womanofdulwich

IF you have 2 reception rooms could you make one into a bedroom for au pair short term? This is what one of our friends did - saved them ?150 a week and could afford a loft conversion the following year.

You just fit in to the au pair 25 hours a week - if you have room that will be the cheapest option- you could even link up with another class parent some days to subsidize the cost. Otherwise it is hard to find people to do these hours- especially the morning one- is there any way you can start later and have longer care in the evenings? Start net working like crazy NOW.Especially at the school - ask the pta - look at their notice board etc. nose around the playground- especially if older children are leaving and their carers are looking for extra work.

I have just looked on jam web site and ?18 a day for after school care or ?75 a week.

if you are brave buy them a cake and a budget and plastic cutlery etc and let her have all her nanny friends and their charges round to your house for a tea party and then a small gift

All cyclists should have to drive a car for 20 mins and visa versa.( Don't get me started on white vans)

i think carers that are just doing wrap around care want at least ?10 an hour. what are you doing for childcare now? can you use that as a continuity? what will you do in the holidays? if the school fees are ?12,000 and heber lasts 7 years- that is ?84k . ?4k does not look such a bad investment to write off to save ?84k. But of course you need to be happy about Heber. There is no right answer- thousands of people have to make a similar choice. But I bet you can move from Heber to Rosemead later and maybe not visa versa.

i think you have to think about having a second child and getting the eldest to school - and taking maternity leave and still paying those fees. how many other rosemand children have working parents and what do they do. also consider an au pair for wrap around care. oh the dilemmas

i went to see a homeopath about this and it worked. her name is Merita Byrne and she is based in Woodwarde rd SE22. More expensive than chocolate but i was putting my family through it. Swimming helped too. Bummer.

I remember thinking why hasn't the human race died out by now!? Why is it soo hard and I must be rubbish at this because everyone else was so stoical.

MIne were fine with it- maybe the ice cube tray has got a smell to it though? Why don't you try using normal milk and see if that tastes different using the same method, to iron out any problems.

i'M sure they only have 1 week off at half term ( apart from October half term )

Harriet Harmen was in Sainsburys this afternoon-I guess she will have a bit more time to go there now.

I don't think you should be able to stand as an MP unless you have had a proper job for at least 3 years. By a proper job I mean not been a professional politician. Preferable not in civil service either.

Seeing as some people pay cleaners ?10 an hour - I know it is cash- but good nannies look worth the money to me.

Youth hostels are cheap and you can have all you meals cooked for you if you like- great for meeting new people and 4 year old- but you might find that the 17 month old needed watching a lot. Do you have to go in school holidays? I have a friend that always took he dad and sons to haven holidays for 4 days as lots of entertainment.We have camped at Kelling Heath in North Norfolk which had some really nice holiday chalets but lots of parks,walks, swimming pool and nature walks.

I am sure a tennis ball in a sock bottle of evian water spray packet of lucozade tablets and pair of long wooly socks were passed around unused by my friends and I between babies. A big pack of custard creams always comes in handy.

It might be that you can keep to the same kind of career but work for a different type of operation? For example you might find working for a private practice/ public/third sector is a better place to be. Sometimes it is the people you work with that drag you down. If you think it might be that then you might be better of talking to an agency that specialises in your area of work, a touchy feely type of conversation. It is very hard to get this kind of advise,as you may find that you know more than the person you consult, although they may put a fresh light on it. Do you have a professional body that might be able to assist? Can you ask co workers if they ever feel like this?- what have others done about it? You have a long working life ahead of you,and when my partner was 7 years out of uni he felt the same, and ended up doing a 3 year masters degree after work and eventually changed job. It is a bummer though because if you change dramatically you may have to take a paycut, and you probably have reached a point where you do not want to change your income too much. I agree about life coaches, but maybe you could try and find someone by personal recommendation. I suspect a lot of people feel like you at about this stage of their career. Good luck.

i always thought that more motivated demanding parent will improve a school, and if you send your child to a private school then you are depriving the state school of you and your child and all that you can offer and support to others less able. If you took this to its logical conclusion it would mean that state schools were only attended by the children whose parents could not give a toss- and there are plenty of them out there. I know it seems really hard but I think you should try and stick with state system if you can bear to and improve standards and dont let the schools get away with complacency. ( oh easy to say when you are coming out the other end I know but that was my reasoning).

I think to say the churches have the best schools is too general. ST Josephs College and Bishop Thomas Grant are both secondary catholic boys schools and I would not say they were the best schools . I would not say they are the worst as my son went to St Josephs College for 5 years . However I think you have to look at each school individually, it is not just whether the school is christian/catholic it is what the surrounding schools and catchment area are like. If you are not a catholic to begin with, going to a secondary catholic school is very unlikely to make you become one. If you are christian but not catholic you can still go to some catholic schools, but there is quite a culture clash which can be a little uncomfortable with all the prayers if you are unfamiliar- or on the liberal side of Christianity. Still it was an education for me to see how catholics can be ( so very charitable) but enough to make my son go from C of E to atheist. You have to go and make up your own mind up. You should not judge until you have been and looked.

Tessa is 62 now, her separated husband has been let off, I am sure she will want to see the olympics out and then rekindle that romance with David Mills.... I think she looks remarkably well for 62.

here here Dulwich Mum. They are here to learn, not to be exploited. au pair ?60-?70 a week ( dep on how many hours- mine just 15 hours) plus food and lodgings- no qualifications. Nanny ?500 a week - qualifications, CRNB check, healthy meals, first aid, knows the area, can drive, networking etc. If you have ever had a competent nanny phoning you from hospital with your 18 month old having a febrile convulsion who know exactly what to do - you would understand why nannys are nannys and worth every penny you pay them in the early years.

Marmora man is a find- I do hope there is a quiz night where I can use this info!!( whilst I can remember it).

I thought it was only poncey restaurants that had them?

How come Tessa got a swing towards her? do you think the liberals overdid it with leafleting or was it the candidate himself?

Thanks omniprescient. I always wondered about that.