littleEDfamily

I seem to be in the minority, but I had no desire for labour to kick off. Had too much to do, was afraid of the pain and more than happy being preggers. Even when my waters broke, I did my best to pretend it wasn't happening... I was 4 days over and had the French perception of 'due date' firmly in mind, so was quite disappointed I didn't get another couple of weeks 'off'! Ellen -I hear you! The way you feel in early pregnancy is totally unlike any other feeling of hideousness. It's like you've been up all night drinking absinthe... well it was for me anyway! Edited as I pushed 'post' mid sentence. Numpty.

Been in the big smoke 10 years and encountered many a celeb, but Stacey - she's Top of his Top 5. Surely I can drop my cool veneer, just this once. She's Welsh, after all.... Stacey (Jo Jo).. if you're out there.... be flattered, my husband has VERY high standards;-)

Stacey is Number 1 on my husband's Top 5. For the second time I came face to face with her as she scuttled by, and for the second time, I played it cool. The first time, it was his birthday and it was a cruel twist of fate that I had just left him moments before the sighting. My question is this: would I be seen to be odd/ loser-ish to ask for her autograph (he is desperate for some kind of connection - weirdo)? It seems a bit naff, especially since she is no random celeb, but a fellow ED-dweller. Please comment.

Love love love Jacks. Especially their yummy bread, thickly sliced and warmed with butter. Yum. Their sometimes unpredictable opening hours give me that feeling I had as a child when shops weren't open on Sundays - you get annoyed when you want to buy something, but you appreciate them so much more when they are open! Yay for Jacks doing their own thing, playing hard to get sometimes.

I'm guessing you would normally get the train to Denmark Hill. You could try the 63 bus... not my favoured option. Or get the 17 bus from Ludgate Circus to London Bridge (or walk if sunny) and get train from there. Another option is City Thameslink to Herne Hill and the 37 bus from Half Moon Lane (be cautious with this approach, as we have waited over 30 min for a bus).

Just confirming: all quiet on Landells last night. I think it was an isolated incident, but will report back if this turns into a suitcase pulling spree.

A fair question - I feel he may have returned without it as I heard someone return to the house but without the tell tale sound of accompanied baggage that had previously awoken me. By the time I got up out of bed to curtain twitch, the door had closed. An enigma wrapped up in mystery.

Haven't read the entire monstrous suitcase prowler thread, but my instincts are he is an entirely different suitcase puller. To add additional mystery to this exciting event, I think he may have returned home about an hour later SANS suitcase. It's all going on in ED.

He didn't look like a thief. Or a newly single man. Actually, looked like he was calming wheeling his unwanted goods to a charity shop AT 2AM IN THE MORNING!! Maybe he is an insomniac and we need to start a Horlicks appreciation club together....

ok before you all shoot me down for posting tosh, I freely admit this post is probably unneccesary and irrelevant to most, but why pray tell have I just been awoken by a man who lives in this street walking down the middle of the road pulling a large suitcase? Tell me your story, man!!! I'm a shameless curtain twitcher who needs to know!

Just noticed veryseriousgirl's posting. It's outrageous to hear this sort of carry on is still going on, but not surprising. I wonder if your boss has realised that the law requires employers to properly consider requests to work flexibly and the onus is on them to show objectively why, in cases where an application is rejected, it cannot be supported. That said, it is pointless trying to work in an environment where part time work is not supported (except if you really need the cash and can put up with the aggro), if they are hell bent on making life difficult for you to have a reasonable shot at being a working mum (if that's what you want), you may have a good case for sex discrimination, which, even if you don't want to go to tribunal may get you a decent pay out. Hope that didn't sound too cynical and militant!

Sorry - I think I killed the thread going off on a tangent about tax. I was finding everyone's stories really interesting, so would love to hear more about personal experiences with work after babies.

Cheers - that's great. I've had a skim and will have a proper read over the next few days - some quite controversial/ thought provoking articles on there.

