Ann

Very good point DJKQ ,your posts on this thread make a lot of sense. I'm old enough to remember the Beatles on Top of the Pops singing Hey Jude, I must have been about seven at the time but I remember it clearly, not knowing what an iconic moment it was. Times have changed and we've had generation of 'manufactured bands'. At the end of the day we choose what we buy to listen to. Flippin heck I've recently downloaded Best of Slade onto my I-touch, there's a bit of T Rex in there too; I also have some classical all the way down to Lady GaGA! It's better Saturday nights' entertainment than Noel's House Party or even The Generation Game! Trust me. I enjoy X Factor, it is what it is. Strictly Come Dancing IMO is in a different league!

No Pearson, I hear what you're saying but his hand was firmly over his genitals as if to rub them. I'll remind my friend to tell the police, thanks for the replies. yes it was Dulwich Park.

No , she looked for thw wardens and left the park. She wanted me to post this to warn others.

My friend was in the park last week on the exercise machines. A black man stood in front of her and undid his top and then put his hand inside his trousers. She said he was probably in his late twenties. She could not find the warden but has asked me to post this to warn others.

Hi Annie, Can't really advise as the ' Group Midwives' weren't around when I had my children. It's nice that you appreciate the care you've had so far; there have been numerous posts about getting in with the right group and your post proves that all is not lost without them. I would find that very reassuring if I was living here and pregnant for the first time. Best wishes with whatever you choose. I hope your labour goes well and your new baby arrives in perfect health! Ann

I haven't seen JAGS results but they would not surprise me. My 16 year old daughter has many friends there ( and is presently at The Reading Festival with some of them). JAGS girls work HARD. I cannot emphasise the work ethos at that school enough. My own daughter is at Clapham and Streatham High, a successful Independent girl's school but perhaps not such an absolute academic emphasis that JAGS has. The school doesn't pretend to not be 'pressurised'; it is exactly that and they recruit the girls they believe can cope. Not for the feint hearted but brilliant fot those with the abilty and determination to do their absolute best. Good luck to them, they deserve it.

One of the best films ever made. Yes , contoversial but very real. My mother who worked in mental health made very poignant remarks to us at the time. From my recollection it wasn't so much ECT treatment which certainly continued for many years since but the ' frontal lobotomy ' that Jack Nicholson's character underwent. I would happily watch that film with my teenagers and discuss the issues inherant in the film. Jack Nicholson at his best and many others alonside him in that film.

Don't get me wrong you have all my sympathy, I just think sometimes the type of prams are a little innappropriate for public transport. When my children were young if you didn't fold the buggy you couldn't get on, some of the more modern prams don't look as if they could fold at all.

I could be wrong but I'm fairly sure the design is for wheelchair users not prams/pushchairs. I've seen wheelchaired passengers use them on a number of occasions but obviously nothing like the number of mothers with young children. There's no excuse for the way many of you have been treated but to be fair, I've witnessed many parents squeezing themselves onto commuter packed buses at 'rush hour' with prams that take up an inappropriate amount of space. Just playing Devil's Advocate! Ladies it wasn't many years ago you couldn't get a pushchair of any description on any bus anywhere! Please count your blessings.

Pregnant Chav and pal??? Define Chav?

This is now going to sound slightly off-topic. The health service realises that pregnant women should be offered help with smoking. Many women smoke but it's doubtful many of those women are happy about the situation especially when they're pregnant. My point is that there is an excellent 'smoking cessation clinic ' available at King's run by an extremely competent midwife whose desire is to help women stop or at least cut down on tobacco use. The service is non-judgemental and indeed respectful of women as an individual, not just 'a smoker'. That doesn't mean that all women should access this service; but health professionals generally speaking understand that to say " Stop smoking." by itself , is unlikely to have much impact. But help should be offered. I'm thinking of older people who have been life long smokers with all sorts of health problems who continue to smoke; there's millions of them out there. There really is.

Randombloke, to personify your username please search 'ladder goat' on You Tube. I don't know how to do the link but it gave my teenagers a lot of laughs. Apologies if everyone has seen it before.

Well done all of you who made it happen, I was at work today but it was going full swing when I returned; a lovely traditional summer fair. I walked the dog this evening and you've left the Green even tidier than it was before!

Yorkie, I agree wholeheartedly with all the above posts. You don't have post natal depression, merely doing your best to cope with a very difficult situation. R&A's post about 'doing it all' rather than 'having it all', sums up the amount of pressure us mothers face in the present economic climate,in my opinion. Having recently 'revised' GCSE history topics with my daughter such as Women's Suffrage and The Role of Women in the Second World War, it reminds me of how much our place in society has progressed in a relatively short space of time. Arguably our generation ( and I appreciate I'm older than you )has been the first to see the emergence of working mothers with 'house-husbands'. Ask yourself Yorkie, would you or your partner's mother have anticipated your situation when they were young mothers? I suspect not and that doesn't imply that they're not sympathetic to your situation. So where are the rules? There are none. This is a situation that's relatively unexplored or talked about. My husband is good at his job but would have been completely useless at full time child care. I never expected him to but I would hate to come home from work each day to find the house in a mess with the occupants expecting dinner on the table. Not to criticize your other half but I think if we're honest most men don't multi-task that well and I'm fairly sure there are no established societies where men stay at home and run households effeciently. That's not to say that they can't but there's not much evidence to proove otherwise. Yorkie, the fact that you've had the courage to post this says a lot about you. I'm not sure I could have done the same. It would probably be a good idea to see your GP but I doubt medication would be the answer. I hope you've had at least two glasses of wine by now. For what it's worth your child will be the best thing that's ever happened to you; the demand versus rewards somewhat reverts as the years go by. Best wishes Ann

