dulwichmum

Lovely pebbles, I wish that my sisters would go to as much trouble as you have. That is what the kids will remember. My sister promises specific things to my kids for their birthdays and never ever remembers. Time is what kids appreciate. They just remember the effort you made. It sounds as though you really care about the kids and that is priceless.

Lovely Womanofdulwich, I do not mean to detract in any way from the idea behind pebbles thoughtful gift, but my son is 8 and he is already doing this sort of thing for himself at school. Kids are seriously advanced with regard to IT, they are even making short films/animations using LEGO figures and posting them on Youtube for eachother. You could set each of these children up a blog on blogspot with the childs name in the url and all of the features described above in about 15 minutes for free. My son is so much quicker at getting the hang of all of this than I am and could probably do it quicker than me. Think about it, how many times have you seen three and four year olds playing on their parents iPhones on the train etc? Little ones are far quicker at all of this techie stuff than us. ?40 sounds like a lot of money if you think that these kids can probably create far more advanced sites for themselves by now. If the oldest is 12, you can be sure that the 7 year old is learning quickly from him. I would go for an Amazon voucher. My son loved Mr Gum books when he was seven, but books come and go in fads, depending on what everyone else is reading in their class. They love vouchers, even book vouchers, and an Amazon vouchers allows them freedom to chose for themselves - anything from LEGO to music to books.

Actually, now I am getting rather excited about it. I shall be tuned in and hoping to see him bouncing around in his blue coat!

I suppose you are right. Chris Evans is such an animal!

Chris Evans and the vile One Show have been filming all morning in Brockwell Park. My poppets have been down there with the aupair and the cockapoo and apparently Chris Evan's was laughing at my perfect doglets coat - HOW VERY DARE HE! They have filmed my tiny pup to put on their vile show tonight and I, as the owner of the dog, would like to put a stop to it (stomps foot). I have fired the aupair, naturally. Is anyone else irritated by that vile Welsh woman and her chubby chum (wails)? Who should I call?

STOP THIS FILTH NOW (stomps foot)

*faints*

Dear Loz, That is so sad for you all. My husband's grandma knit our son a jumper when she was 94 and blind. It is perfect. It broke her heart when she could no longer occupy herself productively. Ask the hospital of their occupational therapist will chat to you, she may have some ideas. We downloaded lots of speaking books and old music for her to listen to on an MP3 player. I am not sure that she felt comfortable with the format. She preferred records.

Why don't you simply toss them in the bin and use new ones each time? Honestly though, how can these be environmentally friendly if you have to use extra rinses, detergents and even 90 degree washes to keep them from smelling? Just wondering...

I think that they should lock Gillian in a big box of slime and force her to eat Iceland party food! I am loving watching her collapse with shock at the thought of a fly when she examines peoples poo for fun. Did anyone else enjoy Limpoldarmpit momentarily believing that Linford was agreeing that steeling ?100 from the taxpayers purse was so tiny that it didnt count because he paid it back anyhow? I want Linford to bitch slap Limpoldarmpit with his lunchbox.

Poor lovely Fuschia, It sounds as though you are having a dreadful time. Please tell all of these concerns to your midwife and obstetrician. Thinking of you. Bea x

Couldn't you just drink it sweetie? You have probably consumed so much of it already... *faints*

Is there any possibility that your son could need glasses? Can he hear from where he is sitting? Does your son get on with that teacher? Does he find it hard to ask for clarification? Is the teacher intimidating? Ask other parents how they feel the teacher performs. It is that time of the year for parents evenings at my sons school - could you have a chat with the head? Is your son being bullied? Is he being distracted from working by the culture in the class? How are the other kids performing? Is there any disruption in the class?

OHMYGOD!!! I really never cease to be amazed. How can these bigots be permitted to poison childrens' minds like this?

I agree with womanofdulwich, aupairworld is a terrific website. I would not touch the agencies, in my experience. One local agency did not check references - never again. Another, asked me to pay a deposit up front and sent me one application form for a couple in their 60's and a "retired town planner" from France who was 55 and a smoker. I want someone with some energy. You have plenty of time if you get online now. I have a template somewhere of questions to ask at interview over the phone. If you PM me, I will email it to you. If you see someone you like online, hop to it, and email and phone her asap, or she will be snapped up before you get a chance to confirm references. The good ones are usually given a job offer within 36 hours of going online. I would not bother trying to interview someone already here - unless she is the aupair of someone you know well and comes with a great reference from them. You should be aware that if an aupair is already here, they may have been asked to leave for a reason - anything, you name it. I have seen it all... PM me for advice if you like. Aupairs add great energy to your kids lives. If you get the right one, you will never want her to leave!

Hi chrism, My first port of call would be the school - ask his maths teacher what she suggests.

Jeremy darling, Surely you are agree that if you are seen on your iPhone at work, it is assumed that you are listening to music and doing your shopping? If you are seen on your Blackberry, people back off and comment on how dedicated you are (smirk)!

