simonethebeaver

I wouldn't worry too much about the pink - all our dolls end up naked. I also find bells and whistles are mostly ignored and children just role play with them using purely their imagination, so in your place I would get a Sainsburys one for ?10 or so. They sell lots of accessories so you could get a buggy too for ?5 etc. My daughter also likes carrying her dolls in a sling, which can just be a length of material. My two year old son is devoted to cars but also likes cuddling his sister's dolls and pushing them in the buggy. He doesn't have the same total love of the dolls that she had at his age though. I promise we did no 'gendering' of toys at all; this is where they have both ended up of their own accord.

I recognise that baby...!

I love Santa Barbara and San Jose - they have great beaches, nice hotels and restaurants, and if you book now for November you should find some good deals on accommodation.

I think this refers to this letter, which was in the press over the weekend. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11641694/Senior-NHS-doctor-tells-women-have-baby-before-30.html

Hi Kate. Actually I only just sent it as the person we had lined up realised they were not available after all. So feel free to reply!

It's normal for credit unions - they can only offer as much as they are able at the end of the year. Sometimes the dividend will beat interest rates, other times it may be very little. Credit unions are fantastic social enterprises that benefit the community, and if this scheme encourages young people to use one rather than a high rate lender when they are older then it will have done a lot of good. The voucher is basically free money for our kids so we'll definitely be paying it in. They encourage saving and responsible borrowing.

Thanks. We've actually found someone already from trawling on here (once I used helpful search terms to look) but I hope the recommendation is useful for anyone else looking!

Can anyone recommend a face painter for a children's party?

Sbain, you know about the accessible swing and roundabout in Dulwich Park? Pretty minimal provision obviously but an improvement on Peckham Rye.

We welcomed kids, had about 30 of them there, and it was great. We hired an entertainer, child care and a bouncy castle. They ate at the 'top' table together, served first, and did what they wanted for the whole event. Noise during the ceremony was not an issue for us - not fussed if there's a bit of background noise, and to be honest we were happy not to be the centre of attention the whole time. Lots of our guests said how nice it was to be able to bring kids and not have childcare worries, but be able to spend at least part of the day not 'parenting'. But then we married late enough that many of our friends had kids, and my own partner did. We also had an informal wedding with a fish and chip van for food, so no big charge per head, so it cost very little to include all the children.

Curmudgeon, I think you're being a hit harsh there. It's more likely those concerns come out of the poster's desire to see the school do well. Education IS changing quickly and in a way that worries lots of people who don't have daily experience inside schools - look at the general discomfort around schools hiring unqualified teachers for example. I don't work in a school so I don't have your insight. I know a lot of teachers and the views on the new direct entry stuff are mixed I'd say, and I'm sure a degree of professional pride is at risk there too. I was also quite surprised to see how quickly someone can end up at the top. But on the other hand this is a high risk, high profile project for Charter so I can't imagine they'd choose anyone they had less than absolute faith in. But I think it's hard on people to be shouted down quite so much for expressing reservations about something so new to schools. Humans are not great with change!

I can assure you it was only intended as a shortening of your name with no disrespect whatsoever. I find your tone a bit aggressive - I am not someone who has ever been rude to you and my initial post was intended to be jokily helpful as I have seen you post before that you don't see why people call you negative. I have always thought rather highly of you as you once did me a great favour that meant a lot. I will do my best to avoid offending you in future but I never meant to do it in the first place.

But it might be even better in its new home, so why be disappointed in advance? Give it a chance. That's what I mean about negative. My apologies for the misnomer.

Fox, next time you get annoyed by someone calling you negative, have a look at your last post. Wait and see, eh?

I was once given the advice, by the owner of a nursery no less, that the way to get the school I wanted was just to put one school down, and then they had to give it to me. While people are giving out this sort of advice, there will always be mistakes made. For what it's worth, I was rather surprised at the lack of information for parents on this process, particularly in ensuring that they applied in the first place. In Lewisham, parents are sent information packs, from what I'm told, whereas nothing like that happens in Southwark.

My cat looks like a disreputable stray as he only has one ear, and loves company and extra food. Wherever we live, he always ends up being fed by neighbours. But he's a well-loved member of our household nonetheless. As the owner also of a long-haired cat, they can get matted quite easily, especially if they are spending lots of time outside, so if someone has de-matted him, that's reassuring.

When are you planning to do it? We have driven to Calais fairly painlessly but it's like Cornwall - one road in and out - so any busy time becomes a bit hellish, especially at the tolls.

Our baby arrived four days before his sister's birthday so the present idea didn't really work! Luckily she was besotted anyway. My brother, when he was born many years ago, brought me a doll's carrycot, so I could join in the fun.

Not much good, MrBen, if you don't have ?60 plus the cost of a private prescription.

I'm surprised that doesn't have any effect on the insurers. My insurance company told me off massively when I drove into the back of a car for having apologised at the time, as it supposedly meant they couldn't argue blame. Never mind that I couldn't really see how they could argue it wasn't my fault, given that I'd rear-ended the other car because my brakes had failed, they had intended to try. Years ago I was in an accident in which someone had tried to overtake me on a mini-roundabout as I went straight ahead, having moved themselves from a left turn only lane. They claimed it was my fault. My insurer was actually going to concede fault until THEIR insurance people went to the site, saw the road layout, and admitted liability for their client. The whole system is bonkers!

No words of congratulations for the community, including the SPACE campaign, that fought for the site to remain just for a secondary school, James? I've rarely seen such unity on here for something. Well done everyone who made their voices heard over the past few weeks.

We ended up not going for DG, but we absolutely loved it and the decision not to pick it was a hard one. We had a second tour and a meeting with the head of Yr7 and SENCO as part of our research, as well as the very impressive open evening, and found the staff very caring and committed. We were very struck by the confidence and passion of the pupils we met. Also, last year it went into federation with Conisborough College in Catford, which turned around the formerly notorious Catford Girls into a school going from strength to strength (still a local authority school), so I reckon this is an excellent time to be part of the school. I still have some regrets that we went elsewhere!

I have no idea! Not meaning that to be dismissive. From what I know of the bid process (which is fairly basic knowledge), both bids would have been pretty strong and I guess it came down to the people on the day, and possibly which aspects fit into a regional or national picture. To be short listed means that the DfE are confident that you can open a school and have the requisite community support etc., so the last stage is where the subtleties play out.

Bids don't get decided on number of signatures. It's one of the essential qualifying aspects of a bid, not generally a tie breaker. In any case, only the number of qualifying signatures counts (people with children who would start school at the appropriate time who would make the school their first choice) and we don't know how many of those Charter had. It is immaterial anyway so no big issue.

All branches of Galvin that I've been to serve the amazing crab lasagne and tarte tatin (Galvin at Windows had the best tarte) which are both pregnancy friendly as far as I remember (I was a lot laxer than you though!), quite posh and utterly delicious. I can't imagine feeling deprived after eating them.