helena handbasket

Wow. Just wow.

Ruth_Baldock Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > HH, it's something Mummies and Daddies do when > they love each other very much, and what they do > when their Firstborn is behaving well at night, > thus the existence of second born. Hence no sex > again. Ever. Not chancing another baby, tyvm. Oh right the first born behaving well at night part. I'm still waiting (hence no second born). As for the bizarre math equation previously posted, there's no point in even dignifying that. Quite ironic to be told about my profession, by people who aren't in it (being admin or being married are not the same)on a thread debating the merits of baby advice from someone who isn't a mother. *Many* teachers spend about five minutes/day/student one-on-one if lucky. That math works out much differently. Which goes back to my original point: Everyone is an expert on everything, regardless of experience. So why single Gina Ford out? For the record, "Gina Ford" is such a bunch of books I've never read. No opinion on her whatsoever. But I read posts like Saila's and think "Some people find her helpful. That's good enough for me."

Are you a teacher? Maybe it's like saying "She's not a mother, so she can't know what it's really like". I do know what teaching involves, as I am one. Thanks for setting me straight on the nature of my relationships with my students. Maybe it's a comparison one can only make if you are both a mother AND a teacher? No wait, that would be ridiculous.......

I am a secondary teacher, since 1998. I also have a psychology degree, with related field work in child development. But a primary teacher, with 20-25 children/year, might reach the 300 mark in twelve years. However, not in a private individualized environment that a maternity nurse might work in. It's just an observation.

> > Yes, highly questionable. > Her PR website says there was no formal > qualification for "maternity nurse" during the > time she trained (...as a nurse?), but that she > has looked after over 300 babies, over 12 years. > Well it's hardly lifetime is it? Twelve years is > nothing in academic terms. Many certified > behavioural studies of longterm outcomes would > take at least that long! As well she is neither a > psychologist nor an ob-gyn. In short, if a person > tried to use GF as a reference on a serious piece > of academic work, s/he would be a laughing stock. > If anyone likes GF or finds her methods useful, > fair enough. I'm not criticizing individual > parents. But GF is skating on thin ice > scientifically. Even where she's given them her > own twist, the behavioural methods she cites were > developed by other people, and many of them are > highly disputed within the academic community. Is > that the sound of cracking ice I hear? But then if you think about it, we are always looking for advice and take it from people who have even less experience. At least in her purely anecdotal experiences she has worked with 300 or so babies. That's more than most teachers. This forum and Mumsnet etc. are used for advice all the time, from people whose experience is often limited to their own children! And Piaget famously used sampling sizes of only 12 children (that's another conversation though). Basically, not one bit of science but more than the ramblings of ones mother or neighbor, if you know what I mean. Anyway, what is this "sex" you speak of?

I absolutely second the Hemnes. We put one in my son's room before he was born, and it has been fabulous through every stage. It was ideal for all of the night wakings and feedings when my son was a baby. We added a bed rail when my son switched to it from his cot. It's a good size for bedtime snuggles, and when he's ill and sleeping in my bed with me, daddy sometimes ends up in it. He's five now and he'll be in it for a long time yet. Easily my best baby purchase. We have actually had a couple of different mattresses on it; the Ikea one does fit better but the other was fine for the first few years. We have tried a normal full sized mattress on it a few times when pulled out to full size for guests and it was fine. We will likely buy a good quality full mattress and permanently pull the bed to it's full size in the near future. Just to add: I think it's actually wider than a normal single. Our original mattress wasn't from Ikea and was too narrow, so there was about a two inch gap. The drawers underneath are huge; they store extra bedding and toys now but for a long time the bed was also our change table and the middle drawer was nappies/creams/changing beds etc. so incredibly handy. One day it will end up in a guest room I would imagine.

I would love to see the email she sent to admin........

Miss Zoe and her dance school sound appalling. She is running a business, and this is how she manages her customers? That email is unbelievable, and there is no context that would make it acceptable. Why would you give this person your money? Marie 81 sounds lovely......... gigirl nailed it: giggirl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hey, I'm angry so the kid gets it.... > > Although you have already given notice of leaving, > if you did wish Jxxxxxx > to continue or return to classes at SLDS at any > point, please take this as > notice that she would not be welcome to under any > circumstances. > > What a bitch. Indeed.

If you google "guardian spot on" there's an article with photos.

Ha, I misunderstood. I multiplied his height at age 2 times 2.5 Phew! I was imagining the expense of shoes for a teenager that big!

Yikes! According to the height calculator, my son (who was 36" at 27 months) would end up being 90 inches! That's 7.5 feet! Somehow I don't see that happening. My son was 97th in weight and 40th! in length when born (basically he was built like a bulldog, big body and hilarious little short legs). He has sat between 95-100th in weight his entire life, but grew quite tall as a toddler. At five, he is now 97th for both height and weight. I'm average, his dad is tall. My family is short, but two cousins are 6'3. How? Their dad is average (they look like their dad, so no they're not the milkman's boys). In school pictures, my dad is always the tall kid in the middle. But around the age of 13, everyone outgrew him and he ended up being a somewhat short man. It's all a mystery, I think. edited for sad grammar