None of these products have been proven to be clinically effective. Chose one that has a nice smell, take pleasure in looking after yourself and just pray for the best. Ask your mum if she got stretch marks. Consider your colouring. Do you have sisters? Did they get stretch marks? It is all do do with your skin type and your genes. Good luck.

Jersey. Dusseldorf is choc full of arrogant, rude Germans with their excessive body hair (particularly in the underarm and bikini area), strange knee length leather trousers (with bibs) and pickled cabbage. They are a nation of heavy metal loving arses. Nantes is full of Frenchies; Their love of striking and public protest make them incredibly unreliable, add that, the fact that their toilet facilities are an abomination (you will still find occasional hole in the floor conveniences) and their breath stinks of cigarettes - France is not for everyone. Incidentally, I have just been given 2 nights in a fabulous hotel in Jersey and will be looking for flights to the said destination... Do you want to sell them to me sweetie? I don't normally fly commercially, it could be a blast!

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And what do you know Sue? Are you a qualified > medical doctor perhaps, with a minimum of seven > years training? I hate to burst your bubble David, but medicine takes 5 years (you can add one more year to that if you take time out to do an intercollated degree in the middle). You can qualify in 4 years at Kings if you are already a graduate. Where did the 7 years come from? Does that take into account failing two years on the way and having to repeat them?

I have now had my new Blackberry Torch for over a week, it has a big touch screen and a pull out keyboard - I can email while walking along the street, with the hand I am holding the phone in. It is the best phone I have ever owned - so far... On reflection, the worst thing about the iPhone4 was that the screen was far too sensitive, I was cutting and pasting text from one email account into another - dangerously, I almost got into a very nasty scrape, and the end call button sticking - I cant handle that. It really freaked me out. Mick Mack, anyone in the city will tell you that that most of the big banks and hedge funds have their own servers and only support staff to use Blackberry for business - there are no intentions for this to change. iPhones are not considered business devices - the are a gadget for play. Every serious business person I know has a Blackberry, many have an iPhone as well, but no-one who is busy or senior suffers the iPhone for business. If you try to do any business on it, it will slow you down and even distract you. It is impossible to type at any speed without turning on the predictive text and some of the suggestions it comes up with are hilarious. You will take 2 minutes to send an email that will normally take seconds. I was constantly stopping and trying to edit and it was very frustrating. If you have your email on push with the iPhone4, it devours battery. With Blackberry, your red light flashes and you know you need to check what is up. The camera on the iPhone4 is stunningly good. The camera on the Blackberry Torch is 5 megapixels too - but for some reason, the pics are not nearly as good. I can surf the net better than ever before on my new Blackberry Torch - it has lots of super apps - not as flash as the iPhone, but it is a reliable business device. If I need to cut and paste, I know when I am doing it - I just use my keyboard. It is accurate and not over sensitive. I gave in to pressure from friends to buy an iPhone4 and it was a huge mistake. I need to stay on top of about 70 - 100 email a day, I need my battery to last at least 14 hours while I am out and about. I need to be easily contactable with a reliable phone. If I need a great camera, I will bring one with me. If I need OCADO I will have to wait until the app works on Blackberry or else use my desktop. My husband kept asking me to write down what I wanted from a phone before I changed, and it is a huge regred. The iPhone4 is not a phone, it is a gadget for play that can function as a phone and can accept email. It is a lovely toy but that is what it is.

I had been a Blackberry owner for 3 years when I got a new iPhone 4 a month ago. OHMYGOD! The OCADO app is terrific. The maps are terrific. The battery lasts 6 hours and the "end call" button kept getting stuck - this happened to me twice when I had actually phoned somebody by accident and was very embarrassing. It is rubbish for answering email. I now have a new Blackberry Torch. I can email with the hand I am holding the phone in, on the move. The battery life is terrific. It handles multiple email accounts/twitter and facebook really well. I love it that the light flashes when I have mail and I don't need to keep checking it. The iPhone 4 has a couple of issues to sort out before I would recommend it to anyone - it opened an email up from a client in my dulwichmum account and almost caused chaos. The Blackberry is the only way to go if you get lots of email and need to answer it on the move.

Dear Helena, Trust your instincts. You have said that he settled into two different pre-schools really well. He sounds miserable and he is four years old. I would listen to him. You have given him four weeks.

Dear Mrs F, For some women, pregnancy is exhausting - from start to finish - despite the common public perception that you simply change shape slightly for a few months. Many women develop a low HB, and this is completely normal. We are very efficient at reproducing - otherwise the planet would not be overflowing! Supplements should not be taken in pregnancy unless prescribed. Your body knows what it is doing, trust it to do the right thing. Rest.

Sanne Panne Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe start taking Floradix while you wait for > your test and results? It is not a good idea to self medicate during pregnancy. Your HB will drop naturally during pregnancy due to normal haemodilution - your circulating blood volume increases a great deal so it is natural that your iron level will drop. Taking unpresecribed iron supplements can cause all sorts of problems. It is late, and this is the first thing I found on Google, which is hardly a medical database! Only take medications that are prescribed.