new mother

Obviously, if you are a drugs all the way type of person, then by all means get the gas and air for the sweep!! Quote from little ED I am a "this is the 21st century what is the point of unnecessary pain" sort of person!

Is it pgcy related or an ageing thing ?! (sorry) I hirple around like a really old lady....

Narnia, This cycling issue is just one example of the wider macro point. The real issue is clearly whether the State has the right to interfere and /or override parental decision making. Most people would say no in this instance and when I phrase it like that. but then you get into more complex debates like the child who lives in a high rise block and is allowed by the parents to lean out of the window as he/she is old enough to do it safely. THe parents have made their risk assessment but a lot of people wld not agree with it in this example. So, what happens? CAn the state intervene? THis is what it's about. it's not really to do with cycling. Marmora, I don't think BB100 was suggesting that at all. Rather he/she was saying that today's society has State interference in some aspects whiere it is welcomed and others where it is not, hence the confusion over it's limits. That's what I took out of his/her posting.

It is a good idea for more expensive items which people might only need for a few weeks. I would stress the hygiene aspects in your marketing - ie each toy is immersed in blah blah solution after return. etc etc. THat is the one area that puts me off.

I have a weird problem in the mornings - i can't put any weight on my feet at first. It subsides shortly thereafter. Internet says it is "plantar fasc something". Has anyone else had it? RE weight loss, like msot things, it's strongly linked to genetic as far as I can see, from observing friends and their mothers. Some people lose it immediately and some never quite do. The bf thing is a bit of a red herring, again from observation of my friends. THere wasn't much of a correlation. In fact, now that I think about it, if anything, there was a reverse correlation!

I use big hair crocodile comb things to hold muslins on...

HOw many TAs per Deptford Head? ;-)

Two categories for us - first post discharge mwifery who were very good adn dedicated enough to come out in terrible snow the first time. She told us about injections etc and did the sickle cell etc heel prick tests for both chidlren. They stopped when they regained birth weight. Then we had a hv. Useless for us as she was really from Social Services wanting to identify at risk children. I can see the point of her with problem families though. She did afamily tree but lost interest when we told her both sets of gparents were obsessed with children and had seen both babies within minutes of their births. Which of the two services are you proposing to do privately? If the former, I think the parents would pay. But in my experience the former is already quite good. If the latter, how would you operate? PLease don't say you would be a consultant to the health Authority...for which we service, as taxpayers, will end up paying through the nose, again...

Is there any pain relief given/ recommended? If not, why not?

Jamma, YOu didnt asnwer my query. Di you have children and if so what errr.... genders? May I assume no children as yet? I had a very different view of children's development before having children myself.

Jamma, do you have children adn, if so, what genders are they?

This will probably show my age but when I was at school, there were none. What do these people do exactly? Are they strictly necessary when the country is bust and we didn't have them as recently as 20 years ago?

Iain, do the guys know about the knitting? Just wondering..... ;-)

Gosh that was a TIDY day. well done gorgeous little one.

"I think this thread, as it has developed, is about quite a few things, but fundamentally, surely, it's about at what point a parent's decision about how they raise their child is challenged by the state, and on what basis." Exactly! It's got precisely ZERO to do with the age at which children should be allowed to cycle to school etc etc. All of those comments miss the depth of the real point.

They should defo not dock her pay. Put it this way: your daughter has options of whom to work for, and she chose this couple on the basis that they offered a certain number of hours. If they renege on this, they are breaking their deal with her. As for walking home with her, they are bonkers. Why on earth didn't they call a taxi? Especially as they had "saved" on what they docked form her pay in the first place!! Totally weird. I personally would 'phone them and state that, as her mother, you are worried about future bbsitting and that she must get a taxi in future. I would actually be more worried about this than the pay docking as I fear it could be a slippery slope leading to her walking home alone. Your daughter will HATE you for intervening, of course, and there will be a MEGA row about it at first but they need to see that they are not just dealing with a overly kind teenager. Rather, they are dealing with a confident adult backing her daughter up and, importantly, hearing all about the stingey adn selfish things they're doing. I am not sure one can expect a teenager of the sensitive and kind type your daughter clearly is, to negotiate her own ts and cs. I personally would want to set some guidelines with the parents direct. Your daughter is just as precious as their children are.

