Norfolkvillas

Thank you to everyone who's posted, or PMed me. The feedback has been unequivocally positive and it's given me an invaluable insight into the school. Really, really helpful - thanks again!

Hi again If you read my other Goodrich thread, you'll know that I've failed to secure a place on the Goodrich school tour BEFORE the deadline for applications - not my cleverest moment, as it's pretty much the only school we have a hope of getting in to... So I'd love to hear from current Goodrich parents, and any other local parents for that matter, about how the school is currently. I remember reading a while back about some kind of a hoo-haa (sp?)about head teachers and PTAs, but I think the current head is new since then. My impression is that there's been a number of changes of head teacher in a relatively short time, which is why I'm keen to hear the latest feedback, rather than searching back through past years of discussion about the school. Thanks in advance if you can spare two mins to tell me what you think is great, and not so great, about the school right now. Feel free to PM if you prefer.. NV

Thanks all, that's helpful, I shall definitely go and hang out at the fair and I might go and have a nosey at the Heber fair as well. I'm assuming you're all current Goodrich parents, so hope you might have some feedback on the thread I'm about to start asking for opinions on the school.... thanks in advance!

Ok so I've slightly messed up on the school front by not arranging to see schools early enough. The earliest Goodrich tour place I could get is AFTER the application deadline! Am I crazy to put Goodrich as my first choice even though I haven't seen it? In reality, I think it's the only school we have a chance of getting into: Heber is a couple of metres closer to us, but we're a couple of hundred metres shy of their last-place-offered-on-distance so unlikely we'd get even a waiting list place. All other (non-Faith) schools are circa 1km away. So as choice seems to be something that only applies in theory, should I just put Goodrich first anyway? Would love to hear from Goodrich parents, and also from anyone who may know if there is any other way I could get a feel for the school ahead of 15 Jan - Christmas fairs or similar?? Thanks in advance!

My two births couldn't have been more different - first time round, my body just didn't know what to do, therefore induced at 42wks, long labour, waters broken for me, epidural, loads of intervention & stress, eventually an emergency rotational forceps delivery. Second time round, the day after my due date (according to my dates - a week later than the official dates), I went into labour when I woke up on the Sunday morning, managed contractions no probs, went to Kings at lunchtime, 45 mins later my daughter arrived. No pain relief apart from a tens machine - even though I am very much a drugs-and-hospitals girl. I was lucky enough to have wonderful, wonderful midwives both times round, so for me, it was just a question of my body being able to say 'ohhhh, this again!' and know what it was meant to do. For me, and again it's SUCH a personal thing, my biggest tip in general would be a book called Birth Skills by Juju Sundin, which just really chimed with the cynical, control freak that I am - as it takes a more straightforward approach to pain (yes it will hurt, this is how to deal with that), I'm not sure it's compatible with the hypnobirthing thinking ... it was in fact passed on to me by a fellow forumite who was a hypnobirther and couldn't get on with it - but I will be forever grateful to her for passing it on! Anyway, good luck!! My midwife told me second time round would be a doddle and I didn't believe her, but it was true!

Hi Belle, if you want to try my ergo, PM me and I can drop it round on a day I know I won't be using it so you could see if it suits? I carried my son (front ways as that's my preference) in it until 2 and a bit (and he was a chunk!)

OK so maybe it's just me being extra-slothful but if we had that arrangement in our house, then I would ensure that on my husband's day off he was committed to taking the kids out on some wonderful day out from 9.30 - 5pm leaving me blissfully free to spend the entire day at home, in the quiet, all by myself, in my pyjamas, reading the papers, having a snooze on the sofa, maybe a leisurely bath .... that is my idea of perfect free time!

My nanny was sent a link for a free trial which she forwarded to me. We haven't done enough of it for me to have an opinion of how good it is, but I thought you might like the link to the free trial: http://readingeggs.co.uk/ichild?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Family+%26+Education+Marketing+Limited&utm_campaign=2939587_Reading+Eggs+Solus+Email+2%2f9%2f13&utm_content=ReadingEggs&dm_i=1DJR,1R077,77Z96T,68HL3,1 Hope the link works - if not I could try PMing it to you?

