Saffron

My daughter has these at her Montessori nursery. Agreed, they are brilliant. Where did you order yours?

Super news! Big congratulations!! :) Hubbie got my engagement ring the winter just before the markets all crashed, when the price of gold was very low. Since then, the price of gold has skyrocketed, and I have more than once given serious consideration to selling my engagement ring when we've been in dire straights financially. DH has proved to be a romantic at heart, staunchly refusing to allow me to sell it each time. Bless 'im. Hope you have a lovely engagement, and a brilliant wedding. xx

Did you read Freud in a academic context? I ask this b/c your understanding of Freud, as you present here, is very narrow in context and also out of date with the modern fields of psychology, biology, and neuroscience. If it was read in an academic context, it should have been presented in a more balanced format. Freud was a benchmark. His hypotheses have long since been surpassed. And although his writings are very interesting, in so far as they formed a platform from which modern psychology grew, they were even in his day surpassed for example by his onetime sympathiser Jung. All of their early theories have now been refuted or revised by our understanding of psychology and neurobiology, for example gender identity and sexuality as outcomes of foetal hormone exposure. I mention all this because I feel quite strongly that presenting Freud's hypotheses as accepted theories --which they are emphatically not-- could actually do more harm than good to platforms such as the OP's original discussion about starting a grass roots group for support/change in area of child sexual abuse and exploitation. The OP has a worthy, if somewhat currently muddled, cause which would do well to steer clear of dodgy passe pseudo-pop psych, IMHO, as it does nothing to help clarify or support the OP's cause. I think it's not uncommon that causes like the OP's start off a little out of focus before maturing to truly excellent grass roots campaigns. Hopefully the Forum has been (and will continue to be) a good sounding board to that end. This discussion of Freud, while very interesting, probably will not help this campaign mature (except in so far as an example of that upon which the campaign shouldn't be based). Freud probably deserves a thread unto himself. drusky Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks for your posts... wow! far too many posts > and points raised for me to respond to on the > hoof. This is the drawing room after all... A > lot of them well considered and put across with > conviction. The original poster, appears to be > saying something along the lines of, which is what > I'm basically addressing, sexual abuse of children > happens and needs to be stopped, curtailled, > managed, in some way. I might be wrong in this - > but it is how I read it. > > You might, perhaps, not like it, but that is what > all the posters on this thread have, IMHO, got in > common. We want to stop, avoid, address, sexual > abuse of children. Which for me comes down to the > matter of how this happens and what it would look > like. > > I've read Freud extensively and, though other > writers are out there, he basically sets the > benchmark for writing on sexuality, sexual desire > and sexual identity. Which is really what we are > also talking about. I understand your point about > what's called phallocentric Freudian discourse, > DJ, but you really might like to revisit, as in > read again, a lot of his works. It is less > prejudicially biased than you might at first > think. > > Huguenot - you have misquoted me. You might like > to think about how that came about. > > WorkingMummy - you ask a lot of questions. > > Loz - you're not wrong. > > A great thread.

We're a secular household, but we still like to celebrate the holidays. This often means giving holiday traditions our own twist. In our house, the 'Easter Bunny' has a very important job. After a long dark winter, she comes out in the spring. Her job is to count little children's ribs to make sure they have enough ribs to last through the summer. (Commence formal rib count, aka tickling!) If the unfortunate child doesn't have enough ribs, then the remedy is to eat lots of chocolate on Easter day. Needless to say there has been a lot tickling, and the Easter Bunny's arrival is keenly awaited as a symbol of the returning fruitfulness of spring... and chocolate! Now we just need some spring weather. How will you be celebrating with your children this year? Happy Easter xx

I can highly recommend Giles Davies for acupuncture, 15a Barry Road, 07739 414 210. http://www.gilesdavies.com/

Try rust remover (the kind you buy for rust stains on fabric) on the oxydized stains. Otherwise, the wood can be lightly sanded and refinished. If there are deep cuts in the wood, it may require some coloured filler before refinishing.

You may also want to speak with Southwark* Family Information Services (FIS). Monday to Friday - 9am to 5pm: Tel: 0800 013 0639. If FIS is unable to help you, they should be able to put you in touch with the people who can. I've spoken to FIS in the past about other concerns. They've generally been very helpful and good about returning phone calls when they say they will. *Or if the nursery is in a different area eg Lewisham, Lambeth etc, ring their specific FIS.

