esme

The woman who cleans for me - Sioux - is great (on the forum, just search for her under CiderSioux). She is lovely to get on with as she is at cleaning, so winning find all round :)

Justine Perry, Magic Rainbow or Shutterbaby :) I have used the latter but heard great things about the others too...

Will do thanks x

Found and put on a garden wall on Crystal Palace Road - just around the corner from Heber Rd school

I need a childminder or nanny (perhaps a share?) to provide wraparound childcare as my son who is 3 yrs old has been offered a nursery place from September but hours are just 12.20-3.20pm Monday to Friday. So we need someone 8am-12.20pm then 3.20-6pm each day. If anyone offers this kind of childcare or knows of anyone who does please get in touch by PM. Possibility of offering reciprocal pick up one day per week (morning and afternoon) but change of my working hours needs to be agreed by my employer. Thanks :)

We are now taking registrations for new members - the card is FREE to locals (those who live in and around Dulwich). Full details on the site - www.livelovelocal.net See 'how to register' page if you are a business wishing to register. Initial deadline is 10th May to get the ?30 p.a. special offer. Kind regards, Esme

I like quite a few had a bad experience when returning to work (which was local handily) - someone else was doing my job and I was basically demoted to below the office junior having been the office manager (wonder if my ex boss is reading - not that he would feel remotely bad or that he did anything wrong) for 6+ years. I then found a decent job but it is in West London, quite a daily commute when you add drop off and pick up. However, that said my boss now is wonderful. Yes he has his faults but he has 2 young sons and is incredibly supportive (e.g. let me work from home for a week recently when my son had his tonsils out). Makes such a difference. Despite being more tired from travelling and longer day I am happy and feel my work is appreciated. All in all, I find it shattering trying to balance work (FT job) with being a mum and doing stuff around the house. My hubby works a bit of a way away so gets back late-ish and I have to wash up and cook each eve, and do laundry. We now have a cleaner which helps massively but agree it is draining and I feel constantly tired (gosh I love a good moan haha)... That said I am glad I have my gorgeous son, I feel I have a lot in life overall, and we're lucky compared to lots of people out there (anyone watched "Toughest Place to Be a..." on BBC2 series? Great documentary comparing people who work here with remote places - e.g. cabbie here went to Mumbai). *Mental note - get out more!!* speaking of which is anyone going to the clothes swap event Sunday at EDT? Sounds like fun and some of the entry fee goes to a children's cancer charity :)

police didn't even stop to ask HSBC staff if they had CCTV, they just took the woman for a ride to see if she could spot either of them... didn't do any good :( shame always need to be so vigilant

haha I should have bought shares in them! forget how great the forum grapevine is :)

If your kids love the school then why not - someone has to be privileged, you're not going to change the world by declining the free place!

I felt very down off and on throughout the first year - found my son a very demanding baby (he had colic, which meant he had wind/pain and didn't find a good cure for a very long time) plus I think the general adjusting to parenthood really tests a relationship and you forget about yourself so much you run yourself into the ground with tiredness. My advice is if you feel down try and have a rest and a treat, be nice to yourself, that worked for me :) and if you feel permanently rotten and unable to lift yourself out of the blues I would seek help from GP who can recommend counselling and general advice on sleeping better, baby routines and so on. Hope you feel supported from this thread - I think most mums feel depressed at some point, not always in the first few months by any means - nobody can prepare you for motherhood esp not the sleep deprivation! xx

Sounds great! I highly recommend Mothers Inc - I had a special offer with facial, massage and food & drink a few months ago and it was SUCH a treat :) Staff are lovely, nice relaxing massage room, reasonable prices, what more could you want?! No sales pitch either like you sometimes get in ED salons.

