DVnewbie

Hello - does anybody know of any (really) basic gardening courses locally? Thanks very much!

Hello - i didn't have any luck finding anybody to help last week. Do any gardeners out there have any time this week?? Thanks very much.

Hi, We're looking for somebody to help sort out our garden. It basically needs a lot of weeding and some pampas grass removing... If you can help this week, please PM me. Thanks very much!

Hello, I'm looking for somebody who can help with a really serious weeding (including removing a few brambles) and trimming of overgrown tall bay trees (plus a few others). We don't need creative garden design advice or planning (at the moment) - just help getting on top of what is already there and tidying it all up. Can anybody recommend anybody who is reasonably priced (and efficient!) who could help? I know there are a lot of gardening companies around Dulwich... Thank you!

Another recommendation for Michael Rose. He painted our kitchen units and front door just before Christmas in a very busy household (with small children running around and other work being done). He's extremely friendly, professional and reliable. He managed to fit us in before Christmas as well, which was great. We'll definitely use him again if we need more decorating (that we can't face attempting ourselves!).

The Princesa Yaiza in Lanzarote was nice.... Try looking at Easyjet holidays - it was much cheaper for us through them but we did have a middle of the night flight back (although the children were very good). I've heard good things about the Abama in Tenerife too.

Brill - thanks! Will collect on my way home. Perfect!

Errr - yes, ditto... (So relieved I'm not the only one...)

Another vote for Elm Lodge if you're in "catchment". All lovely doctors - great with my small pre-school children (well, one's just started school now) and also with me... Haven't saved my life yet though!

I haven't been skiing since having children (and I really miss it...) so have been following this thread with interest. They are now old enough (just) but that means we are tied to half term/holidays. It is literally double the price if we go during half term than the week before or after... Admittedly I was looking at VIP-chalets which isn't the cheapest. But ?6k for a family of 4 at half term (all in one room with a double bed and bunkbeds tucked round the corner) or ?3k the week before or after. Am wondering, since the eldest won't be 5 then, if I can take him out of school for a week. I won't, as I think it is too disruptive and selfish, but I can see why people do! Besides, even ?3k isn't exactly cheap!

Congratulations - very exciting. Yup, there are a lot of good primary schools - depends on where you live but some of the ones that are constantly positively thought of seem to be Heber, Dulwich Village Infants and Goose Green. (And Rosendale but that's probably too west.) My eldest has just started at DVI and totally loves it. Bessemer Grange seems to be doing well too at the moment - as do a lot of others. I'd get in touch with your local counsellor if I were you. Which are your nearest 4/5 schools? Good luck!!

I've had it done... (I'm embarrassed to say!) Not that I pay much attention to it, although I should as I do look better in "my" colours. I still mostly wear grey/black/white, whereas I am a "Clear/Warm" so really shouldn't. (All will be revealed if you get your colours "done".) Had it done by Anita Feron Clark - here's her website: http://www.feronclarkstyle.com/ She's v good!

Yup - I second the ELC one. It's fab. My son's had a few and that's the most robust/fun. (And daughter loved it too...)

Elm Lodge Surgery on Burbage Road is great. They're lovely with our children (one just started primary school, one at nursery) and you can always get an appointment.

Brilliant! Thanks again everybody!

Thank you!! Yup - I think it might have to be Boots....

Hi - are there any photo shops on Lordship Lane. Not having much luck with google and can't remember seeing anything in Sainsbury's on Dog Kennell Hill. (Thought "Family" people might have a good idea...) Thank you!

posted in error so deleted!

Oh yes, Arietty is a great fesity heroine for pre-teens. Although afraid I'm a bit anti the Railway Children but that's only because I can't think of Roberta without thinking of Jenny Agutter. The Secret Garden is great though.

Lyra in the Philip Pullman "His Dark Materials" trilogy? Definitely liked Diana Wynne Jones a lot when I was a "pre-teen". (Howl's Moving Castle was too late for me though - although have seen the odd cartoon...) When 14, I liked Pride and Prejudice... (And that was before Colin Firth.) Elizabeth's not a sap. But doesn't really fit the contemporary requirement! I'll keep an eye on this thread for ideas for my daughter. Although she's only three so I guess I've got a while to catch-up on good teenage literature.

