Saffron

I think Hamptom/Hampton Village is more similar to ED than Wimbledon, the main difference in my experience having lived in both Hampton and ED is that ED is more central and has all the pros/cons that go with that.

Alan Medic Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Only whoever moved it. I'd still like to know > about the tricks though. You can never be sure... that's the nature of trix. ;-)

We've lost our marbles! (Literally and figuratively, I'm sure.) Does anyone know what size marbles to use with Marbureka Marble Run? We've tried a standard size glass marble, and it was too big. I looked online for Marbureka spare marbles. It seems they only come with the whole set. Grrr.

A medium-sized tank is easier to keep than a small tank. Small tanks need frequent water changes and are easily overstocked. Stick with freshwater until you've had some experience before setting up a saltwater tank. Don't overfeed, don't overstock. Small, freshwater, coldwater fish that school look nice and are easy to keep. Always check that the adult size will be suitable for your tank, if fish are likely to grow. As a guideline, 1-2cm of fish per 1 litre of water. This is a good resource: http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/showthread.php?t=26489. You'll need a pump/filter, and shelter - can be real or fake plants, or decorations etc suitable to your fish type. If you choose warm water fish (ie, tropical freshwater) you must get a heater and keep the water at an appropriate temperature. British homes are too cold not to heat the tanks for tropical fish. Fish are sensitive to temperature, and will easily become sick and die at the wrong temperature. Avoid fish that are territorial or aggressive. They need more tank space and often bully and injure other fish. The petshop in Ladywell (Supreme Animal Foods, 324-328 Lewisham High St,London SE13 6JZ) generally gives good advice and has fair prices. Use the correct amount of water conditioner, and do a ~30% water change every other week. Only clean the gravel 1/month. On second thought, a cat might be easier...

Oh dear, jennyh, that sounds like good advice but probably not what you wanted to hear! I hope you were able to get some further advice and support from the clinic. Hope your LO heals quickly. xx

I've had laser treatment at The Private Clinic (Harley St). It was not tattoo removal, but they are a fairly large laser clinic. Might be worth looking them up? xx

There is a progestin-only vaginal ring approved for lactating women. Not sure about current licensing, but progesterone vaginal rings have been in clinical trials for non lactating women too. xx

With the oral contraceptive pill, your whole body receives the dose of hormone. With the hormone IUD (mirena coil), the hormones are concentrated in the uterus, which means that there is less whole-body exposure. Your next best option is probably an implant or long lasting injection. With heavy periods, you're unlikely to be suited to a plain copper IUD. Nothing wrong with tablets, if you can remember to take them. You could also try the patch. My friend had a bad experience with it. But of course you can easily discontinue it. Just remember that even when you discontinue, it can take a few cycles for your system to 'reset'. I have a plain copper coil, but I'm considering changing to a hormone coil when my current expires. Oh almost forgot - there are also vaginal ring contraceptives too. I had one prior to my IUD. Less side effects than oral contraceptives. Hope that helps. xx

Oh,sorry to hear that! You should try to speak to your GP tomorrow for more advice and support. If your daughter really shouldn't walk on it, you need to know. And if it is ok to walk on it, perhaps he/she can give you some additional advice? xx

That's my post on Hubbie's account. Sorry forumites. xx iaineasy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Personally I don't place too much stock in > anything ofsted-related. Although, if you're > talking about the Parents View feature for the > last 365 days/2013-14 school year, that is a very > small cohort (12-15 responders) and is very low > compared to responses from previous years, where > more parents than not thought that the school was > good in the categories polled. > > Overall, as I stated above, DH and I are happy > with the school, and Little Saff definitely enjoys > her time there. I don't have any serious concerns > over health & safety or learning outcomes. It's > only that considering the shcool has a > good/outstanding rating, I had expected better > communication. I have now talked to quite a few > parents, those with children previsouly at > Gordonbrock nursery, and those --like me-- whose > children attended nursey elsewere. Interestingly, > we seem to have some of the same concerns, which I > note are also common to some posters on this > thread, who are not Gordonbrock parents at all. > So this seems to be an area where the > school-parent dynamic struggles in general. > > And that is exactly why I started this thread-- to > find out what other parents think about > communication at their schools, AND hopefully to > hear some success stories. Btw, the montgomery > link above makes for very useful reading! > > So I don't want to sidetrack the thread too much > by focusing on Gordonbrock, but I'll PM you more > info. xx

