canela

thanks for the tip! Will have a look. house hunting at a distance is tricky as you just pop in and out of all these pretty villages but without a real idea of what they are like!

there's a great book called Everybody Poos you could read to him.

thanks for the advice! the whole moving thing is daunting to say the least but getting out of london feels right for us.

thanks Mathilda! will do! do you know anything about slightly further afield, like some of the villages outside Lewes?

we are thinking of making the move to the lewes/brighton area. has anyone done it or had any experiences of it? in particular info about the schools would be really useful!

yep

Tiratna Buddhists run really good courses on mindfulness meditation in Brixton at yoga point http://www.yogapoint.co.uk/meditation/

I still hanker for the green and more space ... hoping my kids aren't going to hate me for it one day!

is it really child friendly? I've never taken mine as it just doesn't feel they welcome children. tho I've only gone in the evening so I don't really know...

the refuge at the top of Barry Road is always grateful. Open 8am to 8pm just go to reception.

ok, so now I am worried. we HAVE to leave London due to house prices and personal situation. kids v excited about moving, keen for normal size house rather than show box and keen for a bit more green.....BUT are we now consigning them to a teenagehood of boredom and depression????

spain!

train sets scooters

try Holiday Drop Off

thanks for all your comments. i did ask for it to be deferred but was told I would be fined. am open to an interesting experience, if a bit of a hassle

damn! didn't see this and have just signed up to holiday drop off instead - though they do offer longer hours which is useful!

Does anyone know of any holiday clubs for this half-term that may still have space? Particularly interested in any sports related ones. All ideas appreciated!

No you are right - there is a daily cap! So for two children for a whole day you end up shelling out quite a lot! I must admit am torn in how I feel. Jury service sounds fascinating but we are a one income family on a not very high salary, and this is going to have quite an impact on our budget.

thanks all. etta166, wierdly this info is no longer in the booklet! but I did call and they pay ?2.50 per hour for unregistered care, or the full amount for registered care.

Yes, I would imagine they do. It's just a bit difficult as mine are older so when we need school pick-ups etc we ask an old au pair friend who is not registered. So I need to find a childminder nearby who suddenly has two extra spaces just for two weeks! slh2009, did they pay back the expenses quickly at the end?

Has anyone had any experience of claiming childcare costs whilst doing jury service? It says you have to claim at the end of your period, but I wondered if there were any rules around using registered providers etc. start of half-term not a great time to be called for this!

I did music right through til 18 and really enjoyed it. my parents never made me practise though. I learnt that I had to practise if I wanted to get better and join things like the district band. why not let them learn that? and let them give up if they want to - they might well realise they miss it and take it up again. once anything becomes about a struggle of will that is all it ends up being about - in my experience at least (sigh). if you want music to be fun for them, then have fun yourself with music, go to concerts, play at home, have friends round to play, dance around in the kitchen?.etc. or take up an instrument yourself and join them at practice times. you don't say how old your kids are though. are they old enough to have a conversation about why they don't want to practise, or even if they are on the right instrument. I hated piano lessons but loved orchestra instruments. my only regret is that i ended up on the kind of instrument you can only play in an orchestra so i now don't do anything - whereas if i had learnt something a bit more folky or the guitar I'm sure I would have carried on playing informally. or why not just have a TV limit, so they are forced to do something else anyway!

Hi Does anyone have the number for this or know if they are still wanting items? I know it's on the forum somewhere but it won't come up in a search!

i think it's difficult to make a decision based on what others feel, as it's all personal and depends on your child. personally v happy with heber, but i think you should make decision based on what you and your child feel.

local greens is cheapest but we found too many root veg - which my other half doesn't know how to cook with (and he does the cooking during the week!) and only I will eat. so have switched to Riverford, which do a "less roots" box. tho tbh the roots issue only affects the winter.