Mrs TP

I'd be more worried the bin men would sue for injuries caused by a weak wall. Pain in the backside though to come home too :(

I had an English teacher who got so fed up she made us write out the incorrect verb 'to of' - 'I of, you of, he / she ofs, I ofed' and so on to whatever tense 'I would of' is and then the correct 'to have'. A great lesson that has stuck with me since. In our house it is the wars of the northern v southern vowel sounds. Being a northerner I am with the harsh vowels especially A and Mr TP adds an r to all his A words, e.g. bath v barth. I think the southern vowel sound is also why aks is actually arks.

Crisps and crips is another one. If it is your own true accent / dialect then fine but copying it drives me up the wall.

I think it is rude to you and assumes that you may be considering keeping her at home no matter what the school response to your request was. If your daughter was off sick at a different time they would not expect a medical certificate. I am not sure who governs the policy on supplying medical certificates to schools; is it the school, the local authority or central gov? If the rules are diff for when a parent had been denied time out of school for a child then that should be in the school rules and the head could have phrased the letter differently and drawn attention to the existing school rule - this may have seemed less personal that the way it is phrased currently. Unfortunately, some teachers (like many other professional adults) just don't communicate well at all times. However, all that said when you don't get your preferred outcome it is easy to feel agrieved and be more bothered than you need to be about such careless phraseology. I am not saying you shouldn't be cross and am v. sympathetic towards you, what I mean here is that this is not a great letter but also not worth your emotional investment pursuing. I see the time has passed now but hope your daughter had a good week and is looking forward to the summer hols and 'big' school.

BBC weather website is now saying 23 degrees and sunny for Sunday so you might just get away with it. Nip down to B&Q buy an awning type thing that will act as shade from rain / sun and head off to your selected park spot. All will be well. Saino's have some cute picnic plastic wear and rugs on offer too.

Thanks Gidget. Despite the extensive debate we could have around proms at any education level I for one do not want any more 'oh let's all laugh at these people' type programs under the guise of serious documentary. Would prefer more of Kittysailing's fab series on the history of London streets.

EMC - what's your angle on this?

Yes it is the washing that is doing my head in most (no tumble drier) and towels in the bathroom that don't dry overnight so are wet for the morning shower. Mr TP is working at Olympics and ParaOlympics so goodness knows how I will fill an indoor summer with the warring brood ...

Thanks all. Sandy_Rose - Genius! Just couldn't understand the bed thing. This is the sort of thing the forum is for - hooray.

Thanks this is v. helpful. Will pop in to Health Matters over the weekend. Hope you not suffering too much now avoiding the park.

My youngest has developed a rash down her face, arms and a little on her legs. At its worst it consists of hive lumps but when it calms it becomes flatter and lacy. GP believes it to be an allergy and has given her anti-histamine. The rash started on Sat eve after playing in Goose Green play park (opposite St John's Church not the school of the same name) and then flared up dramatically after going back there on Weds. However her face really flares up in the night too. She is 3.5yrs with no known allergies and we have been using that park forever and have not introduced any new products / foods at home. I was thinking it could be the plane tree pollen as that is quite nasty but am just thrown by the fact her face does flare up overnight in bed. Anyone any ideas what it could be?

Depends how much of a pain it is for you to do an emergency uniform wash to get dry for the next day. I would suggest to start at least 2 bottoms (i.e. skirt / trousers / pinafore). 3 blouses / polo shirts - depends if you can get two days out of them or not. I have at least 6 each for my girls who are in juniors, one rattles through one a day and the other keeps hers immaculate but I pop them in the wash after 2 days max. At least 2 cardis / sweatshirts / top fleeces - if it gets lost in the playground or lunch spilt down it your are stuffed for the next day with only one. Name at least the cardis and coats - those items that are taken off during routine lessons / playground / park - they will get lost but they will get back to you if named. I am just buying secondary school uniform for my eldest and moving from generic blue cardi / sweatshirt to school logo cardi / jumper is a bit of a shock - just paid ?18.99 each x 2 for state school cardis. Enjoy anyway, they look so cute in their first schooliform. Good idea, which I never did, take a photo of them on the first day of each new academic year to map the changes. Yes they still have official school photos but do your own full lengths.

Hopeful - this is fab and a cool idea. Planters are the way forward! Good luck and I hope many of your neighbours would like to and are able to support this.

