Kes

Hi my husband took our eldest to sing and sign classes over at Goose green, he loved it although I think he was the only dad. Assuming it's still going there is also the music session at Buchan road hall on a Tuesday morning (run by Ivydale I think) ususaly quite a few dads there.

Oh this is such a useful thread! Has anyone got a utility room in their side return? Our kitchen is a decent width and the side return is fairly narrow so it doesn't seem worth extending into it to make the kitchen bigger but a long thin utility room/storeage space would be really handy, even better if we could get a shower room in their too.

The woods one I mentioned did have a cider barn btw, no bands, it was a food festival, clues in the name When we got to the one last year (lots of beer and bands) I just realised how much stuff there is for little ones and decided I'll just focus on that for a few years. Can go back to grown up festival behaviour once they are old enough to wander off to the teen area and get drunk without me. If you have small kids and want bands, beer and no kids, perhaps just don't take the kids?

We did our first family festival last year (kids were then 3yrs and 9 months) This year we plan to do 3 plus at least one other camping trip! Take a look at the festival kidz website for lots of reviews, tips and to find somewhere that would be right for you (disclaimer - I'm hopefully reviewing one of the festivals for them this year, but not paid by them or anything) http://www.festivalkidz.com/ We went to Beautiful Days in Devon last year, medium sized music festival, we didn't see much of the bands but loads of kids activities and entertainment, the girls had a wonderful time (as did we). blog post about it here: http://southwarkbelle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/my-first-family-festival.html This year my now 4 year old and I went to Feast in the Woods which is a glorious, tiny little "festival" no bands just camping in the woods, campfires, kids entertainment and a lake to swim in, lovely, we've booked for next year already! http://southwarkbelle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/blog-awards-pox-and-camping-solo-with.html This year we are definitley also all going to Just So festival which is entirely for kids and hopefully some more too. I'm not really very hippy dippy but so far I've actually found it all pretty relaxing, At beautiful days they could go from one entertainment to the next from the moment they woke up until they eventually passed out in the buggy/sling the only stress was choosing how to fit everything in. Most festivals will have a family camping area away from everyone else which is quieter and where the kids can find new friends.

I second blankets under the beds to keep you warm. Also, if you are cooking over a wood fire, rub a layer of washing up liquid over the outside of theh pan first, makes it much easier to clean off the soot. We went to a festival last year, also took battery powered fairy lights, hand to put on the tent so you can find your way back in the dark and also putting on the buggy so no one falls over it. Also got a big pack of glow stick bracelets on ebay, eldest loved making bracelets and necklaces and made it easier to see her in the dark! Take lots of waterproofs - we ended up having to buy a second pair of wellies for our eldest as she completely filled her other pair. But if it's hot and raining just strip everyone down to as little as possible, easier to dry out a few thin clothes and your skin than a load of waterproofs. Yes - it will be fun!! We camped twice with the kids last year, this weekend is our first trip of at least 3 for this year.

Your food always looks gorgeous Supergolden! So this is very cheeky, but I was genuinely very surprised to find out yesterday that my blog had made the short list for an award. If anyone would consider taking a look and maybe voting that would be lovely! You may find another blog you know on the voting form too... http://southwarkbelle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/bib-awards-2014-short-list-excitement.html K

I'd go with the cutting it out suggestion as above, or make a normal shape cake, cover it in butter cream dyed blue to make the sea and make little whales to peak out of the water out of sugar paste, which is basically like playdough but tastes marginally better. I have no artistic abilities and managed to make my daughter a cake with Orcas on it using this method!

Thanks Renata

Do you have a site for the new school? I can't find this information on your website

Agree with the others. Also - buy our services because one person told the Daily Mail that they thought something similar worked for them. Really??

But presumably the senior management can only decide which classes to close/ if to close the whole school once they know which teachers are on strike? If lots of teachers (in the case of a multi-union strike) keep quiet until the last minute the what can the head etc do?

Yes definitely try pals, is there any way of getting sent to St Thomas' instead if Kings is no good? My daughter had to have a blood test at the Evalina hospital a few years ago they were really lovely and far better at it than the A&E GP who had tried a few days earlier!

Gosh a lot of people make a lot of money from over complicated diet advice. Eat a wide variety of lots of fruit and veg, everything else in moderation especially high fat, high sugar, highly processed stuff. There we go, that's the Kes diet - now to write the book and make my millions!

Thanks everyone, I guess it just comes down to each schools interpretation of the rules so I'll have to see what they say. I'm only looking to take her out for 2 days but I suspect the answer will be no so as not to set a precedent. Worth a try though I guess!