THEHERNE Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dear Saffron, > I am writing in regard to our post of October > 11th, and to apologise for your bad experiences. > > I can only say that i agree with you, things have > not been what they should've been and we have > already taken a number of steps to get things on > track, i am sure your bad experience wasn't within > the last 3 weeks. > Birthday dinner to which I referred was sometime ago. However, the recent incident to which I referred was most certainly within three weeks of the date of my post! Staff were apologetic about it, and DH and I take no personal offence of course. Meh, it's water under the bridge. > The first steps taken really focus in on the > staff, we have employed a superb new GM or and > equally superb new head chef, they have both > acheived great things in their recentb positions > and we have invested in them coming on board. > I genuinely hope things will be improving with those changes. The venue has so much potential. ... > In terms of the play area, yes we are planning to > move this to the rear of the garden, the reason > being that we want to utilise the Barn as > additional play space, similarly to The Florence > in Herne Hill, it will be fitted with a new floor, > soft play items, a big screen etc.. > ... > The Barn when not privately booked becomes > utilised for those wishing to sit inside and play, > 99% of parents sit outside when their children > are, so the location of the space shouldn't be an > issue,... So you are going to have additional seating in the back by the (moved) play area? Hmm, it could work. > we genuinely are trying to please > everybody. > Good luck with that. > We are here to give as much as an open door on our > thoughts and best meant ideas, i hope in time they > succceeed in looking after all of the local > community and their desires for The Herne. > > Best wishes, > > Cymon Eckel Best wishes to you too, Cymon. The Herne is not our local, but we continue to visit it at variable intervals. I hope next time Hubbie and I will enjoy the benefits of your labours. xx

Thank you SebC, how very kind of you to take the time to post that. :) As I stated previously, my daughter is happy, and DH and I are generally pleased with the school. I absolutely will contact the school, but I wanted to hear others' experiences and opinions prior to doing so. I don't want to be one of those annoying parents that unreasonably criticises things without offering some feasible suggestions for change! I'm really interested in what people think makes for good parent-school communication, so I hope people will continue to post here or PM me. xx

Snot suckers are great for mucus, but they won't clear vascular congestion (this is where the tiny blood vessels are inflammed and swollen causing narrowing of the nasal passages). Karvol used to make the BEST plug-in menthol type vaporiser with a little fan, but sadly I think it's been discontinued. It's definitley worth looking into other vaporiser types available. If you're using saline drops or spray, make sure you warm them to body temp first. I've done this for our cat for years when she gets eye infections -- workd for our LO too! I tuck the saline bottle in my bra (pocket also works) for 10 min before I apply it. Have you tried giving your LO a bottle in a warm bath (or shower, if your LO likes that)? The warm wet air helps them breath and can make suckling easier. (My daughter still occasionally enjoys a bottle in the bath when she's not feeling well - she's 4.5yrs!) Hope your LO is better soon. xx

Thanks for the ideas. I do not believe that educating children can be separated from communicating with parents. In fact, I think it's dangerous to do so. I would prefer to offer constructive criticisms than just make complaints, because I actually (mostly) like the school. I like the idea of FB pages. I thought about LinkedIn pages as well because they're easy for uploading documents. I thought this might make it easier to check what documents we might have missed, and also download new copies when they invariably get destroyed with mud/jam/bathwater. The PTA as such is a 'Friends of Gordonbrock' group which does some fundraising and has annual general meetings, but they didn't really seem to have any solutions about the communications issue. It could be because this group is small, relatively new? Overall I got the impression that when it comes to tackling sticky problems, we're more likely to hear excuses why new things can't be done, than to find solutions to accomplish them. I can see that a few other parents are trying to make in-roads. There is a coffee morning parents group. But how the heck are working parents supposed to regularly attend that?! Also, at the annual general meeting, parents were asked for ideas on how to spend some the money fundraised by the Friends group, e.g. classroom teaching supplies. But how are we supposed even to know what learning tools our children regularly have access to? -- I've only been in her classroom once for 10 min! Thanks again for all the great ideas. So far I've refrained from complaining to the school because I wanted to get some better ideas about what is feasible and what other schools and parents are doing. I think I've got a better feel for it now. Can I also ask, in other schools, how many governors are parents? xx

Olaf doesn't tickle your fancy?

