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Heading into Central London on Sunday - does anyone have a recommendation for a good place for lunch in Chinatown (Chinese food, obviously...) which our 8 yr old and 5 yr old would be welcome at?

Thanks! It figures that lots of the costs are fixed regardless of the size of the build...

Purely hypothetically, of course.... if you had a house with only the 'front' loft extension done, how much would it cost to add the second, 'back bedroom'? I know the whole thing is around 40k, I'm just interested in a ballpark figure of the cost of adding a second room. 10k maybe?

There's a free version for iPad which will give a good intro - I downloaded that first in case it was all a flash-in-the-pan. The ?4.99 version has more features. My 7 year old girl has loved it for about a year and its open-ended, creative nature makes it more interesting than other games. It has a 'survival' mode but she prefers the 'creative'. Think of it as a massive Lego set on a tablet. There are lots of videos on YouTube which show what the game can do. My girls are both pretty obsessive about getting on the iPads but I've found if there's an interesting real life alternative on offer - swimming, bike ride, park, meeting up with real people - they can be prised away from the tablets. And as for flights, long car journeys, early mornings - thank you Steve Jobs. I agree Minecraft can be very compelling, but I have noted she has lost interest in the last month or so. As with everything (particular TV shows, that revolting film about the rat that cooks, Ratatouille) she has got bored of it, I suspect. Now if anyone knows how to stop her obsessing about owning a horse, and her sister from watching Frozen again and again and again, please let me know!

Bawdale rd earlier. They keep talking until you close the door...

Are you a member of the National Trust? If so, Surrey offers Polesden Lacey and Claremont for free - they were favourites of my kids when we lived in SW London, but still within striking distance from here. Morden Hall Park is nearer to home. All offer walks,cafe, wildlife, woods... Also Wimbledon Park is an alternative option to Peckham Rye, Dulwich Park etc when the weather is better, as is Cannizzaro Park off Wimbledon Common - a wonderful, relatively undiscovered gem of a park/woodland walk/pond (it's behind a posh hotel so looks private but is actually a park run by the council). Into Kent, how about the north Kent coast? Broadstairs/Margate/Ramsgate are a bit if a trek but could be fun (avoid tidal surges though)! Broadstairs is the furthest and is 1 hr 30 from here but a nice day by the seaside - lots of ice cream, beach etc. Botany Bay is a quieter place to stop off on the way for a small beach perfect for toddlers. In London, Tate Modern is free and fun for little ones - lots of crazy exhibits and also a lovely younger kids' play area on level 5 (?). 176 bus takes you close (and an adventure in its own right!). My daughters loved it there as toddlers and there is a pizza express nearby or the Tate cafe is child friendly. Hope that helps! Enjoy dreaming of picnics and adventure!

What did you think of the play? My girls thought it was fun. They thought the water was much more fun though!

We are going to that too! We're all going on a bear hunt is also great (Lyric Theatre, I got tickets through kids go free week). Take swimming stuff and a towel today - there's a great water play on the south bank at the moment and also a lovely garden on top of the Hayward Gallery. Have fun!

Thanks everyone! Love the ideas so far. Probably looking to spend less than ?100, I can feel a plan forming now. Thanks so much - I love the forum!

Not quite us if this is in the right place, but it's aimed at the Mums out there... It's my wife's birthday later this week (not a major one, that was last year) and I need to think of some original ideas for present(s). I've done the earring, necklace, bracelet, nice notebook/pen etc options from local shops over the last few years and need some new inspiration. I've also gone down the vouchers for massages etc route and she never really has time to use them. Also any well-meaning "offer to take the kids for a day" ideas are lovely but not appropriate as I do most of the childcare already... So... If you were going to turn 41ish over the next week or so what would you love to be given? I would prefer to get something locally to support ED business and am pretty desperate as so far I have: DVD of Skyfall A voucher of "Joey Love" (a la Friends) Obviously the first one is really for me and the second one is a joke, so please help! All ideas hugely appreciated...

They did say it was unusually hot - http://www.sardinianplaces.co.uk/Docs/Sardinia-Guide/What-To-Expect/Weather.aspx this seems to be more usual. Being a ginge I am more cautious than most... We were just outside Alghero, it was lovely (despite the heat wave!)

Great if you like the heat. We went (Pre-kids) about ten years ago and it was 40 degrees...

For girls, would imagine there will be considerable overlap between JAPS and Alleyn's so once the returns are received by Wednesday the schools can let families on the waiting list know. Good luck!

Forest School, Zebedee?

The blue bins do clash somewhat with the corporate colours of a certain upmarket supermarket chain - sadly this could delay an ED Waitrose indefinitely?

My understanding of Alleyn's 4+ procedure is it is very, very oversubscribed with 400 applications for 18-20 places each year. Not written tests at 4+, more observed group activities to see how the children play/learn together. In terms of primaries I can vouch for DUCKS being excellent but it only goes to year 2 then you need to find another school. Hope that helps...

Froggle - we used them two years in a row and were very impressed. just google them. Last year they came to our house. This year we hired the room above the Mag pub, which was perfect.

Try watching I Can Cook on CBeebies (in our house it's on as default!) and they have v. simple recipes. My girls are a bit older and they like helping me make the food now. Oh, and you can't beat pasta pesto for tastiness/convenience! Or homemade pizza using small pittas, tomato sauce and whatever you want to stick on top. Now I'm getting hungry...

Just before Christmas one of the stallholders was mugged of her days taking at the end of Saturday trading. The rest of the traders and shops on NCR had a whip round for her (organised, I think, by very friendly Tom who runs the furniture stall) - great example of a community, no?

Have you read Francis Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man (1992)? He asked exactly the same question of socialism. He saw the end of the 20th century as the culmination of the ideological struggle between liberalism and socialism, with liberalism the victor. Interestingly, he saw the main threats to liberal societies/economies in the 21st century to be religious fundamentalism and nationalism. Also, what do you mean by capitalism? Huge corporations exerting monopoly control over consumers and governments, or economies with high levels of competition where consumers have the power to reduce inefficient and exploitative firms to bankruptcy? Adam Smith (who has been almost as widely misinterpreted in recent years as John Maynard Keynes) argued for the latter, not the former.

In France disabled parking spaces have a sign saying, "want my space? Want my disability?" Perhaps Sainsburys could follow suit with "want my space? Want my kids?" If ED children are as appalling as some posters seem to think, it should do the trick.

I grew up in Yorkshire, went to uni in midlands and lived in E London for 5 yrs and SW London for 11 yrs. Moved to ED jan 2010 and find it the friendliest place I have ever lived. The neighbours on our street have welcomed us warmly and already feel like good friends. I do all the childcare for our daughters in the school holidays and other dads and mums are far more chatty than the SW London set who in general were v unfriendly to a dad looking after babies/toddlers. There are far more dads out and about with their kids around ED and everyone is v friendly - a lovely community spirit. We are loving it here.