pebbles

No can do 12th either however I look forward to meeting you all in January

Hi Molly Would I be able to have the details of your mattress cleaning person Thanks Sally

I'm in and can't wait

I'm in and can't wait

I too would deffers be up for a glass of vino and wind down - if the dads can do it then what about us :)

I too would deffers be up for a glass of vino and wind down - if the dads can do it then what about us :)

Definitely Straws as i got really thirsty however never was at a right angle to be able to drink from cup Energy sweets - the ones you get from chemists - buy more than you need cos i forgot how addictive they are and ate most of them before labour day!! Hair bands - make sure you put your hair up as tightly as possible before you might not be able to cos although partners can be brilliant at everything the one thing i found he was dreadful at was tying up my hair and i had a water birth so hair over my face is actually my lasting annoying memory of childbirth Mini fan - gets seriously hot in the wards Water spray - the ones that they advertise to cool you down in the summer etc - labour is hot work Flannels - for same reason as above - 2 of them so one can be in cold water and the other being held on your forehead and then swap Ipod/speakers - with a play list - i actually had two as i didn't know whether i needed fast paced music to keep me going or chilled out music to calm me down - in all honestly i have no idea at all what was played but it was nice having music in background If you are a pillow person then bring a comfy pillow from home - it's nice having the smell and the comfort. This list seems endless - sorry Good luck

I totally agree with LadyMuck that one shouldn't feel the need to have a prenup otherwise it would mean they had doubts before going into marriage. I went into my marriage with pretty much equal everything so it was never even a consideration and now i'm a mother and not working for a salary we have one joint account that we both live on however the money we receive from child benefits (can't remember the name) go into an account in my name for me to buy my husbands bday and xmas presents - just something that means something to me!!! Question - should the split be different dependent on what has broken up the marriage? ie affairs (male or female), mutual no longer loving each other etc. Another question that I'm interested to know whether it makes a difference - if there are no children in the relationship is it still a 50/50 split?

This really made me laugh out loud - great post :)

Does anyone know the postcode of the Dunstans Road gate entrance as I was measuring the distance as the crow flies from their postcode SE22 0EP but if not from Goodrich Road then i'm assuming this postcode is incorrect. Thanks

Very interesting question and definitely something i'll want to think more on however initial thoughts are i think it will depend on the children. At the moment I am definitely disciplinarian (my son is only 2!!!!!) as i don't believe he would understand the discussion (within reason). I explain to him why i'm saying no or perhaps raising my voice but obviously don't sit him down and discuss. I think it will be very difficult to do it dependent on the child but I do feel that some children react better to being treated like adults and being sat down and discussed whereas others need to be told of and punished. I was definitely someone who needed to be told off and punished whereas my older brother just reacted badly to that and behaved even worse so in hindsight i think my parents should have discussed things with him. The problem is though is it possible to treat children in the same house differently? And here i was thinking my sons tantrum in the park earlier was difficult to treat - i think these days are easy in comparison!!! - they can't answer back :)

I agree with Shosh re quality time with their daddy I had a step mum from 13 onwards. Pretty much the MAIN problem i had was she never allowed me to see my father on my own. Now that i'm in my 30's and trust me it has had a lasting affect and it is something i still think about (my father has since died and i no longer see my step mum - her choice not mine!!!) anyway, i look back now and realise with two older brothers i really was the apple of my fathers eye and therefore my step mother couldn't cope with me having quality time with him as she was jealous and therefore it made me resent her even more, become a brat around her and for my father to be totally torn between the two of us trying to make us both happy but normally failing on both accounts. Obviously I have absolutely no idea what sort of step mummy you are and i'm sure you are absolutely lovely however teenagers do struggle with the sharing of parents so the only bit of advice is try and make as many plans for you to be out of the house or for them and your husband to be out of the house together. then the time they spend with him they'll get his attention fully and then when you are all together hopefully it'll be short enough (sorry that sounds dreadful) for them to start appreciating you more and that hopefully in time they won't want it to be a short amount of time and they'll grow to love you for who you are and not for taking their mummy's place. also the other thing to take into account is how their mother talks about you. i was very lucky in that my mother never bitched about my step mother and just discussed with with her friends so my feelings were solely my own however from friends who didn't have that support from their mothers had automatic views on their step mums before they could form their own. I don't know how one deals with this situation but it's definitely worth thinking about. I truly wish you all the luck in the world as i know for my daddy i would have loved to have had an amicable relationship with my step mu. Good luck and pls keep us informed.