I have this one and think it's brilliant. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Babytec-5050-Autofade-Bedside-Lamp/dp/B000NCAFYQ When my 3 year old switched out of a cot, we were having issues with him staying in his room at bedtime and this solved all our problems, as he can make it brighter if he wants to read, or keep it turned down if he just wants to go straight to sleep. It also has a fade-out option, where it gradually turns itself down and down and then off over the course of 15 mins. At the moment, I leave my son to set the light level he wants at bedtime, and just pop in once he's asleep and turn it right down - still enough light for him if he were to wake up in the night, but not enough so it will disturb his sleep. The buttons are touch-sensitive - that sounds stupid, but I mean that they don't need pushing in or out, or make any noise - just a light touch and hold to make the light level go up or down and the top button for the auto-fade thing. A friend gave me mine minus instructions and I assumed it was just a standard night light - took me ages to figure out all of the above, but wouldn't be without it now - it really suits us down to the ground. Wow, who knew I could get so excited over a (not-massively-attractive) light fitting!? Hope this helps!

Hi astrid83, sounds similar to my daughter who I ended up self-diagnosing with cows milk protein intolerance. Intolerances build up, so like you we tried things which appeared to work for a few weeks and then deteriorated again. After a bunch of paediatrician / dietician / Gp appts, the consensus was that she had reflux triggered by the cmpi. Everything I read at the time about reflux didn't quite chime with my gut feel, but as I said it was a consensus.... For us, what worked was switching to nutramigen, then nutramigen aa, which im hoping to stop using imminently (daughter now 11mths), but you could try cutting out all dairy and soy from your diet if you're exclusively bfing. Sorry if that's already been recommended - haven't bothered to read back over the whole thread, sorry!

Thanks Oimissus but I think the figures in these brochures are based only on the first round of offers and don't take into account any waiting list places offered between first round offers and start of term.

Sorry if this has been asked before but does anyone know if schools / councils publish the last place offered on distance for the last round of offers rather than just the first round? Especially for schools such as Heber with such tiny catchments, it would be useful to know if you really do need to live within the 250m radius, or if actually, by the time term starts, the catchment has expanded? And by way of an apology for a slightly off-topic question, I can share that the Goodrich tours are at 9.30am every second Monday and the next one is Monday 30th September and you need to contact the office to book a place.

I second the recommendation for Bromley Blinds (who confusingly do shutters as well as blinds - think they also use the name Shutterland, and I think they do / did advertise on this forum). I got three quotes if I remember correctly and they were cheapest, but also seemed like they had the best attention to detail, and I liked using a local independent rather than a nationwide 'big brand'. As others have mentioned above, the shutters themselves are S-craft from China.

Totally agree re mainstream brand boys shoes. My fave brand for boys shoes is Pediped. They're American but Biff in Dulwich Village stock them. My second baby is a girl, not yet in need of shoes, but it seems the offering from Clarks / Start Rite etc is just as hideous for girls, but in a different, more sickly, way... And a second vote for Mini Boden for boys clothes

Yes, second what bjm says, I'm happy with the service and the price.

I found these high contrast images a godsend for engaging my babies when they were very very little - I printed them out and put them up around the playmat and my son in particular could spend quite a bit of time staring at them. They were the very first thing that got more than momentary attention in the early weeks: http://baby.zorger.com/baby.zorger.com.newborn.pdf A little later, wandering about the house together and looking at ourselves in all of the mirrors in various rooms / bathrooms would pass a cheery 20 mins towards the end of the day. Mine were both midwinter babies, but friends with summer babies have also had great success with baby on a towel or similar in a shady spot in the garden with different coloured floaty scarves pinned on a washing line above them. In fact, that sounds lovely, newborn or not!

