Pickle

How old is your child? If you plan to get a clock for him/her later on, the Gro clock has a built in nightlight which has been great for my children.

Do you have chips with your curry, or prefer them on your shoulder?

Really nice to hear so many familiar accents this morning, thanks again to Convex for getting us organised! Going forward the plan is to get a proper little playgroup type scenario going, with NZ songs (and stories?), so any other parents of kiwi kids do get in touch of you're interested. Also, for those without really small kids, we thought a grown up night out drinking wine, NZ made of course, could be a good idea - so get in touch if you're up for the drinking side of it :)

The Gardens is opposite Peckham Rye, on Forest Hill Road, just around the corner from Barry Road.

I too used to dread bed and bath time, especially when I just had two children. These days the kids love it if Daddy isn't home as once the big ones are in their pjs I let them sit in bed playing games on the iPad while I sit with baby Pickle doing her bedtime feed. Technology is a wonderful thing!

My daughter is also in reception at Goodrich, but by the sound of it in a different class. Admittedly mornings are cramped as (unlike last year when my son was in the same class) we are dropping off inside, but we pick up outside and the kids are sent out with all their stuff. The teachers in her class are very keen to get them doing the whole morning routine independently so don't encourage parents into the class at all. I used to get frustrated when she was at the nursery, with parents pushing their way in and generally getting in the way, so tended to stand back and let them do their thing before even attempting to get close. I haven't noticed you there Damzel, although it's been years since our paths crossed (Plough playgroup) - do say hi if you still recognise me!

I've found with the arrival of every baby I get slightly more organised :) I get up before the kids to shower, so at least when I do the school run I look partly decent, but when each baby was tiny and unreliable I used to shower at night. Washing is put on at night on timer to finish in the morning, breakfast stuff laid out the night before, as are school uniforms, book bags, PE kit etc (those of you without school age kids, enjoy it while you can, my brain hurts sometimes trying to work out which child has their book day, PE, library visits...) While baby Pickle (8 months) eats her lunch I sit her highchair in the kitchen and do the prep for dinner, as trying to get dinner made once I've picked the older two up is near on impossible - after school ballet/music, homework, and scratchy baby at 5pm aren't a good combination!

I feel for you Susyp, the thought of my eldest in a noisy manic lunch hall when he started reception was the thing that worried me the most about him starting school. At my kids school (I now have one in reception and one year 1) the classroom teachers and TA's accompany them to lunch for the first 2ish weeks, and certainly it's happening as my daughter gave me a blow by blow account of what her teacher ate for lunch today :) They are walked there and back, and eventually will be left to do the walk back by themselves. My son (quite a quiet boy) related stories of missing out on pudding "because a big boy ran past me and I dropped it", and getting lost on the way back to class in his first few weeks at school and it broke my heart. He was also the slowest at eating. However he quickly got into the routine of it all and lunch is a highlight in his day. He loves the dinner ladies and lunch supervisors. I found he got much better at eating faster, at home too, which is great. It's cute listening to him giving his little sister advice on how the lunch process works - although she's made of much tougher stuff so hasn't been phased at all. Have a word with the teachers, hopefully you will get reassurance and your daughter will quickly settle into school life. P x

Short answer, yes. I had the Cameleon for #1, and have a Bee for #3. Love it. Once you are out of the cocoon/carry cot stage there's really not much difference in terms of the seat unit. Get a sheepskin or buggy snuggle and it's lovely and cosy. When we had a Cameleon we also bought a McLaren to use in the car, for travel etc, whereas now that I've got a Bee I don't need a McLaren. Super easy to fold and carry.

Mmmm, that's lunch for me and mini Pickle sorted for tomorrow!

Thanks for arranging this, it was great to meet a few other kiwis last week. I attempted the "ma is white, whero is red..." song earlier, and that's about as far as I got. Very rusty!

You're brave. I went once, never again.

When child #1 was born it was sold as suitable from 6 months. By the time #2 arrived it was from age 2, and now age 6. Same medicine. As long as you're sensible and use the recommended dosage it is fine, from what I remember reading they changed the age due to parents abusing the sleep-inducing properties. (can't possibly imagine who would use it to make them sleep, terrible parents. *ahem*)

Agree with the others, not really possible. Although that said I never did it when I only had one child, I can't bring myself to sleep during the day! When I had #2 I just used to go to bed earlier and have hubby bring the baby to me for any feeds she needed before he went to bed. She never took a bottle, but if you have a baby that will it's great to be able to delegate any late evening/dream feeds to your partner if he is happy to do so. Congrats on your new arrival x

Did you include your trading address?

Busted!

I run, and am reluctant to go out alone in the evenings now that it's dark. I'll keep an eye on this thread to see how you do in terms of pace/distance (I can't generally do Tues or Thurs but occasionally have those evenings free). I can comfortably do 4 - 6 miles at 9:30/10 min mile pace. Alternatively, I sometimes run with my baby in the buggy (meaning boring laps of Dulwich Park!) immediately after school drop off in the mornings. I did 3 laps this morning, so let me know if anyone fancies joining me (my pace is slower with the buggy).

I've sent you a PM, I saw the scooter yesterday when I was out for a run.

I never put the straps round my baby when she was in the cocoon - I strapped the cocoon in, and then put her over top of the straps. I always had the cocoon zipped up, so the risk of her toppling out was slim (and she's a 3rd child, so lucky the cocoon was strapped in if I'm honest ;) ). We now use a sheepskin, although I have ordered a footmuff for the winter months as well.

A few weeks of Graze boxes? I got them for myself when I had #3 and thought they would have been a great gift - individual little pots of yummy snacks, great for keeping energy levels up. www.graze.com

I guess the only thing with having display pieces (and the associated interest generated) is to then get people to follow through and order from you. In some ways the impulse buy market is a great one to tap into. I'm sure if you set a page up, word would quickly spead. You just need a few of your friends to "like" and comment on photos and already you've opened your page up to hundreds of people. Doesn't take much work at all.

Definitely set up a Facebook page if you haven't already - a free way to test the market and sell your products. I run a small business, and set up a Facebook business page as a starting point, but get so much work through it I haven't needed to do anything else. There are a lot of good networking pages on Facebook that help you reach a wider audience. Fairs are a good idea if you have ready made stock to sell, but I found people wanted customised things (I hand knit baby & children's clothing), so making stock in advance isn't always the best option. Good luck.

I think you have plenty of support and just need to address the things that have been mentioned here. It's true that you offer something different, which is fab, but don't lose sight of the fact that hair cutting is your main business. In my opinion your cuts on slightly older children need a little more time taken over them with more attention to detail.

Sounds like it has been very badly dealt with. I used to go to a few Sure Start things when my kids were younger, and often they were a mixture of playgroup and parenting type lessons, so I guess that they could, in theory, prefer that it's parents that are there benefiting from the free education rather than nannies?

Ah yes, we got the expensive Lottie playmat for #1 on the basis it looked nice, but he hated it. For my 2 other kids we've had the cheap and cheerful Tiny Love playmat with jungle animals hanging on it, seems to be a popular choice and they often come up 2nd hand on the forum.