Mens

I can't imagine anything working, my seven year old will probably think it's a fashion accessory and just suck other fingers! Well, I'm ordering one so will update on the (hopefully miraculous cure)!

Oh, I have seen those online but was worried that they were just a crazy invention. Might invest in one and if it works buy one for the other

Wrong section... Pls can admin move to family discussions! Sorry

My seven and five year olds CONSTANTLY suck their thumb esp my seven year old, she has basically learnt to do everything with one hand now so that she can keep the other in her mouth. Their teeth are being affected and I find it annoying to see. Are there any foolproof ways to stop it?

Yes, Tony and Guy are great , my daughter was there for quite a long time last year. In fact out first ever charity event in 2009 was to this ward, you can see photos of the visit on the wall of their playroom. No child should be in hospital. I chose UCLH this year as the students in my form group will be attending and it was safer for them to attend a hospital local to the school. Everyone is being very generous so we will indeed have plenty of toys. I was thinking of using any excess to visit Demelza but I will contact Sue on T&G and see if we can also go there before or just after Christmas. Will be nice to thank them all again for helping my daughter at a time when we thought she wouldn't make it.

Hi Thank you!! The age range is 0 to 12 (although the other ward has teenagers on it). We will be visiting on 19th December so ideally I would like to collect things by the 15th so that I can wrap them up and label them. I would be happy to collect any items. My number is : 07963636692 Thank you!

Hi everyone I run a UK registered charity, Heal The World For Children. Each August we host a Children's Festival in Dulwich Park for local sick and disadvantaged children and visit hospitals and hospices each Christmas to take gifts and entertainment to children who have to be in hospital during the festive season. This month we will be visiting UCLH and I am urgently looking for donations of unwanted new toys, CDs and games to take with us. We are a small charity (three people) and we all work at other jobs. This year we have not had much time to raise the necessary funds to buy as many gifts as we need. Please do get in touch if you have anything to donate or if you would like further indormation. Thank you.

Oh thank you. Will definitely PM you when I plan to pass by that way.

Hi Does anyone know of any Dutch language schools for kids? Such as Saturday or evening classes Thank you

Take Flight are good

another vote for the Manducca

I grew up in a village in Surrey and my brother and I were the only non-white kids. This was in the 70s and we actually had a lovely childhood. We didn't experience any typical racism, just usual but infrequent comments that can be annoying such as "oh I bet you're used to the sun and aren't even hot". This is all just MY experience, my best friend had a dreadful time as a child growing up in similar circumstances but in Kent. I think there are both positives and negatives to being non-white in a mainly white or truly mixed area: Positives such as learning to mix in any group regardless of colour or culture and being colour blind. My nephew grew up in an area where there are no white people and he finds it very difficult to mix with people now he is out in the big wide world. It wouldn't matter but when you live somewhere like Europe or US you are better off being able to "mix". That goes for everybody in my opinion. Negatives are the fact that you may always feel abit like the odd one out (this was rare but there were two of us) and when we moved to up north aged six a teacher was shocked that "the coloured children can write, oh and it's tiny neat writing aswell". We did hear a few times that we were more intelligent than we looked! (not sure what people with high IQs are supposed to look like!). Bear in mind that there is racism/mild segregation everywhere and even in Dulwich you could find at secondary school certain people would or would not wish to be-friend your child simple because of his background. I went to secondary school in the heart of London and on the whole people stuck with "their own kind" (apart from my "Benneton ad" group of friends which is what one teacher called us). Personally, I would always stay in a "mixed" area. I'm already fed up with my girls asking me to blowdry their hair straight every so often so it "blows in the wind like that girl's hair"...the requests would get even more frequent if we moved! I think being mixed race is complex enough and a good thing to do if you moved would be to ensure you watched tv programmes and read books that reflect every ethnicity so that your child can grow up colour blind and not actually mind who he is around and can see racism for what it truly is...stupidity.