I had no.1 in Sept 2007 and was told that the likelihood of getting a pool in hospital was slim to none. The reasoning isn't because they're all being used at the same time but because they haven't had time to clean and re-fill in time for the next mother (understandably as obviously taking care of patients is their priority). I was very very keen on having a water birth and therefore opted for the home option which luckily all went to plan. I think the thing that reassured it for me was that if at any time i lost my confidence and wanted to be admitted and have drugs or just to be in hospital (you can only have gas & air while in water) i could go to Kings straight away. I don't have any other experience (no. 2 due in 7 weeks) however I do highly recommend water and if you want to discuss home births please pm me as i'll be happy to talk you through it. Good luck with decisions

My boy is also 23 months old and I have to say it just gets better day by day. The more they communicate and the more they can do obviously my day becomes more interesting and dare i say he is becoming quite lovely company and my goodness do i laugh more and more with what he does. He hasn't started tantrumming yet so i'm making the most of it

Not stupid question at all - it's all so confusing I remember when I started weaning he would start getting grouchy about 10.30/11ish for food so on the days that i was at home/cafe/friends house that is when I would feed him his lunch (starting off my half a boob as well) and I slowly moved it back to 12/12.30 when he started eating more brekkie so therefore allowed me to be more flexible during morning. However on the days that I had activities in the morning I would just give him a proper milk feed at that time and then i woudl always try and get him to somewhere that i could try and feed him for 12. Sometimes he wouldn't take anything as was full from milk but other times he would take a bit. It certainly took a few deep breaths to be "cool, calm and collected" about not following my routine - i'm afraid i was very much a routine type mum however those deep breaths seemed to work and slowly it just worked. I truly believe mums sanity is more important to following routine and getting food in them at the "right" time - therefore if keeping you sane means getting out and about and doing classes (it's what kept me sane) then that should be your focus and snowboarder junior will fit around you - it might take a bit of time though but it will happen The other thing I have to say is my son didn't really play with toys until after he was 1. I remember being worried and confused and I suppose a bit annoyed that I couldn't entertain him with toys however what I did find he absolutely loved is being outside. Whether that be in his pram but more often on a rug so if you have outdoor space i'd really give it a try - he loved watching the leaves on the trees etc - it also gave me a great opportunity to sit with him and read a few pages of a book!!! :) Do keep the questions coming snowboarder, they're not silly questions and I know if I had had the guts to ask these questions when my little one was a baby I would have felt so much happier and reassured about what I was doing.

I couldn't be happier HH, fabulous news. Lets just keep fingers crossed that your little munchkin stays this helpful throughout his whole life :) Well done you for getting through such a stressful day

I don't think i've ever refreshed this page so much in anticipation HH. Got fingers crossed

I promise you're not alone My 23 month old was a fabulous eater until he was 18 months old and then suddenly everything went to pot. He eats, pasta & pesto, baked beans on toast and fish fingers (all of which HAVE to be cold). We have tried disguising everything we can think of in these 3 meals but somehow he seems to be the cleverest person in the world and doesn't even need to taste it, one look at pasta & pesta which is the same colour as normal but has vegies pureed in it and he won't touch it!!! Meal times are probably the thing I find most stressful about motherhood Thanks to everyone above with all their ideas, i will continue to try them all and keeping fingers crossed for all of us parents of fussy eaters - here's praying that it's a phase!!! One thing i do use which is a life saver for me knowing that he's getting vegies and fruit are those ella's kitchens squeezy pouch things. he won't eat pureered fruit or vegies when i do them but for some reason he will these so he eats copious amounts of them which is why i perhaps am not panicking as much because i know he is getting nutrients of some sort. i think what i hate the most is that quite often my friends with babies the same age will all go out for lunch to pizza express or something and their little'uns eat the pasta or pizza and love the outing whereas seb just screams, won't eat anything and i end up leaving early or feeding him ella's kitchems - i dream of the day we can go for lunch/dinner with him and he being part of the meal ps - i'm a fussy eater (although my son has never witnessed this) and my mother is now quietly laughing in her hanky at what she went through for 18 years - i pray he isn't anything like me anyway, enough waffling - time for a glass of wine me things :)

Water - i often put a chair up to a sink full of water with lots of plastic food containers (empty of course). Make sure you put a towel on the floor and be warned your kitchen will be wet however it keeps him occupied for ages and trust me not much keeps my munchkin occupied (except mischief!!!)

