LalKJ

Montassa We use Dulwich Design Kitchens, and they were great - very local, on Grove Vale. Pm if you want more info or photos of our kitchen.

Thanks for the warning Wanhope. I use the car park everyday too, and like you, thought the sheer number of people around at school time would deter thieves - will have to be more vigilant now!

If you are considering private schools, have you looked at Oakfield?

We had one stolen from a VW Sharan nearly 2 weeks ago too - targeting VWs? So annoying!

Again, another vote for Jelly Belly. I have done Kellie's classes after my first two children, and have just signed up to do one now I've had my third - she def does mornings, I'm in for 10 am on Weds, and it starts 3 Sep, so week schools go back.

I recently had my almost 4 yr old and almost 2 yr old vaccinated at the Fleet Street Clinic. Very easy to get to Denmark Hill to City Thames Link and then a short pootle down Fleet Street. Doctor was excellent with the boys and neither suffered any side effects. My reasoning was also selfish - was just about to have a new baby, and couldn't face two ill children at the same time. There's a Strada nearby and St. Paul's to distract them afterwards.

Thanks LovelyRita, I will pm you. For me, it's not for childcare, just for a change of scene/something interesting for my son, so 4 hrs could work perfectly.

Hello, just had a quick look and nimble arts and holiday drop off only seem to be available for ages 5+. Does anyone know any camps available from age 4 (like AVP scamps)? Thanks

Sillywoman, I am due 1 June, and was hoping for a water labour (found it very effective for the first two!), but my midwife (from the Lanes) doesn't think Kings' water will be sorted by then!

Agreed with all the above that it's likely to mean a new car! We are shortly about to have a third child, with the older two being 3.5 and 1.5. We previously had a Honda CRV, which is a big 4 x 4 but even in that we couldn't get three car seats safely. After months of googling whether it was possible and which were the best cars for three car seats across the middle, we went with the VW Sharan. So far, pleased with it. It has three isofixes across the middle row of seats, and we've had two 6ft tall grandparents in the back seats pretty comfortably. Also, it has sliding doors for the back, which are a god send for getting the kids in and out quickly. Good luck

Agree with the above. I frequently drive alone from ED to Winchester (1.5-2.5 hours) with my two children (now 1.5 and 3.5) and have done since the youngest was a few weeks old. The best thing to do is get totally prepared and ready the night before. Everythign you want to pack in the car by the front door. Ideally I would like to load up the night before, but don't fancy my chances of it still being in the car the next morning if I did so. This includes waiting till they are asleep and then collecting their bedtime toys to pack so I don't forget them. I also have a list of the last minute things I need by the door - i.e. the monitor which has been on over night so I try not to forget things. I always leave after lunch - give them a big lunch, plenty to drink and get them in comfortable clothes, and then try to leave asap (usually with a 5 minute cartoon whilst I pack the car). The youngest one always falls asleep immediately and the older one will "rest" or sleep, but it's a good quiet time. We've nearly always made it most of the way without them waking or needing any other entertainment. I always make sure I have plenty of snacks (usually multiple packets of rice cakes/sweetcorn rings etc.) in the front of the car (lesson learnt after packing them in the boot) - not raisans or stuff younger ones could possible choke on. I never stop - just prolongs the agony. During one traffic jam (5 hours) I also reluctantly found cartoons saved down on the iPad in valuable. Generally the time goes very quickly and the oldest one is more than happy to just chat rather than do anything else. I also try not to worry about getting there too quickly - try to make the journey part of the holiday so you are not stressed about making it at a certain time. Finally, I also try to arrange something active when we arrive, to shake them up a bit and they are also a bit stir crazy, and as they're both boys, certainly need to run the lethargy off. Good luck - it will be totally fine.

Just to add to greenwater's message, it's not usually ?10 for one child and ?12 for 2, it's more often ?10 (NET!) for sole family care and ?12 if doing a nanny share. We do a nanny share, and at the times the nanny is looking after the children from both familiies her hourly rate is ?12 but when she just had the children from one family it's ?10 - this is whether she is with our family (2 children) or the other family (just the one child). It's also worth bearing in mind that these amounts are NET. On top of that you will have to pay the nanny's tax and national insurance and also employers' national insurance which can really mount up. It works out about ?13 and ?16 per hour gross respectively that you need to account for plus, if the nanny is working full time, approx another ?1000 per month on employers' national insurance. As greenwater says, we just worked it out on a strict hourly basis and split the costs by the ratio of hours she was with one or both families. I would say that it is totally fair for the hourly rate to be split in half if she is bringing her own child, or as you have 2 perhaps not quite in half, say 60:40. In addition, I presume she would be based at your house, so you would continue to pay all the food for your children, the nanny and her children which is an additional benefit to her. She should fund any playgroups etc. for her own child. the only downside I could see to this is that if she doesn't finish with you until 7:30 she then has to get home and put her own child to bed later, so depending on where she lives, she may see this relatively late finish time as detrimental to her and want the ratio changed a bit more in her favour - but by the same token, with this arrangement she gets to spend the whole day with her own son - no the luxury most of us have! good luck.