Another vote for Val d'Europe. They have a shuttle to the park so easy to get to in just a few minutes. Only negative was no room service. Worth it though as we saved a small fortune. We booked via Trivago.com and drove over.

er...no school doesn't solve it Snowboarder.. Although they tend to be able to sit still whilst at school...(sometimes)! I am finally able to sit down this evening after yelling for 20min at my 5 year old to "go to bed"....she had to do "just one more cartwheel before bed"...ended up being about 30 cartwheels! I felt dizzy just watching her!! Lol

Her allerygy specialist knows how stressed she was so I will speak to her at her next appointment about any additional support they can offer her/us. There was a psychologist at my other daughter's medical appointment because they were worried that we were stressed about her (we actually weren't) I should probably try to get hold of her. Thank you Saffron.

Thank you for your replies and PMs. I have edited this post as it was abit dramatic but the original had more info. I'm pretty sure it was triggered by her recent allergic reaction which scared her. She just doesn't trust anyone except for me (and I'm not particularly brave). We had a nice chat late last night which meant she went to bed without any tears. She insists that the only thing making her sad is her allergies so I only have that to work with. Her dad dotes on her and thinks she's super smart, super talented etc (she's actually just a regular kid) so he doesn't want to believe she needs any type of therapy....but that's a whole other story...

... How can I deal with my seven year old who has suddenly become terrified of practically everything? She won't let me put petrol in the car, take a shower, won't go to birthday parties or anything! Prior to this she was extremely confident and carefree. Is this a phase seven year olds go through? Her dad won't let me contact a therapist. HOW can I deal with it? I want her back to herself.

mmmmm.....There are some people who give up on things that they are not instantly good at but I think that's a personality type and alot more complex than being related just to parental praise...

ohhh...hadn't thought of martial arts. I'm not a runner nor sporty (although I used to be)....

I don't know... Probably not volunteering as I already co-run a charity in my spare time.... Have no idea really...

...okay...after 3 children and spending almost all my time with them over the past 7 years (when I'm not working) I now want to do something for me. Anyone have any hobby ideas? What's on on Thursday and Fridays locally?

I have identical age gaps to pickle. I would say, if you have spare cash it would be far better to spend it on help at home (I had someone to iron and paid my sister to cook) than to have eldest at nursery. It's actually a chore getting them to nursery. Also, the more you have the less need you have for playgroups and activities as they have eachother. I was desperate to keep my routine for my first when I second was born and made myself really tired. My third doesn't go anywhere or do anything and she's far happier and more advanced than the first two put together. I did put my first in nursery for two mornings a week from 2 and a half so I could do things with my then one year old. One tip: all have a daytime nap together as often as you can...we still do this and the girls are 2, 5 and 6!! Still need to re-charge our batteries!

Sorry, I haven't read all of the replies so I may be repeating what someone has said. Basically, they kind of grow out of it by 3. They understand that they are stopping you from sleeping and after crying for a couple of nights happily start enjoying their beds. My youngest (baby 3) happily sleeps in her bed now as I only breastfeed her during the day so because she knows that there is no point waking up she sleeps all night in her bed. She is 22mths old. Not sure why she agrees to this though but my middle child was the same once I stopped night feeds. I do sit in the bedroom until she falls asleep (just at the other end of the room watching things on my ipad). Sorry if repeating things but basically it gets easier as they get older but if you are exhausted and working then just do it gently, so laying next to her in her bed,then gradually moving towards the door over the weeks.

Oh gosh.... I did the same thing this morning, telling my 5 year old that her waist was too chubby to fit into her 6 year old sister's jeans!!! (I was fed up of the "do my button up tantrum" I quickly said "gosh, all that milk you drink has made you super tall". I have one thin, short child and one podgy tall-ish child. I try to emphasize the positives of their size. Difficult as the eldest is the petite one. I would stick to tall being about being graceful and gazelle-like and how much further her legs will reach once she becomes flexible. when one of my girls is having an "I wish I was blonde day" I constantly point out children and adults on tv or in the street who look nice but are totally different from the last person we saw who looked nice. I think we are in the best position to emphasize positive body images in children and if you hadn't said it maybe another child would have and you might not have heard about it or had the chance to address it.

I think it's better to be in Heber all the way to year 6 than to have the fantastic DVI up to year 2 then end up having to take a place at an absolutely horrendous school with 30 kids in a class, fights, too many supply teachers, a lengthy commute.... I could go on... Basically, Heber is not a bad option at all and if you are not happy with their academic record then you could always pay for a tutor or Kumon or top up any learning yourself.