Little Saff has just started reception at Gordonbrock (same federation as Elliot Bank). She's happy, and I'm pleased with her class teachers. However, I must admit to being really disappointed with the level of communication from the school to parents. The school has a text system, which seems rarely used, or used incorrectly. There's very little information on the school website, and it's often not up to date anyway. We didn't even get a copy of the curriculum and daily class schedules until 2.5 weeks after the start of term. More worryingly, I couldn't find any written advice to parents on how to make official enquiries or complaints, or how such enquiries/complaints are handled. Am I crazy to think that if parents are to be an intrisic part of their children's education, then the school has to make a concerted effort to communicate with parents?

Ah, that's a bit of a tricky one, because any allergen or irritant has the potential to irritate a cough that's already present. This can be due to the fact that the lungs have become sensitised, but this may only be temporary if your LO is not truly allergic or asthmatic. For example, some minor viral infections can sensitise the lungs and leave you coughing for months even after the virus is completely gone -- and even if the infection itself had few original symptoms. You really need to look for additional symptoms in your LO in the presence of animal allergens if you have reason to believe there may be an allergy (ie, family history of allergy). These symptoms might include runny/itchy eye or nose, red sore eyes, or wheezing. Also, if there's no history of allergy, research has suggested that just owning a cat doesn't make you more prone to developing asthma. Actually, meta data analysis from 2008 suggested that children in homes with cats were slightly less likely to develop asthma. If your forays into fur-bombed homes turn up inconclusive, have you thought about fostering a cat yourself? This would let you house a cat for a short time without having to commit to longterm ownership. Animal shelters frequently need short term foster careres for a variety of reasons. Then if you decide you'd like to keep the cat, this would make an easy transition for you. Maybe speak to Battersea or CHAT about their foster programs?

Well, serioulsy if they don't improve the food, it will not matter whether there is a playground or not, b/c no one will go there anyway. Went there for my birthday a while back, and the food was very hit-or-miss and the service was not great either. Ate there recently and it was special kind of really, REALLY bad. It was not only non-eatable, it was actually non-edible!! The playground is still there for now, though partially broken. Plan seems to be to move it to the back of the gardern? On reflection, I don't think that's a great idea, as putting the children't area somewhere that it can't clearly be easily seen is bound to end up badly, no? A children's area needs to be highly visible, surely? I really hope this pub will improve -- food and playgound -- as it's actually a lovely venue in a nice location with so much potential. I would love to see a simple menu really well done, and just a bit of TLC on the playground would go a long way. In the meantime, I can highly recommend the All Inn One (Foresters Bar) in Forest Hill as having an excellent menu and playground. Best to get a reservation on weekend afternoons/evenings. xx

No personal experience of homeschooling, but I know there are groups in SE London. Re Montessori - have you visited the Montessori Primary school (Rose House) in Forest Hill? xx

My brother has asthma but is not allergic to cats. My SiL is allergic to cats but does not have asthma. Some types of asthma are more correlated with allergy, i.e. atopic asthma. And other types do not appear to be directly exacerbated by allergens, i.e. intrinsic asthma. Cough is not a classic symptoms of asthma. Wheeze is the classic symptom, so your GP may be reluctant to request tests for such a young child without more symptoms or classic symptoms of asthma. The younger the child, the more difficult to diagnose, the more likely to get a false negative/positive if other symptoms are not clear. Allgery testing might not help either at such a young age, as children sometimes outgrow allergies as their immune systems mature. In addition, allergy tests are not 100% accurate. They do sometimes throw up false negatives/positives. So on balance, if the only symptom is cough, then I can see why the GP might be reluctant to order tests which will be difficult to interpret and possibly invasive or unpleasant for your LO. Watchful waiting is often the approach taken in such cases. This means that you and your GP agree to monitor persistent symptoms and be aware of new symptoms. Some breeds of cats and dogs do produce less allergens than others. I think the suggestion to have some playdates in the homes of people with pets is a pretty good idea. We have cats. Their hair is on EVERYTHING. Sigh.

