sillywoman

redmare Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I was a bit disappointed that King's have stopped > their tours and just have a video online. > > Ah, but there is a way around this; Kings do a 'waterbirth' tour on the first & third Tuesday of the month, at 6.30pm. You don't need to book - just turn up. It's a great way to get to see the labour ward, and to ask a Kings Midwife any questions you may have.

troll-meister!

dulwichgirl2 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Btw, it is illegal persistently to take your child > out of mainstream education, Saffron, without > agreement from the head. Presumably your friends > wrote in advance, which would be sensible and > appropriate. Snort. "sensible & appropriate" - you are funny dulwichgirl2 :)) Life is for living. It's OK to break the rules in this way now and again as long as it hurts no-one. Some people call it a 'mental health day', call it what you like I think occasionally it's good to show your kids that they matter more to you than being "sensible & appropriate". Sometimes, just sometimes it's good to be spontaneous & respond 'appropriate'ly to the needs of the child rather than the requirements of conformity within the wider system. The system will be there tomorrow (or one very like it), but your child will be grown & gone & you'll have missed the moment. I really hope your post was tongue in cheek DG2.

KateW Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >Personally I > would worry about taking her out of school for a > day just because she's upset; I don't mean to > trivialise what she's going through, bless her, > but more that (sadly) these things will probably > happen throughout her school life and the > important message to give her is that you'll > always be there to listen, cuddle and comfort her, > not that she'll be able to have the day off when > sad things happen. She's only 3 FGS. Really susyp, if you think you & she (sounds like you need a bit of Mummy-daughter time too) would benefit from a 'holiday' together for a day then I say go for it. It won't affect her GCSE results, it won't send her any wrong 'message' about school/commitment etc.etc. She's 3. Enjoy her, and let her have a break from the social pressures. As KateW says, all that will be there for the rest of her life. Take a day out away from mean girls and noisy builders. I hope you do it, & I hope you both enjoy it. :)) SW

Also signed & FB'd.

Daughter, now 16 has had one since yr 7 and is permanently attached - seriously, she sleeps with the thing! Son nearly 15 only started using one in the last few months - doesn't take it to school. Son age 11, yr7 doesn't use one - except for occasional days at the park - & hasn't asked for one. Both son's phones are ?10 PAYG cheapies. Think you're doing the right thing by waiting to see - she'll no doubt let you know if she feels she'd like one.

'Say no' also covers 0844 numbers - it's saved us a few quid that's for sure.

OMG crescent!! I was just about to post an almost identical post! I'll be watching the replies with interest :)) The Burgess park one sounds very interesting; do you have personal experience of it PGC?

Use 'Say no to 0870' for all phone calls to companies/businesses etc. etc. Always use 'moneysavingexpert.com' Only use half a dishwasher tab (particularly if you bought them half price - 4x the value!!)

No, not yet - I think it's being 'discussed' by those who matter though.

simonethebeaver Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Actually people are quoting research, not > experience. And it seems I am doing entirely the > wrong thing for my baby. I have no idea whether > she's happy really, and apparently I am damaging > her. Simone Lovely, I'm so sorry that my post has upset you so much, you can imagine that would never have been my intention in posting. Rather it was to address the OP's negative experience of childminder scaremongering. I hope you're feeling a bit better about it all now? As a Mum of older children now, I can only tell you what I've learned - It's this: we all 'damage' our children in one way or another, there's no escaping it. The perfect Mother/Father whatever really doesn't exist (as teenagers were put on this earth to remind us!). All we can do is the best we can, with whatever resources we have available to us at any given time. Sometimes we do it right, sometimes we get it wrong. Most often it's pot luck. It helps to sometimes raise your head to the long view. Your lovely little girl will grow up to be a beautiful and well adjusted adult, I have no doubt of that. She will know that you love her and have had her well being at heart in everything you've done. With regard to her nursery: If you have a good feeling about the place (happy and attentive staff, willing to talk to you, clean & bright environment etc.etc.) then for now let that be enough. Your little one has just started, watch her over the coming weeks & I'm sure you'll get some sense of whether or not she's happy there. If you feel it's a good place, then that's a great place to start from. And remember: Research results are generalisms. They're not personal to you, me or anyone else. We're all just doing our best however we can.

Well we do tend to cover the same stuff as the NHS courses (there's only so much labour & birth info the antenatal courses can get through!), but I do recommend them just 'cos our local ones are good, the midwives are smashing & well informed, and they are, after all, free:) however that's my personal view, not general NCT advice, and if your time is limited then you'd be as well sticking with one or other. I guess the advantage of the NCT ones is smaller groups, I get more time with you as individuals to work with you & your specific circumstances, & I can focus a bit more on how to get the best out of the system. Also it's easier to get good support group going when there's 12 of you (6 couples) all getting to know each other during the courses. Timings are up to you, but generally it's good to aim to do a course that ends when you're about 37/38weeks - though I've had a few chancers who've come to courses ending at 39 or even 40 weeks! But sometimes babies will come significantly earlier - with Babies there's just no telling ;) PM me if you'd like more details/information or if you just want to chat - that goes for anyone - I'd hate to highjack the thread.

