3 little piggies

Thank you to all who have posted kind comments. Meg meg is my daughter and she is just 13 years old. Please don't be rude or sarcastic to her in your comments. I'll advise her that maybe this forum isn't the place for her to post. In the grand scheme of things, second only to her friends, her phone is probably the most important thing in her life at the moment (although, as I have pointed out to her, not important enough to look after properly!) Her use of the term 'gipsy woman' was driven by the description given by the people in the area who saw the woman pick up the phone and immediately leave the playground. And as to why they didn't say anything to her, or question her, I would imagine that being children, and the fact she was with a 17/18 year old male, they didn't feel able to confront her. And no, as you say Sue "It's not as if somebody had stolen your phone from your pocket, or mugged you for it", she wasn't mugged, thank goodness (although a couple of months ago on the way to school she had the misfortune to witness the mugging of a friend first hand, resulting in her and her friends having to have time out of school to give police witness statements and being advised to take a different route to school as they could be recognised and targeted by the muggers - not very nice!) so unfortunately she does know how that feels. Meg and her friends had called her phone constantly as soon as she realised it was missing and initially it rang but after a couple of minutes of this it started to go straight to voicemail indicating that it had been turned off. If the woman who had picked it up intended to return it to it's owner she had just to answer it when it rang and she'd have been able to hand it back, it was just a matter of 3 or 4 minutes between the time Meg left the swings and noticed her phone missing so she wouldn't have been far away. Also, if she really wanted to return it to it's owner, why didn't she ask around, rather than immediately leave the playground. Some people who have answered Meg's original post don't seem to find this odd at all. The parent who her friends met and spoke with mentioned being engaged in conversation in a shop on lordship lane by a woman and young man of a similar description and subsequently realised they had been pick-pocketed. Tenuous maybe, but possible? She posted as soon as she got home yesterday. She was upset. She wanted to post in case anyone had seen anything. Also to warn people to be vigilant. We have reported this to the Police and I do believe that it is classed as a theft. Just because someone has dropped something, doesn't mean that someone else can come along and pick it up and walk off with it! Footnote: I have, in my time, found and returned three phones to their owners. One found in St Francis Park in the amphitheatre - I called the contact 'Dad' and returned the phone to a house in Crystal Palace Road. The second found in a trolly in Sainsbury's which I answered when it rang and met the grateful owner in the car park a couple of hours later (a box of chocolates offered as a thanks). The third I found in Dulwich Road as I was cycling to work. Again, I called the contact 'Dad' who contacted his daughter who contacted me and arranged for her boyfriend - who had borrowed then dropped the phone - to collect from me at work. What goes around does come around - my son lost his phone in the park last year (a popular place to lose phones!)and the following day I had a call from a parent who had picked it up and I was able to gratefully collect. If someone intends to return a phone to it's rightful owner it's actually quite easy. If someone intends to take a phone, unfortunately it's actually also quite easy. But not right and for a 13 year old, a major disaster!

Thanks Belle, I try to see positives in most things and I guess my kids have taken that on board too. I think it's always better to try and find some common ground somehow. I've always looked at things not just in terms of my kids, but the kids they are mixing with, learning with, playing with, living with. I get involved with their schools and the after school clubs they go to. The more informed you are, the easier things are to deal with hopefully. Don't get me wrong, mine are no angels. Both are argumentative, ungrateful, often unresponsive or confrontational and most of the time pretty un-civil to each other. I'm finding the teen years the hardest to deal with, there is a constant battle of wills over everything. It's very, very hard, mostly unrewarding, but it's all part of the job and I'm just catching glimpses of the light at the end of the teen tunnel. I read an interesting article which described teen hormones as severing a lot of the early brain links, enabling new, adult behaviour to be learnt. Parents are seen as an obstruction, it's their peers who are the all important people to them. If we can influence and engage with one or two, surely that's better than alienating. Final thought - the lovely, wonderful, funny, cute little ones running around Goose Green playground today will very soon become the surly teens of tomorrow. Hopefully none of them will be the subject of similar future posts. But can you be sure of that?

