dairymilkfiend

The trees at the station cheer me up every day on my commute. This would definitely change the character of the station and so I will be objecting too. We need some nature around us, otherwise the city will become a pretty horrible place to live.

My son came off his scooter on the way to school (DPL) this morning and broke his arm. Some very kind strangers stayed with him until my husband arrived to take him to A+E. In particular, a man called Mike stayed with him for more than 20 minutes and gave my son his coat to keep him warm (so must have been freezing himself!), and another lady lent him her hat. My son is called Elijah and was injured on Calton Road this morning, so if anyone can help us track these people down, I would really like to say thank you properly.

Me too - I texted him at lunchtime today, he texted straight back with a very reasonable quote and has just picked up my old sofa. No hassle - job done!

Does anyone get the 8:04 from Denmark hill which goes to St Pancras? I need to get 3 kids, two grandparents and two suitcases there first thing on thursday and am wondering if its feasible or whether the train is usually jam-packed? All advice gratefully received, thanks.

Worth a try, but I contested one in Lambeth where I had written the registration number but in pencil and they refused my appeal. I hope you have more luck.

I am totally depressed. My husband attended the council meeting tonight, and I have read the consultation report in detail. Despite the fact that 38% of daytime parking in my road is commuters (!), the majority of residents evidently don't want a CPZ. All I can assume is that these people don't move their cars between 9am and 2pm on a weekday, as if they did they would realise that some of us are suffering. All I can say is don't move to east dulwich or leave before you have kids/ develop mobility problems/want to do any shopping.

At the risk of bearing the brunt of several angry responses, I live in the proposed CPZ zone, I was one of the 45/50 (depending on who you believe)who have complained in the past about the parking in my road. In an ideal world I would not want a CPZ which will cost me and my visitors money. However, if I use my car during weekdays, around 20% of the time I cannot then re-park anywhere in my street. I have 3 small kids who I regularly have to carry/drag a large distance, across a busy road, from whichever local roads do still have parking spaces, which is clearly a source of stress to all of us. I sympathise with those just outside the CPZ who have not been consulted (which I don't agree with), but the status quo is pretty rubbish too.

LauraHW - if it is disposable ones you are after, I have 2 or 3 whole rolls which you can have (for free), as my little on is now out of nappies. Just PM me if you are interested.

It is an outstanding pre-school (and Oftsted agree!)but due to the small size very hard to get into. My boys have been very happy there.

Hi Kim, We go to Herne Hill Baptist Church (www.hernehillbaptistchurch.org) and my 3 boys (7, 3, and 1) love going to the sunday school, so we would be happy to meet you there one sunday. PM me if you are interested. I have several friends who go to St Saviours (listed above) which is also excellent and very family friendly. All Saints Peckham also has a large and lively sunday school so would recommend that too. alison

yes we do pay her. I think she is entitled to paid sick leave, unless she is off for more than 2 consecutive weeks after which you start paying her half pay.

For 3 days a week ( 10.25 hour days) we pay a total of around 1800 pounds a month,which includes the tax, NI etc ( thats around 9.25 net an hour). Hope that helps alison

Thanks to all for your support - its good to know my feelings are justified. We did take up references from 3 previous employers and I specifically asked all of them about sick leave. None said that she had taken more than a couple of days so we may just have been unlucky, but who knows? The difficult thing is that the kids adore her and we had a lot of trouble finding a nanny, so I am dreading having to do it again. I think I will sit down with her next week and explain our expectations - I agree with ljs that most good nannies will drag themselves into work and just have a quiet day at home if they are unwell. (Ljs - you don't want a job do you?!)

Dear All, Does anyone know where I stand with my relatively new nanny who has been off sick for 3 whole weeks over the 3 months we have employed her so far? This includes several times when she has texted me first thing in the morning telling me she will not be in that day. Does that sound an 'unreasonable' amount of time off? The illnesses have been unconnected and it has caused real problems for my work, not to mention my lovely friends and family who have all pitched in to help. Should I start a verbal warning/ written warning system? Her contract just says we need to give her 4 weeks notice, but I'm unsure if it would be illegal to fire her if she continues to be off sick frequently. Hope it doesn't sound callous, but we both have jobs in healthcare, so my patients and colleagues suffer if I can't go in. Any advice gratefully received!

yes we have one, and live by east dulwich station. PM me for address. alison