civilservant

Forum lefties and not-so-lefties will be no doubt gobsmacked to find themselves agreeing with the (grammatically correct) sentiments expressed here http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100100708/the-moral-decay-of-our-society-is-as-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom/

Get to station this morning with ample time to spare. Forewarned by forum postings, remember to touch in with Oyster, rush around the corner to wobbly bridge. Discover that bridge only allows two lanes of traffic, with no possibility of overtaking if there are people coming the other way. So at peak times, each lane travels at the speed of the slowest unit in it e.g. people bemused by new arrangements, clueless tourists, patients heading for the hospital, people struggling with small children and pushchairs. Miss train.

I've waited in vain to see someone post about hedgehogs in ED - there was a vague rumour some time ago that one had been heard snuffling around Nunhead. So in a week full of disheartening news about rioting and looting, here is more disheartening news: the hedgehog has now joined the list of Britain's 10 most endangered species. I used to champion urban foxes, but it looks like they may be part of the problem http://www.thehedgehog.co.uk/foxes.htm Can't we do something?

you make me feel like a natural woman - carole king

I would use this route much more if it were reliable. On weekdays, the service from Herne Hill to East Dulwich seems variable - some days I get a bus from the stop outside the station immediately, on others I have to wait ages. My last experience of using it on a weekend recently was of waiting over half an hour, during which two 37s went past empty. Then two 37s arrived together.

helpless - neil young (who else!)

endorse all the above posts and here's an additional resource - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7130393-1001-children-s-books - also go down the page to some links to age-appropriate lists supplied by one of contributors. I haven't got the '1001 Books' book myself, but recently went with Junior civlservant to a book event run by Julia Eccleshare, and she certainly seemed to know her stuff

hmm... I'd love to be as sure as you are, Alan Medic, but happy to accept that child protection services would have to be un-crap especially when covering an area with Southwark's challenges

Girls just want to have fun - Cyndi Lauper

california dreaming - Bobby womack

ok - let's hope for the best! (it wasn't council tax bill, btw - I heard from a mum who's moving out of Southwark who may have lost her child's new school place as a result of Southwark inaction - "not our fault, we're short-staffed" insist the council...)

we've established that there is a problem, so what is red1 to do? she's gone very quiet - but unlike some posters, I don't think this is a wind-up it's wonderful to see that people so concerned about this situation, but if I was given so much good advice, I'd struggle to take it all in! Could we summarise by saying "call the NSPCC"? some people said "call the council", but from my own experience of the amount of time that I've spent hanging on to phones, waiting for emails, being fobbed off etc from Southwark, I'd say this is def. the last best option

hotel california - the eagles

do wah diddy diddy - manfred mann

action against dangerous dogs seems to be largely a local matter left to the discretion of local authorities. Something's happening in Southwark - here's an undated report (probably from end of last year) about Southwark's BARK initiative http://cms.met.police.uk/met/boroughs/southwark/04how_are_we_doing/news/new_initiative_launched_to_tackle_dangerous_dogs_in_southwark which talks about action to seize dangerous dogs I also note that a Southwark Dog Strategy 2011-14 has just been approved by the Council http://moderngov.southwarksites.com/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2187 This has two priority delivery areas: encouraging responsible dog ownership and tackling dog related ASB and dogs dangerously out of control. However, delivery of the strategy depends on "any conceived restraints to resources and budgets" I suppose we'll have to wait and see what that means

Pretty woman - Roy Orbison

I agree, prickle - and I'd add the people who leave their rubbish bags to fester outside bins and then blame foxes for tearing them open. I can't resist adding just one point - the BBC website refers to 'risks'. When I checked on the incidence of Weil's disease in this country, I found that the mortality rate is 2-3 people per year in England and Wales, and that the disease is rarely fatal... http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Leptospirosis-%28Weil%27s-Disease%29.htm. Compare this to the 2,284 deaths from road traffic accidents or the nearly 160,000 deaths from circulatory disease in 2009

he was the king - neil young

I thought I was ready - I had been previously a good and attentive and present aunt/godmother/cousin. I theorized about how I would love and cherish etc the poppet when she finally arrived, apply logic to solve problems arising, deal sensibly with anticipated challenges... Little did I even guess what it would actually feel like when it actually finally happened... I don't think I started feeling like a whole rational person until she started school! edited to say - I hope against hope that your neighbours' kids are having a good weekend!

your interpretation there may be other reasons for killing rats, but the disease one doesn't wash. let's take humans out of the argument, if you're uncomfortable with that. Let's say instead - should we also eradicate dogs and cats because they are also known vectors for leptospirosis which, as you know, SJ, is the same thing as Weil's disease (which is what rats are blamed for?) If you'll allow me, I'm going to carry on feeling sorry for rats, or for my fellow humans for that matter, if they suffer agonising deaths that are dictated by others' convenience

remind me where I was saying that animal life is of equal value to human life?

Moos, I don't have any disciplinary 'techniques'. My preferred reference book when my child was a baby was Dr Spock. maybe that tells you about me. I nag, and if that doesn't work, I might shout at my daughter when she's doing something I don't like, but that's it, and I will NEVER swear at her. She's never been sent to her room, put on a naughty step or been chucked out of the room, let alone the house. At worst, she might be threatened with being deprived of a treat. When she was a baby and I was having a hard time - and I had mild PND, so I know a little about hard times with a baby - I handed her over to her dad or someone else and took a few minutes time out that way. Edited to say - I entirely endorse cuppa tea's posts. We're all muddling through and like red1, sometimes instinct is the only guide. dullified, a garden may be a nice safe environment, but the point is that the kids are being punished by being put out in it. Don't you think that these kids will ever after associate gardens with the notion of punishment?

Not sentimental - a rat has a life too. If it dies on your doorstep because it was poisoned, surely it is ok to feel sorry for the wretched beast. And people carry disease too. Should we eradicate everyone suffering from a communicable disease because they might just transmit it to us?

you can never predict the impact of non-nurturing treatment on the child. Parents might think they're being loving and caring and acting in their child's interest etc but some time down the line, the child turns around and says 'you never understood what you were putting me through' and it comes as a shock to them. Some children are more resilient than others and will manage to survive whatever their parents throw at them (not speaking literally, of course) - it might even help them to take life's hard knocks. However, others will not, and where children are involved, its always better to be risk-averse I think that naughty steps and time outs are just the current fashion in dealing with parental stress. People have got very pious about not smacking etc but their (grand)parents got the cane and cold baths as recommended ways of dealing with disobedient children. How long before people get all pious about naughty steps and contorlled crying? anyway, back to topic - red1, I think you should go with your instincts and check in with the NSPCC

I read red1's original post last night and felt that something was very wrong too - I agree with Otta and cuppa tea I didn't know about 'time out' but I had heard of the naughty step. I wouldn't use either for my child, not even when she was being a terrible two. I know schools have 'thinking corners' in classrooms, but that's used in the context of a professional teacher-child relationship, and schools have safeguarding policies to protect against abuse. Even the governemnt understands that a child's early years experience and what happens to it in the home is crucial to the adult that a child becomes. Have these parents (and the nanny-people who advocate naughty steps and time-out and controlled crying as child-control measures) thought about the longer-term implications for their children? My blood freezes to think that these poor children are suffering in this way and that possibly well-meaning parents are laying the foundations of adult dysfunction in their children by treating them in such a callous way.