theasidonio

damn.....

does anyone know what time the strike ends? can't seem to find the info on tfl. thanks!

Did you get this information from the police?

Yes, call Peter Steward from 1st Bounce. They are Dulwich based and really really reasonable!. 07527 811 845 Please tell him Thea recommended you if you do call them

The poster is also doing the rounds on facebook. I have shared this and asked all my local friends to do the same!

I'm Catholic and had 7 godparents, two are Greek Orthodox, one atheist and the rest a mix of C of E and Catholic - I think it is up to the priest's discretion..... Godparent is a term of respect as well as being a religious 'title', I think it's lovely for both the child and the godparents.

How about guide parents?

thumbs up from me! i have previously recommended Maurice, gret guy. don't be put off by fake recommendations - Maurice is a genuinely great plumber

Yes, my other half had really bad nightmares with Champix but peservered and it paid off! also had really bad rash on his forearms for a couple of weeks!

What is he using to quit out of interest? My other half quit two years ago using Champix. He was a 30-40 a day smoker and was intolerable for the first 3 weeks -being in a bad mood or just generally complaining. Having quit myself 5 years ago I was able to empathise with him but nonetheless found his mood swings hard work. Make a list of all the odd-jobs you've been meaning to sort and get him to focus on one of those things if he has had a particularly bad day - I found my OH needed to keep himself (in particular his hands) busy! I also found having a few packs of sugar free mints lying around for him was pretty handy!

search for DeptfordDiva on here, she's the best person for advice IMO.

they seem pricey though. Do you have one? what's the quality like?

I've ordered the kit. Anyone know what kind/size of drill bit I need to buy to run the coax cable from living room to bedroom (on same floor)?

Am due to have this surgery done on both wrists next month at Kings. Can anyone give some advice regarding recovery time? Having googled this it seems to vary massively!

amydown Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Many thanks to everyone for the posts and also > PMs. Saffron, the situation with The groom's > mother didn't actually involve her contacting my > MiL specifically. They know each other, live in > the same village and move in the same circule as > it were, and it came up in conversation. > > I don't begrudge the couple for wanting a kids > free wedding as I said before. Their wedding, > their day. I was in fact really grateful when we > were given the exception. That was months ago and > we were just happily planning to attend as a > family. It's only when invitation arrived with > just my and husband's name on and in "confirming" > the permission we felt from the tone of their > voices and language used that we realised maybe > the "permission" was given more so as not to rock > the boat rather than the couple being genuinely ok > with it. The next day, my MIl had the conversation > with groom's mother confirming my suspicions. > > Having read everyone's posts, I have indeed > decided to give it a few months and see how I feel > nearer the time and decide then. For the time > being, decided to thank them for the invitation > and confirm that the kids will not be attending > the wedding but there is a possibility that I may > have to stay at home with them if childcare / > breastfeeding issues remain unresolved. > > Thea, I have also found your posts insightful in > understanding a different point of view. The only > thing that saddened me was the comment about "who > cares how much money the guests have to spend" > (sorry if I'm misquoting. Just remembering off the > top of my head". We are going to considerable > lengths both logistically and financially to > attend this wedding and have done for many family > members and friends over the years (as I'm sure > many guests have to do these days). Happy to do so > for our nearest and dearest of course. However, > such generosity should not be taken for granted. > Not very endearing really. Fair do's. Perhaps I should have phrased it a bit better - infuriated by people griping about the expenses of attending a wedding when attendance is not compulsory!

ClareC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hmmm wedding politics!! > > That's exactly why we are planning to organise > ours with a 6 week turnaround ;) less time for > family interference!! > > Seriously though, a B&G should please themselves, > it is their day after all. Just be aware the knock > on effect their decisions have on others and don't > be offended if people subsequently can't make it Wedding politics are the bane of my life at the moment. Trying to please two different cultures foodwise has been the most difficult. Wish I could arrange ours in six weeks - I think I'm a bit too much of a control-freak to do that!

Saffron Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > RE MiLs/mothers getting involved: You're damn luck > if they're not! :) my MIL has tried to get involved but I've put my foot down. We are paying for it ourselves, with no contributions (not that we expect them) from either set of parents. I've given both my mum and my MIL a specific 'job' each to make them feel included.

Saffron Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Theasidonio, it's brilliant that you spoke to > everyone in person. I'm sure your wedding day > will be special. I suspect that really great > weddings are those where everyone's expectations > have been clearly communicated by the bride and > groom directly. > > I struck by how weird (to me) it seems that the > OP's MiL was contacted by the groom's mum, re the > OP's children at the wedding. I know large > wedding can get complicated, but shouldn't the > bride and groom speak to guests about this > personally to avoid confusion? And, if they've > said it's ok to have children there, then why > aren't there any accommodations being made? That > sounds to me like they don't actually want > children there. But is it the bride and groom > that don't want children, or is it the groom's > mother? Very confusing. Agreed. I bet the bride and groom would be mortified if they knew one of their monthers was interfering like that. I'd be devastated if anyone else got involved like that with our wedding.