Another vote for Half Moon Montessori. My son went last year and my daughter's just started. They both adore it. We're big fans. The staff there are all fantastic. Depends where you live though!

Eeek. Am worried now..! Maybe I've been a bit too complacent then! Yes, of course, lots of people can move into the area too.... Hmmm.

Signed - completely messed up breast-feeding for me with DC1, who had a bad posterior tongue-tie. And I asked two doctors and a midwife to check in the hospital after I'd given birth as I have it myself. But they failed to spot it so I really think they need people spefically trained in diagnosing it. And once a good midwife did spot DC1's, it took 10 days to get it dealt with - not too bad but DC1 had to be pipette or bottle fed for first three weeks to prevent dehydration. And, because I had such a horrid time with DC1 and trying to breast-feed (v bad mastitis twice in first 3 weeks) I had a huge psychological block with DC2. I think this is really important - thank you for highlighting the petition.

Hello - totally agree with KatDew and in the same position with a son who has just started DVI. My son is super-excited every day and keeps begging to go to school all day long (Reception has a gentle introduction of half days for the first couple of weeks). However, WishfulThinking - I'm pretty sure I was told that first round offers for non-sibling non-church places were under 500m for Sept 2012 start. I know people got in from the waiting list though from further away than that. 636m rings a bell though! Maybe that was for Sept 2011 start or included offers to people on the waiting list? I suppose the "wider" catchment area for Dulwich Hamlet is based mostly on one factor - that there aren't any church places so the admission criteria is predominantly distance (i.e. there are twice as many places avaialable based, mostly, on geography). Although there are bound to be a few more elder siblings for Hamlet admissions as it's a four year school, rather than a three year school like DVI. I think it would be surprising if your child got a non-church place at DVI and then didn't get one at the Hamlet at 7 - even if you're nearer the DVI measurement point than the Hamlet one. A significant number of families send their children to DVI and then to fee-paying prep schools after that though. Just something else that might explain why only 75 out of 90 children from DVI went on to the Hamlet. (Or move out to the country to be near good grammars at 11...)

Hello. I totally feel your pain. The term used in the baby/toddler books is "early morning waking". Our first child did this for the first 2 1/2 years of his life. It was incredibly stressful as he generally only went back to sleep at about 8 a.m., just as the nanny arrived and we headed off for a full day at work. (Also made more stressful by baby number 2 arriving when he was 16 months.) We tried everything - and we gave each "method" a go for at least 4 weeks before abandoning it. The only thing I can suggest is keeping your baby/toddler in his/her room, in the dark, and not making it any fun at all to be up then. I'm a big advocate of total blackout blinds for early morning wakers (get those travel ones with suckers or put velcro up on the windows from this company http://www.easyblindsonline.co.uk/ ). They can't hurt anyway! (Yes, they mess up the look of your windows but I couldn't have cared less about that at the time.) And try to make sure that whatever method you try, you try for 4 weeks solidly, even if it kills you. If it persists, it's probably worth splashing out on a "sleep consultant", as long as it's somebody with proper experience (like an ex health visitor). Lots of my friends recommend Andrea Grace. We nearly used her but she was on holiday when we got to breaking point. She's based in North London but very good by all accounts and does telephone consultations. And she's medically trained, very nice, not Gina Ford-like in an extreme way although obviously keen on consistent routines and behaviours. There are various methods you can try (including the crazy one of waking the child up half an hour before they wake normally and then putting them back to sleep to "reset their body clock) and I'm sure you've tried a lot of them. Somebody used to dealing with sleep issues on a daily basis might well have more of a feel about the best approach for your little one. Good luck! p.s. The suggestion to put my child to bed a little later used to drive me up the wall - only because OF COURSE I'd tried that and it hadn't worked. But I was incredibly bad tempered, ratty and miserable. Earlier is quite a good one though!!