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 3 little piggies Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > When my two were small I found the teens > > intimidating and unapproachable and now mine > are > > 13 and 14 they are part of that 'set'. > > Your kids also bully younger children? Jeremy, in response to your question, no, my kids don't bully younger children. The 'set' I am referring to are the young teens in general, which, as a parent of young children, I was naturally wary of, having never had experience of dealing with them. Now I have no choice, these teens are my kids' peers, my kids go to school with them, travel to and from school alongside them, they come into contact with them every day, I have had to learn how to deal with them and more importantly, so have my kids. I still find them intimidating and unapproachable but do we just 'give up'? Are they all 'gangsters in the making'? It's easy to demonise them all but harder to work out a solution. As a parent of kids of that age I am merely trying to explain (not excuse) some of their behaviour and to say childhood goes very quickly, it only seems like yesterday that mine were the little ones playing on the swings. And just to make it clear, I'm very proud that last week on the rowing course they was on, my 13 year old daughter and 14 year old son integrated with all the teens (including the big and scary monosyllabic ones). At the beginning of the week they were the only ones speaking to the overweigh, introverted and obvious outsider in the group, encouraging his participation and making sure to include him, whilst the others were making fun. By the end of the week he was a natural part of the group and his dad came over and thanked my two, as did the course leader. It's a shame you only chose to highlight that small part of my post and turn it into something negative. Bullying behaviour me thinks?

They're just for kids in the summer holidays but can lead to further involvement during term-time. Check out the young lambeth website - summer university download. I'd think that some of the providers would run adult courses (although I assume there would be a charge).

This was the point I was trying to make earlier. They are still children, albeit overgrown, overbearing and some of them bullying, but ultimately still children. Of course this is not acceptable behaviour and should be challenged (not necessarily by the person witnessing it if they don't feel comfortable doing it) but it should be challenged. This is how all kids (little and large) learn and unfortunately the older they get the harder it gets and some parents abdicate that responsibility. Teenage years are awash with new emotions, experiences and crazy hormones. They struggle to find their place in their own peer group, secondary school environment, and in the wider world. It's incredibly difficult trying to communicate with teenagers (even, or maybe particularly, your own) and in some cases downright impossible. And it's not just kids from poorer homes. Some of the more outrageous and intimidating behaviour I've witnessed (youtube uploads of train journeys to school at the beginning of year 7) has been from kids my daughter knows at school who come from very well-off and strict homes, where parents would be appalled if they knew what was going on. I do think it's an incredible shame that more teens don't take advantage of the free local authority summer courses available. My two loved last week's rowing, something they'd never normally have experienced, and are both looking forward to the next two weeks. None of their friends from school are doing any of these courses and sometimes the take-up is very low (my son did a filming course last year where he was one of 3! - great in a way that there were so few of them as they all got to write film, direct, act in and edit their own little short film). If anyone's interested you can find some activities in a downloadable pdf on the young lambeth website. I know southwark has something similar and I think Lewisham does also.

For goodness sake! Guess what - all kids turn into teenagers at some stage. When my two were small I found the teens intimidating and unapproachable and now mine are 13 and 14 they are part of that 'set'. It happens to all the little kids - one day it might be one of your's who's hanging around the playground with 'nothing' to do. They're still just kids, maybe annoying, maybe not very nice, maybe intimidating, but still just kids, who not so long ago were fine and very at home in that same playground. And yes, there is loads to do in London. I've had my two teens enrolled on a local authority rowing course this week, next week one's doing a film course and the other's doing a photography course - all free and all great but I'VE been the one to organise it because they're teens and wouldn't even contemplate doing it themselves. It's a shame these kids don't have someone who is interested enough to get them involved in things. Teens automatically feel alienated, they're stuck between childhood and adulthood and don't know where they belong. They're testing boundaries, but don't forget, they are still children. Maybe big and somewhat scary but still just children. And as I said earlier, your little ones will be that age sooner than you can imagine.

Stupid I know, but forgot to lock my car a couple of weeks ago (it was parked on the drive) and had sat-nav and blue badge stolen. Sat nav was old so not overly bothered but blue badge is a lifeline.

