mima08

Oh no, someone said something reasonable - hope it doesn't stop the flow of the thread...

I am so sorry to hear about your experience: bringing up children is so confusing and tough as it is, so having your trust broken and you and your son being treated badly by people who are supposed to be professionals is awful. I can only imagine how heartwrenching is must be. We've been lucky with great childminder and nursery, but I do know that there is a large portion of luck involved. But please don't beat yourself up: your son has the most important thing: a loving and caring mummy. I know from my nephew's experience how important that is: he struggled in nursery & school, labeled as a trouble maker (back in the 80's he didn't fit in because of his skin colour and his mum being single - we lived in a small place) - but my sister's support and love meant he turned out a hugely popular boy who just finished med school. I really hope your little man keeps improving, and, as others suggested, get some support for yourself, too - wishing you all the best!

With me & DHL being ill most weekend, we seem to have missed all the Easter fun and I'm now looking for something not too strenuous for me but fun for my highly energetic 4 year old, ideally in the area... Any tips?

hiya, many thanks for the thoughts, and Fuschia - thanks for that link, I had forgotten about this - will definitely give it a try. I do have a nagging suspicion that he worries about not being "first" in all the activities: he is ridiculously competitive but there are other swimmers who are more advanced. It's in absolutely now way a competitive environment but my son always wants to "win" (not something we encourage at all - in fact, we've always praised effort above results, try to rolemodel that it's not about winning etc.) I don't really want to give up the swimming as he loves the water so much - had a word with the swimming teacher not to push him, and she is really supportive... any other thoughts are appreciated!

Hiya, My four year old boy has been going to swimming classes since he was three months old and always enjoyed it hugely. However, recently, he's been reluctant to go to the class, and it got so bad that he would start crying in class and be really upset. Of course, I don't want to force him but am wondering what has caused this sudden aversion and what I can do, as I would like him to learn to swim properly. He is not scared of the water, as he loves it when we go swimming on the weekend, he very confident, with no problem of putting his head under water etc. He has been with the same wonderful teacher all this time, loves his class buddies and we tried doing a deal where he only had to do the activities he felt comfortable with - still he cries. So this is the second week we're not going last week he wasn't feeling well, this week he rather takes himself to bed (!) than go. I am conflicted about not wanting to force him to do something that is supposed to be fun but he doesn't enjoy on the one hand but I also don't want him to think he never has to push himself out of his comfort zone - e.g. he won't be able to do this in school... What have others done in this situation? Thoughts, advice, please

Hiya, in case you're still looking: my son's former childminder was fantastic and she lives on Oswyth Road - 3min from the Villa, about 7min from Bellenden Rd. Her name is Christine Bertin, give her a call on 07538956891, pm me for more details

Hiya - still ok to meet this evening at 8pm in the EDT? M

Hiya, Mon 30th is good for me, too. Meet at the EDT? Could get there for 8pm, - any good for others? M

Hiya, sorry - I am away next week but could do the week after? All the rest sounds good :)

Hi helena_s I know there is sewing cafe Brixton/Clapham way (http://shop.sewoverit.co.uk/pages/contact-us) and I'd be interesting in meeting up, too - am not very experienced at sewing, though. Best, m

There has been a break in on Nutbrook Street a few days ago: community wardens were handing out leaflets on how to make properties more secure etc.

buggie Wrote: > Actually, what was Lister walk-in centre is now available for appt's if your GP hasn't got > capacity to see you as an emergency case that day, so, if DMC were better organised, the poster above > whose baby had pus coming out of the ear should've been ref'd there for an appt. My baby had croup a few months back & my surgery didn't have any available appts so offered me an appt at the Lister & was amazed that they could (and did) > see me within the hour. > > If DMC engaged with using this properly (& if patients were ok with visiting a different surgery for an acute problem) it cold resolve alot of the angst their patients experienced. I am really curious about this, because a few weeks ago, my son had very high fever and was behaving in ways to really worry me. When I phoned the DMC they didn't have any appointment (to be fair it was in the afternoon when I phoned) and when I asked about the Lister, they told me there was no such arrangement as the one described above, the only option I had to go to A&E or the walk-in center in New Cross. Ended up going to Seldoc a few of hours later....