Sorry to intrude on your thread; I'm the ED NCT teacher, and I just wanted to let you know that I do still have plenty of places available on my June & July classes. It's true the evening sessions are all booked but I have spaces on my 2 day intensive classes running 13th & 20th June; 26th June & 3rd July; 5th July & 12th July;and 10th &17th July. I aslo have spaces on my courses that run from 28th August to 17th September, and 13th - 29th September (evenings and saturday morinings) and no bookings at all on the 2 day course running on the 7th & 14th September. The 2 day classes, though understandably a bit less popular than the evening/sat sessions, can be a lot of fun and we get through a lot of information in those 2 days. Apologies again, I know that when booking online it can be tricky to get the bigger picture picture of what's available & just wanted to correct any sense that there were no classes left in ED at the time when you might need them. Good luck to all of you & your lovely babies. I look forward to meeting some of you in the coming months. :) SW P.S. Don't forget to book into the NHS classes too, the midwives that run them are fab, really helpful and down to earth (and they're freeeee!!).

'Ripley's Believe it or Not' in Leicester Square? Not such a schlep as Science Museum, but still interesting & quirky, with an ice-cream from Haagen-Daaz afterwards? Imax cinema trip? Trip on the Frog? An hour on the climbing wall at London Bridge?

Inkmaiden Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > nabz, please ignore dulwichgirl2/new mother's > "specific examples", she obviously has issues with > people who actually enjoy looking after children > and choose it as a career, and will not provide > you with a balanced perspective. > > Ahhhh, she's newmother. Sound of penny dropping.

I tend to agree with Molly on this, all the research shows that children below the age of 3 do better with a more 'homelike' environment, with one or two primary carers, and that up to that age socialisation (i.e having other children to 'play' with) is not an issue, or of much less importance that people seem to think. Up to 2 1/2 or so children tend to parallel play anyway. There are some great nurseries around (many have already been mentioned), but I'm with Molly, don't be in too much of a hurry to dismiss childminders because of some horror stories you've heard. There are just as many nursery horror stories out there. You've got time, ask around about both.

Cocoviolet, Congratulations on the birth of your little girl. I think there's a bumps and babes group on Friday morning that might suit you. It's in St Faiths church hall on Redpost Hill SE24 (SE22 borders). I think it's 9.30-11.30am and for Mums and babies under crawling age. Also you might check out ED tots, a website run by a family room-ite which lists all the activities for babies and toddlers that are happening locally. I thin she updates it quarterly (Lenster, are you out there?). That way if you miss one meet up, you can plan to go to something else. :)) http://www.edtots.co.uk/ SW

My daughter babysits for ?5 an hour. She's 16. HTH

I understand the ?300 is inclusive of return coach fare - like that makes a difference! 300 flippin quid - good God!

All the 16 year olds from Dulwich seem to be going to Reading this year. I know of about 25-30 who are going, so yours won't be alone! I think that because of this you may be in for a hard time if you try to persuade him to look elsewhere. He'll naturally want to go where his friends are going. However you could take comfort from the thought that pretty much the whole GCSE population of Dulwich will be there, & perhaps there's safety in numbers? I agree that ?300 is an awful lot for a teen to find. What a rip off.

dulwichgirl2, the recently published and very comprehensive 'Birthplace study' results find that for a low risk woman having a second or subsequent baby a planned homebirth is a safer option than having her baby in an obstetric unit, and as safe as the safest option - a midwife led unit. Sadly the safest option for birth - midwife led unit- is not one that's to be made available to the women of ED, unless they travel to central London or to Lewisham. And it's not looking likely that it will be available any time soon in the future either. :(

Smock them :))

Where's Village East SG88?

So it's between the Crooked Well & Ganapati I think, hmmmm . . .

Ohh, I knew the family room would come up trumps - I told him you would :) Ganapati was on my list of possibles: good advice about phoning ahead though - what does 'does seatings' mean (Apologies if it's the school of the bleedin-obvious - we really don't get out much) Will avoid Lido until pool is refurbished and ambience restored. After 17 years we might well need a bit of ambience to boost us along! I love the sound of Angels & Gypsies - had never heard of it before - but Mr S has a conservative palate, I'm not sure how he'd feel about tapas (will run it by him). Not sure about 67. Will have to check it out further, also it's a little outside my area - it would be good if we could walk to & from so we could both drink (we might need to if it turns out we actually don't have anything to talk about!) I really like the Crooked Well. I was there when they had their baby/toddler group on, consequently I'm very favourably inclined toward them ;) but I can't get into their website to find out what sort of food they do. Has anyone been there for a meal in the evening? I took him to Green & Blue once for lunch. He was such a grumpy old git that I'd be loathe to take him back, but I might try - will look at their menu. Thanks gang, Will report back once decision made. If anyone thinks of any other places in the meantime feel free to post: all is still to play for :))