sillywoman

50 hours a week?! That's exhausting just to think about.

Ah, sorry - out of date info. Thanks for the update Sonners :) Goodbye Sofie & good luck :))

There's also Sofie Jacobs who runs lovely classes out of The Mag. See here: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,916749,917027#msg-917027 Though both Xenia & Becky run nearby classes that are informative and a LOT of fun. Sorry I didn't have anything available for you. I have spaces on courses from January but nothing before then. Sorry :(

If you think it might be a bit scary ( & from memory there are some fairly scary bits in The Nutcracker) then you might look at the Christmas schedule at The Wimbledon Theatre, aaargh - can't remember it's name - the one that only does stuff for kids? Anyway I'm sure you can google to find it - they always have a really good childrens Christmas shows. Ooooh, I love Christmas too - this is the BEST time of year :))

You might get better luck with the Herne Hill Forum? http://www.hernehillforum.org.uk/

Very frustrating but as my granny used to say "It'll pass" - she was right!

Definitely worth going to these sales as there are real bargains to be had. Goodness knows that having a baby is expensive enough, & in these straightened times every penny helps. Happy bargain hunting :)

I think there already is one, set up by the lovely Lenster from this forum? It's http://www.edtots.co.uk/, but maybe it's slightly different to what were thinking to do?

Thanks forumites, am having serious collywobbles (had to shut myself in bedroom for a while today to get a grip) so it helps a lot to read your supportive words. Plus it's good to read Fidgetsmum's updates. If she can do it & it's all ok then I can too . . .

Those leather ones like Carbonara posted are fab, they took all my babies right through to walking confidently. They were light & comfy, but strong and not too easy to get off. Definitely would recommend.

Any joy Lula?

You've probably found it by now, but just to say that, yes there are cub packs in Dulwich. I think there's one at St Stephens Church hall, College Road SE21; one at St Faiths Church Hall, Redpost Hill SE24, & one at the scout hut on Bellenden Road SE15 (though I'm not absolutely sure about that one, maybe it's just scouts? Hope you find one to suit. SW

Well, as you're asking; An ability recognise slum conditions (her bedroom) & to act to remedy them for teen daughter. Good manners and some va-va-voom for my teen sons (where do the years of training go when they hit 13 - or 12 in youngers case? Actually I can answer that; they go into whatever 'machine' they're hooked into at the time I think!) A dog that picks up its own poo for youngest son (& if it could walk itself too now & again that would be great). Plus, a winning lottery ticket for MrS please. That should do us fine.

I'd guess it's quiet because so many schools will be challenging at least some of their results after the grading debacle? Talk about letting our young people down. What a shame after all their hard work. Cheers Gove :(

Would disagree about speaking to the GP, I think it's pot luck & depends on the personal view of your GP. Have heard plenty of horror stories of women locally being 'told off' for breastfeeding, or being given inaccurate & unhelpful advice from GP's. It my be worth sounding them out but your friends best bet if she wants to put her energies into it, is, as others have said, either Claire Kedves at Kings,one of the breastfeeding cafe's (I hear great things about the one at Peckham Library) or a good lactation consultant. The best one locally is Hazel Jones over in Nunhead. She has forgotten more about breastfeeding than most of us will ever know in our lifetimes! She has worked for years (voluntarily) at the nationally recognised Deptford Breastfeeding Centre helping women with all sorts of issues (Breastfeeding after a CS is notorious for being problematic), plus she's also worked for may years as a local NCT breastfeeding counsellor. She really knows her onions, and she's lovely ;) The best way to contact her is by email, she's on; [email protected] She's often out & about helping women feed their babies during the day, but she accesses her emails regularly and will respond pretty quickly. I hope that your friend can get the help she wants/needs OP. SW

It's tough isn't it? After more than 16 years at home, or working part time from home, looking after my children I'm about to go back into full time University education. For the first time in all those years I'll be out of my house all day five days a week. Someone else will be collecting my youngest from school. I won't be able to drop everything for minor emergencies. I just won't be here. I'll be doing something I've waited a long, long time to do, but still it's very scary. And even though my 'baby' is well able to understand where I am and what I'm doing I still feel terrible guilt that he won't be getting the same childhood that his older siblings had and that I'll be relying on his siblings to collect him somedays of the week. I feel bad that they'll be 'latchkey kids' (do we still use that term?), and that when my older ones come in I won't be here to ask about their day and hear their grunted monosyllabic relies. They'll watch too much telly and play too much xbox and if they don't pass their GCSE's and A levels and become drop outs and druggies it will all be my fault for NOT BEING HERE! And for me too, the thought of not being able to scuttle back to my shell/house when the world gets scary just makes my insides turn to jelly. As I said, I've waited a long time to do this course, I should be so excited that it's only a few weeks away. Instead I veer between numbness and downright fear. I guess there's never a 'right' time to go back to work is there? Damned if we do and damned if we don't - or maybe that's just parenthood? Anyway - looking on the bright side - once I'm trained and can get a job (if there are any) I'll be able to pay their therapists fees later on. :))