That's bonkers. Nobody can just come along and plant a fruit tree in your front garden and expect you to look after it and there is no room on the pavement for 35 trees! We have a silver birch on the pavement just outside our tiny front garden, which was identified as a significant causal factor of subsidence in our house.

If they are 'scrapping' and I intervene then they stick up for one another. If they come telling tales to me and I try to do my best Kofi Annan to separate and enforce sanctions no one is happy. Carrying on my Waltons/Shameless analogy, last yr on hols Mr TP commented that we were like a Christmas special of Shameless meets Benidorm but how we sniggered at other parents struggling with their kids in the swimming pool etc. - sorry we should have showed more solidarity but it was more 'oh thank goodness that isn't us at this moment'.

It is still in Belair Park today. It is free to get in and you pay on each ride, ranging from ?1 to ?2 ish. If you go to their website you can download a ?5 off voucher which you hand in at the fair at the change kiosk in their old fashioned one-arm bandit bit in exchange for 10 x 50p tickets off specific rides. Can be an expensive hour or two but loads of fun and I am sure it is not cheap to run and maintain a traveling fair like this. (Feeling quite sympathetic to them after watching a program the other night about a financially declining traveling circus. Similarly, Carters is nowhere near as busy as it used to be 5yrs ago or so.)

Mine once had an argument over an invisible (i.e. imaginary) Ben 10 watch. One was completely distraught that the other had snatched it from her and taken it. Quick as a flash (which is unusual for me) I said 'oh no she's dropped it, here it is ...' pretended to pick it up and put it on distraught child. Peace was resumed for about 10 mins. 'Poo poo bum bum head' is a common insult amongst them. Currently, there are arguments going on about who is on which sofa and what to watch on tv and one is shouting 'mummy she is touching my letters'. Some days we resemble the Waltons and some days we are like an episode of Shameless; looking around at those in a similar position I think this is entirely normal. Oh now someone has put Simpsons on so the older two quiet and the little one is covering herself in sun cream and all peaceful.

I recognised Kevin who works in Push Studios as one of those interviewed. Kevin was fine but how lame 'Lordship Lane'. Guessing one of those conducting the vox pop was local. Have seen the local Beeb down there before doing attitudes to free school meals for all reception children.

You would be free to dress up for your own enjoyment in any costume you purchased but not to use the costume of any trade marked / licensed character to make money without the necessary permission and paying a licence fee to the rights owner. However fab idea, good luck.

We did three white walls and one bright pink one covered in re-usable stickers from B & Q, which to my surprise have withstood various moving around. Thought it would not be too hard to re-paint just one wall when the pink fall-out comes. Also a neutral carpet but with a bright rug, central room lamp shade and girly bedside lamp. Also had a white flatpack wardrobe from Ikea, which I have let be stickered up to the max with whatever wanted. Never got round to curtains and still have the blackout blinds from when tiny.

I emailed the head today re the searching. She responded that was not the message given out in assembly but that mobile phones would be confiscated. My issue is with the searching not the rights and wrongs of mobiles in school, although I do find a blanket ban on them quite strong

Thanks Fuschia v. helpful. cuppa tea - I don't like the assuming all kids are guilty either. I also don't know why the phones are banned from the disco but we don't have one (yet!).

My daughter is reluctant to go to the up-coming junior school disco, which is on the school premises but after normal school hours, as the children were told in a recent assembly that they will be searched on the way in for mobile phones. There is a strict ban on mobiles. She does not have one but does not want to be searched. I am quite happy to back her decision but wonder if there is legal perspective that strengthens our position.

I am full of admiration (and maybe a slight pang of jealousy) for those of you with four - congrats and well done! I am finished at three, well unless I have a v. late Cherie Blair moment ...

I have never come across anyone who has regretted the children they had no matter how hard the circumstances. However I have met people who regret not having had more children. We have three and I thought long and hard about making the leap from 2 to 3 but not about finances and day to day practicalities but more about whether or not I could look after 3 and give them all the attention they deserve. Also if you step away from thinking of an extra number and rather a whole new person with their own personality, likes and dislikes etc then you can form a different perspective. I looked at other families who had 3 and they all seemed to be surviving. My only wonder now is just how many more swimming lessons I can put up with.