dairymilkfiend

The trees at the station cheer me up every day on my commute. This would definitely change the character of the station and so I will be objecting too. We need some nature around us, otherwise the city will become a pretty horrible place to live.

My son came off his scooter on the way to school (DPL) this morning and broke his arm. Some very kind strangers stayed with him until my husband arrived to take him to A+E. In particular, a man called Mike stayed with him for more than 20 minutes and gave my son his coat to keep him warm (so must have been freezing himself!), and another lady lent him her hat. My son is called Elijah and was injured on Calton Road this morning, so if anyone can help us track these people down, I would really like to say thank you properly.

Me too - I texted him at lunchtime today, he texted straight back with a very reasonable quote and has just picked up my old sofa. No hassle - job done!

Does anyone get the 8:04 from Denmark hill which goes to St Pancras? I need to get 3 kids, two grandparents and two suitcases there first thing on thursday and am wondering if its feasible or whether the train is usually jam-packed? All advice gratefully received, thanks.

Worth a try, but I contested one in Lambeth where I had written the registration number but in pencil and they refused my appeal. I hope you have more luck.

I am totally depressed. My husband attended the council meeting tonight, and I have read the consultation report in detail. Despite the fact that 38% of daytime parking in my road is commuters (!), the majority of residents evidently don't want a CPZ. All I can assume is that these people don't move their cars between 9am and 2pm on a weekday, as if they did they would realise that some of us are suffering. All I can say is don't move to east dulwich or leave before you have kids/ develop mobility problems/want to do any shopping.

At the risk of bearing the brunt of several angry responses, I live in the proposed CPZ zone, I was one of the 45/50 (depending on who you believe)who have complained in the past about the parking in my road. In an ideal world I would not want a CPZ which will cost me and my visitors money. However, if I use my car during weekdays, around 20% of the time I cannot then re-park anywhere in my street. I have 3 small kids who I regularly have to carry/drag a large distance, across a busy road, from whichever local roads do still have parking spaces, which is clearly a source of stress to all of us. I sympathise with those just outside the CPZ who have not been consulted (which I don't agree with), but the status quo is pretty rubbish too.

LauraHW - if it is disposable ones you are after, I have 2 or 3 whole rolls which you can have (for free), as my little on is now out of nappies. Just PM me if you are interested.

It is an outstanding pre-school (and Oftsted agree!)but due to the small size very hard to get into. My boys have been very happy there.

Hi Kim, We go to Herne Hill Baptist Church (www.hernehillbaptistchurch.org) and my 3 boys (7, 3, and 1) love going to the sunday school, so we would be happy to meet you there one sunday. PM me if you are interested. I have several friends who go to St Saviours (listed above) which is also excellent and very family friendly. All Saints Peckham also has a large and lively sunday school so would recommend that too. alison

yes we do pay her. I think she is entitled to paid sick leave, unless she is off for more than 2 consecutive weeks after which you start paying her half pay.

For 3 days a week ( 10.25 hour days) we pay a total of around 1800 pounds a month,which includes the tax, NI etc ( thats around 9.25 net an hour). Hope that helps alison

Thanks to all for your support - its good to know my feelings are justified. We did take up references from 3 previous employers and I specifically asked all of them about sick leave. None said that she had taken more than a couple of days so we may just have been unlucky, but who knows? The difficult thing is that the kids adore her and we had a lot of trouble finding a nanny, so I am dreading having to do it again. I think I will sit down with her next week and explain our expectations - I agree with ljs that most good nannies will drag themselves into work and just have a quiet day at home if they are unwell. (Ljs - you don't want a job do you?!)

Dear All, Does anyone know where I stand with my relatively new nanny who has been off sick for 3 whole weeks over the 3 months we have employed her so far? This includes several times when she has texted me first thing in the morning telling me she will not be in that day. Does that sound an 'unreasonable' amount of time off? The illnesses have been unconnected and it has caused real problems for my work, not to mention my lovely friends and family who have all pitched in to help. Should I start a verbal warning/ written warning system? Her contract just says we need to give her 4 weeks notice, but I'm unsure if it would be illegal to fire her if she continues to be off sick frequently. Hope it doesn't sound callous, but we both have jobs in healthcare, so my patients and colleagues suffer if I can't go in. Any advice gratefully received!

yes we have one, and live by east dulwich station. PM me for address. alison

Thanks for replying, but we have now ( at last!) found a nanny. alison

Has anyone got their nanny registered? I am having trouble finding an easy 'how to do it' page on the OFTED website. Do they have to have a childcare qualification and how old can it be? What is the minimum first aid course they can do? ( if that sounds callous, its because I suspect they are a waste of time!) Is it good form to pay for the nanny's time while she does the first aid course? Any advice/experience would be appreciated

Having been looking for a nanny myself for quite some time, I have noticed that there are a lot of nannies advertising on simplychildcare.com for fridays. One of them might consider doing alternate weeks - its worth asking!

Sadly we haven't got room for an au pair, but thanks for the thought.

No, my eldest is at school and my middle son is at morning nursery two days per week, so there is actually not much time when the nanny would have all three of them ( except school holidays). I wonder if I should advertise a generous rate of pay, or would that attract some of the wrong people?

We have been looking for a nanny 3 days a week for our 3 boys since late december. I don't think I have been overly fussy, but we have only found 3 to interview, none of whom worked out for various reasons. I am scouring simply childcare, childcare.co.uk, and nannyjob daily but there seem to be very few nannies out there, or only nannies who want one or two particular days. Any ideas where else we can look? Are 3 children putting them off? Any advice gratefully received!

I'm not a legal expert, but on the 3 times I have returned from maternity leave, I have always taken my annual leave at the end, hence had the last few weeks of my time off as paid annual leave. As you accrue annual leave during maternity leave ( I think only the paid part) they have to let you take it!

A couple of years ago we used a company called simply courteous ( google it and its the first hit) and they were great. We put our baby car seat in when they picked us up, then they kept it at their office until we flew in again. It wasn't cheap but there were lots of us and they had an enormous people mover so per head it was very reasonable. Would definitely do it again and would never consider public transport with a baby/buggy/suitcases unless I really couldn't scrape the money together for an easier option. Have a good trip!

I agree with all the comments about not worrying if possible - most people with kids have had some well meaning person who has scared the living daylights out of them by suggesting something is not right. If you have the paediatrician's name you could always try ringing his/her secretary and asking if there is any way it could be brought forward. No harm in asking. Otherwise if you really are worried a private opinion might help ( prob about ?150 ish for a consultation) but it could end up expensive if you need any tests. Hope and expect that it will all be a storm in a teacup.

We go to Dulwich Dental clinic, next to the post office in Lordship Lane. We see a young male dentist ( sorry can't remember his name) and he is really nice. I attended with my 3 small boys ( 6,2 and 8 months) recently and it all descended into chaos, but he took it all in his stride!