Kate08

I am sure that the those who remain in Penge are very happy that those who feel Penge has no sense of community decide to leave, a community is built by people. Clearly if living in a certain place makes you depressed you should leave and seek your fortunes elsewhere. However I see no need to run a place down. There are many people who are very happy living in Penge and I feel those people should be shown a little more respect than has been evident on the EDF. There is something very odd about people living in a place feeling the need to denigrate somewhere else, how does that help anyone? I can well imagine that Penge is not for everyone, much as east Dulwich is not for everyone. There are many places in London that I have no desire to live, for my own personal reasons. That does not make the place I live better or worse than those places, it just makes them different. Penge is by no means perfect, but I don't know many places that are. Clearly some of you feel that East Dulwich is perfect, but I am not sure why running somewhere else down makes you feel better about where you live if you are already so convinced that where you are is perfect. Of course, this could all be some great conspiracy to cause house prices to fall so that you can all leave East Dulwich and move out to the "grimy" crime ridden Penge. Clearly I do not live in East Dulwich, I am not sure if I live in Penge or Beckenham, one of the reason I am not sure is that I don't really care, I like where I live and I like the community that I am a part of.

I agree with snowboarder, we have always employed our nannies based on gross pay per hour and I would not agree to a net rate as I would have no control over what the total cost would then be.

Where is it going?

Not quite the same. We often get messages from the school, addressed as being form the head teacher, telling us not to keep our children out of school and telling us what hideous consequences this will have for our child and all the other children in the class. I would like to think that messages from the head teacher have the support of the rest of the teaching staff. Yet if the teachers choose to strike no action is taken to try to ensure our children can still attend school, probably because missing a day of school never did anyone any harm. The not taking days off school message might start with the government but it is a band wagon that most (all) schools seem happy to support. I don't think most farmers support Tesco's 6 litres of milk for ?3 offers, or if they do I have not seen this.

Lee oasis is a charity in lewisham, they will come and collect donations and I have donated lots of baby stuff.

We have flown with easyjet with the phil and teds several times and never had any problems, at the departure end you just take the push chair to the gate and they they take it away. The problem tends to be at the other end, having to walk for ages to get to the luggage belt so you need a sling. To be honest I have always found easy jet very helpful when travelling with small children, BA much less so.

Do boys own their girlfriends? Are these also provided by the parents and therefore not valued as a "possession" by the boys? Very strange comparison. I think handing the phones over was the most sensible and mature thing to do. Trying to prove they are "real men" by fighting would have been reckless, there is no need to risk your own safety or that of your friends to make some macho point. Much better to be sufficiently comfortable about who you are to not need to take unnecessary risks.

Re the Buzz Zone at Beckenham Spa, it very much depends on when you go, but if you head over during holidays or after school then the baby zone is pretty hectic with lots of older kids and there is a good chance that the smaller children will be knocked over.

I would not have been comfortable pushing the volo with a baby in a sling as I did feel it was quite low and not that easy to push, and if you think your daughter is tall then I think the volo would have quite a short life, our daughter was too big for it before she was 2 and a half, we could still put her in but she wasn't very comfortable and it was not easy to move. But the sling and buggy option I agree is a good plan, she will be out of a buggy so soon that a double is a waste of money. Maybe spend the next 2 months getting her to practise on her scooter.

I don't know anything about taking a small child to New York, but I would say that our overall experience with the states has been that it is incredibly child friendly, lots of high chairs, places to change, waiting staff engage with the child and happy to have them there. I would guess that you will actually have an amazing holiday and will be very pleasantly surprised about how easy it all is.

I would say it depends on what you are using the pushchair for, if it is going to be your only or main push chair then I am not sure the volo is the best option, it is a bit too lightweight, small wheels, quite low to push. I agree it is brilliant if you are going in to London for the day, taking to the airport or chucking in the back of the car but for going on a longer walk or taking over slightly uneven ground it is pretty useless. We have also had the quest which I think is a better option for when they are a bit bigger, easy enough to commute with but a bit more sturdy, easier to push and suitable for a slightly bigger child, our eldest got too big for the volo when she was quite young, though she is pretty big for her age.

Claire29 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Wow I'm so glad I've got 3 boys and don't have > these issues! Had never really thought about the > deep meanings of the stories as I tend to think > they are children for such a short time, let them > enjoy it! My boys love Horrid Henry > (books).....not sure if he's a great role model! Is the impression boys get about the role of women not also important to how we as a society treat women and how they will continue to be treated in the future.