I've used Ken several times for my son and had no idea he was ill. He was a genuinely nice bloke, the sort whose business you like to support. His wife was always lovely, my thoughts and condolences for her and her family.

Dulwichmum, you say you got places at all the schools your daughter applied for. Presumably that includes Alleynes, I'm curious as to what led you to choose JAPS? Or will you apply to all of these again for year 7?

Hi snowboarder. I've got a 16 and 14 year old, who have lived here all their lives. Luckily we do have a garden, not very large but was great when the children were small; happy memories of paddling pools and barbeques during surprisingly good summers in the '90's. There is plenty for children to do around here and seemingly more so now with the ever increasing (very) young population. With very young children you have to escort them to various activities wherever you live. My son (14) has quite literally just walked in the door from cricket practice at Dulwich Cricket Club (37 Bus), between his school and club team he plays at least two games a week. There are also numerous football and rugby clubs etc. Also plenty of traditional activitied like Brownies and Cubs etc. My daughter (16) LOVES living in Dulwich. She's old enough to travel to meet friends etc and is quite competant at negotiating train timetables and so on. Princess, I grew up in Sussex and the areas you mention are probably great, I know Brighton quite well. But there was very little to do in my home town back in the '70's. At least my children have never been bored. I do sympathise with those who need to move for a bigger house and a garden but I have no regrets bringing up my children here. None at all.

Snowboarder, relax! The key words from your post are 'strapping lad'. He's obviously getting his nutritional requirements and probably doesn't need much variety at his age. I suppose I'm saying what we think babies must have versus what they really need are not necessarily the same. If he's thriving and healthy, well done you! It sounds like he just wants to eat what he wants and you've probably provided him with far more vitamins, minerals etc than he could possibly need; our bodies don't store these. It would be a shame to make mealtimes stressful for him as he gets older and more socially aware. I rather suspect when he's older and has meals with other families he'll be fine, hungry boys generally speaking are.

This thread is a wind up? I'd be happy if we had one but I'd surprised, it would at least need square footage of White Stuff.

They're at opposite ends of the islands, I find myself looking out for them on my way to work. Lovely idea.

Pearl1 I sympathise. My daughter has done a lot of babysitting locally and so far has always been walked home because the families have all lived fairly close. Like you it'e exam season ( GCSE's in our case) so wouldn't want to be out too late, although my daughter finds she can work quite well outside of her own environment. I think that's too long a walk at that time. I would certainly have expected a Taxi. However so far, all the families my daughter has babysat for have been very generous and never taken advantage. Put it down to experience. Wish her luck with her A levels!

Glad your feeling better Fuschia. At least you did scanned today and have the assurance that your pregnancy is safe. As far as I'm aware, NICE guidelines state that pregnant women should be 'booked in'by 10 weeks. This would mean you have a set of pregnancy notes, have booking bloods taken and a 12 week scan. It sounds like you've had the latter but not the former, but you notified DMC at 5 weeks so there was no delay from your part. It worries me that you state you are on blood thinners. No doubt you are a healthy woman but I would have thought the fact that you have an underlying medical condition would make you a priority for early booking; the midwives should have seen that. Good luck with your pregnancy. Ann

Hi again. How did Chemistry go yesterday? My daughter's maths GCSE paper was 'better than expected'. English Language today, History part one tomorrow and French later in the week so it's a busy one. But she does seem to have been on study leave for ages. Perhaps that's what makes it more stressful for parents; a horrible tendancy to expect them to spend all their 'study leave' studying!

I've got A levels to look forward next year. Daughter's got GCSE Maths today, French and History later in the week and likewise she's not nearly as stressed out as I am. I would have thought the school could spare a calculator! Good luck.

Hi Ladymuck. I have a 14 year old son so should be able to shed some light here. I agree with Sillywoman, it's hard to say without knowing the boy but I think the suggestions from others are pretty accurate. My son is quite into his PS3. If your nephew has a games console you could buy a (used)top rated game for that money such as FIFA09. My son loves his pets. You could buy quite a nice fish tank plus a couple of goldfish for that money, something he could be responsible for now that he's a teenager, my son does. Also he has a pet hamster ( in his room) and likewise he takes responsibilty for changing the bedding, feeding etc. For the pleasure he's had and has daily from these, it's probably the best money we've ever spent. All of you with younger children, do consider getting a family pet when your children are old enough; they're a lovely addition to family life. Good luck Ladymuck! Hope your nephew has a great day.