womanofdulwich

you could try wwww.simply childcare, its much cheaper than 3 weeks wages .

NEVER go into a cafe and buy a drink or food. Carry tap water around in a plastic bottle. Have friends to your house for coffee or meet at theirs. Never buy any magazines or papers. You might find this makes a difference. ( I don't recommend it for more than 3 months).

i have a kenwood multi pro which i use for pastry, cakes,biscuits, blitzing, soup making,grating, breadcrumb making, soup and smoottie blending. It came with a huge amount of attachments which probably do other stuff but I have never used them. So it has a big blade at the bottom for processing , but it coems with a " liquideiser" i use for blending soups etc, and a smaller thing, I think called a coffee grinder, which I use for coffee, herbs etc. I am happy with it. I did inherit a kenwood chef but the bowl size on that means it really only works for medium/ large quantities, and its so heavy to move around hte kitchen, but I do use it for making big quantites, which the kenwood multi pro can't manage- eg Christmas cake.

buy a black and a white T shirt. get your scissors out- and cut/ sew / wonderweb as necessary.

we thought English HEritage was better for younger children- less precious buildings- more old castles, but we used to join something differnt every year, royal palaces is very good- even better if swap cards with a friend- which I am sure is illegal- same for tate etc.

if you have one son then a "golf" sized car is good- unless you will need to put a bicycle in the boot. Its tricky parking an estate car in London, and they use more fuel. A polo is really handy for driving on London, but not sure if it big enough depending if you need to put a travel cot, buggy and high chair in the boot , as well as your clothes.

i think state schools have 13 weeks holidays, private about 17 weeks.you can add a few teacher training days to the state schools

Surely you want a golf then? but depends on your budget!

There was a Kats whiskers in Streatham a long time ago.

there is a business opportunity!!

I have yet to meet someone who finds Rufus Hound funny.

looking after twins that are babies / toddlers is hard work and not something that an au pair should be doing full time, more like a nanny or au pair plus. For 5 long days - say 8am to 6.30 I think a qualified live in nanny would have to be at least ?350 a week if you wanted them to babysit onenight a week- which is normal!

I think you have a good point there gill and joe-I feel sorry for men who are locked into working like this. I do for women too though! I do think its London that does this though. If you dont come from your London, you probably saw your Dad go to work at the same time as you went to school and you all had tea/ dinner together at 6pm :(

I was offered a job by the GLC years ago - everywoman that applied got an offer but no men did. I turned it down as I felt uncomfortable-I think I slightly regret it now, as those that took it were kind of "hot housed". :( - but they did have to work with some real neanderthals. As to boards -I think it depends where you are in your career.If its early on and well managed maybe its not such a bad thing?

This is a frightening attitude to bring your family up in. However I do think with the celeb culture we have today there are more teenage girls( or ones in their 20's) today who are openly saying they want to marry a rich man, have babies and stay at home. I wonder if part of that is that they have seen us, their mums, often struggling to fulfil ourselves by often going to university- at a time when it was free- and enjoying fulfiling careers and then realising that we cannot have it all- ie family and full time rewarding career. It is dissatisfying to many , but there is no perfect solution women are continually beating themselves up about work/ children as we set ourselves up for both and most of us realise that its not going to be possible. As mothers we are much more willing to take time out to look after our children than our husbands are, particularly because most of us take materninty leave and already start to build up local support networks.I know a few women who swapped places with their husbands who stayed at home while the women went back full tome after 6 weeks as the main breadwinner, and that has ended in tears, divorce - father getting to be main carer- etc etc. If I had a daughter I would treat her exactly the same as a son, I can't imagine doing anything else, otherwise she would not feel valued.

I have no sympathy for her, but I do feel very sorry for her children. How misguided was she.

thats great- nanny share - just depends what you want and works best for the nanny share.

I hear you, and lucky you to have granny, but childminders and nanny shares are really good for socialising, they will take to playgroups and they will interact with other charges, nanny shares esp like this age as so many little ones come to them at 1 and go to nursery at 3-4 so they know they will get 2 years of conistent care/ work.

it might be worth trying a childminder or nanny share for this age.

ok its week 6. i relieved the headache by eating sugary food- felt better after !! Will try harder tomorrow!

should add my friend who has done lighter life was told she woulld get headaches and to take paracetemol. This sounds all wrong to me.:(

i am drinking about 2.5 litres of tea and water a day- do you thinik I should drink more?

Is anyone else on this getting headaches on your fast days?

I think I would go as a bar of chocolate with the golden ticket? has to be easier

I would be interested to know the percentage of books which are lost/ not fined when you move to a self service system. THis has been done in other boroughs.