laurac

I just wanted to add a comment about that 'gaping hole in your CV'; I was a SAHM for 8 years, until my youngest started reception a year ago. I actually found a job pretty easily (and probably fortuitously through a friend) in a field slightly different but related to what I used to do (I worked in regeneration/project management and have a job in transport now). I have to say now a year on that I wouldn't worry at all about that 8 year gap, I think once you get back into work, certainly in the areas I am working in, people are more interested in what you are doing now and have done recently, than in what you were doing 2/3 years ago. I also think that being at home is not 'dead-time' in terms of your own development; I have returned to work a lot more confident and relaxed about things like public speaking so please don't think you are treading water if you do decide to stay at home - I don't think that that is the case at all.

I have a box of phoenix comics in v. good condition (from issue 1 onwards; 40 - 50?) - a friend picked them up for my daughter at a car boot I think but I haven't been able to interest her in reading them. If anyone wants them they are very welcome to them - just pm me. Laura

My four and seven year olds have just started at General Stars at Charter (Monday/Wednesdays 4.30/5.30pm). It was recommended to us and I am really impressed - nice, friendly and relaxed, even mix of boys and girls - my two are really enjoying it.

Hi I did just this for my daughter's fourth birthday recently - bought packs of books from the book people and split them, one for each child and then gave them all a bag of sweets too.

My just four year old is not quite up to following a continuous chapter book yet but we have been dipping in and out of Milly Molly Mandy and My Naughty Little Sister for a while. She also loves the Winnie the Poo stories and Knomester, the Winnie the Poo audio books, read by Alan Bennett, are a real treat!

We also have a Golf (same model as you bluesuperted?) and I have often had to travel in the back between two car seats (not sure exactly what they are but one for a toddler and a sided one for a seven year old) to calm a screaming little one. I am 5 10 and not slim and while not particularly comfortable it's definately do-able, even for a couple of hours at a time.

We have been to the Olympic Park today with a group of children aged from 3 to 8 1/2. It's definitely good for a change - water fountains, a couple of playgrounds and all of them had a great time despite the showers! You can also book swimming at the Olympic Pool - I think you could take a 2 and 8 year old in by yourself but you would have to check.

We have Fired Earth - Skylon Grey in our living room which is a true mid grey. I love F&B Skylight but would say is more blue. Also have Little Greene Gauze (Mid) in our hall which is a light grey and lovely. Would second the recommendation for Whites! Colour matching and they stock Little Greene.

I think the bad weather must be a factor; we have had a bees nest in our roof space for a month or so but since the constant rain last week all the bees seem to have disappeared...

I would second looking at pinterest - we built our bathroom from scratch last year and I found it the best tool for helping me decide how I wanted things to look. And also CP Hart in Waterloo - the showroom is big with lots of room sets so is useful at the very least for helping you decide what size sink/bath/shower etc (if you have options on this) - take a tape measure. Grotty - I've seen those tiles before and love them!!

It was so they could keep track of who had already voted and could chase up people who hadn't (yet) this evening. That was what one of the councillors said when they asked me to do the same outside the Darrell Road community centre earlier.

We have had duravit products (happy d/happy d 2 range - sink and toilet) in two bathrooms now and I would definitely recommend them - they are not the cheapest but look good and last really well and you can shop around on-line to get the best price. My partner has always insisted on a steel bath and we have had a bette bath both times - looks great and they do a good range of style and sizes. We got our bath this time around (last summer) through Bells and also got all our brassware from them - matki swadling which we are pleased with. I guess we spent about ?3-4k on all the sanitary ware and fittings (including shower) but then got relatively cheap tiles and did all the decorating ourselves to save some money - I am expecting that the bathroom will last years and years though - in our last house it was in for more than 10 years and was still looking great. I would second the recommendation for Bells - they were really really helpful - we were in there about 4 times finalising things and it is very handy to check through with someone in the know to see that you have everything covered. We also went to c p hart at waterloo which is pretty high-end but might be useful for space planning etc. - in the end we got our duravit bits from them because they could price match the best we'd seen on-line.

I would also like to recommend Mark; he recently did the calculations and steel specification for the removal of a chimney breast for us. This was passed by Building Control with no problems. When we did run into problems with the physical removal he liaised with Building Control and provided extra calculations at no extra cost even though his part of the work was already done; he really helped us out of what could have been a tricky situation. Would definitely use him again - thank you Mark! Tel. 01622 745512 Mobile 07450 371508 [email protected]

My daughter had only ever done three mornings a week in nursery before she started school and coped okay - I think the tiredness comes more from the mental strain of learning new routines and having to navigate socially with so many new people and peers - my daughter was free-flowing in reception across four other classes - a potential 119 other children to interact/negotiate with! I think it is also important to realise that 30 children in a class is a lot for one teacher and TA to get a handle on - it will probably take a few weeks for the teacher to 'know' your child. And definitely immediate snacks and easy after-school routine for a good while - mine normally relax and watch a bit of TV when they come in before playing/reading etc. Even now with my eldest going into Year 2 we will try to have at least 2 nights a week with no activities or play dates to just hang out at home.