What was previously the CP one o'clock club can now be hired for bday parties etc at weekends. xx

midivydale Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hey, > > Me me me!! I would say it is not vain to go to the > doctors at all as it could potentially be a > medical reason for this. A simple blood test could > very well reveal the cause, such as thyroid or > hormone problems. > > *waiting for Saffron to come along with further > knowledge to share*..... Sorry, laaaaaaaaaate reply. I have been SWAMPED with work. Postpartum hair loss driven by *normal* hormonal changes seems to be most noticeable 2-4 months after the birth. This type of hair loss is hair loss fairly evenly all over, because all follicles are affected (though it may be more noticeable where hair is long or dark -- losing one really long hair looks like a lot, but it's just one hair). This will improve with time, but improvement may be slow. As the 6 month postpartum mark approaches, calcium & iron stores may become naturally depleted in breastfeeding mothers. This can also drive hair loss, and will tend to affect all follicles fairly equally. However, if you're already taking supplements and still losing hair, then it's time for a blood test and advice on what type of supplement, how much and when to take it. A blood test could also help rule out other fairly common postpartum problems, such as abnormal oestrogen levels, thyroid problems, etc. Depending on the type of hair loss and presence of other symptoms, a doctor might also test for other rare conditions (esp'y if there is a family history), such as auto-immune diseases, e.g. lupus. (Don't freak out b/c that's pretty rare, but it's definitely worth considering family histories.) Persistent hair loss, very heavy hair loss, and/or hair loss that is definitely patchy or patterned is not normal postpartum. This could have an *abnormal* hormonal cause, and could affect different follicles differently. Patchy hair loss could also be the result of traction. Basically, your skin can be very delicate postpartum, and repeatedly pulling hair back too tight can cause hair loss where the scalp is pulled too tight for too long (this can also happen with hair extensions). Significant hair loss persisting past 6-9 months should really be investigated by your GP. As you're approaching the one year mark postpartum, hormone levels (even in breastfeeding mothers), and mineral levels should be normalising, and hair loss should be starting to improve. Hair loss that worsens or does not improve should be investigated. A blood test is simple and not expensive, insist on it. Don't get fobbed off by an unsympathetic GP. If your regular GP won't test you. Wait ~2 weeks, and book with another GP at the practice. Tell him/her that the hair loss is not improving. Good luck! xx

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Saffron Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > I guess I should take my 5'6", 54 kg, 34-26-36 > > figure and go work in a bar, > > > > Sweet, tell us which bar, I'll come for a beer. That place on the corner with the discreet frontage. You buyin'?

Well, according to uncleglen, you have to be "38-24-36". I think it's highly suspect subtly to teach children that "curvy bombshells" are somehow necessarily sexualised and therefore less worthy, just because some people see them that way. If you only have one thing in the house with Disney princesses on it, then your children aren't being bombarded with that. They're being exposed to one thing. I digress.... What exactly is meant by "diversifying"? Do people really want diversity, or do they want their own ideas of diversity? Maybe Disney should have disabled characters...? Ah there was the Hunchback. Ok, perhaps, non-white characters? ...Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan. Ah, well, they're busty, so don't count them (because nobody's worried about girls who grow up to have curvy figues?). How about a normal-sized little girl character? ...Lilo? What about male characters? Clever--> ...Peter Pan. Fallible--> ...Lion King. ...more on the way, but controversial? -->http://msmagazine.com/blog/2010/11/23/disneys-male-execs-stop-movies-starring-girls/. Maybe that's just oversimplifying: People write whole dissertations on this stuff. http://www.uky.edu/~addesa01/documents/ThePrincessandtheMagicKingdom.pdf. And since children don't live in a world of their own, if we consider diversity and children, we are necessarily in-taking ideas that encompass both women (and men) and children. If you don't like Disney princesses etc, don't buy them, fine. Why poo-poo them for other people who enjoy them without feeling limited by someone else's ideas? TBH, I don't think the OP's petition does that. However, I'm left with elusive idea of "diversity", and I'm questioning philosophically exactly where that's going? Now, I'm not saying that improvements can/can't be made at Disney. What I am wondering is just what exactly IS diverse? If we throw out all the 'princesses' with that bath water, we've passed an unwritten judgement. It's not always just a case of media bombardment, sometimes it's a case of how blinkered or open our own views are: http://www.bustle.com/articles/17263-are-disney-princesses-bad-role-models-not-if-you-consider-these-feminist-moments. It's no wonder so many young women now don't identify with feminism: http://www.genderandeducation.com/issues/why-is-feminism-a-%E2%80%9Cdirty-word%E2%80%9D-among-teenage-girls/. Despite a hundred years of progress, the slope remains, if not slippery, at least still difficult to define for many young people. Complex issue, and IMHO definitely not summed up simply by inclusive/exclusive statements about beauty or diversity, i.e. defining what something is by defining what it isn't. xx

Hahahahaaa!