scareyt

On Friday mornings the shallow half of the pool is roped off for lessons but it's free swimming in the rest of it. It's not to deep to stand up in. It's also actually free on Fridays for Southwark residents!

That sounds like a horrible stressful day for all of you. I've had success with persuading my son to take horrible-tasting medicine by saying we'll have to go back to the doctor and tell him this isn't working if we can figure it out between us. He hates going to the doctor and could tell what I was saying was true so that worked. The struggles and upset sound worse than the dry eyes. It sounds like you all need to have a chat about it in the morning when you're feeling calmer and say sorry to each other and have a family cuddle. That's what we do after a row.

Worth noting that if you hav not moved in time for the application deadline, you can apply late and will be added to the waiting list based on distance, not date of application. We moved from Anerley to Herne Hill and love it. It's very quiet but if you're looking to stay put for 20+ years that could well grow on you! Easy to get into London and easy to get to East Dulwich for pubs & restaurants. If you're mostly going to commute by bike I would go for Herne hill. Denmark Hill station can be grim in the mornings though so if you're going to commute by train in peak rush hour you might be better off living further out so you can get on the train easily. You can always get a seat on the train in Crystal Palace which is great. But it's a long journey in by bus or bike from there.

The soft play at Brixton rec is good - huge with lots of levels so is good for slightly older kids.

All the recommendations for him are from people who have only made a tiny number of posts on here. That alone always makes me steer clear.

Hi, I'm looking for someone to do a few outside jobs. 1) Break apart and take away a small round patio area at the back of the garden. It's a circle of paving stones set into concrete, 2.2 metres across. There is no side access so the rubble will need to be carried through the house and disposed of. All the concrete needs to come out, leaving just the soil and no debris. 2) In the front garden, supply and set into concrete a Sheffield bike stand. The existing surface is concrete so you will need to make holes in it first. 3) Re-render the front of the low front garden wall. Some of the bricks have worked loose so the wall itself will need a bit of attention. 4) Lay new paving stones in the main patio in the back. The main patio is 10 square metres, plus as path of around 5 square metres. Please PM me if you are interested in quoting for this work.

I think it would be fine. If it was on for two hours solid and pointing in the same direction the whole time then yes the floor would get slippery. But you can turn them on and off and move them around for bursts of bubbly fun and just keep an eye on how the floor is doing. It's only tiny amounts of liquid for each bubble. For a group of kids aged around 2 - 4 bubbles are hard to beat for instant happiness.

Hi Kate, we're coming tomorrow, looking forward to it! And an email went out to Bessemer Grange parents about it today. :-)

We had Max from Nutty's being a pirate for my sons 5th birthday and he was absolutely lovely. Great with the quieter kids and not too much screaming. He brought a guitar and did loads of games and was very good at calming things down as well as making it fun.

A trampolining park?

I bought this about four years ago and my now 6 year old still plays with it almost every bath time. Every other bath toy has either got mouldy or become boring but this is brilliant. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004QTQ44W/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1479983024&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=bath+toy+fishing+boat&dpPl=1&dpID=41vGAkWr11L&ref=plSrch I remember it being a lot cheaper than the current Amazon price so might be worth shopping around.

Also it's worth borrowing as much stuff as you can for your first trip. once you've done it once you will have a better idea of what you do and don't want to buy for next time.

Hm my top tip for a first trip would probably be to go with another family who know what they're doing and have all the stuff! Or if not, just plan really easy food that you know your kids like and don't be too ambitious about barbecues for dinner as it always takes longer than you think it will and little kids could well be starving and ratty long before anything is ready to eat. A cool box, a one ring gas stove and some comfy fireside chairs are fairly important. We have got away with not buying a table snd "dining" style chairs so far, often sites have picnic tables you can use. And we have a couple of those big square "really useful" plastic boxes that I pack all the kitchen stuff in and use as a surface to put the burner on. It's not very slick but much cheaper than a big camping kitchen unit thing. My best camping purchase though is a giant fleece blanket from Amazon to wrap around the air beds and keep them together in the night. And a cheap giant picnic blanket to put under them to insulate you from the ground and make the bedroom bit feel cosy. I love camping, even though it's basically a massive faff. Have fun! xx

Hi all, just wanted to share a blog post I wrote about camping with kids - hope you enjoy it! :-) http://metro.co.uk/2016/05/14/16-things-you-only-know-if-you-have-camped-with-small-children-5826901/

Oh it's so horrible isn't it. We used k&o pest control. They were good. They also have a shop in penge- if it happened again I would just go to the shop next time and get loads of poison and bait boxes and put them all over the place. That's what they did and it worked within two weeks.