I don't know if this advice is current, but when mine were little the recommendation for dealing with bad behaviour of any kind, but especially involving a 3rd party, was to punish by withdrawal. So for example, your little one hits another child. You swiftly move in & remove your child using a very few key words; "no" "that's not acceptable" or whatever. Place your child safely out of the way - maybe in his pushchair - but somewhere very much on the sidelines. Now you return to the injured child and make a big fuss of him/her. This usually involves lots of apologies to the childs Mum etc.etc. Anyway the key thing is that your boy sees he doesn't get attention from his action, the other child does. After this its up to you, some recommend immediately leaving the park/playgroup or whatever, or you can stay and do a 'two strikes and we're out' system to see if it happens again - I'd go for that one I think because he is very young. Personally I do think 2 is very little and I wouldn't worry too much as the others have said, but I also think it's right to nip this in the bud before it becomes something he does to get your attention.

Hmmm, we did Eurocamp in the south of France some years ago now. We had a children of 2, 5 & 6. It was . . . ok. I wouldn't use them again. Personally I was a bit disappointed at; a) The cost: ?1000 near enough for 10 days in a mobile home - seems like a pretty hefty sum to me. b) The space available. It being the South of France (near Nice) I guess space was at a premium but it was VERY sardine-y and unpleasantly squashed. c) The accommodation: Not great, some stuff broken or missing, not enough cutlery, all a bit shabby etc.etc. d) The entertainment available for the kids. Possibly partially our fault. We went the 1st week of September which was apparently end of season. Anyway the kids club was absolutely rubbish, a barely there service and none of it in English so our kids were, understandably, loathe to stay. They tried it once and refused to go back thus negating a large part of why we'd booked with a 'reputable' operator. No grown up time for Mum & Dad that holiday. So with hindsight I'd say book carefully, ask lots of questions, and it might be worth asking around on wider forums (mumsnet, netmums?) for recommendations for sites in the area you want to be in. Also don't go in September if you want to access a kidsclub.

My (admittedly limited) understanding of the tape measure thing is that it helps the MW to build an overall picture of how the pregnancy's progressing i.e. it's not intended to be used as an absolute, rather as a guide to used along side blood pressure, urine samples and other physical signs & symptoms that the pregnant woman may present with. I also don't think that it's always meant to be giving an indication of the size of the baby, rather how much fluid is or isn't around baby. I thought that MW's allowed for a 3cm variable. So if everything else is ok they wouldn't be too worried about a woman measuring larger or smaller than her gestation as long as it falls within that variable? The OP being a first time Mum it sounds like her MW is taking a cautious approach. Used in this way the tape measure is a very helpful tool for the midwife. What could replace it, & why? Those who have said that the possibility of a scan if the OP measures small next time is a belt & braces approach have hit the nail on the head. We're lucky enough to live in a society that is careful with the health of it's pregnant mothers and unborn children. Sometimes this can mean the approach taken by healthcare professionals feels too cautious or interventional, but taken as a whole across the entire population of pregnant women the caution pays dividends. It's highly unlikely the OP will have any issues at all, but if she does how brilliant that the MW is able to catch them quickly (with the help of her trusty tapemeasure).

Title says it all really - just to wish good luck to all the ED teenagers getting their results today. :))

?20 a month? Flippin eck! Our boys (12 & 15) use mostly PAYG cheapies via orange & it costs us about ?10 every couple of months per phone - often less. They're not too fussed about phones & definitely don't have fancy ones at home. Girl (16) uses old iphone given her by her uncle & is on a ?5.20 per month simplicity tariff at O2: 300mins unlimited text a month. Our experience so far is that The Charter wouldn't confiscate a phone unless it rang in class or a student was caught using it in school hours - fair enough really. Personally I wouldn't go down the contract route, but we are watching the pennies. As vanessa520 says - each to their own.

Might get more responses in the Family room? Though I think there's already a thread running on this topic? Ah here it is - it's a bit far back so that's probably why you didn't see it? The OP has some interesting suggestions for things teens might do;http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,910585,910591#msg-910591

I'm so sorry my post offended you Saffron. Please put it down to me being an imperfect and fallible human. Thankyou for pulling me up on my incorrect attitudes. I'm very grateful. Now, back to the gin.

Interesting book post Saffron, but I'm sticking with Vagina. To me that's the bit I & my daughter/sons are talking about when we're discussing facts of life and differences. Girls 'bits' aren't encompassed by 'vulva' so it just doesn't seem like appropriate terminology to me. It's not calling it "what it is". Like everything else with parenting it's each to their own I guess. And if I (ever) get onto the topic of other bits with any of my children (can imagine my daughter's face If I raise the issue of labia or her clitoris "nooooooo"!) then I'll be calling those bits by their proper names too.

Interestingly, my 16yr old has just had her school leavers Prom. The real deal. She and her beautiful friends didn't look anything like that saccharine bunch of wannabe's in parkview's post. They looked gorgeous and grown up, and sophisticated, and cool - not a ball gown, taffeta or net underskirt in sight. And there were no limmo's involved. Just good old London Transport. I was very pleased to see they're not buying the hype - they're having fun and celebrating the end of their compulsory education on their own terms. Not those dictated by the fake American dream peddled by TV companies.