Moos

It's that place that's kind of south of here.

LibraCarr, very simply for the same reason that you might meet your friends in the pub sometimes instead of always hosting or attending dinner parties, or indeed having picnics. Most new mothers do also meet in caf?s, in each other's houses and in parks. The pub is just an alternative. Mothers do get a bit stir-crazy suddenly living a life when they spend at least 20 hours a day 7 days a week at home, and a break is delightful. Speaking personally, I first went into a pub with my baby son when he was about 4 months old. I was with a number of other mothers and babies, and we had a very pleasant lunch which though booze-free felt intoxicatingly exciting and like a wonderful glimpse of the return of relative normality. (edited because I cross-posted with LibraCarr - yes, I'm afraid I did think you were disapproving of mothers in pubs, so have deleted my response to that part. Many thanks for your clarification and kind regards)

dc, that is hilarious.. are you inwardly a pipe-smoking, hard-assed world-weary private eye? (bustles off to find picture of Monica Bellucci as 'portrait' of Moos)

:) at Spangles30's last. I feel there's a point to make about balancing teaching your kids that it's normal to be out in public with others, and that they should behave themselves accordingly, and taking them home when they overstep the line - and that the balance is hard to find when you are sensitive to the hyper-criticality of others around you - but I lack the energy to express it fully.

Not sure the forum really looks like work anyway - at least in my case, where 'work' looks like either an email, a spreadsheet or a slide deck! I think avatars are a bit naff, but probably because my experience of them is only from a website where they are used appallingly: the BBC parenting board. It's a classic example of really awful over-personalising where most of the contributors seem to have glitter tags, enormous photos, flashing count-down lists and the like. It's quite difficult to get to the messages in between the huge signatures.

Drinks on Brendan then, with all his Nazi gold. I would normally vote for the Herne but will go for the Vale this time, in the spirit of adventure. Big :)-D to Georgia for putting up with all our vacillations. She's a hero!

Honestly, I was purely quoting Educating Rita (mental note: never again). However, thank you for the excellent aide-memoire, now I shall be able to remember which is which!

No, no - a line from Educating Rita. Personally, I can never remember which is assonance and which alliteration.

Assonance? That's just getting the rhyme wrong.

Last time ED mothers were getting a kicking, martinchiversfanclub suggested the phrase 'Rather Father', which I thought was cool.

(edited 'cos I was joking, but actually it was quite offensive)

This is all getting very G.K. Chesterton. Will there be colourful banners and a sexily uniformed army? A pacifist one, of course, since it IS East Dulwich, after all... Oh, and can we in Peckham join the Republic? Or are we the Turkey of the area?

Whoa there chaps, I'm sure you don't mean to but it does look like you might be ganging up on Matt here. [edited cos the commas are getting out of control here!]

Is Sean a prophet of doom? I think he's pretty positive. Snorky may be a prophet of doom, but a very witty one.

Asset, you are kind to indulge Snorky. He's been hanging that one out for weeks now, and has finally caught a fish!

Too late... (other than the bull-fighting. We just have the underground cat and fox fight crowd around here)

I wonder if this has something to do with the smoking ban in pubs? I'd guess there were fewer babies/small children in pubs when there were smokers in them, so new types of people are coming up against each other in pubs.

I guess it was only a matter of time before someone trotted out the well-worn 'Well, I don't fancy any of these so-called Yummy Mummies' line. Perhaps ED mothers weren't aware that in between all the being sicked on and sleeplessness what they really should be worrying about is whether random men (of unspecified attractiveness) are enjoying leering at them or not. I have to say I agree with those who plead for a bit of adult space - smart restaurants, pubs late in the evening? But if I see a happy family out having a good time, hurray for them. I also think parents and small children are easy targets - after all, I don't really like music (other than live) in pubs, nor TVs, and I find really loud shouters annoying. But I accept that there are people who aren't like me who also like to use public houses so we all have to rub along together or stay at home. The clue's in the name.

I think you know that I was wondering why you have brought up powerpramming several times in this (non-exercise related) thread. I wasn't envisaging you running round the park tripping up the participants. Do you have a personal point to make? You are certainly determined to let no opportunity pass to have a go at it.

Spangles30, if you enjoy going to the gym, good on you. If others enjoy 'powerpramming', why not let them?

Domitianus, I would also make a call for tolerance. Live (politely) and let live.

Sorry. Was a bad joke.

Cactus Jack! I loved that film - a sort of hilariously bad Road Runner premise, with Kirk Douglas clearly paying for a new Ferrari as the bad guy, the ageing Ann-Margret (sp?) desperately trying to play the not-very-innocent ing?nue and for a bonus the young Arnold Schwarzenegger being completely rubbish as the good guy.

david_carnell, I think he's calling us fat.

They're the ones in the know