HannahSE23

Reren i have to say that after a traumatic 1st birth i positively enjoyed my second! Had my daughter at home with no pain relief. I just went with what my body was telling me and felt totally in control. She was born after 4 hours and soon after we were tucked up in bed with a cuppa feeling elated. Great experience and I sincerely hope you have one too. Good luck, stay positive and you'll be fine!

Don't do it. I know two couples who made the move (Kent and Suffolk) and both were back within two years with kids back in the same primary school they left! High cost of travel, having to drive everywhere all the time, not particularly like-minded people/lack of diversity, missing friends and general boredom outweighed the larger house and cheaper mortgage. Plus they were confused when it came to holidays, preferring city breaks to country breaks as they needed a fix of something different from the slow pace of their lives. Luckily the rented, so came back to their old homes. Some other friends broke free and moved to Devon, but find it's packed in the summer and empty in the winter. They sold their London home and are desperate to move back but have priced themselves out of London completely now (so don't sell your place until you're absolutely sure). Maybe when you've retired Oxford living might be nice, but can you imagine spending the next 40 or so years pootling about in a small town?

Sadly not. The one in the pic is an air cooled t25 and the one stolen was water cooled. I'm a bit of a vw bore! Its nice to see everyone is looking out for this van though!

This site is quite useful... http://se23family.blogspot.co.uk Not necessarily ED but has some things that may appeal?

Hi, Just wondered if anyone knew of a good place locally I could hire speakers and an amp for a party. Thanks so much!

Three years ago we were 4th on waiting list and got a place two weeks before term started! Agree it's a stressful time but don't give up hope

Agreed with all the points above. Our children are 7 and 4 and spend hours in the garden. Our old house had virtually no garden and we spent ages schlepping to the park every day for fresh air. Now they're often happy simply to hang out in the garden and they get exercise on the trampoline. A 45ft garden is plenty big enough for a trampoline and a game of football! Good luck with the move.

Hi I've lived in Honor Oak for two years and I can't recommend it enough. Very friendly place. Lots of things going on. As for your specific points... - Grocery shopping in Sainsbury's in FH, market in FH or Brockley or deli in HOP. Plus new Sainsbury's Local due in HOP in the sunmmer - I personally prefer the community feel of HOP to ED (I used to live there, admittedly a few years ago). It's not so pretentious (sorry EDers) and a lot more down to earth, though how long it will stay that way remains to be seen. - there's a lot for children. The new pools in FH are great. There are libraries both in Crofton Park and FH, lots of kids activities locally in various halls such as the Ackroyd Centre, St Augustine's church up on the hill and Devonshire Road Nature Reserve. There's also the rec (behind the allotments) where there is a small playground. The Oak Tree nursery in Boveney Road meant to be very good. - trains are so regular I can't even comment. Put it this way, you won't be waiting more than a few minutes. - can't see the ratings of either Stillness or Fairlawn changing. The sort of parents who send there kids there simply wouldn't allow it! Property prices are still a lot cheaper than ED but I can see this changing due to all the points listed above. Hope this helps and doesn't come across as too biased!!

Well done TonyQuinn. There's also a petition going round about a 20mph limit on Honor Oak Road. This definitely needs to be sorted out.

My soon-to-be four-year-old is obsessed with rabbits. For her 4th party I'd really like a hands-on rabbit experience where someone brings two or three rabbits to our house for a few children to pet. Does anyone know anyone who does this? Thanks!

Very sad to hear about this. Sadly that park's always been a bit dodgy. I grew up in Shenley Road in the early 80s and I remember several incidents back then including the murder of a pregnant teenager. We always hoped the space would be 'reclaimed' by local residents and turned into somewhere friendly and safe.

I think it's a great idea.

www.locrating.com Great site which shows schools in a map plus easy to access ofsted reports etc. Everything you need to know basically!

So sorry to hear this. I have a VW camper and would be devastated if it was stolen. Have had an immobiliser fitted but they're worth money these days. Hope you recover it.

I'm a mean mum and I've banned party bags. At my son's 6th birthday party I did a chocolate lucky dip instead - stood at the door with a big bag of mini choc bars and let the guests choose two each. The toys quickly get discarded and the sweets/choc are all they're after anyway! Friends have also done a Mini Magnum version...

I found the homebirth.org.uk website really helpful for the practicalities, such as hiring birthing pools etc. I did pregnancy yoga at a place in Honor Oak, which was really useful for breathing and I read Deepak Chopra's book - holistic guide to pregnancy and childbirth. He advised lovely things like lavender bags and, though it was a bit 'American' in parts, it was very calming. Good luck with your homebirth.

I know a lovely teacher who left Kingsdale last year because of the pressure. She was truly miserable there.

I would be hugely in favour. It would also stop some of the nightmare commuter parking in HOP.

Have you thought about houses in the Fairlawn catchment area? Houses are cheaper and if you're at the top end of Forest Hill Road or even half way down you could still get into the school plus you're still walking distance to East Dulwich, Peckham Rye etc.

It would just tickle me hugely after all the endlessly funny chat about Waitrose coming to SE22 and ED being the Notting Hill of the south if Waitrose opened in Honor Oak or Catford or... God Forbid... Penge sur Mer. Lots of furious bugaboo-wielding, house-price fretting bores giving Iceland the evils every time they walked past! Love it! Good day to you too, Jah Lush...

Jah Lush Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There is no way you could fit a Waitrose in the > Old Bank restaurant and for a Sainos in Honor Oak > Park forget about it. I think the original post is > another wind-up. Do I detect a little ED jealousy?? There's definitely going to be a Sainsbury's Local in Honor Oak and I'd wet myself with glee if Waitrose opened in the Old Bank site after all the rumblings on this forum about Waitrose coming to ED. Ha ha!

Ah those were the days! Chener books were still there in 1994 - same shop I think. Often bought a packet of cigs from the 7-11... I remember thinking it was amazing that it opened so late! There were a lot of properly useful shops back then, like the greengrocers, though the pubs were all dives. I remember witnessing trouble quite a few times in the foresters...