Hi Yes, my daughter will be starting afternoons at the nursery too and we also don't know anyone there (my elder daughter is at a different school) - will also be her first time away from me so anything to make that easier would be good! Laura

I stopped cold turkey with both my daughters at 13 and 14 months - like you they both were still waking and feeding 4/5 times plus a night and I just got to the end of my tether - in fact, with my oldest I also stopped feeding over the Easter weekend! In both cases I was co-sleeping so I guess this maybe made it easier - when they woke up I would just cuddle them and say it was not the time for milk anymore and they were both sleeping through by night three. My daughters both were already using cups so we stuck with this - but I would definitely take some of the advice above re: expressing etc - certainly second time around I remember it being very painful to the point I couldn't hold my daughter for a day or so - and taking a long time (10 days?) for the engorgement to subside....good luck!

My daughter had that list last year in reception but that was just word recognition for reading, nothing to do with spelling. So far this year she hasn't mentioned that they are doing any spelling at all and they don't have homework full stop. She is at Dulwich Village Infants.

My daughter and I travelled up through London Bridge yesterday, got the 7.15am train from East Dulwich, were told there were severe delays on the Jubilee line but went down to check it out ourselves (I was reluctant to walk my five year old up to Liverpool Street as was being suggested) . All fine and we were in Stratford by 8.00am and at our venue by quarter past. As katgod said there were massive signs for the Olympic Park taking you out of London Bridge - I think organisers are trying to spread people around to take pressure off the Jubilee line but we had an incredibly easy journey going this way.

Sanne Panne I have a daughter just going into Year 1 at DVIS - the uniform is basically anything red or grey, they don't actually have to wear anything with the logo on. Last year I bought her two logo-ed t-shirts, a polo shirt and a sweatshirt (more than enough really) and then supplemented with some Sainsbury's plain red polo shirts, Sainsburys red cardigans and some plain grey and red round necked tops. Tights and socks red, grey or white, everyone tends to wear the checked red and white dresses or my daughter had a red and white striped dress this summer which was fine. Any coat and any wellingtons fine - they are pretty relaxed really. Hope that helps.

My five year old has been aware of periods since being very little and coming into the bathroom with me - she knows that it's connected with having babies and that when your body isn't having a baby you bleed but it doesn't hurt. She also knows how babies are born - I bought her a great Jenni Overend book Hello Baby when she was three and a half and her little sister was born but I haven't gone into the details of conception beyond a vague seed and egg from the daddy and mummy - I think that is enough for now for her. I've always wanted to be very matter of fact and open about periods in particular because, for me, starting my period felt like a shameful, embarrassing thing and obviously I don't want that for her. She's definitely become more aware of bodies recently (male and female) - lots of laughing about how silly willies are!

RhubarbGarden I found exactly the opposite - when I stopped breastfeeding both of my two (each at about a year old) I started to put weight on. I am actually now much heavier than this time last year when my daughter was six months old. So I guess works differently for everyone..feeling inspired to stop eating so many biscuits!

I stopped breastfeeding my 13 month old daughter yesterday, we were feeding sporadically in the day (normally before a morning nap and sometimes in the middle of the afternoon) but before bed in the evening and then a lot in the night; generally she would be waking every hour and a half/two hours for a quick feed and I just reached my limit feeling so tired and ratty all the time. Ideally I would have cut down the day feeding and then the evening feed before tackling the night feeds but it just didn't work out that way and it hasn't been as bad as I feared so far - I actually got the best night sleep I've had in ages last night, she woke at midnight and half five and only took about 40 minutes to settle initially and has gone down quicker tonight. We co-sleep which possibly makes it easier but she seems to be suffering no ill effects - she has been on very good form today and no clingier than normal. It worked out exactly the same when I stopped night feeding my elder daughter at 14 months, within 3 nights she was sleeping through having previously been waking 3 or 4 times a night. I think the main problem with stopping so suddenly is how painful it is - I could hardly cuddle my daughter today without wincing..

Ditto - I was told my first baby was going to be small to average size - she weighed in at 9lb 4oz. Second time around I was told not to expect such a big baby - baby number two weighed 9lb!

When we lived in Camberwell HV called to do my daughters 2 year check over the phone - more than a year late! Was all a bit pointless. Had 8 month check for my youngest a few weeks ago and was told that a lot of places are cutting the 2 year check although HV attached to the Townley Road clinic are continuing to do it.

No sb, not just you - I've just watched Monday's episode and actually started crying at the Sister Kay bit (after having cried through pretty much the whole episode) - and I had baby no 2 8 months ago so no excuse for me!