flowermum

Would definitely recommend - great coffee and one of the best Italian sandwiches I've ever had. Pricey though, depending which sandwich you pick...

Also you can use the nannypaye tax calculator to help you work out your costs: http://www.nannypaye.co.uk/useful-information/tax-calculators/

For a nanny who is an employee, Tax and NI is about 40% on top of what the nanny takes home. In addition to this there is a new pension regulation coming in where employers will have to pay another 3% on most of what they earn. In the budget last year HMRC brought in a small business tax relief where employers NI does not have to be paid if you only have 1 employee. I was happy at this prospect, until I realised that employees who are nannies are exempt from this tax break. Employing a nanny for me keeps 2 women in work: me and the nanny. But with all the tax it's almost as if the government are trying to stop people employing nannies. The amount of tax and now the pension are making it literally impossible, especially when you add in other hidden costs like statutory sick pay, maternity pay etc. A full time nanny for a single family will eat up most of the average salary. This is why families end up doing nanny shares, which have their own complications, and a nanny will charge more for a share depending on number of kids. My advice is to call a tax company like nannypaye or nannytax to get as much advice as possible on the costs (I use nannypaye and can thoroughly recommend them). This page indicates that nannies MIGHT be self-employed if they meet the right criteria (e.g. employed by multiple families) and they are willing to do their own tax, but you can't coerce them into it obviously: https://www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law/nannies I do appreciate that these laws are in place to protect the employee but there is a limit to what people can afford in reality. On the plus side the quality of life for young kids being in their own homes in the afternoons, or out and about in the park in the holidays, and having someone to do kids washing/cooking etc. is something you have to weigh up. I am now considering au pairs (I am just not keen on live-in) or other alternatives e.g. after school care through an agency now my kids are reaching school age, I need to research the relative costs - all advice welcome!

I'll add a second recommendation for Des - repainted the hall stairs and landing and new loft room, as well as some bedrooms and outside painting. I've had a few decorators over the years but Des is the best I've seen - really good preparation of surfaces and really great finish. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend: 0797 129 9009.

I will add a 3rd recommendation for Greg - he has done carpentry work for me recently and can turn his hand to anything (including replacing a radiator this week!). He is friendly and professional and has turned up at short notice. He is thorough, pays attention to detail and does not take short cuts. He is local and has a network of friends, other tradesmen that he can call on, e.g. decorators. I will be calling him next time I need anything done around the house!!

"generally nursery places are offered to the older children in the year group first, and will then filter down to the youngest." If that is the case then children who are young for their academic year are always going to miss out - so not only will they be struggling to keep up with the older children when they start in Reception but they are denied the nursery place which is an important part of preparing them for school. This doesn't make sense ...

I'd like to know if anyone had the same issue with the waiting list at Dulwich Village pre-school as I did - I applied in Jan/Feb 2010 for a place for my child to start in Sept 2011 (for the pre-Reception year). I was recently told there was no place for my child. Other people who applied many months after me were offered places (for children in the same academic year). I was told it was due to when my child's birthday fell - the explanation did not make any sense and why should he be discriminated against because of when his birthday is?? It was one of my top choices when I did the lookround and I was the one who recommended the place to all my friends - who were all offered places!! I went elsewhere, but am interested to know if anyone else is disgruntled at this...

Free activities or classes? Tumbletots is on at red post hill on Thursday mornings. You can bring a baby there (I do - either in a sling or sitting watching from the side in her pram) I like Little Bubbles classes too - http://www.littlebubbles.com/ There is bound to be a Bookstart session on a Thursday http://www.southwark.gov.uk/events/event/904/ One O'Clock clubs are always an option too. Good luck tiring your 2.5 year old out!!

Took my 18-month old in there for a haircut - asked the guy if he did children, and he said yes, seemed quite welcoming. Mentioned that my son hated hairdressers and it might not go too well. I should have realised when he asked me to put him directly in the chair, rather than me holding him, that the guy had zero experience of toddlers. I insisted on sitting him on my lap and holding his head and arms in a vice-like grip and my son proceeded to scream his head off and wriggle for the duration of the haircut. No surprises there to parents reading this. Anyway, after doing one side and the top, I mentioned that it was a bit short on top and quite unevenly cut on the side (I'd asked for him not to cut it too short). He stood back incredulous and saying, what do you expect (inference to my wriggling son). I pointed out that other haircuts hadn't been so uneven, at which point the guy went berserk, shouted at me for being rude, whipped off my apron and ordered me out of the shop. I had to spend 5 mins apologising, grovelling and begging in order to get him to finish the haircut. Which he finally did, grudgingly, and didn't say anything more until he just put his scissors down and said, right, I've had enough, that kid's going to have a heart attack (haircut was mostly finished except one side by his ear). I knew when to quit. I pointed out that the screaming wasn't bothering me and that sometimes kids don't like stuff and will have to just scream. Anyway the guy moved on to the next customer, refused to look at me or speak to me and wouldn't take my money - not sure if this shows guilt, immaturity, unprofessionalism or all 3 (I would have left some money but only had a 20 quid note and was not paying that condsidering I left the place in tears) Were my expectations too high? Maybe. But if I behaved like that when someone criticised me at work I would be fired. I certainly won't be going back and I would advise anyone with children to steer clear of this bad-tempered barber.

Can I be one of the few people to stick up for Somerfield? I find their food to be fresh and their selection of fresh, frozen and cupboard ingredients to be pretty good for a shop that size. They have good offers on meat and fish. Being able to pop to a local shop more regularly means I waste less food then when I used to do one big weekly shop. I wouldn't mind another supermarket on LL to make up for the fact that Sainsburys is awful and I hate going there, but I'd prefer it to be a different shop to the one just a mile down the road: choice is a good thing. It is a shame for the veggie shop by the plough but their veg are so good that hopefully people will still shop there.

As I new user to the forum I think there is a little confusion/crossover between the 'recommendations' and 'gossip' sections, since the gossip section allows you to talk about whatever you want, including restaurants. If I want a restaurant/food recommendation it would be nice to go to one place to find out about it - you might be lucky enough to spot a recommendation popping up in the gossip section but you would never see it in the 'for sale' section amongst all those other posts. I agree with splitting this section up and I think discussion about restaurants/cafes etc. in East Dulwich deserve their own subsection.