rebeccaben

The best place to start is the FAQs on Au Pair World. We just got our first au pair a few weeks ago. The standard rate is ?80/week plus of course all of her room and board (food, toiletries, etc). We also provided her a mobile phone and top it up ?20/month plus we keep her Oyster card topped up. Ours works about 20-25/hrs a week. I think more than that is too much for an au pair. You should also plan to make her a part of the family - don't just expect someone to work the hours you need and then be invisible.

Stick with au pairs from the EU as it is difficult to get proper visas for anyone outside the EU. For those from the EU you don't need to do any paperwork except a contract of course.

I'm an islabike evangelist. My daughter went from bike phobic to Bradley Wiggins when we swapped her heavy bike for an Isla. We bought ours secondhand and will sell it again secondhand when she grows out of it. Because they hold their value so well I am sure it is cheaper to do it this way than to buy a cheap(er) bike new.

We live in North Dulwich just outside of the Dulwich Village schools catchment (which is tiny and all property within it is massively reflected in price difference). It is such a lovely calm area which is chock full of families. We are walking distance to Dulwich park, Ruskin Park and Brockwell Park, and have the lovely little Sunray Gardens with pond and playground right around the corner. My daughter is in reception at Judith Kerr and we (and she) LOVE it. She is thriving and every other parent I know there is very happy with it. They have just had their first ofsted report and got a Good rating across the board which is remarkable for a brand new school especially as they are still in the course of developing the building.

The sticky traps work best for us and I also use spray on individual ones. All available on Amazon. It's a war of attrition!

We had our wool carpets cleaned last year and paid extra for anti-moth spray to be put down at the same time and I think that was a waste of money. In the end we have replaced our wool carpets with synthetic (nowadays they look and feel really good).

Please do sign this petition - every little helps and all we want is for our children to have outdoor space to exercise, play and learn!

https://www.change.org/p/southwark-council-save-judith-kerr-primary-school-s-only-playing-field-from-being-developed?utm_campaign=fb_dialog&utm_medium=email&utm_source=signature_receipt&post_id=538702159_10153325836522160#_=_

We also found our nanny by posting on the EDF and she has been with us for 3 years. I met a few very qualified candidates but the one we chose was just an instant match. Our baby was 3 months at the time so it was important that we felt very comfortable with her - she's practically part of the family now!

I highly recommend PAYE for Nannies to use for payroll. They are inexpensive, provide you with a nanny contract if needed and answer any questions you might have. It was a huge help when we first started as there was so much we didn't know about the tax and paperwork side of things.

Another site to consider is nannyshare.co.uk which is great if you want to find a share.

Try this: http://www.fortunecookies.co.nz/21901/125773.html

We're going on BA - does anyone know if they will allow a 2-piece buggy without a bag? I'm sure I could call their "customer support" but I don't really feel like pressing buttons and sitting on hold for an hour!

We are going to the US this weekend and have just decided that I'd really like to take the P&T instead of the Maclaren as we'll be doing quite a bit travelling about and I know both kids will get tired at the same time! I know you can take a P&T, but can you do it without any kind of carry bag? Obviously it would fold down, but then what happens to the back seat that pops off? Do you just give them both bits? I just don't have the time (or want to spend the money) to buy a bag. Please tell me it will all be okay!

Suggestions PLEASE. We are doing some work on the house and will need a new sofa for the new lounge area. We bought a lovely fabric covered sofa from sofa.com two years ago and it now looks about 20 years old. Combination of two small children (food, pen, snot) and two cats (scratching, rubbing, annoying). I was thinking of just getting rid of the kids and the cats but my husband won't let me. We've been toying with the idea of a leather sofa but I find it very difficult to find one that is at the same time attractive/comfy/reasonably priced.

Any ideas? Has anyone found the "ultimate" family sofa and want to share the secret? Top budget is ?1000 but would be very happy to spend less.

Thanks!

We have a Nissan Qashqai which we love and fits comfortably our family of 4. However, we just went on holiday and the rental car was a Skoda Estate and I have to say that it was much more practical. We had 5 in the car and I could fit comfortably sitting between the two car seats in the back (I had to squeeze sideways to do this in the Qashqai). Plus the boot space was like a dream come true...so big! Looks-wise it isn't terrible and I'm sure alot better value than a BMW or Audi (and cheaper to maintain).

We just went to a 3yo birthday and they had Juggling Joolz who was great. Very good with the kids and did loads of balloon animals. She's a balloon lady, not a man but maybe he can overlook that. I think you can find her details on the Forum.

Hi minder - sorry for the original block of text but it was kind of one big rant. Have broken it up a bit for ease of reading. Still a bad experience though! ;-)

Okay, I have been now and all I can say is that I wish I hadn't bothered. This is so completely disorganised and not worth the money.

I went on the basis that it is my toddler's first visit with Santa and I know she is very impatient (as most 2.5 yo's are) so I figured if I paid for it, it would be a smooth and entertaining experience. You start out being ushered into the back garden of the house to look at two reindeer in what is basically a cage (poor reindeer). There is no one with you to explain what is going on or to try and get the children engaged with the experience. We stood around in the cold with the children getting impatient for about 15 minutes.