Maybe my perception is blurred because my son is one of "those" children, the kind that gets raised eyebrows, and I'm the mum who has endured more dirty looks and sideways glances than I care to remember....... But....... how are they supposed to learn how to behave in these classes if they aren't allowed to continue in them? The skill component (in my opinion only) comes in later years; I think that preschool classes are meant to learn social skills in preparation for the more serious classes down the road. A three old can't possibly be expected to know why a class is different from being silly at home or at the park. They're just starting to put the pieces together. Sure there will always be kids who seem to just get it right, but what about teaching them the more important virtues of patience and compassion? What message is being sent when we don't support the children who need a bit more guidance? I really struggle with the notion that a three year old should be excluded, for any reason. As a teacher, I always considered my role to be to teach the "whole" child, and this is what we call a teachable moment (meaning a moment for the teacher to learn something). Children come with all sorts of strengths and challenges, manifested in a million different ways, and we as adults need to respect that. susyp I would absolutely look for a more inclusive and supportive environment for your daughter. The messages she learns about herself right now are the foundations for her future growth. Her ballet career has just begun! :)

garnwba Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > can you take buddug with you? (tu) She must be even boring herself by now.

buddug Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > No, Hugo, just to help see off the goths, > visigoths and barbarians at the gate who want to > destroy East Dulwich. (By the way, what's the > weather like in Singapore today? ;-)) You did it! You won! *pumps fist in air* Woo hoo! CHAMP! Now you get to .......erm, what did you win again? Anyway, now what will you do with all of your time?

Because I'm kind of a loser, I followed the hints to the Oxo tower thread. And then I googled it. Did you know that you can buy merchandise that says "For my birthday, my boyfriend wanted to take me up the Oxo tower"? I've learned a lot today.

Not in East Dulwich, but......... A Bar Named Sue.

And here I thought the oddly large instant coffee section at Sainsbury's was the "most depressing experience a coffee drinker can have". Just thinking about Nescafe "Gold" makes me giggle. I don't love Starbucks but let's get real.

edcam Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Nero is the only place that serves vaguely decent > coffee. An independent cafe, serving really high > quality coffee would be very welcome. British > people are almost as bad as Americans in accepting > substandard coffee. That just made me spit out my Caffe Verona! I've never had an American offer me a coffee and then put the kettle on...........

I was starting to feel like I was on the nine months on, nine YEARS off plan, so I did the South Beach diet last summer (very similar to the Dukan) and lost 12 pounds in about two weeks. It fell off. The two weeks is very specific because the body really does need some carbs and going past that gets unhealthy. That's when phase two starts and a few high gi carbs get introduced. I went on holidays at that point and didn't exactly get past that, but the original lost pounds have stayed off. I liked it because it was simple: no carbs. I just did a simple google search to get the gist of it. I was very strict about it as I wanted to see just how well it could work (and I know I can do anything for two weeks), but would probably slightly cheat next time. A small bit of oatmeal with a handful of berries in the morning would have made it easier, but I honestly didn't find lunch or dinner difficult at all. I didn't worry too much about fats because (for example) high fat cheese is so rich that I can't eat much anyway. And this will sound stupid but I bought my own potted butter leaf lettuce so I always had nice fresh crisp lettuce for my wraps (it's a substitute for actual tortillas). I actually felt pretty good and learned that protein really picks me up and carbs really drag me down. Duh. A couple of friends saw how well it worked and tried it too. They look amazing. The only down side is that I now understand how how disastrous my beloved bread and potatoes are to my figure!

steveo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > helena handbasket Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > and it'shitting the spot. > > You might want to rephrase that *it's hitting*....... just a space, don't panic. :) *edited to add friendly emoticon, for no particular reason

If you like that then maybe try San Pallegrino Chinotto. I don't know how to describe it, a bit bitter-root ish......... anyway I've only recently discovered it and it'shitting the spot.

My first thought was someone's spit from chewing tobacco. I once had a friend whose father had the charming habit of "chewing" indoors and spitting in a bottle and it was absolutely vile. But that's kind of what it looked like and a committed "chewer" could probably fill a bottle in a couple of days. It's hard to tell from the photos but the colour would be a kind of tobacco stain yellow/orange. So gross!

Hmmmm, tricky. I know that at the Canadian end they have a placement referral for international students, so assume there must be something similar at that end? I have no idea how one would find it (good old google?) I think generally they place children by age. I've taught children from just about everywhere, and even if they are from very different cultures (and languages) tend to be placed by age. That said, children start the English system a year earlier (in most cases, however my son would have started the same time either place based on his birthday), but it seems that most children are five or close to when starting. Where I now live (in Canada) the birthday cut off is March 1st, so a November baby would be among the youngest in the class. A number of the younger children seem to get held back a year (by their parents) so they are approaching six when they start rather than go too early. Your friend's children might have started a year later than children in London. My gut would be to start the older one at year eleven and give her some time to adjust before the intensity of year twelve. On the other hand (sorry), I'm not massively sold on the idea of holding back a year because I think there is a lot to be gained from being with peers who are developmentally at the same age (if that makes sense?) I don't think that's as big an issue at 15/16 as it might be around 12-14 though. I would keep the 13 year old at her age if possible. I wouldn't worry too much about differences in curriculum. I think she would have to be in the IB system in Vancouver already to be eligible in the UK, but yes that would be helpful. Sorry, I never did understand how GCSE's work. Those are all just my thoughts, it might be helpful to look online for an expat forum where there's likely to be someone who has done it. Hope there's at least something helpful in my babbles.

Awesome post!

I'm no expert, Fuschia. But I think I'm going to believe Health Canada before the Daily Mail. And the medicalonline piece is incredibly vague....... are those numbers SINCE 1958? Ever in the history of formula, in every country combined? It reads as bad science. I actually never realized formula was as safe as those numbers suggest, compared to pretty much anything else that can go wrong. Anyway it sometimes feels like your disapproval of formula crosses the line from informative to bullying, that's all. And I do believe you are trying to be helpful. I know you mean well. Proper handling of formula is critical, obviously. It just feels that obscure articles about dead formula babies is a bit.......... too much.