Sanne Panne

Wasn't there a thread about this topic in the family room? Can't find it with any search query I can think of. And if I just dreamt that there was ever a link, does anyone know if there are traffic classes for 4 year olds? We're doing our part as parents and I'm sure nursery/school address it too but after a recent incident that got me scared I'd love to do something extra.

Scandinavia? An Ikea showroom with a view? Just kidding it looks GORGEOUS. Minitoots Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This is where we ended up last year - our own > deserted beach, 1 mile walk to nearest village/ > pub with fantastic seafood, mountains 30 miles or > so away, historic sites within 3 mile walk etc etc > - any guesses as to where??!

Noto is amazing. Small town in Southeastern Sicily. I've been to a completely deserted golden-white beach near there. Bit of a trek through the dry grass but we picked buckets of fresh almonds, lemons and mirtillo on the way. If that's not off the beaten track... Here are some descriptions, if you don't speak Italian throw them in Google translate or pm me. http://www.qspiagge.it/recensioni/noto/

The Dutch North Sea islands ("Waddeneilanden") are lovely too, some are car free and you can rent all shapes and sizes of bicycles. Vlieland for example is all gorgeous dunes with amazing cycling routes, beaches and just one little town with a bunch of shops and cafes. You can rent an apartment or go camping and there may be a small hotel too. Of course there's always the weather variable in this part of Europe but when it's sunny it's one of the best places I know. Extremely laid back and very much off the beaten track, most tourists are from mainland Holland.

Our nanny will combine working for us (North Dulwich / Herne Hill) with studying in Kingston and is looking for a room share (asap) that allows her to travel to both. Clapham seems the obvious choice but where else could she look? And does anyone have tips on how to find a nice room share? She's from Amsterdam and relatively new to London. We've known her for a while though and can support her with references. Is there a forum she can post on other than Gumtree etc? Does anyone have a nanny who lives in Clapham (or other nice in between location) who has contacts or even needs a flatmate?

I saw a leaflet for Theatrebugs which looks like a nice drop-off class for my 4 year old... but it's not appropriate for a 2 year old. Would ideally like to find something fun they can participate in together, doesn't need to be drop-off. Can be sports, dance, theatre, painting, anything. Does anyone know what's on over summer?

That's FANTASTIC!

Yeah that "go to the next blue bin and stop" game will probably not last (and requires constant instructions from the parent). What I did that only needs reminding once a week now is "you may ride ahead but if you don't stop at the corners or stop when I shout stop you will lose the privilege and have to stay right next to me". (and then for the next two outings you keep her next to you).

The playful yes/no questioning thing works great for all kinds of things you want to teach kids by the way, great you brought it up EmilyE. We do things like "can you..... read a book while the (toddler) clock is still blue?" -yes. "can you... sing loudly when it's still blue?" -no. "Go to the toilet?" -yes. "get some paint from downstairs and paint your walls orange?" -noooo hahahaha. Combining the serious stuff with a laugh is a great way to make sure your long boring rule-explaining session was understood :)

We had most success with naked bottoms and chocolate buttons. I can imagine forcing frequent potty visits can make some kids hate it but every child is different. As for nighttime training... I thought it was more dependent on the presence of a hormone that wakes them when they need to pee. And that no training will really work unless that hormone is present. But not sure where I read it and how true it is.

My daughter will turn 4 soon and I often think about this too. We haven't had an official sit-down chat yet because I'm not sure how to approach it. I have mentioned things as they came up, e.g. when she found a friendly old lady scary and didn't want to talk to her I told her (on our way home) that it's ok to not talk to people that you don't feel comfortable with although it's generally polite to say hello. And I told her some grown ups don't really like children yet may pretend to be very nice but really aren't and that if anyone ever asked her to come along she should always say that she needs to ask mum/dad (or x, y, z names of her nursery school teachers that I trust) first. Of course this doesn't cover the "known people" issue but one step at a time... and I agree that a focus on kids daring to say no and trust their instincts combined with knowing they shouldn't accept any invitations without asking a trusted adult is a decent start. Would be interested to know if there are books that deal with it in a positive way.

They seem perfectly comfortable, she ran half a mile in them today and isn't two years old yet. They're mostly open toe - small strap over the middle bit to protect middle toes while climbing.

