oimissus

blackout curtains. I have rarely seen blackout blinds that keep the majority of light from coming in at the window. Though I admit that I have never seen the appeal of blinds over curtains!

Get a second opinion. I was well well well into double fingers before I stopped sucking my fingers - I sucked my fingers all day long, I had teeth marks permanently in 2 of my fingers which took years to go away. Never needed a brace. My sister, who stopped at a rather more reasonable age (prob about 7) did, though I have no idea if she needed the brace because of sucking her fingers or not. (And for what it's worth, my mum was a children's dentist, and she never tried to make us stop.) Does your dentist absolutely put it down to her thumb-sucking? I know only one thumb-sucker who is 4 and whose teeth are fine. I would be surprised if your daughter's thumb was jammed up against her teeth, causing this level of problem, all night - surely once she's asleep it drops out? I'm merely saying that stopping your daughter sucking her thumb may not make this problem go away.

I got Game of Thrones season 2. Not your traditional Mother's Day gift, I grant you, but I'm dead chuffed. I also spent all morning being completely confused about the time as my calender (which I now realize is American) told me daylight saving starts today.

I don't think it's possible for them to have too much milk, as long as it isn't affecting their appetite. We've just dropped morning milk and it definitely means Miss Oi has a bigger breakfast. But if they're eating fine I don't think there's anything wrong with a lot of milk?

our routine for about 18 months (she's just recently turned 3) is bath (a riot), milk in bedroom, teeth, stories (2 on the sofa, one in bed), then lights out while she jumps around on the bed and tells us about her day, then a couple more minutes on the sofa while she properly settles. The whole thing takes a stupid amount of time, nigh on 90 minutes. She loves her stories, would have far more than 3, and jumps about like a loon, but in fact settles pretty speedily once we leave the room. Mainly. We've jiggled it from time to time, particularly when she stopped having a sleeping bag, and then when she went from cot to bed, but the fundamentals have remained the same - the order, and once she's upstairs for bathtime she stays upstairs (except if grandparents are staying and she comes down to say goodnight to them). I'm quite strict at bedtime though Mr Oi stays up with her for longer and generally lets her faff about more, whereas I want her in bed as quickly as possible. She's usually down by 8. Always has her lullaby CD playing, always certain toys in bed, door ajar to let in light from hall (she's had the odd funny phase about the dark). With milk, if she says she doesn't want it I offer it to a toy or pretend to drink it myself (warm milk - yeuch!), that normally gets her focussed again!

what about slides and hairbands? I always think one of the good things about having a girl is not having to worry about haircuts so much, but if you get a fringe you're going to have to keep on getting it trimmed!

this is in The Lounge on this forum as well, I couldn't get it to work boo.

hmm, I can't vote, when I click on the Vote Now box nothing happens.

we make Delia's roasted and sundried tomato risotto, which you cook in the oven. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/risotto/roasted-and-sun-dried-tomato-risotto.html This Jamie curry, with all the spices but without the chillis. I usually make it with cauliflower and peas. http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/southern-indian-vegetable-curry-with-curry-leaves egg fried rice - cook rice and rinse in cold water, scramble one egg (no milk) in frying pan, add rice then whatever else you want to stick in - we did carrots, peas and sweetcorn.

Miss Oi was registered with the Villa at birth, and at around 18 months I started hassling them about her starting when she was 2 (which would be in January 2012). Firstly they said September 2012, then June. I just went on and on and on and hey presto, she started in January 2012, just after she turned 2 and when I wanted her to. I had been warned that you do have to push and push which is a bore.

oooh, this really infuriates me. You would think that women were having virgin births, or that the desirable thing to do is to go back to 16-year-old girls marrying men in their 40s a la Jane Austen. I had to explain this to my (otherwise lovely) Daily-Mail reading, Tory MiL - she was astonished to find out that my entire NCT class were all in their 30s and that (gasp!) 3 of us were 38. She really hadn't thought about the fact that, even if women do want to have children in their 20s, they are not guaranteed AT ALL in finding a man of a similar age who wanted to do the same (including her own sons! - Mr Oi would have run a mile in his 20s had any woman suggested he start a family); or that, as everything is so expensive these days, housing most obviously, couples might have to work for longer before starting a family with a reasonable amount of security. Or indeed that a women might want to have a career and continue it for a decent while - why put in all that work in your 20s just to back away from it. I don't see anyone suggesting that a man should drop or backpedal his career for his family. Grrrrrrr.

