WorkingMummy

More Than Words - Extreme

We are currently packing our garden with gear for the kids so am very interested in this thread. Has anyone gone with a sunken trampoline? I saw a large one in a hotel garden once, but before we had kids so we didn't try it out.

I have the same dynamic: a 4 and 2 yo. I hear you! My 2 yo is generally more laid back than her older sister but she has recently developed a type of tantrum which is as awesome as any I've seen! BirneHelene wrote the following in a post begun by Tiddles last November about mother in the co-op who was amazingly patient with her screaming toddler. She wrote: "Talking of coping strategies for parents reminds me of this lovely book which focusses on helping parents develop strategies to cope when things get tough. The Joy of Parenting: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Guide to Effective Parenting in the Early Years (by Coyne and Murrell)" I bought the book and found it very useful. The stuff on planned ignoring is particularly good.

More - Sisters of Mercy

Sorry, just caught on, thanks to Fuschia, to this being about toddler classes. Although if you stay on at Sing and Sign they do teach phonetics, with the British Sign Language signs for the letters, to children up to two years. Which is very good.

Fuschia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sing and sign is worth signing up for > Apart from that I would stuck to the horniman, one > o clock clubs, children's centres, libraries, > book start ... Agree completely. Although would add "Music for Little People" (which used to be held in Goose Green community centre, not sure if still going on) is also good quality and therefore good value for money. Sing and sign is the best, however. All three of mine have done it and it is so useful as it really does enable them to communicate with you from a very early age. My 10 month old looks so proud whenever he makes the milk sign and often gives himself a round of applause for doing it! Everything else, I am really surprised how hit and miss it is. My first nanny sorted out a routine full of classes for my first baby and I was paying a fortune for it all. Then she was sick for a couple of weeks and I took over. Most of the classes seemed to start late, end early, be taken up in part by chat between the mums (which would have been fine had the class been free) and the content - to be honest - was nothing you can't get for free from a wide range of Sure Start/Sally Army type play groups.

One Love - U2

Why did Cameron fly home and cancel his immediate engagements? Obviously, cancel appointments to attend her funeral, yes. Give a statement to camera, yes. But down tools immediately and rush home, as if the nation needs leadership to deal with the news???

What if God was One of Us - Alanis Morissette

Thanks CivilServant, have enrolled.

Saw this and thought of you Susyp. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=xSGKdqwuEA4&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DxSGKdqwuEA4%26feature%3Dyoutu.be X

That's loads to start my hunt with, thanks.

Want to regain core body strength, flexibility and posture after third baby and 4.5 years of pregnancies, baby-carriers, and co-sleeping/breast-feeding at night in awkward positions. Used to take a low key ballet class (mixed ability, some complete novices) at a gym at London Bridge. Really liked it. But wondered if anything closer. Nothing involving point work! WM

I was the same. no 1 was 22 months when 2nd was born. Used buggy board from outset. No double buggy needed (until no 3 came along). But no 1 was an early walker.

Spanners, a 40 piece starter kit arrived from amazon for my kids today. BIG hit. V good product. Will buy more gradually. Edited to say: only one left. (There are bigger packs available but they are very expensive.) See: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B002LIJ17C/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?ref_=pe_217191_31005151_3p_M3_dp_1

I agree very strongly with the positive posts on this thread. The Kings unit has a very strong reputation throughout Europe. The standards there are incredibly high and we are very lucky to have them. The breadth and depth of expertise there is very strong. They are at the forefront of research. On the care side, although I've had three home births, with my third baby I was in the labour ward for a short while because, at 40 weeks, my midwife visited me at home and told me two awful things: 1) my baby was lying, she thought, laterally across me, which was dangerous as I was due and they could not let me go into labour like that and 2) she could not detect a heartbeat. My husband was not at home. I was alone. It was a nightmare of panic and grief. I was sent to the labour ward at Kings immediately. They were lovely to me. One midwife and one doctor saw me, assessed me. They immediately told me my baby (sweet jesus!!) was fine but they kept me in for a good few hours just to keep an eye on the monitor and - frankly - to minister me back from the abyss with their kindness and gentleness. I gave birth to a strapping lad at home 12 days later. But as always, I was only confident to do that because Kings was right there if needed. They are ace.

