Mrs TP

My girls like Poppy, Honey, Lila, Sylvie, Millie

Shot by the Sheriff on Northcross Road. Google them and phone to make an appt. Approx ?10 so more than a chemist / photo shop / photo booth but great and you get a keyring with the pic in to - bonus. They take time to great the best image and know about printing sizes for all country passports / visas etc.

Maybe part of your mind knows you are having a boy? We never found out the sex of any of our 3 pre birth and always agreed on girl names but never a boy name and yes we had 3 girls. Happily stuck with 3 but still daydream about names and love 'Betsy'. Enjoy it is fun.

I've always dreaded being asked as a stay at home mum and wondered how we would cope. Did it pre kids whilst working and not such a big drag and near work so could go into the office on the occasional early finish days. Now would need to sort morning, afternoon and evening childcare and if coincided with school hols would be a nightmare. Also plenty of cases that don't last the standard two weeks. Glad there is a lifeline but yes hols no excuses - I saw a judge say tough luck to a co-juror who had a holiday booked and brought his tickets in - harsh!

I don't live on the estate but my impression as a local is that it is fine. Always v quiet and not much to report on. You would be on top on the main bus routes in the area and a 10 / 15 min walk from Denmark Hill train station, which links to Victoria in central London. Dog Kennel Hill School is one of the main well thought of primaries in the area. Absolutely fine place to live and East Dulwich, Camberwell and Peckham borders around are all very settled family areas. With a child approaching school age you will soon meet loads of new people at the school and should settle in quickly to a very calm area. I don't know though how the cost of living compares with Nottingham - groceries, rent etc? The cinema in Peckham is cheap and safe ?4.99 all seats. The only other bonkers thing, when I moved to London from Leics 20+ yrs ago was that I was amazed by how low the planes fly over the city and how noisy they are - then after a week or so you tune out and don't notice them and there are no (few?) night flights.

We went a couple of times in 2005 and 2006. The last time our oldest two were 5 and 3. We stayed in a wooden lodge but the camping was v near by. The pitches are nicely spread out with plenty of dishwashing and personal washing facilities. At that time the place itself had a swimming pool, which could get incredibly busy and so you might be turned away and also an onsite Harvester / Wetherspoons type family pub with meals plus an outdoor burger and chips type place. I think it has got more facilities since our last trip. It was all v clean and well organised. There is an onsite walk through the pine woods to a river - great for picnics. It is also brilliantly placed for other New Forest stuff. Food shop onsite which is reasonably priced with local produce. Defo fine with young ones.

Yes the Horniman will be spot on for a 4yr old but very likely hugely busy all over Easter weekend. Still their cafe is brill and they rattle through the queues. Peckham Rye cafe much slower service and is cash only (poss cheques? but defo not cards). Have fun. Always the Croods at Peck Rye cinema if too cold.

My almost 9yr old is keen to do this for her birthday. Just wondering if anyone done this and if so which locations. Thanks in advance.

Juno I'm sorry to hear that. No you can't really plan at all. I had two miscarriages before no 3 and I found this a huge shock after no problems conceiving and carrying the first two. I had a short rest from trying, a check-up at Kings - a lovely consultant who said it was very likely to happen eventually as no obvious problems other than just getting older. I also had a re-think as it was an emotional minefield I had not had to encounter before. I decided to set myself a time limit for the next round of trying and thought if it doesn't happen within 18mths then I will have another re-think. I was lucky no 3 happened within that time frame but looking back I think I would have kept trying for a very long time.

Work through your list of people and guestimate. Is usually half bottle of wine per person but perhaps on the .conservative side these days for a good knees up

Hooray you're thinking about it. You are on the edge of the cliff just waiting for someone to push you over into the oblivion of 3. It's fab but called 'out-numbered' for a reason. Most cars seat 5 these days and I know plenty with 3 kids in one bedroom. Not always easy but I don't know anyone who regrets the kids they had but plenty who regret not having more kids. It's bonkers and busy but brilliant. Mine are spread out with the oldest in her first year at secondary and no 3 not starting primary til Sept. I know those that are ultra organised with 3, others in chaos and I like to think we are in the middle. Go for it, get freaked out a bit and come through the other side thinking 'that wasn't too bad, we could have gone for 4'. Above all remember it is another little person you are thinking about.