you really think that everybody in the world should be interested in every single murder? Wow, you must have a lot of time on your hands. Sorry, what is it exactly that you want everyone to do?

but realistically, why should the world be interested in every murder in South Africa, a country that has way more of its fair share of murders? Whereas it's completely understandable that the world is shocked by Oscar Pistorius, a man who has overcome his disability to become one of the greatest athletes in the world (disabled or otherwise), being accused of such a dreadful crime. Of course every murder is appalling, but you can't expect them all to make the headlines, especially in other countries.

every report I've read has named her - I see what you're saying but the fact is, if she wasn't his girlfriend it wouldn't be front-page news. It's a dreadful tragedy whatever, a waste of 2 promising young lives.

you can call the council noise people about her parties - I don't know what they can do legally, but they will certainly have a word. Regarding any noise your child may (or may not!) make, one thing is, if you have wooden floors, replace them with carpet. It is not great being in the flat below a wooden floorboarded flat (in fact, many leases don't allow floorboards on any other than the ground floor) - unless your soundproofing is fantastic every footstep will be audible, and there's less to absorb other noises. My aunty's upstairs neighbours (who have children) ripped up the carpets and put down wooden flooring and you can hear everything now, which is pretty depressing for her. It drives me up the wall when I'm just there for a couple of hours, God knows what it must be like to live with!

it's really difficult to have a proper ruck when there's a swear filter, I find.

well, it sounds like you just had a grumpy shop assistant there, canela, which is crap whatever your situation (try shopping in Peckham, we have a special level of miserable shop assistants all the time). I don't know why it is, hangover from the past (children seen and not heard) maybe, or living in a stupidly expensive, overcrowded city makes people less tolerant all round - there's a couple of possibilites. I completely agree that society's attitude to the elderly is far far worse than to children. don't you find the fasmily room to be generally ruck-free - everyone's very nicely behaved, aren't they? Not like over in the General section, where it can get entertainingly punchy. If you posted (as someone did today) a question about toddler groups or something that's been covered before in General it would take 3 minutes for 10 people to pile in pointing out where the search function is, hasn't this been done a billion times before blah blah - over here everyone mildly mentions what groups they like until someone points the OP in the direction of ED Tots. anyway - SAHP vs WOHP? Anyone?

I think you have to go with your gut feeling about the nursery and the care they provide - basically, do you trust them? I don't think any good nursery hands out 'punishments' to toddlers like this, but equally they have to consider all the children in their care and so may respond to a situation differently from how you might at home or in a playgroup. I very much doubt he would have been separate to the others for any length of time, but it was probably the best thing to happen right then - allow the bitten child a chance to recover perhaps (he may have bitten the same child more than once?) and allow him time to settle down, perhaps have some one-to-one with an adult to explain what had happened - and then that would be it, back to playtime only that was when you arrived.

I agree that what you need is somewhere with a designated kids' room or area - children, particularly small ones, should not run around where they can crash smack into the corners of tables (nicely at eye height) or be tripped over by waiting staff carrying hot food and drink, it's not fair on the waiting staff whose job is hard enough as it is without being expected to have eyes in their knees! Herne Tavern has good indoor and outdoor space for children.

surely no-one grows out of being into Star Wars . . . ???

O borrowed one off a friend and found it very useful in the early stages. I would see if you can borrow one and get new pads for it as they're quite expensive.

I went to Lindy's class at Dulwich Healthmatters 4 years ago, they were excellent!

ooh, that does look good, WorkingMummy - I'm guessing cheaper than Gambardo's?! Is it like Gambardo's in that you can go round with your child, or do they have to go round on their own like in Peckham? Miss Oi is always wary to begin with.

I don't think it's worth a trip by itself, but good to go to if you're going there anyway.

Well, I would guess their parents will bring a selection of toys to keep them entertained in the house, and there's always CBeebies. Maybe check out what your local charity shop has got in the way of jigsaw puzzles or the like. Out of doors - lots of good playgrounds and parks to choose from, you don't say exactly where you are but Goose Green, Ruskin Park, Brockwell Park all have good playgrounds (GG is just a playground, the others nice parks, and they have cafes). Horniman Museum. Dulwich Woods.