Congratulations bubblebob! The dynamic between three so close really is wonderful and worth the work it takes out of you. (Get as much help in as you can afford from 7 months pregnant for at least a year.) :-)

Mariella Frostrup is presenting Bringing Up Britain on Radio 4 tonight. Title: "Parenting and Pornography". 8pm

Saila Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ... But isn't mummy pig just brighter and that's > not really sexist? > > I assumed that George had inherited his mum's > brain cell and Peppa her dad's > > So the gender is reversed in the children's > generation > > George often 'gets' things before Peppa does > despite being younger Liked.

Can anyone tell me to what age a child can fit into the seat of a baby jogger mini twin double? Toddlers, three year olds, will they squeeze in? WM

I have three between ages of 4.5 years and 9 months. We bought our very first car 4 weeks ago. London is the easiest place in the country to not have a car. We have so many parks on our doorstep, so much to do in London and such good public transport links, there's no need. All my friends kept telling me I would need a car, but I really didn't. Even the half hour walk to nursery was a pleasure and good for the kids. When it rained, we had our hoods. We've done many days out by train and last summer we did a weekend at Ramsgate, all by train and bus. Main reason we bought was for holidays, mainly the long haul drives to Switzerland (in-laws) and Newcastle (one of my sisters). We previously hired/borrowed for that, but now we have a third child, I decided our needs were too specific and hiring two or three times a year with a very exact specification too much hassle. So we have an S-max now. We still do the nursery on foot there and back. Even in the recent freeze. And I refuse to drive to any supermarket. When you are not in the habit of going to them, supermarkets shout "very grim" from a mile off. It's delivered-in or I go to the local shops on foot. I once stayed with my sister in Surrey when my first child was about 14 months. THERE I nearly went mental. Zero facilities, not even a swing and no buses at all. There was occasionally a horse to look at in a field at the bottom of the road but that was it. You absolutely do need a car outside London.

Hi Pebbles, The grounds you cite may be enough to justify your excusal from service for the foreseeable future, ie, to get you put back into the pool for random re-selection, rather than deferral for six months or so. Don't plead the holiday as your primary excuse - they'll just ask you to come another time. Instead, describe your permanent situation as a S@HM, with the ages of your children. Think about what you would need to do to put in place child care to allow for your absence from the home (allowing for however long it would take you to get to and from a court day where you would be expected to be at the courthouse at 9.45 latest and not leave until sometime between 4.30 and 5). Is it do-able at all? If so, what would it cost financially? And what would the effect be on your children (and therefore vicariously you) emotionally. Don't exaggerate anything, just set it all out nice and factual. Given what you say about wanting to do jury service one day, I would introduce your "costing-up" by saying, I realise its an important duty, and I'd be very keen to go it, but I've thought really hard about whether I could make it work and ... FYI, the statutory test for excusal is whether to serve as a juror would cause YOU hardship. (It doesn't have to be severe, but it does need to be significantly more than the average amount of inconvenience and hassle it causes anyone who has to serve.) Hardship can be financial, emotional or physical, but if you mention the effect on your children remember to state how that will effect you as you are what counts for the purpose of the test. Then at the end ask, if you cannot be excused, to be deferred on grounds of half term + holiday plans. You'll definitely get at least that. You may well get the whole excusal, especially as you have a pre-schooler. Good luck. WMx

Dulwich2020, or even Admin, Any chance you could change the title of this thread? The content of the OP was entirely unobjectionable as an expression of irritation, and nothing like as extreme as some of the views since expressed by, well, mainly by Louisa. But even Louisa has, at one point, distanced herself from the title. It's insulting. The thread is proving very popular and has been at or near the top of the board for a few days now. It is rather a slap in the face whenever you enter the lounge: "Gross women".

Try letting pre-schoolers watch Peppa Pig on BBC Alba, in Gaelic, and then keep your distance, but secretly listen to them rationalise what's going on. V funny. And not at all sexist. Also they tire of it v quickly. I'm trying not to ban anything for fear of creating whatever is the pre-school mentality's equivalent of martyrs.

Thank you. Day was a success.