Smiler

budur, for some of us, jeans ARE dressing up! Argh.

There is a court case at the moment about whether or not religious schools can have faith in their admissions criteria without specifying what religious practice, e.g. church attendance, is required.

Where / when is it?

Second the wine! Now am back at work am v.glad I don't have to do this bit of the day five days a week, as it's really hard (post-childcare routine is much easier than when have been at home). We (me + 20-month old) go round the block with teddy/dolly in mini-pram. Stare at builders / people out and about(her, not me), rumble around. Followed by Ceebeebees or Dora the Explorer and general stop-all-effort-at-entertaining-her by me. When cooking, I chuck peelings, utensils, plastic chopping board etc. around and encourage her to play with them, makes a right mess of the kitchen floor, put stuff in the pedal bin etc. but means can actually cook rather than being pestered to be picked up. She also loves the recycling bag as its contents change daily.

Sylvie, hope you're still feeling better. Yes, happens everywhere, but still horrible if happens to you.

Mr Smiler had an umbrella stolen at the station this morning, just before 9am. Left it on a bench when got up for the train, went back for it 20 seconds later and it had been nicked. Nasty umbrella thief.

What other things can you bet on? Quite fancy a trip to a betting establishment on Lordship Lane with the Bugaboo.

Maybe he is torn - Lovely ED ladies, but fusty fabric. He is becoming a celeb!

Yes, it's this month for August babies, but next month is September babies, post-Xmas/new year parties etc. so apparently a v.busy month for Kings! Though have decided that "planning" babies isn't really possible - well, not for everyone anyway. My friend managed to cross her legs til 1 September, but on the down-side has to pay for an extra year of childcare. Re.lying about age, I bet they don't check with the NHS when you register the birth, that would just be far too organised and joined-up! Birth certificates can easily be doctored, I doctored mine to add a year to my age when was 20 and wanting to drink in the USA. Probably slightly illegal, but was worth it even for boozing and this is much more important purpose!

Think that there are similar problems all over the place in London and the south east.... re. East Dulwich there is a council scrutiny committee report somewhere on another thread.

Lots of the nurseries have v.long waiting lists. Most don't take under-twos.

The card shop (V-something) near Green and Blue has various nice children's crockery, e.g. Elmer, ED has the very hungry caterpillar! The Ceramics place near Goose Green takes a week or so to come back once you have done the painting, may take longer in the run-up to Christmas.

v.glad it is still open, is great place, though a bit full of scary toddlers (not all wearing hoodies).

It takes ages to drive to Wickes/Homebase in Catford and the B&Q in West Norwood is rubbish. Good to have local place.

Maclaren website says "customers who want further reassurance can obtain hinge covers, which can be used to cover the folding mechanism, free of charge through customer services by emailing us at [email protected] or by calling us on 01327 841320." "We appreciate that this issue has raised genuine concerns and that for some UK parents the provision and use of a simple hinge cover will provide additional reassurance. We have, therefore, decided to provide these free of charge to any parents who call our customer services."

Toast, understand that locality is important, but surely it is impossible to talk about school places without taking quality (however assessed) into account?

I would love to come along, but am likewise away on 12th to the nasty countryside. Think this is a great idea, though must admit that in my knackered state I crave lounging in other people's living rooms (no matter what state, even a lads'-house littered with lad-mags, beer cans, pizza and with disturbingly matted carpet would do) and lots of large cups of tea much more than bars and booze! Though bars and booze still good.

To go totally off-topic, I spent my first five years of primary education in a portakabin - good times! A highlight was when one of the boys set it on fire using a magnifying glass in a science lesson. It was the Thatcherite era of giant class sizes and there were 35 kids, one teacher and no teaching assistants. Re. lack of playground space there were also a lot of "do not cross this line" notices in the playground - too tempting for kids! A lot of the primaries round here seem to have too-small playgrounds, which is a shame. At least we are near parks though.

I don't think it is off-topic at all CT-Wac - my comments relate to the Council paper and Coach Beth is raising a related issue in response to that. It would be interesting to see statistics on the number of school places in the area and the proportion of these places in the various Ofsted categories of school (with the date of the latest inspection, to acknowledge Beth's point). Expanding a school with bulge classes would not necessarily make it more difficult to sustain high standards. Suspect that a lot of parents seeking a school place for their children would much prefer this to having a place in an under-performing school. Funding follows the children, so the schools with the extra places would receive extra money to pay for teachers etc etc. The trouble is that the Council would, as I understand it, additionally have to subsidise the under-subscribed schools, stretching resources.

Naughty Mummy, good luck with your venture, good for you.

With respect to the Scrutiny Committee's paper, there seems to be a no acknowledgement of the varying quality of schools at the present time. The Council clearly - and understandably - has an agenda to fill all places at all schools, and for children to go to "poor" schools rather than to new, bulge classes in "good" schools (which cost a lot to set up, as do surplus places in the "poor" schools). The theory being that everyone being forced to go to their local school will lead to improvement everywhere, benefiting the whole community etc etc. Some parents may be optimistic about school improvement, which is fair enough. But others (myself included) will want to send their child/ren to a school that is already considered by inspectors to be good or outstanding, rather than one that is merely "satisfactory" or in special measures for poor performance. The paper states somewhere that two-thirds of primaries in the area (Southwark / East Dulwich and surrounding area?) have been recognised by Ofsted as good or outstanding, but this means that a third of schools are not. There are references to "improving" schools, but in whose judgment are they improving? In the case of Goose Green, for example, have Oftsed judged that it has improved and taken it out of special measures? If not, it is simply an assertion of improvement. The paper doesn't acknowledge this properly: it implies that all schools in the area are fine - or at least improving - and that there is simply a PR exercise for some less popular schools to win over narrow-minded parents. Surely it should be acknowledged that, at least for the present, there are satisfactory / poor schools and insufficient places at good/outstanding schools for the children of East Dulwich? Why pretend that there is no problem as long as there are bums on (local) seats? There is also a discussion about "preferred" schools (i.e. "five or six"): how about some transparency about how many applicants received their first or second choice of school?

DMC very good for babies, toddlers and womens' health. Good GPs and not too bad getting an appointment, if you suss out their system! Not used the Lanes as was not set up when had my little one.

Is it the case that you have virtually no chance of getting into a school in East Dulwich if you live closer to another one?

Police all have photo ID, travelcard size, and often keep it in a black wallet thing with a big shiny badge on. Every officer also has a specific officer number, that should be on both the badge and uniform (e.g. on the shoulder), and be part of a specific station.

SWF, I feel for you, my 19 month old has never slept through, am resigned to it. Not tried controlled crying and not going to. We often do co-sleeping which means I get more sleep, but is not ideal. My little one likewise gets hungry, she's a total milk fiend in general, try to fill her up in day and cut down night feeds, but not going well. Am resigned to it all now. But if it makes you feel better I work 3 days a week (desk job) and find it surprisingly easy to function OK at work on hardly any sleep, whereas on days at home it is much, much harder. Also feel less tired being back at work than when was doing full-time childcare. I thought it'd make things worse going back to work, but hasn't worked out that way. So even if your DD doesn't sleep, you may start to feel a little better.