We were then ushered inside for gingerbread man decorating. This was sweet and well-organised and the kids all seemed to like it. Next we went upstairs to "wait" for our turn with Santa. I was shocked to see a room literally FULL of children and parents/carers with about 5 toys strewn around a playmat (where there was barely room to sit down). I asked an 'elf' if they were all waiting and she said that some were and some weren't but then couldn't give me any idea of how many were still waiting and how long it might be until our turn. Our booking was at 11.45 and it was now 12.15 (the website says the experience should be 30 minutes). Then another elf came out and called a child to see Santa and I could see on the slip that this child was in the 11am group! So basically, we had at least another 45 minutes to wait which is outrageous.

I asked to speak to the manager who said that the website said that there could be delays and that a nursery group had booked in before us which is was why is was taking longer (then why did they take more bookings??). In any case, she ended up letting us queue jump to see Santa which made me feel terrible for the other children but I couldn't walk away with my little girl without having seen Santa (which in fact only took 30 seconds as she was terrified of him and we had to leave right away).

Total nightmare and waste of money, but now I know! I'm sure some other people have had better experiences if it was less busy and if they had more patient children but I still would not recommend it.

Our toddler is desperate to go and see some animals. The only places I know of are quite a long drive (Godstone Farm, British Wildlife Centre). Does anyone know of anything closer that is open on Sundays? It could be anything as long as it has a wider range of animals than ducks and pigeons (in that case we can go to Dulwich Park!). Thanks!

Thanks so much, that's really helpful.

Yes, I know it is overpriced and there is a whole other thread dedicated to questioning that. However, that thread has veered off into a million other tangents and I'd just like to know if anyone has been to this and is it any good? And what is the actual (additional!) cost of the photo with Santa? I have to say that I found the elf on stilts (um, antithesis of elf?) outside hawking for business a bit off-putting, but I do like the idea of reindeer and not queueing for hours!

I went to the opening last night and it was great. It's big and bright and airy. Food was scrummy and the bar staff were really nice. Shame about the hangover though...

We live in North Dulwich, Fuschia so I'll start my enquiries with the ones around here. The confusing thing is that when you go to the Early Learning section of the Southwark website, there is a bit that says "Where can my child get a free early education place?". Then it lists nurseries, schools, etc and you can click through and download a list of Southwark nurseries. However that list is pretty comprehensive and includes nurseries that I'm pretty sure don't participate in this scheme (e.g. DUCKS). So it's pretty useless as a source of info and it seems like you need to approach each nursery individually. Very dull!

So I understand that every child from 3 years is entitled to 15 hours of free nursery care a week for 38 weeks a year. But how does it work in practice? Does every nursery have to accept this? My daughter is just over 2 and although we have a full-time nanny share I thought it would be good for her to experience a few mornings a week of nursery (but we can't afford both nanny and nursery). So this would seem ideal. I just can't get my head around it! If we got a place now that we paid for, then when she turns 3 does it become free? Can anyone shed any light on this? The Southwark Family Life website is a bit generalised about how it works and I don't really want to call nurseries asking for a free place!

Thanks

Hiya,

Another one here! I have been here 12 years and have a 2 year old girl and a 4 month old boy. Just moved from East Dulwich to North Dulwich. Am back at work now but I have Fridays off so would love to meet up on a Friday or weekend.

Rebecca x

we have toyed with the idea of leaving dulwich for greener pastures (and bigger houses) but never got past the increased commute. the in-laws are thinking about retiring to Deal and i just looked on rightmove and it makes me slightly sick to see what you can get for your money there (although the commute would rule out working in London). warning: property porn in the link below:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33396751.html?premiumA=true

Okay, so this isn't exactly what you are after but we just came back from this place in Mallorca and really enjoyed it and I still cannot get over what good value it was. The house was lovely, pool was lovely and just a 10 minute drive into Puerto Pollensa with nice restaurants right on the beach (we sat and ate tapas one night while our 2 year old frolicked on the beach in front of us with loads of other children). We BBQed at the house most nights. House has 3 bedrooms with one totally set up for kids(bunk beds plus a single bed plus a travel cot). You could always bring another family with you to make it more fun?!

http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/balearics/B6812.htm

We did Baby Swimming at Michael Tippett School in Herne Hill with my first baby when she was 6 months. The group is small, the pool is a lovely little heated pool and the instructir was good. Unfortunately our little girl despised swimming and we had to quit after she screamed her way through 3 lessons. Two years on and we have just come back from holiday in Mallorca where she refused to put more than a toe in the pool or ocean...she's obviously just not a water baby!

Details of the classes are here: http://www.babyswimming.co.uk/pools/hernehill.html

x

Drinks at the Great Exhibition sounds like a lovely idea...have a mental picture of us all having relaxed glass of wine in the sunshine. In reality we will probably be huddled inside out of the rain and cold. Can do either the 4th or 11th, although prefer the 4th as it's sooner!

Rebecca x