Another shout out for Trytime: it's the closest thing my son gets to getting tired out! We're in the 3-5yrs group but watching the girls in the 5yrs group - they are seriously fast and seem to love it, too

Hi Missse22, this might be totally random but have you heard of the book "poo goes to pooland"? Sounds pretty weird, but it's a little story about how a "poo" person goes through the plumbing system and gets eventually to this wonderful land... I think it was written by a health visitor or similar. In any case, I got an electronic copy and read it to my then 2.5 year old who was resisting the idea of toilet training. At the time it didn't seem to make much of an impact, however, months later, he told me that he always wants to poo in the toilet because then poo can go home to pooland... so it did make an impression after all and made him try... worth a go? good luck!

thanks for feeding back - out of interest: how do Plusnet guarantee the speed? I thought if they share the network with other providers (and ultimately going to back to BT Openreach), speeds are dependent on max capacity in the network? Might have gotten this wrong - could someone explain? thanks

Hiya, we saw Lizzy Lomax at the Dulwich Therapy rooms - she was amazing, very helpful and supportive. good luck!

There seems to be a split personality: I've had very nice, friendly and helpful service for myself and my son on some occasions, on other (regardless of with or without child) occasions it was more like I was interrupting something more interesting and shouldn't be cluttering up the shop...

Hiya, we're in between PR and Goose Green and the evening speeds are ridiculous. Under 1mb is the norm... I phoned Virgin they said its because a technical issue (implying fault, not oversubscription) that is supposed to be fixed by 28th Feb. Past promises of when things would be fixed have always let me down, so am not holding my breath... Phone and ask for a refund on your bill - and if anyone can recommend a really good supplier, please let me know!

Hiya, there could be many reasons - maybe your childminder hadn't had small babies for a while, maybe with other kids she couldn't quite manage, maybe there are personal circumstances - the list is endless. I do feel for you, it's an emotional thing anyway, starting with a childminder but I am sure you're better off to change now than later. My childminder always told me for her the most important part was to work closely with parents, lots of communication at drop off/pick up, sticking to agreed rules etc. So maybe that's something to look for when you look for a new childminder? That way, you'll get early warning should something not be right... And yes, all babies are fussy! Best of luck Mx

Hiya, sorry to read you're having a tough time. It's absolutely heartbreaking when they behave like this. We went through a similar phase, not quite as bad but seemed to be heading there. I always thought my son was getting trapped in his emotions and didn't know how to snap out of it, hence the physical action to get some release. What seems to have helped are talking about his emotions (when he is calm), explaining that everyone has them but that you don't need to act on them etc. Obviously, all in simple words. We also practised things like 5 deep breath when he feels frustrated. Actual incidents of lashing out or temper tantrums got dealt with firmly, we used time out, there are a few good threads on here that helped. Things have progressively become better the more he can express himself ... Good luck! Mx

Hiya, my son's former childminder is based on the border between Peckham and Camberwell (Oswyth Rd). PM if that would be useful, I believe she has places... best M

Hiya, I can hugely recommend my son's former childminder - Chrissy. She is based hald way between Peckham Rye (10min walk) and Denmark Hill (5-7min) and she was absolutely great in every respect. PM me if you have questions / would like contact details.

Personally, I played with hotwheels till I was about 7 or 8, maybe you could look on ebay to find some not so expensive sets?

HI Renata - thank you for clarifying the point about the waiting lists and also the bit about putting down 5/6th choice near a station or similar - hadn't thought of that before!

peggoula Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My daughter is in reception at bessemer, they get > fruit every day and vanilla ice cream on Fridays > as a treat. They have a brilliant salad bar that > reception kids go nowhere near to but the meals > are perfectly balanced. > Wonder what is that school you are referring to > is? I want to go there (as currently in a > pre-Christmas 5:2 hell ;-) ) Hiya, yes, Bessemer was one of them, but I thought a few of the others (another 4 altogether) said the same thing. I >>don't>word<< (which altered what i meant to say :)