My daughter's school finaly sent a letter out last night. 2 classes closed, not hers. I was told - and someone can correct me if this is wrong - that the teachers don't actually HAVE to tell the school if they are sriking or not until the day before. So they can try to cause maximum disruption by not saying either way until the last minute, meaning the school has to choose between giving no notice or shutting all together. I guess that is more of an issue if lots of unions are involved though. Presumably the two classes no running at my daughters school are the two NUT teachers. Much sympathy to those with one child in and one out.

Pickle I'm so sorry, that really does seem unreasonable. If that's not exceptional circumstances what is?

Does anyone happen to know if the new stricter rules about term time holiday apply to reception children? I'm probably clutching at straws here, but my understanding is they don't legally have to have started school at that age so do the rules still apply? I'll ask the head about it but wondered if anyone had any experience? Thanks

I asked my daughter's teacher about this on Monday, having heard nothing from the school. She said she didn't plan to strike but the school hadn't yet decided what they were doing so the whole school could be shut. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the reasons for the strike I'm pretty annoyed by the lack of information about it, which seems common to lots of schools. I have no local family to do emergency childcare and my work schedule books up 4 weeks in advance. Should I have booked a days annual leave a month ago when it was in the news just in case (and risk wasting a precious and limited resource if my daughter's class aren't affected)? What if I hadn't seen the news story and I suddenly found out a few days before? Emergency mummy day off I guess but I'm not the only one in my small lab with kids, big problem if half of us are off at no notice. If I've known about this for a month how come the schools didn't let us all know weeks ago what was going on? grump grump grump

Yes, there are lots of outdoor playgrounds and creche/activity sessions where you could leave a child for a couple of hours and take the others swimming (or leave them all in one and go to the spa!) You can book these all in advance which may be worth doing. I'd recommend Elvedon as it's fairly flat, which is handy if you're pulling 2 kids in a trailer on your bike! If you want to eat in the restaurants at kiddy dinner time book it earlier in the day - we saw lots of people getting turned away or having long waits. The kids pool area at Elveden would certainly be managable with multiple kids, it's seperated from the main pool at bit and my then 2 1/2 yr old spent almost an hour just going up and down one little slide while I chatted to another mum who's kids were doing the same (although this was almost 2 yrs ago now so may have changed). Might be worth checking if there are rules for how many kids you can take in. Years ago I was a lifeguard at a similar sort of pool and we wouldn't have let one adult bring in 3 little ones. We also passed a lot of time just feeding birds and squirrels from the back door of our appartment, they are very tame and came right up to us.

Sorry not strictly family room but I especially value responses from those who've dealt with building projects while small children are in the house and all that that entails! (Also, the family room is the nicest bit on here, right?) We want to do a very simple extension to the back of our kitchen (Victorian terrace). Can anyone recommend a building company that can do the whole job, including drawing up plans etc? Or do we need an architect? It will be small enough to be within permitted development. Thanks K

It does feel a bit like there is an NHS premium service available if you happen to live in just the right place, want/can have a home birth AND are sufficiently in the know to ask for it immediately. My NCT teacher (not in ED) recommended that the whole class pretended to want home births, as that was the only way to get a caseload midwife in our bit of southwark. We would then have to pretend to chicken out at the last minute if we actually planned to go to hospital! Information we only obtained thanks to being able to afford the ?200+ NCT fee! Having experienced both the brierly midwives and the standard, whoever's-on-duty model, I'd say the former is far better and it makes me uneasy that it's a model mostly accessed by the more fortunate members of our society I include myself in that, although I couldn't afford private midwives). I hope it can be extended to more women.

Presumably I'd then have to be registered in honor oak though which would be less convenient for everything else? It's not a big deal but I was really surprised by it when I moved here, there has always been someone who could do it at previous surgeries.

I'd like to do something else too, just not sure what! Current job in cancer research ticks the ethical, if not the well paid box but I've been in the same, very niche, roll for 10 years so would be good to do something new. If I stay in the same area that would probably mean doing a PhD though which I've avoided so far and I'm not keen on. I am doing an EdX course on line, a bit hard to describe but it looks at the chemistry and science behind nutrients in food and also some of the myths about them - might be interesting for you Knomester? I have a couple of friends who did the shortened version of doctor training, one of them has had two kids while doing it!

I really like Dr Iu at Nunhead surgery and I never have problems getting an appointment. The reception staff are very nice and helpful too, as are the nurses. But a couple of the other doctors haven't been so great and it drives me mad that I have to drag all the way to Dulwich hospital or Kings every time I need a blood test! I guess I was spoilt though as my previous surgery in Elephant and Castle was wonderful.

Sainsbury's! I got a lovely comment on my daughter's outfit today, it came from Sainsbury's 3 1/2 years ago and was worn by my older child before this one!