You are never going to know unless you try asking. It could just be the sort of arrangement someone is looking for. Good you have the fall back of same nursery and after school club. Once you are in the childcare loop you hear of all bizarre arrangements and you get to know more providing non-standard requests. Good luck.

The forum - the good, the bad and the ugly all in one. Sometimes it depresses me so I venture into other sections and always emd up smiling at something or other :)

Contact the hosp PALS - patient advice helpline thing and am sure they will tell you ok. If there is room on the bus, which I understand is normal then cheaper for the nhs to have you arrive on time :)

My Mum-in-Law accompanied by my sister-in-law used this staff shuttle bus between the two without probs to attend out-patient appts. I would guess they give staff priority and top up with patients.

Many thanks Cora - I kept tripping over this chap on my web searches so good to have a recommendation. I think we'll give it a go.

My eldest is keen to try martial arts but we are not quite sure what is what. She wants to compete in 'combat' / 'fighting' (as you can see really not sure of terminology). We have watched Judo clips on Youtube and she doesn't like it 'as too wrestlingy' - wants something with more kicking and hitting. Anyone more clued up on the various martial arts and local clubs?

To oimissus - we have a high bed with a den underneath, which is v cute and space savvy but it is a pain in the bum to change the sheets and to have the duvet look tidy in the day. The guard frame around the bed bit means you can't let the duvet drape over the sides like you would a normal bed.

But the gov't has to create the jobs too and employers have to switch on and get with the flexible working program.

Minimal impact and if you don't already have kids and are thinking of settling and having them then move in. Primary school places are at a premium and you need to live as close as you can to your local school to guarantee a place.

Stress city when it happens. I caught my youngest and her friend (both approaching 4) with baby wipes one day and I asked 'what are you doing?'. At first they insisted on 'nothing, nothing' but then coughed up they were going to clean the wall. I followed them to a stretch of the hallway covered in scribbles. We are certainly not newly decorated but it was a mess all the same. Fortunately, washable walls and all 3 of us scrubbed it off. Mine was as guilty as her friend and they have joint form having previously 'spilt' nail varnish over carpet at the friend's house (nicked from an older sister and on the older sister's new bedroom carpet), which needed more Vanish and elbow grease than our walls. I was cross at the time, scolding my child whilst trying not to freak her friend out who was fully aware of the enormity of the situation and who had doubly dropped herself in it by managing to write her name - mine was not that advanced but still distinctive scribbles in her style. My older 2 would never have dreamed of doing anything like this but no 3 is a different entity altogether. Diff situation to yours but I was truly gobsmacked at the time. Funny now to recall it :)

My middle one was around 14mths and the oldest and youngest more towards 17mth. It will happen as all have said. Not helpful from me but I have to say I think the nursery are being unnecessarily uptight on this.

I understand you are considering schools close to where you plan to move to but not sure if you are aware that you can apply for secondary schools in any London borough. You apply through your borough on their form but can include schools from other boroughs - obvs you will need to meet each school's criteria to stand a chance of gaining a place. Kingsdale for example allocates places on a lottery system across academic bands, so kids from each ability range get into the school regardless of where they live. The school is in Southwark but kids from Southwark and Lewisham (and elsewhere) in each academic band have equal chances of getting in with names pulled out of a the hat. Charter goes solely on distance from the school. You can 'think outside the borough'. Good luck.

We've always sat on the floor for bed time stories.

I give mine 25p per year of life per week. So my 8yr old gets 25p x 8 (?2) each week. This means it automatically goes up 25p each birthday and so we haven't had to rethink it for a while. I don't expect them to do chores for this, although they do generally help with laying the table, emptying dishwasher and tidying but not all the time. Occasionally, my hubby will give them extra for doing specific chores - picking leaves up in the garden for eg. Their Nan also gives them ?1 each per week. They can spend it on whatever and as they have got older tend to save for a few weeks to get 'better' things. Magazines / comics are separate as they are so expensive and we have hit on relatives getting them annual subscriptions for b'days. My eldest is now at secondary school and is out and about a little more with her friends and so I give her extra money on occasion for swimming / cinema trips but this still infrequent at the moment and we will probably need to rethink long term.