cirrus29

We are looking for help with pick-ups (from Heber Primary School) and after school care on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, 15:30 to 18:30 (19:30 on Thursdays), starting from 17 April 2023 (after the Easter break). The children are aged 10 and 8 and cycle to school (about 1 mile) so you'd need to be able to walk briskly with them, otherwise we have a bicycle you could borrow. Please PM me if interested. Please state your salary expectations as the Gross rate per hour. Samantha

We are seeking a kind, responsible and energetic person to pick our children (aged 7 and 10) up from Heber school and look after them on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. They each have a swimming lesson after school (one on Tues and the other on Thurs) at JAGS sports club so you'd need to take them there also. We are seeking someone fit and active, as we cycle about a mile to school so they will be on their bikes and it is uphill all the way home. We have a ladies' bicycle available for loan, alternatively they are used to slowing down for nannies who prefer to do the school run on foot. Hours will be 15:30 - 19:30 on Tuesdays and 15:30 - 18:30 on Thursdays. If you would like more hours, we could also use help on Monday afternoons and the odd Wednesday morning. Please send a direct message with your hourly rate (gross) if interested.

Hi minder, this is precisely why I need the help of other parents/carers! I too speak pretty basic Mandarin - it is very much my second language, and I am only *just* literate for all practical purposes, despite having studied the subject at school. I hope it will all come back once I have people to practice with/ am forced to speak it in an immersion situation - even if only at toddler/household vocabulary level! Anyone who can speak any Mandarin is welcome to join, but I think immersion is important - my daughter has already picked up the habit of replying in English - bit like history repeating itself as this is the same thing I used to do with my parents (they spoke to me in Chinese and I replied in English) from age 4-ish, resulting in my current lack of fluency... Who knows, perhaps this will prove futile - but I'm giving it my best shot!

Hello and thank you for your responses! Please PM me with your email address if you would like to join and I will send out an email to everybody so we can agree a time.

Great to hear from you all! Maybe we could plan a tentative session for Saturday 28 Nov - I'd be happy to host it - and then see how it goes?

Love the sardine bolognese idea - though sadly mine won't eat tomato sauce! So true about weaning them onto the food you eat yourself - "fussy" is really a matter of perspective. My baby (10months)is allergic to egg too; current favourite in our house is grilled salmon (unseasoned for the baby, marinated the night before in miso, soy and mirin for the adults and 3 year-old) served with rice and blanched tenderstem broccoli. Kids eat the veg with their hands in front of the tablet while fish is grilling! Worth getting a rice cooker if you eat rice regularly. We have brown rice or short grain rice sometimes to change it up a bit.

Both mine went on hunger strike when I went back to work at 6 months. The elder settled after a few days on formula from a beaker (having rejected various bottles) while the younger is currently on Mam bottles with a number 2 teat (having tried and failed with numbers 1 then 3) and rejected the brand of formula that the other had accepted after going through 4 different brands! There is no good solution, I think. Also the temperature of the milk may lead to it being rejected... Various discussion boards (netmums, baby centre etc) talk about mixing expressed breast milk with formula and "weaning" by altering the ratio, but I didn't try it as I was trying to reduce my supply. Good luck!

That's great, Thursday or Friday would work for us too. Will wait to see if there's anyone else out there...

I'm seeking other Mandarin-speaking parents/carers with children of pre-school age or younger to form a regular (perhaps weekly?) playgroup. I envisage a 30-60 minute long session with Chinese nursery rhymes, play-based learning and also the teaching of some Chinese characters to those ready to read/write. Mine are currently 3.5 years and 9 months respectively, and this is what I do at home with them, but I am struggling to stay motivated! We also admittedly speak English at home most of the time... Please reply or send a message if you are interested. -Samantha