It's our open evening tonight - why not stop by and say hi on this lovely sunny day. We'll have some fun stuff out to show you, great beer available next door from Canopy Beer Co. and I just picked up some pretzels and popcorn to share. See you in the space from 7:30! http://southlondonmakerspace.org/ We're tucked away in the railway arches behind Norwood Road in Herne Hill opposite Brockwell Park, just behind the big CostCutter & Post Office.

Hi this is a bit random but have you tried keeping a food diary to see if there is a specific food trigger for the behaviour? I've heard of children behaving that way because of a soy allergy. My son turns into a devil child if his blood sugar gets too high and then too low. If he has protein or oats for breakfast he is delightful all day.

Oh also I forgot my favourite recent discovery - Crocs! They have a shop in Covent Garden with loads of styles, many not ugly or clumpy at all, and they are all stretchy and super comfy. I've spent all summer in the Hurrache Flats for the last few years and now can't bear wearing normal summer sandals any more.

Thanks for sharing, I have bookmarked your blog. :-)

Have you tried Ted&Muffy? Used to be called Duo. They have a showroom shop on Saville Row where you can try things on and then order. They do lots of sizes and widths and boots in 5 different calf fittings too. The prices aren't crazy either - much more reasonable than you might expect from the location.

I really rate Rocca for their food and friendliness towards kids, but there isn't any running around space. Although you are near Dulwich Park. Or the Rosendale has very good food and a climbing frame outside. The Florence has got rid of their playroom and had a refurb to fit more tables in & might be a bit too noisy & crowded for a nice celebration meal.

The most helpful thing we did over the summer before reception was meeting up with other kids due to start in his class and arranging a few play dates, so his first day wasn't just a sea of new faces. Most schools will help organise that or have some kind of welcome event at the end of the summer term where you can swap numbers with other parents. We got a PE kit bag that's a different colour to the official school ones which is really helpful when it comes to finding his stuff in the inevitable jumble of coats and bags that builds up during the day. And having a bright coloured coat with a good strong hanging loop is good. And a cool key ring to hang on his bookbag. And being able to get dressed, put shoes on and wipe bum (and nose!). I wouldn't worry about the academic stuff at all - there is such a range of experiences and readiness and knowledge in every reception class that he's bound to be within the normal range wherever he starts from. It's useful if he can sit still and listen to instructions and if he's used to eating the kind of food they will serve at lunchtime, if he's going to have school meals. Most schools publish a menu on their websites. But also agree with other posters - try not to worry about it too much and just enjoy being able to go on outings while everyone else is at school!

Also my cousin from the US who we had never met spent a summer with us when she was 15 and then travelled around Ireland on her own. Some kids are just ready to go explore at that age, and some families see it as no big deal. Not sure how I will feel as a parent when my son is that age though!

You could maybe try the Education Otherwise network? The equivalent in France is called Les Enfants d'Abord. I spent a few months with a French family we found through that network when I was 18, and then we and another family hosted an 11 year old from the French family for a month in the UK. I was surprised that she and her mum were up for that when she was so young, but she was a very confident kid, had a great time and learnt loads more English than she would have with all her family around her. (We got the ferry and train from Paris to London together, and the UK train randomly stopped at a signal somewhere in Kent. She was astonished to learn that we had stopped but not arrived at the station, and that in England those two things are often entirely unrelated!) I think that in France 15 doesn't seem to young to go have an adventure without your family, and if you find the right hosts she will have a great time.

We also had the slipping off the mattress problem with a very wriggly 4 year old - we were on a double, he was on a single next to us, and I woke several times in the night to find him lying on the cold floor in the gap in between the two. After that trip I bought a cheap giant fleece blanket from Amazon to put on top of both mattresses and tuck under to hold them together. It makes the surface much less slippery, adds some warmth underneath you, and means he stays on the bed and we all stay warm and asleep. Some spare blankets to go under the air beds are also worth bringing - sounds weird but you actually lose more heat to the ground than the air. (We tried just using a quilt for our first camping trip with a very wriggly three year old but were in a camping shop buying a sleeping bag on day two as he just didn't stay under the quilt and was freezing cold!)