scareyt

A bit further away, Penge East community centre has a huge enclosed garden and is dead cheap.

I would recommend Impulse too, they installed an alarm for us 4 years ago, the maintenance is cheap and we've had no problems with it.

The Artastic ones start from 3. There are some more listed here: http://www.familiesonline.co.uk/LOCATIONS/London-South-East/Things-to-do/Activities-clubs-and-classes/School-Holiday-Playschemes-Workshops-and-Daycamps-SE-London-2014

I would go for the shorter walk over most other considerations if you like the closest one. If it's 1/2 hour walk for you it would be a long slog when you're doing it with a tired and / or reluctant child on a scooter.

There is a permanent one in the Olympic Park in Stratford - bit of a treck but it's fab. I just blogged about it here in case anyone wants more info: http://toddlertrips.wordpress.com/

Great tip, thanks!

We've hired the Woodlawns Centre in Streatham for a party in July. Lovely big and completely enclosed garden that we're going to put a bouncy castle in. You can hire the garden plus the main house for ?50 an hour or the garden plus garden room for ?30 an hour. They won't let you put a bouncy castle inside though. I spent ages looking for a summer party venue with private & enclosed outside space so tiny kids can't wander off and couldn't find anything closer. Would also love to know of any other options people have found!

Ha I've done that too bkkmei! Takes forever. Visiting the inside of tower bridge is surprisingly interesting for kids that age and very "London". I've got a blog here of days out in London with small kids if you want more inspiration: http://toddlertrips.wordpress.com/

Cowling and Wilcox near Camberwell Green do loads of giant card and other art stuff.

charlesfare Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Read > that back and ask yourself how patronising you > sound. Fair enough. I've now deleted most of that post. What I was trying to say is that yes it's crap that a young black man can't knock on the wrong door by mistake without being suspected of being a criminal. And it's crap that a woman can't open a door to any strange man late at night without feeling scared. Both of those things are crap.

Ok I'm done. You are clearly incapable of appreciating someone else's point of view or of reflecting on your own position.

That's really horrible I hope you're ok.

I'm not saying they my experiences are more valid than yours, I'm saying that they are equally valid.

Thank you for apologising and for explaining where you're coming from. I get that being stopped and searched in public, or followed round a shop by security guards, for no reason other than skin colour, happens to young black men all the time and is a terrible and enraging injustice. I still think that you've made an invalid assumption that racism was definitely involved in this case and that the behaviour of the person definitely wasn't suspicious, which you can't know because you weren't there. If the title of the thread had been "Black man on push bike knocked on door" I think you could safely make the assumption that underlying racism was what triggered the fear. As it stands, it just sounds like a simple part of the description given following a suspicious encounter with a strange man in case anyone else had the same thing happen to them. Part of being a woman is living with the knowledge, born of experience, that any encounter with a stranger in a public place can turn into a threat very quickly. If something that feels wrong happens in or near your home, where you are supposed to be able to feel safe, it's even more scary. Every woman alive has experienced the sequence of unsolicited contact from a man rapidly turning into aggression and / or violence and it does tend to make a person fearful. That's the context. You develop a fine-tuned instinct for behaviour that isn't right and could turn into a threat, and that's what the OP sounds like to me. Being fearful is not something to be laughed at. Becoming fearful, being robbed of the ability to be confident and carefree in your day-to-day life, is the very worst part of being a victim of crime. The entire front gardens thread looks like pointless trolling / wittering to me. I also think Prunella is a (male) troll. There is something inauthentic about the level of outrage expressed and some of the language & phrases used - her comments read like an outraged elderly woman, a Hyacinth Bucket if you like, as imagined by a man drawing on lazy female stereotypes, in order to start arguments.

charlesfare Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >Sexism is just as abhorrent a racism. Comparing someone to Hyacinth Bucket isn't sexist. Assuming that a black guy who >knocked on the wrong door by accident *must* be up to no good is. People who think like that deserve to be robbed >several times over as far as I'm concerned. Go away. Of course it's sexist - Hyacinth Bucket is a sexist and very dated stereotype. She doesn't exist. That programme would never get made now because people would realise that it's nothing but a stupid one-dimensional mockery of a female stereotype. By drawing on that sexist stereotype and using it to justify your aggressive thoughts, you are indeed being abhorrently sexist. But the phrase that really enraged me was "pearl-clutching" which you used twice. This again, is not a real thing that real people do. It's something that actresses used to do to portray a stereotype about women, one which mocks and belittles their fears. And one which you have accepted as reality and then projected onto people commenting on this post. Think about it. If an actual person was actually clutching at the necklace they were wearing in real life, it would only be because they were terrified that someone was about to rip it from their neck. Do I need to list all the times that I and other women I know have been attacked / assaulted / threatened / robbed by men in order for you to understand how obnoxious it is to use this phrase as an insult and to say that "those people" deserve to be burgled? Think harder before you employ stereotypes like this next time. Especially when you are in the middle of trying to make yourself look like a stand-up guy by calling out racism.

But it was a specifically female caricature, as is "pearl-clutching". And you did specifically say that those people in your caricature - ie women fearful of a crime - deserve to be victims of that crime. Which is a very ugly thought. I didn't see the Prunella comment as it had been deleted before I read the thread. I just wish that all the people who trip over each other in their eagerness to call out racism could lose the collective blind spot that exists about sexism.

We thanks for the tip Busymum. We got the train from Herne Hill - St Pancras - Stratford international in the end which was quick and easy but very expensive. Next time will definitely drive. Bit late for you Audrey but yes I thought there is enough stuff for under 3s. There is a nice musical instrument play area near the Orbit and loads more we didn't see. The site is all very spread out so little ones really need a buggy or scooter to get around on. We had a great day out there.

charlesfare, I find it bizarre that you are so keen to raise suspicions of racism but are happy to throw in stupid misogynistic stereotypes like "pearl-clutching Hyacinth Bucket types" and go on to make a comment that is just EDF-speak for "B***s get what you deserve". Racism is socially unacceptable but sexism is fine???? If women are scared of crime it's because they have good reason to be. And I am fully aware that structural racism exists and that racism can exist where none was intended but I don't think the OP was an example of that - it wasn't "this happened and it was scary because he was black" it was "this happened and it was scary because it was an odd thing for a person to have done late at night."

Is driving a good idea or a bad idea? Thanks for any tips!

What a lovely idea - thank you. We will be there.

I know someone who got a reception place at oakfield only recently so they might be worth trying.

Try Tiny Gym at Camberwell Leisure Centre. It's drop in for under 5s, free play but with coaches on hand to help out and has loads of great equipment - a mixture of soft play stuff and proper kid sized gymnastics equipment, all on a squishy floor in a nice big bright airy room.

I think you're right aleih. My nephews aged 9 and 10 have a big garden and still use their swing set and slide combination thing every day but their playhouse has only been used as storage for old toys for a long time now.

Sue Stockwell does lovely mum and baby yoga at Brockwell Lido in Herne Hill. Not sure what times but its weekday day times and is really nice. The 37 goes right past it.

Yes we did for a while, very good & friendly service and standard of ironing. Sometimes they return stuff a day later than planned but always let you know by text.