Mellors

Not quite the same, but ESPH gym on Lordship Lane has great yoga and pilates classes and runs a cr?che on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Dulwich gym and Beckenham Spa do all the time as well.

Also au pair, otherwise the world falls apart when one is sick, there's an INSET day, snow day, election, cancelled after school activity etc etc. Combined with a bit of grandparenting/me taking unpaid leave for 3 weeks in the summer/ various holiday clubs (which is tricky for reception age, but gets easier). Plus scrupulous planning - I can tell you now exactly who is having whom, when, for every holiday until next year!

I've PM'd you.

I have a brilliant au pair, Marta, age 23 who is looking to pick up some extra babysitting work. She can use our car, and looks after my 8, 6 and 3 years old wonderfully. Please PM me if you'd like her number.

You can apply to the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (previously the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal) for a determination as the your liability for, and reasonableness of, service charges: More info here: http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/?doctype=6

?100 a week for similar hours, plus gym membership (?40pcm) and phone top ups. Re holidays - I need a longer day, but pay ?50 per day.

Yep - ?1750 ppn give or take *dies*

The slow cooker queen recipe site is great. I made the Thai Green chicken curry and the pork steaks with mushroom gravy this week and both were fab :)

3 kids + 2 adults for two weeks in August to Lefkada = ?8,500! *faints* We will be back to camping again this year then lol.

House swap (ours was at a 16th century palazzo in an Italian seaside resort!) - FREE other than flights/travel and you get the use of all of their toys/equipment/car etc. whilst knowing that your own house (and in our case, chickens) are being looked after. We also swapped for a farmhouse in Normandy at May half term and drove there. We loved it and would defo do again, although you have to be flexible on dates/location and find a person to swap with, so quite a lot of work involved beforehand. We used the Guardian Home Exchange website.

We pay for membership of the local gym (ours is Forest Hill) for our au pair, so she can use it to do gym, swim, and all of the classes etc. during the daytime and in the evenings. I imagine ED gym is similar, and JAGS definitely do it - in fact I think you can add an au pair to their standard membership for about ?10 extra pcm.

I use a private teacher at Forest Hill pools. She is excellent and has really made my two come on leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. PM me if you'd like her number. Mel

Au pair world - you take on a foreign person to live in your home in exchange for 20 - 25 hours or so a week work (this is usually childcare, but be very specific in your job description and see who applies?) plus a couple of babysits. In return you provide free accommodation, all food, plus pocket money of c. ?100 a week. People from the EU don't have visa issues. If you take on a UK person then you will probably be an employer and subject to national minimum wage requirements etc.

I simply couldn't cope with the juggling of it all if it were me in that case. Although that might just be me! As an aside, my smallest is at Puddleducks in Nunhead. they are 8am - 6pm all year bar a week off in summer. They are fantastic - all three of mine have been there and I have nothing but praise!

It depends on the circumstances. Do you need the nursery for work? If so rather than having the possibility of two things to manage (and go wrong) i.e. nursery shuts over holidays/childminder is sick I'd be looking at a nursery OR childminder that does a full working day. Only one relationship to manage, better continuity of care for your child, and possibly less expensive. If you're not working and can pick up the slack if there is an issue and have enough brain capacity to manage more than one set of childcare then having a short, term time only nursery plus childminder might work.

Just PM'd you - my 22 year old Polish au pair is also looking for new friends. Anyone else with au pairs who're in the same boat please feel free to PM.

Case was adjourned on 18 July until 10 October. My guessing is that it will run and run...

This time (second time round) I wanted au pairs who were already in the country so they could come and visit the house and I could give them a thorough once over. However, when I have skyped, I've followed something like this: http://aupairbuzz.culturalcare.com/au-pair-interview-questions/ I think you can get a pretty good feel for someone by asking general questions and seeing how they respond. I also ask for references and take them up (there my key questions are 1. Why are they leaving? and 2. Would you employ them again?) Good luck! Feel free to ask more questions :)

We did the same - ?20 cash each and a crate of beers at the end....

It was yesterday

We have had an au pair for the last year (our first) and have a new one starting in September. I'd say there are plusses (flexible childcare on hand, additional help around the house, learning about a new culture) and minuses (sharing your house). A lot depends on how relaxed you are about things generally, the type of person you recruit, having realistic expectations and how well set up you are. I don't think the bedroom is a deal breaker if you have enough other space in the house, but you need to be clear in your advert. I prefer to recruit people who are already in the country so I can do a face to face interview at our house and show them their room etc so there are no misunderstandings. At the very least I would send pictures of both your home and family and discuss in lots of detail your routine, what you expect them to do etc (I have a handbook I send and print out). Personally with three kids, and both of us working full time (although me over four days), an active social life and and no family around its been essential. Please feel free to PM me (or FB me if you know me in "real life") for more info :)

We went camping at St Avit Loisirs last year in August. It was crazy busy (although we liked it - the kids loved the pools, kids clubs, disco etc). As soon as the last weekend of August passed it completely emptied out (we stayed on for another week) and was really quiet with no clubs etc - quite a different place. The whole region was so much less busy then. One thing: its a very long drive from the ferry with kids in tow (8 hours or so?). I wish I had flown with the children and let Mr Mellors bring the car down or hired one. I was very envious of the people popping off to the airport on the way home!

Hi I finally got round to going for my Mother's day facial last week and it was brilliant. It was so relaxing that I fell asleep, snored and woke myself up with a start - delightful (sorry Ehi!). I can highly recommend Mother's Inc and I will definitely be back - I didn't go with children this time, but I love the idea of being able to drop them off whilst I get pampered. Thanks so much Mel x

Sorry - 2015 (was thinking next year is 2016, but of course that is, in fact, 2015!) Yours, Frazzled Mother of 3

Not much use to this years disappointe parents, but we were told last Friday that there may be a 2016 bulge class at Horniman now.