dulwichgirl2

For what it's worth, I don't think 25 mins is long at all. It could take that amount of time in london if you got stuck in traffic. Sorry to hear of all the moving etc. stress. The arrival of your first baby should be the best experience of your life so try to enjoy the next few months (and make the most of not having to pay bbsitters or, in my case, feeling physically attached to my first baby long long after the birth. Don't make that mistake!)

Thank you Oimissus! You put that beautifully and much better than I had done.

Does anyone have a Samsung phone? How do you find it? Which model is the best value and do you find them user friendly? In short, are they any good? I dislike a product lacking competition - eg microsoft, iPhones, Tesco mozzarella etc. - and would love to give Samsung some Apple business if I could. Thanks for any info.

I am getting obsessed with prop porn. Thank you for adding to the collection doubledutch. So, 600k - which is, let's not forget, a vast amount of money - for 1850f2. 324 per sq foot. Good architecture: I personally prefer that to the Victorian terraces though I recognise their huge utility as family homes. It looks slightly tired but not exhausted - is that fair? It's only under offer anyway and said offers over 600 which I always think is really saying, "please may i have more but would settle for 600." A bit silly of sellers, I think. Anyway, good luck Doubledutch.

Very interssting article! thanks. She says "your relationships can only be as stable as you are going into to them". She could have added: the same goes for the other party. Often strong people end up compensating for the issues, "complexities" or flaws of others.

But you raise a good point Civil servant. We don't dislocate our scapula(e) or break the clavicle. And in general why are genitals the subject of jokes or fun or embarrassment? Did the Victorians start all that? And if so, why? What was in their culture of work, development and altruism (to a point) plus severe sexual judging that made succeeding generations prudish? I have no idea.

Agreed. However if your child asks a vague or unclear question about anything do you answer the question put or what you think he or she is really driving at? With most people, I do the latter, including ch.

We all agree what is medically called what, Saffron. There is no need to enlighten any of us. Where the confusion arises is as to the accuracy of the answer to the actual question the child has, given that the child is unlikely to ask specifically the name of the internal canal or indeed the generic name for external organs etc.. We are at cross purposes.

God the C word already. ;-) The gardens do look wonderfully lush, it's true.

(I say offspring, which I find a funny word, to encompass teenagers.) Given a range from total to none, what is the appropriate level of communication to have with children? I had next to none with my parents (but my siblings a great deal more so it wasn't my parents' fault!). Things change though. A friend recently mentioned children being beaten up at school and said that his father would have raised merry hell about it. I agreed that I would go bananas with the school too but at the same time I stated a bit sadly that I wldnt have told my parents about it. I wldnt have wanted to worry them. Maybe that is the line to draw - if children are hiding things through protection of parents, it is wrong but if keeping things quiet is just their nature, it's ok? (obviously depending on the severity of the thing in question.) What do you think?

Ps disclaimer: any errors of punctuation, spelling, capitals or grammar in my own posts, I blame on a mixture of expensive phone technology and too much time catching up with soaps as a child, curiously not, however, leading to success in later life, somehow!

We agree then Saffron. Despite knowing terminology, I don't think there is much to be said for making children different from their peers in terms of parenting. (Fat part ofthe curve and all that.) There was a girl at school whose parents (proudly and vociferously) had no television. At that meant was that she was behind on the really important learning issues of the day - the latest disucssion at break and lunch on what had happened in xyz. I think the parents were erring on the side of academia and maybe their own anti tv snobbery to the detriment of the child. I might do a thread on this. I am increasingly believing that the ability to get on with all walks of life, plus a certain level of intelligence, are the main things required for success and career progression, in contrast to my own upbringing where intelligence and academic study were the be all and end all. Sw, the richest titled and best connected people often have no manners and are therefore very much that c word (not the awful horrible horrible one!) Sorry but your manners are too good to be your c word. Panto/music hall replies. Where does tuppence come from? With inflation she'd have to say five pounds now. (cue my father/monty python: when I was young, you could go to the cinema/theatre/on holiday and have change from a shilling).

Now I am confused. Isn't the vulva the entire structure and aren't we really talking about the vagina? Ie the "difference" cf boys? Language is a diverse and rich thing - I have never heard the words "noggin" or "mush" and wouldn't really encourage a child to use slang words for things as basic as this. Maybe this is just my approach but I also don't allow incorrect grammar from ch. If anyone says "I seen" or "I done", I correct it and tell them it is wrong. Ie I don't just say the right thing and expect the child to pick up on it. I wish I could do the same with adults and the increasing howler, "I was sat when x happened". Sat? Who sat you down? You were sitting or in a cinema, you were seated. I need to stop there. I could go on for ages.

Tiddles, agreed. How depressing! Fazer, oh dear. Hope you find someone/a house that works for you. Doubledutch, interesting. I wonder how big it was. 600k here would buy you 1200f2. I guesstimate that in Brockley, you would have got at least 1500 if not 1800 f2. I would be interested to know more.

Doubledutch, was the Brockley agent doing a reasonable analysis of what it would cost to do up the first house? If so, I don't think there is anything wrong with the approach? If it were clearly way too low, then it is a different story. Any upside still in Brockley? I looked into prices per sf there as I could not believe the 800 pounds quoted in the E Standard article and it seemed it was more around the 350 per sf mark. What do people think? Good girls school (the former grammar on the hill) and boys if you can get into Askes.

I think he is attacking the garden with relish and shears. Fazer, I know I know, albeit at a different end of the market. People will look elsewhere and then the agents will be sorry and scrabbling around trying to justify the small terraces etc. that currently they arrogantly dangle before us.

Fazer, tha is indeed very frustrating. Interesting what you say. It indicates one should get totally wreck as at least it is clear(!). Here was a thread about a chap moving somewhere and asking for advice. HE had used a prof finder. Otherwise google it. There is defo a woman doing this area. Business idea for someone?!

For me it helps to "confess" to feeling that way either in interviews or speeches or whatever. It breaks the ice and makes the other put you at your ease and when you see that effort going on, you gain confidence. Not sure if it works for driving instructors. I do think they are trying to fail cocky speeding accidents waiting to happen so maybe a reserved quieter white faced candidate is exactl what they want. Someone aware of the enormous responsibility of taking a car on the road.

Anothe issue is paying the mg when you have children and one party stops paid work.

Four pounds, terrifying when you put it like that, I agree.

Maybe you were adding in a bonus? Fair enough but the banks wont lend against a bonus to the same extent and thu certainly won't lend 3.5 times against joint salaries. Anyone who chooses this moment to gear up is a bit mad I think, despite the inflation argument and the low interest rates.

Yes but they represented SE London prices in Brockley and New Cross as 800 pounds per f2. This is clearly rubbish (more like 350!) and my fear is that people will read that and think they will be priced out of ED. Dear buyers, you won't be! That figure was utter rubbish.

Wow, motorbird, thank you. That is indeed impressive analysis.

It is possible to be very involved in your community while being pleased if the value of your flat rises!

I meant city not cut!