Y, you don't have a cleaner ???? (says she in lady Bracjnell like tones!!). Get one. 6 hours a week inc ironing. I also note that your posts are beautifully typed and written, in contrast to the slapdash approach that many of us have (and I definitely incldue myself in that). THey are also totally grammatical and I am a mega pedant on that sort of thing, use of "I" not "me" etc etc. I'm wondering if you have very high standards and expect a lot of yourself which until now, you've always been able to achieve. Forgive me for saying this, obviously, as it is really NOMYB, but is it worth taking a minute to think about whether something really has to give, for the sake of harmony. As I say, I am conjecturing and tell me to beetle off if necessary. I 'm hoping you find it a helpful if persoal observation. xx

My heart goes out to you. You are indeed doing too much. I'm not folowing this though - could you express for the 12 and/or 5 feed? I was thinking of taking quite a well paid job the other day which would invovle my husband staying at home exactly as you are doing. i too fondly imagined it would lead to domestic harmony with my children being taken very good care of. However, i realised that I would also be looking subconsciously for quite a range of stuff to happen at home, a book to be written, a business started/something. He correctly pointed out that I haven't achieved any of this. I said "yes I know it might be illogical but I still need you to achieve something." I think it's innate. (unfashionable to say so but I think it is jsut there..) For what it's worth, and I have no medical experience, I think you're also completely shattered.

I feel for anyone who is having difficulty conceiving or has had a mc recently reading this thread. Separately, I read that the later one has children, the more likely to be girls....true or false in your experience?

Dulwich mum, I am fascinated by the idea that school entry is the luck of the draw. On the one hand, I agree it must be hard to differentiate among a group of average children aged 4. As we all know from meeting children, the very bright ones and the very slow ones stand out but the rest will be tricky to assess. OTOH, it is clear that eg JAPPS and JAPS get particularly good academic results, compared with others in the area with presumably equally motivated parents, so it is either down to excellent teaching - maybe but I can personally testify that teaching and cost were inversely correlated in my day! - or good selection. Or perhaps another factor that I'm not taking into account? I woudl love to know. Either way, good results make a school a good one to attend, if you can get over the single sex nature of eg JAPPS, which my husband and I are currently wrestling with.

Paragon, That is absolutely a matter of opinion. I disagree. Look at all the Cabinet Ministers of bygone years who had grammar school educations but were from very deprived backgrounds. The opportunity to give one's child a good education that enables him/her to go further than his/her parents is very important to a lot of people.

NO exact idea where Sidcup is but the name alone somehow has suburb potential...

Me too. I was convinced I had had a mmc. Zero symptoms, no weight gain, no fluid, no boobs, skin normal, everything normal save the HCG stick.

haha quite funny re gardens. No, the point is - we couldn't afford Pimlico! We were too late! Where, by the way, are the London "suburbs"? Would it be Surrey as a massive whole? I really don't know... or more Richmond, which is jsut as expensive as places further in, I suspect...?

Interesting balanced thread. Most of our friends live in Pimlico - there seems to have been a big movement there about 5 years ago and thgey have done commensurately well on house prices. When we needed a family house, we cldn't stretch that far but still wanted a decent amount of space, hence our move. We consider ourselves to be living "out" already! I think there is money to be made buying prop on the new East london Line - well not exactly ON it, YKWIM. I hadn't realised till recently that the Shoreditch stop is basically the City so you can get direct to the City or with one change to C Wharf which makes that part of London quite attractive for a one bedder maybe. What do you think? Live in ED and invest a bit near one of the new line's stops?