Bluerevolution Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Laura will be able to return back to the Bar(no > cheap quips) when children of age but if they only > have ?60,000 coming in that will be tight in ED, 2 > Adults, 2 kids. Well, they're very welcome to move out of ED. There are cheaper places they can certainly live just fine. Maybe she and Diana Carney can cry in their lattes about it together: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/bank-chiefs-wife-with-5000-a-week-home-allowance-sparks-fury-with-high-rents-tweet-8549669.html

I'm a little confused as to why some parents at the school felt that they needed to complain publicly to a newspaper about this transgendered teacher. Surely being transgendered is just another medical condition, like cancer, obesity, heart disease, depression etc? If explained at the appropriate level, I can't see how that's a problem for children. I can only come to the same conclusion as WM above: bigoted, criminal hatred on the part of the parents. I'm not saying that the school was 100% correct in the way they handled this case. However, surely they were better avenues for parents to deal with it? And possibly the school should have used a little more forethought to account for some parents' prejudiced natures? Also I agree with Otta. The editor(s) should be shouldering some responsibility here too.

Maybe one way to deal with it is to make light of it. Laughter soothes many things, and in years to come it's probably going to be a hilarious story. You could always invite your friends over for a (re)painting party and dinner?

People being mean on the Forum - gasp! ;-)

Yes, I'm very confused about that as well. Who/how is it meant to help?

I'm like Pickle, never tip for deliveries, grocery or otherwise. Husband often tips the grocery delivery bloke ?1-2, irrespective of the amount of groceries, and particularly if the weather is bad or delivery is late in the evening/wknd. We usually have Sainsbury's delivery, not Tesco. I don't know exactly how they differ, but I do know that in general they are not obligated to bring the goods past the threshold of your door. If your delivery person is regularly bringing them up steps and into your kitchen, that is very kind.

Yes, totally agree with WorkingMummy- other family should offer to make it right, in whatever way seems appropriate. But, erm, how does one handle these things if they don't?!

Before you repaint, try a stain remover for ink? Dr Beckmann's Stain Devils makes one for biro for fabric, but you could try it on the walls: http://www.dr-beckmann.co.uk/how-to-remove-stains/ . Even if it doesn't totally remove the stain, it might lighten it enough that you only need one recoat of paint. Don't use anything that isn't specifically for ink, otherwise you could set the stains instead of lightening them! xx

After a doctor talking on his mobile phone crashed into our car and totalled it, we've found that we simply aren't able to afford another car. We get by because we have no other option. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it isn't. GrrRRRrrr. Can't live without your car, you say???? Hmm. Careful what you wish for.

Surely you left the window open while you were making tea in the other room, and a fox got in and shat on the sofa? No sane* person would ever want a sofa after that. You had no choice but to replace it out of the kindness of your heart, obviously. *Of course this plot hinges on your landlord being sane...

Echoing Convex's comment about Ergo sling. I can also recommend the wrap-style Wilkinet sling. By the time my LO was around 9 mo, I would have struggled to carry her any distance in a ring sling b/c of the uneven weight distribution. If you're somewhere like an aquarium or museum, your bubba might not like being down in the buggy. A sling puts Baby at adult height. My daughter loved the forward-facing front carry position in the Wilkinet. I once took her to the aquarium w/o it. I then spent most of the time carrying her and pushing an empty buggy!

Arthur's Dream Boat, 3-7 Apr, looks good for the little uns too. Suitable for 2+ yrs: http://www.thealbany.org.uk/event_detail/913/Family/Arthur's-Dream-Boat

Disco Kids, Sunday 19th, and the Albany does a family ticket deal too: http://www.thealbany.org.uk/event_detail/911/Family/Disco-Kids

The Nappy Lady Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well at 43 I'm still loving princess stories & > happy to go out wearing something pink & sparkly > ....with pride. > > Then again I also love to go clubbing with my gay > male friends, so I blame it on them! > :)

katgod Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hmmmm cannot help thinking that if we applied the > 'Syrian mothers test' to most of the EDF it would > pretty quickly close. The obsevation was not meant to "close" the dialogue. It was actually a positive observation about what a good place and time our children are growing up in, that we have the comparative luxury of being able to discuss such things as the minutiae of Cinderella etc. (But what you say is nevertheless very likely true! ;-) )

The Albany theatre has lots of stuff on for children (even wee ones!) this spring. http://www.thealbany.org.uk/events/Family

Sounds like a good proportion of the success was down to your own recognition that change was needed :) , something harder to instill in very young children. Simonethebeaver, how was the orthodontist? Were you in agreement? (Curious, why braces so young, special circumstances? Teeth/jaw can change a lot during the teen years.) Pebbles, any success? xx

redjam Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Cashewnut - in answer to your question, I think at > a young age children just see stories as > make-believe - we have to be taught to analyse > their 'message' as we get older, it's not > something children do naturally. I would argue > children are far more influenced by what they see > around them in the real world than anything they > find in literature - i.e. how their parents behave > to each other, how they are treated in turn by > their parents. Do you honestly think grown women > make any life decisions based on their love of a > favourite fairy tale as a child? Ooo, can I get a gong if I say "Kate"? ;-)