What would be great is if the UK adopted the Australian system that gives tax breaks (can't quite remember the details) to the main earner once one of the partners gives up work to take care of children. It means (I think) that the family essentially gets the tax-free/ lower rate tax for two people on the main earner's income (so you only pay the higher rate of tax on a smaller portion of your income). Not very well explained but I hope you get the jist. There must be groups that are lobbying for something like this? Anyone have any further detail? I'd like to try and be some sort of activist for once in my dull life!

Great idea - let's do it. Although my daughter is a bit older (2.5), and have never been to a truly mixed age group. I suspect parents with younger babies would prefer to hang with people going through the same as they are. An idea for the summer may be to have a regular fixture at the Horniman sandpit on sunny days???? We can tout it as a Dad's meeting with mums welcome (it's normally the reverse!)? My hubby may be around next Friday, and so he will probably come to Dads and little 'uns! I love the idea of all these enlightened men hanging out together. Very cool.

Womanofdulwich... that was truly depressing (in the nicest possible way!) I have just been shaken into the reality of the long road ahead. It is terrifying to think about the impact of a few years of non-working can have in terms of being able to re-enter the workforce at a respectable level. What do people out there think about the recession making employers more likely to agree to part-time work? (I can see how it may work both ways) Does anyone have any experience in relation to the current conditions and their impact flexible working?

Just got round to having a look at this thread. I see you have interpreted the use of the word 'censorship' in quite an emotive way. I'm not remotely interested in controlling what others post on this Forum - the Admin steps in whenever he/ she perceives there to be some gross infridgement - still find it a bit bizarre that some people get their knickers in a twist about people's 'dull' posts. Anyway, I agree with the person who said this thread should be moved to the 'About the Forum' section (didn't know that existed before).

If only there were more combined groups. No offence to you mums out there, but it's nice to have a mixed group at least some of the time. It's gret when the Dads come along to the music groups etc instead of mums. Just creates a nice balance!

The single biggest thing that would have made a difference for me being back at work is if employers and colleagues were GENUINELY more flexible with DADS being able to do more. I know that not all fathers feel they want to do more (ie picking kids up from nursery, staying home with them when they're sick, keeping on top of vaccinations), but I am convinced it's at least partially because it's not yet socially or professionally acceptable for men to have a flexible work arrangement . The company I used to work for, out of a workforce of 2,000 had only 2 part time men in spite of them having exactly the same legal rights to work flexibly!! As long as it's only (just) acceptable for women to combine working with having a young family, the load on the mother is just too great and it's always going to be us getting the dirty looks at work for waltzing out 'on time' which is extremely demoralising for even the most thick skinned of us. If only we could get more men to buy into the reality of 'juggling', I'm sure the workplace would be much more efficient (less ridiculous meetings that go on for far too long and general time wasting posturing) and there would be far fewer stressed out mums! Anyway, sorry, slightly off track there.......

PS Totally identify with Molly's post....

I struggled despite a supportive employer. Just couldn't hack the relentless juggling and found I couldn't switch off after work and enjoy family as I wanted to. Always felt as though I was not doing work or home very well. Although, work agreed to whatever hours I wanted to do (and I tried a few combinations of part time hours),I just started to find the corporate world ridiculous and longed for a gentler pace. Decided in the end I'd rather be skint for a few years and then try again to be my old bad-ass career woman self. I've been stunned by how many of my female colleagues have reacted just as I have, and have decided to opt out for a couple of years. Combining being a parent with a career is trickier than I ever imagined it would be, so I wish you all the luck in the world!

Good post, jenren.

Any other aspects of our lives you'd care to tell us how to handle, citizenED?

Not sure why some of you lot seem hell bent on applying what is really a form of censorship to our fine forum. In my opinion, if people want to post about having heard a siren once in Lordship Lane back in 1992, let them do it - however irrelevant and uninteresting you think it is. If there's no interest no one will reply and they'll get the message. That's the whole beauty of user generated content! 'Incident' threads quite consistently get a lot of interest so why not allow others to indulge in what floats their boat? Reading about an incident on the forum and adding your two pence is no different in my mind to reading the newspaper which is filled with macabre, voyeuristic info which is more often than not totally irrelevant to the individual. PS Jealous of you, Dorset exile.

Leave us net twitchers be. Just don't read the threads that so offend.