Saffron

Generally you trim in the winter. It's easier, and it's better for the tree and the habitat it holds. Once the tree has leafed in the spring, you should wait until the autumn drop to trim. Yes, you can trim them right back, and they will regrow though it's stressfull for the tree.

I would pay the same as London Living Wage, which is around ?8.50/hr.

When moving house once many years ago, Hubbie and I had a massive clearout of old documents. We put so much stuff through the shredder, we burnt out the motor. I can't rem what Southwark accepts, but Lewisham recycling now accepts shredded paper. xx

Oh yes, actually, that's what I do too!

Anything to do with tax, keep 5 years. General bills, 2 years. Old tenancies, probably don't need to keep unless there was any dispute remaining unresolved at the end of the contract. Just my rules of thumb.

Yes, traditionally Christmas was tied to the Church too! ;-) Anyone know what the Pagan equivalent was for a godparent?

They are soluable in oil, like baby oil, cooking oil, oily handlotion/make-up remover. Let the oil sit on them for a while, them wipe them away firmly with tissue. It may take a couple of rounds to remove them completely. Don't abrade wet skin, or you could do more harm than good.

Also, there are plenty of godparents attending the ceremony, then never setting foot in a church again.

Otta, god doesn't exist outside of religion?

Interesting that people associate godparents with religion in particular, and not also with spiritulism which is not necessarily religious. Or do people actully mean sprituality when they say religion? I find the term guardian confusing when used as the title for someone who is a child's guide/godparent. Legally, the parents whilst alive are the guardians! Or is "guardian" in a non-legal sense emerging as a new definition for the 21st century? (Quickly, someone phone the OED!!) If my daughter was out with her Godparent and she said, This is my gaurdian Mrs C... With no further explanation, would people not wonder what happened to the parents? Whereas, if she says Godparent, people may make slightly different assumptions about her role, but one of them is probably not going to be that Mr Saff and I are dead! We're definitely sticking with Godparent for a title, and I won't be offended if people think it's religious even though it isn't in our case. Paraphrasing Molly's post, we're not worried about offending the village elders! :)

Yes, as my husband always jokes... Second wife come quickly! First wife is giving me trouble!! ...on second thought maybe he wasn't joking? ;-)

I don't distinguish between day/nighttime rates and always pay around ?10/hr.

Children's events start from 1pm: Hilly Fields park (se4), east onto Adelaid Ave from Brockley Road. xx

theasidonio Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Godparent is a term of respect as well as being a > religious 'title', I think it's lovely for both > the child and the godparents. Yes, that's very true, esp'y the respect part. In addition, we all sort of know what a godparent is (in loose terms). While "guides" or "fairy godparents" are lovely terms, I would not turn up at a departmental dinner or formal event with my friend C and say, This is my daughter's guide/fairy godparent! Those terms just don't convey the same weight (to me at least). I'm really pleased to find out that so many people have more than 2 godparents. We are definitely going to add a 3rd, b/c we know it would mean so much to our friend to be recognised in that way. :) Did anyone do a civil naming ceremony? Where/how much did it cost? I know the Peckham Register (in a lovely listed building!) does them, but we're no longer in Southwark. We're in Lewisham now.

Ah, wiki again... So there seems to be a lot more variation than I was aware!

Yes, I thought it might be particular to C of E. I had never heard of it either, and most of my family is Catholic.

The only difference I personally make between a babysitter and a nanny is that a nanny has a contract and works set times. A babysitter does one-offs like an evening out, or if the nanny is sick. I pay a babysitter the same hourly rate as a nanny, and I expect the same quality of care. I used to be a part time nanny and also a babysitter for many years. I never distinguished between the level of care. I looked after all the children just the same, and I always engaged them if they were little (older children sometimes want to chill on their own w books etc of course).

Why would having a godparent be irrelevant if we're not having a Christening, or strange outside a religious setting? The C of E doesn't have a monopoly on the title. I like the title b/c it conveys the importance these individuals have in our child's upbringing. It's nice for our daughter, and it makes the godparents feel nice too. I like the special bond reinforced by the title.

Interesting to see the differnt modern views.

???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Saffron > > I think you (and others) are confusing the concept > of Guardians with Godparents. A godparent is based > on baptism and doesn't neccessarily take on any > other responsibility in the event of a tradegy > etc...a Guardian is someone(S) who take legal > responsibilty for your children should something > terrible happen. They are two very different > things and what you describe is a guardian as > identified by you in your first post. The > godparent bit is irrelevant if your not having a > christening. No, I'm definitely not confusing them. I know not everyone traditinally celebrates the godparent as the guardian. But as I said in the previous post, my parents are not C of E, so their tradition is that the godparent will be the guardian if the parents are unable. I don't personally feel like "guardian" is the right title either, because they may never actually be our daughter's guardians (at least we hope not!). While Hubbie and I are alive, we are her guardians! I think it's fine to have "god" in the title, even for non-religious use. Religion specifically applies to organised religion/church. Plenty of non-church-goers still believe in god(s).

Maybe as the early wakings hadn't been happening for very long, he only needed a minor adjustment to reset his sleep cycles? So glad you had success! xx

Have more cracks appeared? Are you the free-holder, and on whose property are the trees? Also, when the offending trees were destroyed, were new trees of any type planted? The reason I ask is that people are sometimes unaware that removing a tree can destabilise the water-balance of which that tree was part. This too can cause problems with cracks etc. Would another soil test be possible?

Welllll, ya never know. Some newly weds are dead keen on planning for the future. ;-)

We do call them Little Saff's "godparents" although of course they have no religious role. We wanted to call them something that would signify their importance in our lives. What else could we call them? I can't think of anything. My parents are Catholic, not C of E, so in their tradition the godparents are the ones who would take responsibility of the children if the parents perish (at least that's the tradition in their parish). It's an interesting modern conundrum as to the role/title of non-religious godparents.

Mrs TP Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > For a girl it is usually two females and one > male. > > For a boy it is usually two males and a female. I've never heard of that (eg, different for boys/girls). Where does that tradition come from? C of E? > > Normally at least one of each and multiples are > accepted. > > I am not up to speed on the whole role thing but > you need to check out that those you have in mind > have at least been baptised themselves if not > confirmed. One of 'candidates' had not been > baptised and so was not recognised by the church > as a godparent although was allowed to say the > vows in church and the vicar advised we could > consider them a 'godparent' but not formally > recorded in the church records. No, we're not baptising our daughter. We're not religious, so that's not an issue from our perspective for godparents. We did talk to her godparents about their role before asking them if that was something they were happy to do, and they were overjoyed! :-)