We have one from Atlantic tramplolines and it's so far been fine outide. We purchased a tent roof which sits on top (also from Atlantic) which has helped loads to keep the material dry, and the leaves and bird poo and general muck off the bouncing material.

Just to second what everyone else is saying. Our second didn't take ages, but it was a few months longer than the first and I was starting to get worried. I used the ovulation kits and was actually way off with my date predictions. Apparently very common after you have had one and it can easily mess up your cycle, even month to month. I got pregnant the first month of using them. Also that month had three sessions of relexology with the lovely Francine at the Therapy Rooms. Good luck.

Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong forum, but the family room forum is generally so helpful, I thought you may have some good ideas. I am on my son's school's PTA and we are organising a senior citizens Christmas party for some local residents. We would like to put on a bingo session. After an amateur attempt last year, we would like to have a professional bingo caller this year. It is a charitable event, but we can pay the bingo caller/entertainer. Does anyone know of anyone who may be willing to do this? Grateful if you could pm me with any recommendations. Many thanks Alex

Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong forum. I am on my son's school's PTA and we are organising a senior citizens Christmas party for some local residents. We would like to put on a bingo session. After an amateur attempt last year, we would like to have a professional bingo caller this year. It is a charitable event, but we can pay the bingo caller/entertainer. Does anyone know of anyone who may be willing to do this? Grateful if you could pm me with any recommendations. Many thanks Alex

Agree with Alieh, having just been through the nanny hiring process, we didn't see anyone for interview that wasn't requiring ?10 net per hour.

With respect d.b., walking down the road twice a day, probably at peak times when traffic is busy and I agree high speeds cannot be reached, is not the same as living on the road, and spending a lot of time at home, and seeing on numerous occasions cars/vans/lorries travelling at excessive speeds (as I think the other posters who actually live on MG agree). I am pleasantly surprised at James' figures provided, perhaps the problem is not the general volume of traffic travelling quickly, but more, because it is seen as a rat run, those that are looking to avoid the traffic and traffic lights down Lordship Lane tend to speed excessivey down our road.

Yes, James I really do think MG should be a 20 mph zone. In fact I emailed you about 6 months ago to discuss the same. I should declare that I am a MG resident, but the speeds that some people race down the road is scary. The speed cushions are totally ineffective and any car larger than a small hatchback can merely straddle the hump with no change to speed. We have a major problem down the road with vans and lorrys which seem to be the worst offenders. People use it as a short cut around Lordship Lane, and seem to just gun it down as fast as possible. Anything that can be down to reduce speeds down Melbourne Grove would be much appreciate by me, and I am sure all MG residents.

We've got one from White Rabbit England - it's really beautiful (we've got the owl), and gives off a lovely light to sleep in - downside is they are quite pricey.

The waiting list at DUCKS for a non-sibling, non-child of a teacher place is 3+ years from initial registration (I.e. Register when first pregnant for a 3+ nursery place, and then only if you're lucky), so DUCKS might not work for you if you're not yet registered. I think that the Dulwich Montessori and the Villa are also term time only, and maybe also the Dulwich Village pre-school.

Yes, we too got away with hardly any bugs too, and I also think being in nursery has given him some resistance now he is older.

Our son has been at Nellys full time. We've found it to be an excellent nursery, and the only way to get a place is to get your name down when you are in the early stages of pregnancy. It does feel a bit silly but loads of people, especially with two working parent do it very early.

Agree with Pebbles, I really don't think you can coach them to do the assessment. I do however, think you can coach/prepare them to separate from you to perform the assessment. Harsh as it seems, these schools have so many applicants that although they are sweet and understanding if a child doesn't go into the room or wants to leave it they usually don't get a second go. We didn't prepare our son for his assessment but did spend quite a bit of time explaining to him that he was going off by himself to chat to some new teachers and trying to make him feel as super confident as possible. He was only 2.5 at the time and still very clingy, despite some nursery time, but did go off happily and I think being aware of what was happening helped him.

I am the wife referred to above, who was on the platform with my two children when this happened and very sadly, she did jump moments before the train passed and lay curled up on the tracks. It was desperately sad and from what I saw deeply affected all of the witnesses on the platforms, and no doubt devastated the train driver. Thank you A-Chan for your account from your uncle. I am so sorry to hear she was severely injured. When I managed to get my kids off the platform she was obviously in pain but seemed to have free movement, so I had hoped she was miraculously safe. I hope your Uncle and cousin are not too traumatised by it. I think I managed to shield my children and I think they don't know what happened although were shook up by the pandemonium that then ensued. It's only now they have gone to bed that I realise I am still a bit shaken up by it. When I returned to ED this afternoon, I asked at the station ticket desk, but they didn't have any update as to her condition. I didn't really want to add a long message here, the reason I added to this thread, was mainly I wanted to comment on how well nearly everyone reacted to what happened (bar a lady complaining her would now be late for work). After the initial second of shock a number of people were immediately calling for the emergency services, whilst a number of other people were trying to keep the lady talking and comforted, and A-Chan's uncle obviously stayed with her despite having his own child with him. When I came off the station, a number of people stopped me to check I was ok and ask if I needed any help to get anywhere. And, as always, the emergency services, seemed to be top notch, sending a fleet of vehicles and the helicopter in what seemed like just a few minutes.