Saffron / Buggie I am quite interested in the chicken pox vaccine, but the little research I have done seemed to suggest that there is an increased risk of shingles as a result of the vaccine. I am not clear if the increased risk is to the person who has the vaccine or to society as a whole. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on this?

yes it is near the M&S, there are 2 cafes Fee and Brown, which is child friendly but no play area and then Nene which is really new and has a huge play area, really nice space with tables next to the play room and then another more adult space towards the front. Boppin tots is a great music / activity session to go to with small children, on in Penge on a Monday and in Christ Church halls in Beckenham on Thursday, runs during half term too which is useful as most things stop.

It is also worth considering that it is not a simple choice of sending them for reception or not. It is possible to agree with the school that your child will attend on a part time basis until they are 5, this may be just mornings for a few months, or only on certain days. This may be a way to get round the issue of the school holding a place for you and then you can decide when you think your child is ready to attend on a full time basis.

Spending an afternoon at the horniman is a great idea, as is going over to Herne Hill, there are a few cafes / bars there that are really child friendly, especially the florence with the play room and brockwell park is great for a run around and the playground is brilliant, the lido cafe in the park is really lovely and always full of kids. Definitely get some stickers and colouring stuff, can keep them entertained for hours, especially if you don't mind the mess and hand over a pair of childrens scissors. 3 year olds tend to be easily entertained as long as you are willing to engage with them, they are interested in everything.

The term starting after the child turns 3 they get 15 hours funding.

I think books are a great idea, some childrens classics or something that meant something to you when you were a child. Our youngest daughters Godmother got her a tree which I think is lovely, as long as the recipient isn't planning on moving house. The other daughters Godmother made a sampler picture of winnie the pooh and got her a hardback winnie the pooh book. I thought they were lovely presents and we will keep them forever.

There are classes at Breeze in Beckenham on a Wednesday afternoon.

Last year it was definitely not worth it, lots of stalls with people basically advertising, not enough to do for the kids, long wait to see anything interesting, expensive food and drink again with long queues. I will not be going again. There was a thread on here last summer about it and I don't think I was the only one who thought it was a waste of money.

We have an Ikea high chair, my daughter who is now almost 3 still likes to sit in it some times (we have it for her younger sibling), so yes I think it would be fine for kids up to 2. We have it sitting at our standard table so think they would be fine with the trestle tables The legs are quite wide, for stability, so they do take up a fair amount of room. If they come with the trays attached these are easily removed.

Coach Beth Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi there, > > In Wembley, you can bring one bag but it must just > 'one soft-sided bag of 25 litre capacity or less > (you must be able to fit your bag under your > seat)' Unfortunately, they say you can't bring in > push chairs or prams. You can also bring in baby > food they say. Check these guidelines. Sorry! I just checked the email I have and you are right, you can bring a bag but they "strongly suggest you don't as it may delay entry to your event" > > http://www.london2012.com/mm/Document/Documents/Ge > neral/01/25/83/91/WembleyStadiumprohibitedandrestr > icteditems_Neutral.pdf > > I went to Coventry Stidum yesterday with my seven > year old to see Canada vs South Africa & Sweden vs > Japan in the women's football. There were lots of > families with young children - it was a great > atmosphere! So don't be put off going but just > read the guidelines carefully. I had my handbag > and a soft canvas carrier bag, if I had just > bought the handbag, I could have bypassed the > massive security line-up but it was handy to have > it for bits and pieces and the line moved fairly > quickly.

The guidelines for wembley seem to be that you aren't allowed to take any bags in at all, this is different from the other London venues. Not sure what they do regarding a toddlers drinks and food. It might be worth calling again to try and get some more information, for example if they won't let you take the carrier in what will they do with it. Somewhere on the website it says that if you try to bring any banned items they will be taken off you and not returned depending on what you bring that could turn in to an expensive afternoon. I am sure it will be great once you work out the logistics.

Chaos arts club has some stuff going on in Beckenham in August and some of the boppin tots classes keep running during the holidays.

Mrs TP Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Definitely echo ???? godparents and guardians are > very different things. > > Godparent is a religious title and only officially > recognised by the church (Catholic, C of E and > some other Christian denominations). It is > strange to use this title outside of a religious > setting. > > Guardian is a legal title. > > However godparents and guardians can be the same > person, i.e. you may choose someone to be a > godparent who legally would automatically be a > 'next of kin guardian' or whom you may have > legally named yourselves as a guardian. > > We had our children baptised C of E and had to > fill in a form which included details of our > prospective godparents and whether or not they had > been baptised and confirmed. All had to be at > least baptised otherwise they would not be entered > in the churches formal records as a godparent. > > And the two females and one male for a female and > two males and one female for a male is a general > Christian tradition but hugely flexible. However > they do usually require at least one of each sex. It is not the tradition in the Catholic church, the church requires only one Godparent and that can be either a man or a woman, of course you can have more than one and I have no idea if there is a limit to how many you can have. Until recently I had never heard of anyone with more than one male and one female Godparent, I think it is very unusual in the Catholic church to have two women for a girl or two men for a boy.