Dulwich Woods is lovely for walking and perhaps a bit more interesting for the teenager than our parks (however punting at Dulwich Park does sound fab) I agree with Dulwich Picture Gallery (bias as we got married there) however being not very arty/cultured i'm not sure how interesting I would have found it in my teenage years? When my father in law comes to stay (he quite likes his wine) we always end up having nibbles and wine at Green & Blue as a late lunch option after brunch. See whether Dulwich College Farmers Market is on as some nice food to take home? I think the Herne is a great place for you to eat. Not too manic and Sat night pub like (if that makes sense) so your father will be happy taking your teenage brother there but a great atmosphere and lovely food. Locale is another great place. I think (and obviously this is only my opinion) i would avoid the pub/restaurants close to the bottom of Lordship Lane as that's where I'd go when getting drunk rather than having a nice meal with my family - please don't take offense anyone!! I know not in East Dulwich but Borough Market is always a great option with a lunch there or by the South Bank? Have a lovely weekend. Your father will just love it here and be very happy with your choice. Having been born and bread here I couldn't be more proud.

Annoyingly, just like my mother and even though I promised myself I would never do this, I lick my finger and then clean my toddlers face. Oh how I pity him as he gets older and I don't stop. I'm worried i'm going to grow hair out of my moles next!!!!! Edited - Nappy Lady - I have just read the other thread and see that you've already confessed to this annoying habit and also likening it to your mother - god help us all :)

My 22 month old had "swine flu" last week. I am a little cautious in calling it that as I find it very difficult with him only being diagnosed over the telephone however he had a temp over 38 degrees for 5 days, horrible cough and sore throat, didn't eat for 5 days and had diorrhoea. At no point in time was i worried about him - if that makes sense. However it was truly and utterly heartbreaking seeing him feel so ill and not be able to do anything other than cuddle. He pretty much slept the whole time (however woke himself up regularly coughing so didn't have good night time sleeps so slept with me the whole time for comfort - not something i've ever done before and i loved every minute of it and miss him now that he's back in his own room!!!). He didn't want to eat or drink anything so in the end we had to syringe water into him as he wouldn't take it any other way. I think that was what i was worried about the most was his liquid intake. We did ask for Tamiflu and we emptied the powder from the pills out into everything we could possibly think of however he didn't take any of it and now that he is better I am quite glad about that as he fought it off himself which i am hoping will stand him in better stead for if it occurs again in the future. I'm 30 weeks pregnant so was very lucky to have my mum spend most days with us. It was more moral support that i needed as he just lay on me moaning most of the time so it was nice having someone to keep me company, take over the hugging when it got too upsetting for me and of course feed me lots and lots of food. My husband and I agreed that what was important if we could help it is that we both didn't get ill at the same time so he slept in the spare room and I did most of the comforting and so far hubby is still feeling fine. Me.... well lets just say that our son is currently on his way up to stay with Grandpa so I can go to bed. I don't have "swine flu" as I don't have the temperature that they say is a "must" but i do feel dreadful but might be the stress release from last week in combination to catching his cough and cold. So that's my story.. sorry for waffling Would love to hear other people's stories

Apology for making the mistake in the first place I'm not a huge fan of kippers

I went shopping today and bought crisps and dips both of which had offers on them. When i went to check out I remembered this thread so asked whether they had put through the offers. The assistant asked what they were and I told him the two items and guestimated the amounts and instead of checking these costs he went straight into the till and gave me change to the amounts that I told him, didn't even check that I was correct or anything and didn't give me a new receipt. Couldn't quite believe it. No surprise and no apology.

Has anyone been able to track down Forest Hill Group Practice's 020 number? I've looked on saynoto0870.com but it's not listed there?