My daughters are two years apart and both born in the same month so passing clothes on is a no-brainer. I do the same with wellies as they don't get worn that often. Any "proper" shoes like all-season walking shoes I buy new for the little one. We found this fantastic pair of Umi Sport (Gecko) sandals in the loft today. The soles still look perfect but our eldest did walk on them an entire summer. I'm so tempted to let the little one wear them rather than buy a new pair... is this a very bad idea? They both have the same width size. Could a summer on these sandals be bad for her back/feet?

I thought all fountains and water play areas were part of the ban! Weird. Great something is open though.

I generally skip birth stories of people I don't know (and of many I do know) as I find them long and boring! (and yes I did go through childbirth twice). But they don't put me off at all. Nothing wrong with having it as a blog entry.

Good one from the Huffpost. Of course these are just first world problems and not worth genuinely stressing about but it's surprisingly addictive to analyse all the variables when it comes to school allocation ;)

Hi Goocha, I don't know if they went to open places. Not even sure if your current position was determined before or after these 5 offerings were made, I would imagine it was before. I do think there may be more movement in the open places waiting list than in the faith applicants' waiting list (if there is one) as I would assume that parents who go through the effort of applying on a faith basis (with letter from vicar etc) are pretty motivated to get into the school in question i.e. less likely to decline a place if they get one. I can imagine more of the community places being of a more tentative "hey you never know" basis with parents not so keen to change schools after the school year has started.

And it's not like parents with a DVI place are typically on the waiting list for other state primary schools hoping to get into that other school... maybe one or two that feel that living 600 meters away is a bit much and/or don't like the idea of DVI having a faith element to it. This could apply to those living between Rosendale and DVI as Rosendale is very popular too. Just a thought.

We're quite a bit higher up than you are but we're not counting on getting in. They told me on the phone this morning that they just sent out 5 "late" offerings based on the only 5 "decline" messages they received. Most if not all private school offerings for the coming school year have been made already so most parents who had their kids down for DVI and are sending them private will have declined by now (i.e. before we were told where we are on the waiting list). This means the only real movement in the list is probably of people moving out of the area... and as people move out, others may move in. I would guess only the top 10 in the current "community" waiting list have any chance, maybe even just the top 5 (Renata is that even realistic, with 5 "late" offerings just having been made? Or is any parent with experience willing to share?). Thinking about it, if the top 10 on the community waiting list all get in this would mean that almost a quarter or all current community places that have already been accepted by the parents would drop out. Not likely. But not based on personal experience...

I'll go first... Before buying anything for your first baby, ask a parent of two or more children which items they would use if they had another baby. You will see that pretty highchairs that don't turn into toddler seats are not on their list. Either get a cheap Ikea one or go straight for the Tripp Trapp. To name an example. For items some parents swear by and some never use, consider borrowing one off the forum first. Swings are a good example. Neither of my kids cared the slightest bit.

Anyone care to share some good money saving tips? I'm mainly looking for savings in the area of family expenses (big and small) but anything goes. Or links to websites that you've been using. I really need to start being more careful with what I spend. :)

My nearly 21 month old still has a bottle before her nap and one before bedtime. Pure habit that we haven't made the effort to break yet. At naptime she holds it herself in the buggy. If we're out walking she falls asleep without her milk. At bedtime we sit in her room, she holds the bottle while on my lap. I love the intimacy of it. She sleeps/eats/develops fine so we'll keep doing it until we think RIGHT and now you're too big for this :) She gets Yeo Valley skimmed milk as that's what the rest of us drink. Our eldest moved on to straw cups at 12 months. Different kids, different preferences...

Thank you

So again, just to be absolutely certain... accepting a school you're pretty happy with definitely doesn't take you off the waiting list of that one school higher on your list that you still have a faint chance to get into during the "shakeout"?

What worked for us is to stick to the same bedtime but not expect that the little one goes straight to sleep (and communicate that to her). E.g. leave a little light on and say it's fine to look at books and play with toys a bit longer and get into bed when tired but stay in the room and not make lots of noise... (and be firm about her staying in the room). When they're this small they may sometimes fall asleep on the floor so it's a good idea to check after a couple of hours ;) Of course, limiting nap time a bit and using black out blinds could help too although the benefit of the blinds was mostly to keep the kids from waking too early in the morning as we leave a light on at bedtime anyway. Good luck, every child and every situation is unique.