KikiMac

Just in case anyone else is looking, we ended up hiring from dancingcubs.co.uk also known as Soft Play Hire London, and had great service from Lopez there. Very happy with it, but not as happy as the 3 yr olds were!

Thanks so much for all the replies - really helpful. I will pass on all suggestions.

A friend of mine is having to come from Brighton to Kings daily to see his brother who is terminally ill at Kings. Very sad situation and he is struggling to find somewhere to park for free if he drives so he can bring his elderly parents with him. Does anyone have any good tips they'd be prepared to share of places to park, either nearby or on a (short) bus route to the hospital?

Yep! Saw them at Nigel Road by Nags Head (on my way into the marvelous Lerryns coffee shop) this morning. Another customer said she'd seen them in Camberwell this morning. Got quite a good look in the Range Rover - no one in the back and two very ordinary looking blokes in the front, so yeah training sounds right. How disappointing!

Just wondering whether anyone has hired a ball pool for a kids party locally and would recommend the company they used? Thanks!

Curious to know if anyone on here did get up to the Nunhead reservoir last night. We tried but were put off by the huge crowds trying to squeeze through the now tiny gap in the fence. Feared a crush when it was all over. Can anyone report back?

Yep - about ?40 each child. They're only 2 and 5 kitty, you gotta leave yourself somewhere to go! X boxes and playstations (don't even really know what they are!) cost a lot more I hear - and as SLad says, don't want to set up huge expectations or create little/big consumers for the future. But then mine still get paper advent calendars because I don't want them to get used to 'getting' something every day in December too. Too hard core?

njc97 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > tfwsoll - but where in Dulwich does do good > coffee? (nearest places I can think of are Bambuni > and Anderson in Nunhead/Peckham). > Too right! Sorry - I know I've moaned about it before but I still despair at the absence of decent coffee in ED. Blue Mountain's is singularly unimpressive to be the winner in the category. Guess I'll just have to stick to Nunhead and Peckham. My current top tip is Lerryn's at the bottom of Rye Lane - gorgeous.

Is he still in a gro-bag? If so, keep him in it! Should deter too much wandering...

Anyone else feeling daring and considering ditching the whole party bag thing? I recently took my 2 to parties hosted by non-English parents who had never heard of party bags and guess what? They were great! And no bags of crap or sugar littering up the house when we got home....

Hate to be a party pooper but we went yesterday and felt it wasn't a patch on last year! Where were the motorbikes and the amazing horseback rider? And has it got MORE sexist?! And was the (otherwise excellent 'modern' clown) gag where he took people off stage and shot them really ok? And don't even get me started on the old style clowns... I agree, Hercules, the contortionist, modern clown and Cuban gymnasts where great but the rest, including Norman, seemed to have somewhat lost their shine, for me. Booooooooo.....

Ah... Fernando! A good gardener, good rates and such a pleasure to do business with! The cynics that say that is the least you should expect should try dealing with some of the people I've hired in the last 2 years doing up our house... Thanks again Fernando.

Sorry, no help or similar experiences, but just wanted to say well done for challenging them! Teenagers can be intimidating but they are just big kids after all and IMHO people are generally over cautious about confronting this kind of behaviour... Will keep an eye out for them myself and do the same if the need arises!

Yes, I've been on the receiving end of some fairly inflexibly applied rules at the Gallery and definitely been given the impression that children were not welcome in the gallery part. A friend of mine who visited recently was told by a staff member that she should take her children to the Horniman! Problem is, last time I went to the Horniman one of the staff members made my friend's children cry with his aggressive approach... Hmm... where to try next?!

We're just about to get a mural from this lovely lady http://www.flavourchasing.co.uk/page3.htm She has designed a dino-themed scene for the wall on our side return which our small boys will love! Very reasonable prices too...

Hi Pommie, I had a similar experience to you after number 2, ie wouldn't stop bleeding, and then a nasty infection on the womb a week or so after the birth, so had to go back in, totalling 3 weeks in hospital post birth! I was advised that a third pregnancy would be risky because of the weakness in the scar on the womb (my first was emergency C-section too), but they said that I would just have regular monitoring in any future pregnancy. Nothing would persuade me to go through it all again, but I guess if you are keen speak to the surgeon or someone senior at the hospital where you had your second. Mine was at Kings and they were great at this kind of follow-up. Also, I was 40 when I had my second and don't think my age played any part in things going wrong. The baby was 10lb 12 so that was probably more relevant! Good luck.

Yes, lucky you, you've moved to exactly the right catchment for a brilliant surgery! Love the Nunhead Surgery. Everyone from receptionists to GPs is great.

Ah! Sorry, I'm obviously a bit out of date! Still not sure about the video link thing. Do you just sit and watch them play or talk to your mates??

I'd go Ivy House. The Victoria is ok but playroom freezing cold and you have to be happy to leave kids alone, which would not work with a baby, and then the 4 yr old would have to play alone...

Why?

Hi, any recommendations for good local Christingle or child-friendly carol services? Thanks.

If you have to think that hard about what you want maybe you don't really need anything? I have a huge family and a few years back we started doing secret santa so each person gets just one present, and - brilliantly - you only have to buy one gift. The children are excluded natch, they still get all kinds of crap, but for grown ups it is great. And not rushing round the shops or online buying things nobody really wants you get to focus on the less commercial and more fun bits of christmas...

Quite agree Piaf. Once they're at nursery everything seems to tail off, but I'd love to keep the music bit up if possible, without starting to learn a particular instrument.

Would love to hear of any Kodaly based or similar classes for slightly older than toddlers. We used to go the lovely Anna's 'Sparkle' music classes but she is a bit far away for us now...

kristymac1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hahaha, I dread the clocks going back (and > forward), but my 15month old actually slept > through and till 6.30 this morning (so a 5.30 > start) which was brilliant as I was expecting his > usual 5.15 (so 4.15 start:-/). Clearly he must be > ill........ > > 'Me time' pfft! Spooky, KristyMac, nearly the same name, and the same rising time! Except mine stuck to his usual 5.15, hence I got the 4.15 start yesterday... and today... *matchsticks*