Ole Wrote: > Out of curiosity - why did you decline an invite > to a wedding where your long-term partner had not > been invited to, but are considering excluding > children from your own wedding? I was trying to highlight that I do understand why people get upset when children are excluded. I was upset when my partner wasn't invited to this wedding but I got over it because I realised that it's not my day and my partner and I were not enititled to an invite. My partner didn't get invited to that particular wedding because the bride (who I was friends with) was limited on space and had never met him. Looking back, I know I over-reacted. In my case, all of the children we haven't included in our wedding are all under the age of 5. I'm sure this wouldn't make a difference to most people but the idea of a large group of toddlers getting bored/fussy/hungry during important parts of the day would be stressful to me. I know a lot of mums think it's a crap reason, but i really want my cousins, sister-in-laws and friends to be able to let their hair down and not miss out parts of the day because they need to take their toddlers outside.

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Look, basically people are selfish about their > weddings, and fair enough, it is their big day, > and I would never suggest they should change their > arrangements on my part. That doesn't mean I won't > have my opinion. > > I missed my friend's wedding last year (I was > meant to be best man) because they chose to have > it in Cyprus, where her mum owns a nice place, and > it would cost them a lot less. Of course, that > means all their guests have to spend a fortune, > and as a result, they ended up with q lot of their > friends missing, especially on his side. > > I personally won't attend a wedding where my kids > are not welcome, or if I'm expected to abroad, > without good reason (went to a friend's wedding in > Venezuela, because bride was from there and her > family never would have afforded to come here). > > Don't even get me started on non religious people > marrying in church! The non-religious people marrying in church really upsets me too. Have managed to upset my dad and all of his very-Catholic family by a) not marrying in church and b) not inviting the family priest to the reception! As I said you can't please everyone. I was once invited to a wedding and my long-term partner was not invited. I politely declined the invite but was fuming about it for a time but got over it really quickly.

I was under the impression that if you are not attending you should send a card but not a gift. I hope I haven't commited a big faux pas there! I personally spoke with all the mum's in mine and my partner's families about the kids not being invited before we had sent the invites out. Luckily for us, nearly all of the mum's are happy to attend and leave their kids with their in-laws. We don't have any children in our family or social circle that are older apart from my step-daughter. Our friends and family have been really understanding about the fact that our venue is really limited space-wise and we are on a really tight budget. I'd always still invite people that I wanted to come, even if I knew they probably wouldn't be able to come because of childcare issues. I've not set out to offend anyone on here but feel really strongly about wedding politics; we've changed the venue twice, going to have kids, then not going to have kids, anguishing over whether or not to give our single friends a 'plus-one' or not. Organising a wedding is stressful,you woun't be able to please all of your guests - we've spent so long trying to be diplomatic, in the end, we've decided to do and have the things that will make us happy!

Agree with regards to exceptions. We will be having my fiance's 14 year old daughter as the only exception to the no-children rule. None of our friends or family are currently pregnant, but if there is anyone breastfeeding their child, I would of course, make an exception for them too. I don't know much about breast feeding, Saffron. I was just thinking, if it were me, I'd want some privacy, I can appreciate that not everyone feels the same, but I haven't made this rule. I feel like you are singling me out when I'm not the only one who has offered the opposite point of view. Hardly the maid of honour's job to remove a toddler she doesn't know from the dance floor. Should of been his mother, keeping a better eye on him!

Er, I don't have the money for all of these events. We are also saving for our own wedding and have foregone a holiday for the past 3 years for various reasons. I'm not being family unfriendly at all, I'm merely offering a different point of view. A lot of people on here are calling people who want child-freee weddings 'selfish' - I think this is unfriendly. By all means, you are entitled to be put out and annoyed but you shouldn't be berating other people for making a choice about the kind of day they want to have. Not sure why I'm being singled out. The OP asked what other people have done in similar situations. Whilst I cannot give advice on breastfeeding, I offered an opionion from the other point of view, the bride and grooms as I am am currently in a similar situation where I am asking my guests not to bring their children. I hadn't even considered if any of my guests might be breastfeeding at the time and this is something I will now be considering.

Indeed. But I'm sure the bride and groom will have numerous invites also. It's part of life. So far we've been invited to two weddings, 3 christenings, a naming ceremony, one holy communion and a number of children's birthday parties. To attend some of these it will involve travel, buying gifts, new outfits and for one, a hotel overnight. I wouldn't miss any of these for the world as these are all important people in our lives and they've invited us to share in these important milestone occasions.

Lula Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Amydown, totally empathise with you too. > > I think many couples really don't understand or > enjoy having kids around at their wedding and the > simple reason is that they don't yet have any of > their own. It would be interesting to see if they > felt the same way once they do have kids and are > faced with a similar situation to yourself. > > Do what you feel comfortable with. I don't think > your 7 month old will go off breastfeeding in one > evening especially if you can express and the > nanny can feed baby the expressed milk. If nanny > can come with you that would be a good solution > but as you've pointed out weddings are bloody > expensive and people just don't think about the > cost to others as it's 'their special day?' why should people think about the cost to others?These will be the same people you invite to your children's christenings/naming day whatever/birthday/holy communion etc. If you don't want to spend the money to celebrate an important milestone in one of your friends/family member's lives then don't do it, don't gripe about it! it's ONE day out of your lives, it may mean having to change your routine, book accomodation etc , they aren't asking for you to do it every weekend! Jeez, if I was thinking about the impact of my wedding on my guests, I'd never be able to find a suitable date, time or venue. Amy, if you don't feel comfortable, don't go. The bride and groom will understand.