Pink Panther Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > neilson99 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Pink Panther if you read my post properly > you'll > > realise that I was not celebrating in any way > the > > fact that they got paid so little. I suspect > your > > just looking for some reason to latch onto this > > issue and do your best Angry of East Dulwich > > impression. > > > > Perhaps it was located in the wrong place in > the > > car park such that you got a little damp on the > > way to such an illustrious and well appointed > > stadium, (you could always take 30 seconds and > > walk around it rather than through it?) but only > a > > complete simpleton would think that evicting a > > source of revenue (however meagre and badly > > managed that has been) might not be the best > way > > to helping DHFC to a financially sustainable > > future. > > > > Hope DHFC and their poor rain soaked fans are > > pleased that they are putting out of work some > > people who seemed to me to work their backsides > > off, do a really great job and always did it in > a > > polite and friendly way. Let's hope that karmma > > doesn't kick in and that they get relegated > this > > season, they'd deserve it if they did! > > > Well you certainly haven't read my post properly. > As I stated in the first place, they worked on too > many vehicles simultaneously, not just under the > canopy area, so on occasions you literally > couldn't reach the turnstiles without getting > sprayed. This created a clear H&S issue. I > suspect if the relevant council official(s) had > been summoned to have a look they would have been > distinctly unimpressed. At one recent game, when > the match ended, there was a bloody great 4x4 > parked right across the exit gates (with several > other vehicles behind and in front of it) being > sprayed with high pressure water jets while 600 > people were attempting to leave the ground. If > anyone thinks that's acceptable I don't feel > they're being very realistic. > > The bottom line is that it's DHFC's ground and > DHFC's car park. The whole place was clearly > built as a football ground, with a car park for > those attending football matches, not as a site > for a car wash. The shysters who used to run DHFC > decided in their wisdom that they could make a few > quid by accommodating the car wash. By contrast > the new owners appear to have qualities such as > competence, efficiency, and adherence to proper > business principles. If they decide that they no > longer wish to sub-let part of DHFC's premises to > a completely unrelated business it's their > prerogative to take the appropriate action to move > it out. DHFC has no moral obligation whatsoever > to accommodate a car wash or any other business on > its land. Oops? new shysters in charge??? Car park given over again to a new lot running the car wash so back to a lack of parking and a cold shower for supporters!!! It's all about money at the end of the day.

Hey laddie muck, Man U red 'n' white, what happened to the good old local 'Pink 'n' blue'?!!

Hey ratty, still sleeping in your living room - you're not my old man are you?

No 35 bus is always my preferred route as it drops directly outside liverpool street station. You just need to leave enough time.

I think it's very unfortunate planning that missed Herne Hill Velodrome, 1948 Olympic Venue, off the torch route. It's part of Olympic history that's still in use today by riders of all ages and abilities. My son's school uses the track and both my kids do mountain biking and track cycling there. The cost of the sessions is also excellent (?2-?3 including bike hire), giving local kids the opportunity to participate and be coached in track cycling and mountain biking. A truly lasting legacy from the '48 Olympics which is why it's a shame the torch is passing it by.

I must pop along for a scoop and a look!

I too agree with Lishyloo. As the mum of a year 6 girl and year 7 boy I would be very concerned at anyone, male or female, offering them an unsolicited lift to school, bus strike or no bus strike, and likewise, there is no way I would stop and offer an unknown child a lift. Well done to the lad for his response and I think Heber were right to alert parents,. I'll be letting friends know so that the 'stranger danger' message can be repeated, and after reminding my two, they'll be making their own way to and from school as usual next week.

A few years ago when my son was young and in a buggy, I was walking down one of the aisles in sainsburys and caught the eye of a woman with short, blond hair coming towards me. She was very familiar to me (maybe one of the other mums from nursery/playgroup/clinic? etc) and we both smiled and nodded at each other, as you do to someone you know vaguely. As we passed, I was glad she didn't stop to talk as I couldn't remember where it was I knew her from. I walked to the end of the aisle and it suddenly came to me - it was Haley Cropper from Coronation Street, minus the wig!