GCOakley

you know you are a real Mum when friends/family etc ask you if you have a baby wipe in your bag

being from a latin american family I can confirm it is perfectly normal to have chocolate milk and chocolate in many different forms for breakfast. adults as well will have hot chocolate instead of coffee as it wakes you up just the same. for me, it's not normal to have hot chocolate in the evening and i never give it to my children then as i find it keeps them awake.... all things in moderation i'm sure.....my cousins' mum banned sugar from the house and my cousins confessed how at a young age they used to take the little sugar packets from cafes, dilute in a bowl with water, and keep in a hidden place behind the toilet to go and sip from on the sly!

great - come and say hello if you go along! I'll be teaching the Belly Dance workshop at about 1:00...

Brighton Big Mothers Sunday is an event with pampering, yoga, cake etc on the 18th November. Loads of workshops, it's specially designed to be a relaxing day for pregnant ladies and mums. Looks really good. I'm definitely going - hope to see some of you there! http://www.brightonmums.com/mothers-discovered-at-big-sunday/

any thoughts on the Crown and Greyhound in Dulwich or the Plough by the library? I need somewhere that can cater for 3 generations....

I just wondered what the going rate was for babysitting these days? any ideas welcome.

she has a bank account from our house here via an international account scheme that lloyds do, but she's not been here that long. they did mention the deposit, but to be honest i really don't want to do that as i never trust them that i would get it back again....

Our newly arrived au pair has been told by Carphone Warehouse that she won't be able to get a phone contract until she's been here for 3 months. Can anyone shed any light on this? She really wants to get her phone sorted so she can chat etc and I don't really know what to advise...being a bit too old for this phone malarky...

sounds fun

Hola1! Are there any families out there who have a Spanish language connection and would like to meet up? We are a bilingual English/Spanish family, kids 6 and 3, and I would love the kids to have the chance to speak Spanish with other children as most of their social life is in English. I'm just thinking of meeting up in a park/cafe to start with. Let me know if you're interested.

Hi - could anyone update us on what the current arrangements are? I'd love to come.

I lived overseas when the kids were little and found it weird sometimes to be speaking to my kids in English when everyone else was speaking Spanish. Sometimes I had to really concentrate to make sure I kept it up. But the effort was worth it, and now we are back here my partner only speaks to the kids in Spanish. We keep the one language per parent rule, but i would never tell off a child for answering back in a different language as then you only build up resentment. If we want to promote one language we do lots of games etc. You need to make it fun, and just part of your family life. Don't worry about the rate of development, remember by the time your kids are teenagers they will be bilingual - or pretty near - so take the long perspective.

Hello. I'm looking for ideas for weekend activities for a 6 year old boy, and 3 year old girl. I'm just wondering if anyone knows of anything to do with wildlife, walking or a nature kind of feel? Basically, I don't really want to send them to a class as I think they get enough of that during the week, but as the weather changes I feel the need to have something up my sleeve other than trips to the park. cheap is good too!

one of those wrap around baby slings or ring slings. all natural fabric, natural dyes etc, you can get some lovely patterns. they really help the mother and baby bonding, and are just wonderful if - like me - you have a baby that doesn't like going in a pram.

remember that if you go somewhere hot like spain, greece etc, you will all want to be having a siesta anyway, so little one may be more perky in the evenings. having lived in hot places for many a year i can tell you that it's far better to have a sleep when it't hot and have the children up til late...than have an overheated and grumpy toddler in the middle of the day. do what local parents do....have a big lunch and then in the evening go to the plaza, square, whatever, and have a coffee or a beer and a snack whilst little ones run around.