Mix as much as possible, go out and about as much as possible, just generally socialise to ger him/her used to more people and noise etc. Kids are incredibly adaptable, so even if settling in period is tough s/he will get used to it and have lots of fun with all the other children at nursery - my son went from childminder (he had been with since 8 months til 2 and a bit years) to nursery and took a few weeks but he was fine and absolutely loved the additional stimulation and space to run around - still does in fact :)

Definitely agree re the expressing... I have known various women who have spent days apart at various stages of baby's first couple of years and they managed to keep supply up by using a pump. Try not to stress and rest where possible however hard that is when travelling and going through something traumatic too - as that is most likely cause of "drying up" - good luck and hope all goes well x

Sounds like great fun :)

Eos Dance at the ED Community Centre - classes are excellent. Ari is so patient and nice, also offers constructive criticism and plenty of praise to keep you motivated throughout the class :) Even when you feel slightly awkward jumping across the room or doing certain steps she is very encouraging and generally lovely! Saturdays 12.30pm at the community centre on Darrell Rd SE22. Search Eos Dance on the forum and you will see plenty of good reviews for Ari's classes. Best wishes x

Businesses that have expressed an interest in joining so far include: 1. Kit and Kaboodle Clothing 2. Balance for Life (personal training) 3. The Pilates Garden 4. The London Nutritionist 5. Essential Therapia 6. Dulwich Osteopath 7. The Neighbourhood Vet 8. Shea Decadence 9. Eos Dance 10. Sweet Tooth 11. Shutterbaby Photography 12. Magic Rainbow Photography 13. Martin Lea Photography 14. La Avril Boutique 15. Queen Bee Styling 16. Property In 17. Linkys (glittery glasses & accessories) 18. Captured on the Rye 19. SE22 Piano School 20. East Dulwich Nanny Agency 21. Tennis 4 Kids 22. Brockwell Park Massage 23. Tippeetoes (Parent & Toddler classes & soft play party hire) 24. BirthBabyBliss 25. ChiChiRaRa 26. Baby massage by Laura Murray 27. Peter Popple's Popcorn 28. Fitness for Mummies 29. Aqua Build 30. A & M Cleaning 31. Bilingue Babies 32. Mothers Inc 33. Tippeetoes (soft play hire) 34. Captain Tortue clothing 35. In Cleaning

Hello everyone, Introducing a new local loyalty card scheme for East Dulwich and the surrounding areas. Herne Hill and Brixton have their own but we will still be adding any businesses who wish to join to our list :) If you are a business contact me by PM or at esme_c@fsmail.net The scheme will offer members discounts and special offers on all sorts of products and services, such as beauty treatments, estate agency fees, dance lessons, music lessons and much more! See following link to pre-register (estimate cards will be out end May/start June) and to find out a bit more... http://www.livelovelocal.net/ Best wishes, Esme

polydrons, puzzles, drawing, look on CBeebies website for make and do stuff :)

See you later :) hope you have lots of food!

Horniman is ALWAYS worth a visit - even if the Easter fair itself isn't fantastic the museum itself keeps kids absorbed for hours and the caf? and gardens are nice too. As LVWT says we're really lucky to have this (and other places and parks) on our doorstep :)

My 3 yr old son plays with polydrons (magnetic shapes) at nursery and I have to say as well as being his favourite toy of the moment they are mine - he absolutely loves building things with them and then pretend play with whatever he has made. Like lego but I think better for his age. Helps learning what different shapes are, you can build in 2D or 3D, rockets, houses, spaceships, animal shapes... It is brilliant. Expensive but would highly recommend - he got a small set for his birthday and I'm now ordering more so he can build bigger towers and shapes! Keeps him absorbed for hours :)

Congrats Xavier, now you can focus on your op and trip to America. Really hope all goes well and thanks also to those locals who have helped with my bits of fundraising too, much appreciated! :)

Pellatt Road is just near The Mag. Street market well worth a visit if you hvnt already been! There are loads of stalls, inc homewares (e.g. bone china mugs with Easter chicks n chocs), jams n jellies by East Dulwich Naturally, cakes, and lots more! Also FREE spin painting for the kids at 3pm :) Food available - sounds mouth wateringly good mm mmm: Smoked salmon quiche Mango Chutney or Plain Sausage rolls Homemade Cornish pasties Chicken and leek pie Feta and spinach tarts Pea and Mint Soup Sweet stuff: Chocolate chip cookies Chocolate fudge cake Carrot Cake Easter gingerbread and shortbread Candy floss Gourmet coffees from Captured on the Rye available all day. Mention ?Corvus? for 2 for the price of 1 coffee. See [http://pellattroad.wordpress.com/] for more details...

Another recommendation for Steve of DG Services - he and his colleague came round to saw up and dispose of a tree that had fallen down in the high winds. Very efficient, polite, professional and came soon after quoting. He even cleared some branches I had put in the corner of our garden at the same time, so garden looks SO much better now. Would definitely use again.