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thank you heidihi and fuschia

keen to dress the kids up but trick or treating will be a bit late for them. i know dulwich park cafe did a halloween party for kids in the past, can't see any sign of it this year tho. anyone know of any kids parties happening in ed or near? many thanksxx

yawn

hello. completely overlooked the fact my childminder is on holiday on monday and need to avoid taking a day off work if i can help it! does anyone have any experience of getting last-minute, one-off childcare? any tips or recommendations? it would be for this monday 8am-6pm. many thanks for any help!

yep, what nylonmeals said - they were really amazing with me, beginning to end, but they are in huge demand and i think you need to be registered v v early to get on their books. good luck with everything tho!

agree with loopylou; the lanes were fantastic for me and both my pregnancies. i think there have been a few problems more recently as they seem oversubscribed - victims of their own success and good press i guess. they are super busy and are careful to prioritise the patients who need them most at any one time - generally the ones who are about to drop vs the ones who are early pregnancy and while early pregnancy, esp the first time round, can be quite scary, you end up appreciating this further down the line!! really can't praise them enough, they are fantastic.

well said jalapeno. one of his more frequent points is also that if you can't stay at home and look after your kids, then a childminder ie one-to-one is a better option than a nursery, so i generally find parents who chose the nanny v nursery option 'like' him a bit more. that said, his comments on why he thinks nanny is better than nursery do resonate and have scared the pants off me given the fact that mine have gone to nursery since they were 10 months...like i needed more guilt!

as one of the parents who was shafted by the whole bojangles debacle, i have to say id rather jack in work than send my kids to a nursery run by that church. they were unpleasnt and unreasonable throughout the whole episode, were completely obstructive and above all showed no consideration for the affected kids. no doubt bojangles were culpable but it was within the church's gift to ease the pain by extending the lease at least while they found new premises instead of implementing a really aggressive policy of standing by the door and telling people the nursery would shut down within two weeks. horrible people.

good thread; havent read the book on principle because his guardian column f**** me off so much. my kids go to nursery 3 days a week ergo i am a sub-standard mother and my kids are destined to grow up with a myriad of insecurities...occasionally he provides some substantive evidence for what he is saying but he always insists on couching it all in 'im not trying to make anyone feel guilty' - in which case, don't write the f***ing article in the first place. We're all just doing our best. i guess im not sure i see the point of the column other than to promote his book.

right, decision made, we're taking our own. thanks everyone.

sounds like a good idea mellors, i had thought of this but was worried about our car seats getting damaged in transit/flung about by cargo handlers? will you be checking them in as they are or with some protection? thanks

thanks savage - i cant believe a company as big as hertz didnt have sufficient supply!

just booking car hire for our french holiday, starting from bordeaux. All the providers I've looked at so far don't guarantee child seat availability tho the implication is that it won't be a problem. Also I'm not sure I know whether I need infant or child seats for my 18 month old and 3 year old - and the 2 companies ive called and asked haven't been able to tell me either. Does anyone have a preferred car hire provider they would recommend?? many thanks

sportacus. every time. xx

always yes to immunisation. and while, yes, it is a parents right to choose to have them for their children or not, by choosing not to have the jabs you are increasing the risk to others' children as the diseases remain more prevalent. not sure about spacing them out - we had all ours at the recommended times and were fine - bit of a cold/temperature after one of them but was fine within 24 hours.