The only one I've been to from your list is Ithaca which is just stunning and totally unspoilt. The water is some of the most crystalline and mesmerizing I've encountered this side of the Maldives. In high season you can fly direct to Kefalonia and then it's a short drive across to the ferry port Sami and then onto Ithaca. There's one ferry route which is the shortest possible and takes about 15 mins but goes less frequently. The other goes directly into Vathy, Ithaca's main "town" (more like a very picturesque large fishing village in what I think is the world's only bay within a bay) and takes 1 hr something. Haven't been in Aug, I bet it gets busy with Greek families, but doubt very sincerely that it is overrun with holiday makers of the non-Greek variety. Disclaimer - this was about 5 years ago, so you'd need to double check the times etc as I might not be remembering 100% accurately. Other good things about the Ionian Islands apart from the amazing, amazing water, and unspoiltness, are that the Ionians aren't as far south as say the Cyclades, and so not as hot, and also as they're on the west side of Greece, they're a shorter flight time from the UK. Hope this helps!

Hi there, we've had two - one from Henley and oe from Garden Lodges, but these were buit and installed for us, and I think you're asking about a DIY approach? You're welcome to pm if you want further info on our experiences.

Hmmm, I used to buy it from Cowshed (http://www.cowshedonline.com/) but that was a while ago. A quick online search tells me that Boots sell some http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Brands-A-to-Z/Butter-London/ otherwise there are a bunch of online shops that sell it. Sorry not to be more help on the current stockists front!

You have my sympathies. I find painting my nails a very relaxing thing to do but my husband hates the fumes. I tried a brand called Butter London which is meant to have less nasties in it and smell less bad. http://www.butterlondon.com/ I prefer the quality of the "toxic" ones though, so I just do my nails when my other half is away. OK who am I kidding, I have two small children and a full time job, so I never have time to do my nails = problem solved :-(

Another vote for the Ergo. I got it when my first was 6m old and loved it from the start. I didn't think I would like the newborn insert when my littlest arrived, but I surprised myself by liking that too. There is a small period between about 3m and about 6m when they are too small for ergo-without-insert, but too big for ergo-with-insert - or maybe that's just my daughter being particularly long. The ONLY thing I don't like about the Ergo is that it makes me look / feel like an American footballer....

I think high gloss is a bit 'everywhere' (including my inherited kitchen) so my vote would be for matt for a more timeless feel. If I was designing my dream kitchen, I would save on standard cabinetry, and splurge on amazing feature worktops / splashbacks. Lighting is all important and you can do many groovy things with kitchen lighting. One of the cheapest, yet most transformative things I think you can do with any space. We're lucky enough to have a big kitchen space with a central island, and it has provided the perfect, all-weather indoor circuit for toddler chasing / cosy coupe driving / balance-biking / baby sit-in wheely walker wheeling around. I guess if your kids are older it's a moot point, but with very little ones, and having just emerged from a dire and dark winter, I have often thanked my lucky stars for a largeish, even-floored, natural circuit. Good luck - sounds exciting!

Like you, it's been years since I stayed in a Formule 1 or similar, but I seem to remember that Premiere Classe hotels are pretty much the same / same price bracket as F1, but you get your own private bathroom in the room, so no shared showers. Back in the day, that felt like a real luxury!

Hmmm, I would definitely call in professional reinforcements if I thought it would help with either / both, but I actually don't feel either kid is waking to play me up. The youngest is just still settling into sleeping for longer periods and the 3 year old doesn't really even seem to be totally with it when I go in, even though he's standing in his cot howling like banshee. I suspect it's just a reassurance thing and it will pass, but it's tough with double the amount of little people to keep you from sleeping. Bobbly, perhaps I should have said incentivise instead of reward - your post is a good reminder about noticing the good - it's so easy to forget!

sbain, could you repurpose Indiana's cards idea above? Ie you and your son could fill in the cards together, one of which is watching a cartoon, so it breaks the pattern of a cartoon every morning? By the way, I think I know you in real life! I'm going to PM you now to see if you are who I think you are!