 1 - what would be your ideal Fathers Day / random treat? The chance to see all my friends the night before, and get rotten drunk, and not have to worry about dealing with the baby in the morning, but just given orange juice and the chance to chill out. Question 2 - what do you reckon is the hardest thing about being a Dad? Only been a dad 11 months so far, but I think going to work and missing her sucks. Also for me, it has been a MASSIVE change in lifestyle, so just getting used to that. Question 3 - do you feel, in general, that you play / will play the role of stricter parent? To be honest, I think we'll end up disciplining her as Mrs Keef sees fit, whether I totally agree or not. Don't think either of us will be particularly strict, but time will tell I guess.

For which I apologised, and I certainly never meant to intimidate anyone! Again, I am sorry, I recently had been very annoyed/upset by what I viewed as demonisation of someone. I admit, with hindsight, that I probably didn't even read your initial post too carefully, before seeing all the responses, and my reaction was "here we go again, another lynch mob", so I reacted harshly. I have to say though, that now I have read your post several times, I am not really picking up on the 2 points you make above, but that's probably just me. I apologise again, and hope you can forget it now. I never wanted it to be The Keef show, and I have wished this would go away, but I always feel the need to respond to things, rather than just letting them drift away. Anyway, to answer your questions then... I would say that it is a natural instinct to want to protect your kids from the horrid side of life, but that in so doing, too many people think that their child should come before absolutely everything, which is a shame. I don't think there is really an answer to this, you would hope it would be common sense, but one person's common sense, is another person's social faux pas. Personally I believe strongly in more integration of disabled kids in to main stream education. I know that a cancer patient isn't "disabled" as such, but sharing an early years classroom with a kid in a wheel chair, is going to make it much less "weird" for a child when they encounter it.

Fair enough, and good luck to them. The Villager is still fecking awful though!

Sean, there are bogus vendors, REALLY!!!! One could argue that they are still in need, but the fact is, there are people who will steal bundles, and sell them, without having paid for them upfront. They may be just as needy, but they get less of my sympathy than someone who has gone about it the correct way.

I don't think Jeremy has ever said that a person has a responsibility to spend their money in any particular way. All he's said, is that if someone is a bogus vendor, then that is out or order.

That is the first thing that has made me genuinely "LOL" on here in ages! Sean, I agree, that giving money, and feeling good about yourself for it, doesn't give you the right to then tell the person how they should use the money.

I wouldn't have said so, no. But to be fair, self rightrous people probably don't really know they're being self righteous, so maybe. It's all in the tone. To stay on topic, I agree with londonloves above post. However, whilst I agree that BI vendors are earning a wage (and can certainly spend it on whatever they want), I still hold that most people, when buying a BI, will not be doing it because they really must read that article, but rather, because they think it's doing something good to help someone. If that is just to make them feel better about themselves, who cares?

deargod Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In which case Keef, donate to the charity, not to > the Big Issue seller. It's really not that > complicated. I never said it was complicated, I also never said I wanted to donate to the charity, but thanks for your helpful response. I just made the point that a lot of people, when buying a BI (whether or not they keep the mag) do so, feeling like they are making a charitible donation. It is not like buying a paper from a street vendor. Great thread, load of prejudice nonsense, mixed in with a load of self rightious crap. Basically, 2 of the more annoying sides of ED laid out for everyone to see.

I see (and want to agree with) your point. However, I used to buy the BI a lot, and it was always a really crap mag, so I got to the point where I'd bin it without even opening it. Now I'll just give them the cash and tell them to keep the mag. I'd never give a newsagent cash without taking my paper, but I do with BI vendors, because basically I look at it as a charitable donation.

scott Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Undecided, except for the fact it won't remain as > The Uplands.. Can I ask why? Just interested if it's some legal rebranding reason, or just because you don't like it. Personally, I think if you name it something cool, then great. If however, it was a choice of Uplands, or Villager, I'd go with Uplands every single time!

Personally I suspect that in some cases, very bright kids will act up. However, I susect that in more cases, parents will say things like "it's because he's just so bright", simply because it makes them feel better. I have no proof of any of that, it is just my gut feeling.

Agreed

Thanks Moos, you made me blush. Molly & sb, I'd never go searching through someone's previous posts to find a quote to make my point (there are people who would do that). I only quote recent posts in order to show what I am addressing when there have been a few posts in between. It's just meant to avoid confusion, not to twist anyone's words. curlykaren, sorry for my posts, I never meant offence. Also, I never suggested you should have approached the woman, in truh, I probably wouldn't as I'm useless at that sort of thing. You're right, she may happen upon this thread, and hopefully it might get a message across. Gosh, I feel a bit like a newbie, learning forum etiquette all over again, it's a bit different in here. Anyway, sorry to have taken the thread completely off topic.