mima08

It would be nice - other lidos seem very popular, so why not?

We put bamboo down in our lounge and a number of bedrooms and love it. Very, very hard wearing, 5 yrs on, it looks like new despite heavy traffic. Not all bamboo is the same quality, the strip-glued type seems less strong, we have something called strand woven. Laid on top of the original floorboards, with underlay, it does a great job of insulating. We used this company - and I know our builder has recommended them (after coming across them via us) to quite a few of other clients: http://www.bambooflooringcompany.com/all-flooring/strand-woven-flooring/ good luck!

Hiya, I would hugely recommend my childminder who is looking to take on another child - though she is more Denmark Hill way (near Vestry Rd). If you're interested, please PM me.

Best of luck that you find someone - I have often thought something like this would be great to share some of the childcare struggles!

Second to the Albrighton centre - you get use of the kitchen, too - and the bouncy castle is brilliant entertainment.

Hiya, we got married there 3 years ago and it was really nice. Waited in a fairly traditionally decorated (but pretty empty) room with all the guests beforehand, the ceremony room was nice enough, and yes, did have a CD player. Overall ceremony was short and sweet but then had lots of time to take photos in the gardens which was very nice. Have a fab day!!!!

I am very sure that watching Disney movies and wearing pink dresses (or any other ones) will not turn any girl into a subservient airhead. But I have sympathy for the OP's frustration: as a child of the 80s I remember being upset that there were so few strong females in movies - consequently adored Star Wars as it had Princess Leia... (and later, loved Buffy the vampire slayer - the series). So it's a bit disappointing that the new Star Wars movies are very light on female leads, and taken together with the general "pinkification" (pink Kinder surprise, anyone?), there seems to be a need for more people speaking out against this stereotyping. BTW, stereotyping goes both way, I really want more boys shoes/clothes that are not navy, khaki or have trucks/trains/planes on them!

Cannot make teh 27th but ordered the swap kit - takes less than 5min to register. Hope a match can be found for your friends' little one (and others) mx

Hiya, we're just back from a holiday with Pierre & Vacances in Fuerteventura (http://www.pierreetvacances.com/gb-en)- it's like a centre park but in the sun and the prices were nothing like centre park. Kids' club, sporting activities, loads of swimming pools and a free splashpark, great fun.

We had one for a year and my son (3.5) loves his one. Taken it on several short haul flights and train journeys. He's not been in a buggy for about a year as well, so it was a godsend to have something that means we dont' have to carry him. Second the bit about everything falling out :)

Hiya, spotted a the rucksack filled with little toys on a fence near Leisure Centre entrance. Hope the owner finds it.

Hiya, sorry i cannot recommend any particular restaurant but on a stay for 2 nights in Antwerp with a 8 months old, I found all the places to be very child friendly. Even the hotel we were in - which was definitely more business orientated than families - everyone was lovely and very helpful. Food was lovely everywhere we tried. Have fun!

sorry to hear, that's rotten luck. When the weather wasn't so good, we tried the Discover story centre in Stratford (http://www.discover.org.uk/), which would work for both ages, I think. Easy enough to get to on overground / tube, and can be topped off by a pizza or so at Stratford? Hope he gets better soon!

HIya, I tend to look at the hopscotch newsletter (http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d6c6230c9e3a27917542e1268&id=ce83d69439) for inspiration, they have great ideas. Plus, I recently picked up a "families magazine" for SE London and was quite impressed with their suggestions, especially theater performances etc. Hope you find something good!

Treehouse looks great - wish I'd known about it before. There is also this place in Putney http://www.third-door.com/

Hiya, sorry cannot give any suggestions but if you are thinking Portugal, make very sure the pools are heated. We went first 10 days in June last year and it was freezing, pool and sea. Warm enough out of the water but almost no swimming to be had :( Plus, the place was pretty dead, out of season... I'll be following the thread, need ideas too!

HI Lindsay I take my son to TryTime Kids rugby (http://www.trytimekidsrugby.com/) on a Sat morning in Belair Park. They are real fun sessions, nothing too serious but the kids learn all sorts of skills and get a good run around, even when the weather is bad. Thoroughly recommend it!

Hiya no, we don't have it in the kitchen as the kitchen was tiled when we bought the house. Not sure what tiles these are, I wouldn't think they were the very expensive ones, and so far, no breakages but yes, staining (son is 3yrs old). Give the bamboo co a call: they were very helpful and not sales-y. And yes, for the quality, I thought it was very reasonable, will (eventually) do the rest of the house in bamboo :)

I second the bamboo flooring - we used the same company, their stuff is really nice quality and very hard wearing.the builder we used at the time was so impressed that he's now recommending it to others, too. We have it downstairs as well as in other rooms and 5yrs on, it still looks great. Get some free samples to compare (there are other companies, but their samples didn't impress me as much).

Hiya If you mean the jelly babies swim sessions (i.e. not the swim classes), they always were PAYG, I cannot remember how much. They can get quite busy (I never really figured out the pattern), so it might be worth trying to book in advance, though the phone can be difficult to get through. I seem to remember that you can book up to 7 days in advance, if that is any help? Good luck

Boots on Rye Lane have it regularly - not sure about other places. It can be tricky to find - we ended up buying lots at a time... good luck!

Wow - sounds great: now I know what we'll be doing this weekend! Thanks for the recommendation.

Hi - we started the rugby when LO was 2.5 and it took a good few sessions before he got into it, listening and following instructions etc. This was in the summer - so much easier, I definitely think: this cold, muddy, wet weather makes it much harder (on all of us!)... so maybe wait 'till the weather picks up? [whenever that is...]

Hiya, really sorry to hear this happened to you. I can empathise with getting lulled into a sense of "oh, no one will take my stuff" when we are in "kiddies" environment - unfortunately, seems the trust can be misplaced... might be worth looking in the nearby bins for the purse?

I am glad I've come across this thread with all the suggestions as my 3yrs old has just started asking about my dad who passed away before I met my husband. We have pictures around and my son has known that the man with the beard was my dad but just the other day he wanted to know where my dad was and if he was going to come to his (my son's) birthday party. I was a bit surprised and hadn't thought about what to say so I just said that, no, my dad could not come to the party and that he was really far away and could not visit. That was not a very good answer as I quickly realised as a lot of questions ensued about where exactly my dad was as we have family all around the world and my son is used to people being in different places but coming back or we will visit them... We are not religious (my husband very much not) so I was at a loss on how to provide a better answer - will check out the other links here. mx