Zo?

Brsdley came at short notice just before Christmas and did a great job, rescuing our carpet from an unmentionable stain... It absolutely looks as good as new now. Knowledgeable, punctual & considerate & obviously takes pride in his work.

Will definitely use his services again.

Thank you, Bradley.

Would just like to add a recommendation for Steve. We've used him for our dishwasher before & just now for our washing machine. A very nice chap - super prompt, reliable, no nonsense and very reasonably priced.

My experience same as Cora's. After much deliberation & confusion, we placed our top choice 1st, next choice 2nd etc. We were offered our nearest school, which we had placed 3rd, and then got offered a place at our 1st choice school in July.

We also have friends at our daughter's school who placed it low on their list as they presumed they wouldn't get in as they lived too far away. They ended up at a school they were unhappy with & requested to be put on the waiting list for our school and were offered a place (based on proximity) after the first week of term.

Good luck. It's all very stressful, isn't it?

Eye mask. Blistering heat of PN ward is matched only by blazing sun-esque lighting.

Water bottle with sports cap thingy - less likely to spill over self when lying in bed like immobile whale.

Spare carrier bag for yucky grubby clothes.

x

Hello

Our daughter, Briony, will also be starting in September & we'd love to make some new friends before September!

Zoe

x

Hello all

We've just been offered a reception place for our daughter starting in September. We live quite a way away and I think only got in because they are having a bulge class this year.

It's very important to us that we are near potential school chums for after school playing etc, and so I was wondering whether anyone near us will be starting in Sept? We are on Rosenthorpe Road, just off Ivydale Rd.

Thanks all.

Zoe

x

I had an elective c-section at Kings 2 weeks ago and would like to add to the praise for everyone we came across. I had been extremely apprehensive following a dreadful experience at a north London hospital with our daughter, but this time round was so different. The levels of professionalism, care and compassion were incredible - nothing was too much trouble for them and everyone we met was so cheerful, and the breastfeeding help was wonderful. I really hope all you ladies due to give birth at Kings in the near future are cheered by the positive words on here and wish you all the lovely experience we had.

x

Thank you, everyone, for your wise words & kindness. Feeling much more bouyed up now!

Zoe

x

Might be worth giving Herne Hill velodrome a try:

http://www.hernehillvelodrome.com/sessions-and-events/holiday-clubs

They seem to be running quite a bit over the summer holidays but I believe they also run stuff at the weekends.

Morrisons in Peckham usually has loads of sparkly bits and pieces.

I've just been booked in for an elective at Kings in a couple of weeks and was wondering whether anyone had any practical advice for making it as smooth an experience as possible? With my daughter I had to have an emergency section under pretty horrid circumstances and the whole thing is a bit of a blur.

Any useful post-op products or advice on how to explain this to my 4 year old? I don't want to be constantly yelling "Mind mummy's tummy!", that kind of thing.

Thanks everyone.

x

And my friend teaches a little boy named Dwayne, surname Pipe.

Congratulations rahrahrah - and a really lovely name.

Seconding Bravissimo - I use the one in Covent Garden & just got fitted this weekend for some industrial upholstery in anticipation of breast explosion when the baby arrives in a few weeks. Very knowledgeable staff & an unhurried, no sales-pressure service.

Lovely, in my opinion. Very good idea re making it longer so it could be a dress. Personally I'm a bit rubbish at washing (clothes, not myself - I'm positively fragrant...) and tend to run screaming from anything which might need handwashing, so you might like to print off some washing instructions to have on the stall.

Price point is very tricky, although a small discount for buying more than one has been a winner for us in the past.

All the very best of luck with your stall!

Zoe

Thank you, Helen GV!

A friend has kindly lent us an old Bugaboo Frog but I have no idea what kind of carseat it takes, if indeed there is one to fit it. I feel rather like my grandma trying to text - am so flummoxed by it.

Also, we don't have a normal car - we've got a VW Transporter campervan (yes, soooo easy to drive & squeeze into small London parking spaces...) & someone said they thought that the adaptor thingys may not work in the van.

Very grateful if anyone could shed light on this for us!

Thanks

Zoe

Renata

Do you have/will you have any information about which schools are taking a bulge class?

Thank you

Thank you, mrs lotte. Anyone else feel not remotely grown-up enough for all this malarkey?

Ivydale for us (3rd choice). Does anyone know what happens if you want to hang in there for one of your higher placed choices? Do you then have to decline the place you were originally offered?

I feel about the menopause pretty much exactly how I feel about the impending birth of our second baby & the state of our finances: fingers in ears, head in sand & deeply, deeply in denial.

x

Congratulations on your new baby, and even bigger congratulations on being able to see through the fug of hormones to actually do what is right for your family.

I remember so clearly being left to fend for myself with bf in the hospital and a sadistic "nurse" cruelly flicking my nipple & saying "Nothing wrong with your baby, it's your breasts. Useless for breastfeeding." and stalking off down the ward, no doubt to stand on some poor unsuspecting woman's colostomy bag. I also remember soldiering on for months in agony, crying at every feed, unable to leave the house etc etc & having that awful feeling that it was a walk in the park for everyone else & that people were sneering at my failure or ineptitude. Turns out they were probably just looking at my baby, like Pickle says. Madness, in hindsight. Certainly not the best thing for our family.

Anyway, 4 years down the line and with another baby due in a few weeks, I have written myself a letter to read once the baby is born (whilst I still have a handful of marbles). Top of the list is - "Have a crack at breastfeeding, don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work out, and just enjoy your new child."

I admire you very much and think you are doing a better job than you will probably ever realise.

x

"You Choose" by Pippa Goodhart & Nick Sharratt was a firm favourite in our house for ages. It's not a story book as such, but each double page has hundreds of drawings of, say, different types of houses & "Where would you live? You choose?" then the next page has things to fill the house with, type of job etc. I'm not selling it very well, I know, but it prompts lots and lots of imaginative discussion and Briony would spend ages creating stories around different scenarios. Plus it's doesn't have to be the same story twice so more interesting for the bedtime reader!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=you+choose&x=0&y=0

Singing the praises of Crystal Palace. My 4yo has swimming with the lovely Sandy at 12.30 on Thursdays - there are only 3 children in her group, changing room & showers have plenty of room, lots of parking etc. Also has the advantage of diving training in the diving pool afterwards - this keeps her entertained for ages (watching, not doing!)

bjm - both me & hubby really, really liked Horniman. All the children have a philosophy lesson once a week, which really appeals to the old hippy in me, and it's apparently had quite an impact on how the children think about problems in other subjects.

There seems to be a lot of classroom space (although lots of children were out on a school trip) and they have lovely outdoor areas, an allotment and some very chilly bunnies. Sadly, though, going by furthest distance published by Lewisham from last year, we stand not a snowball's chance of getting in.

I went to Horniman today - they have offered to take a bulge class but will not know if it's going ahead until February, I think - at any rate, after the application deadline.

Talking of which & going a bit off topic, I'm a bit frustrated at the mo as I seem to have missed most of the dates for looking around schools and am being told that I can't go and have a look around until the 2nd week of Jan, minutes before the application deadline. Another thing to add to the ever-growing list of proof of my inadequate parenting...