canela

We had the lottery experience in Brighton, and tbh it was very frustrating. We had 3 schools nearby but got allocated a school a good hour's walk away, or 30 minutes on a packed bus, or 15 minutes in the car. Before I went back to work we used to walk there, and pass loads of parents walking in the other direction to the school just down the road from us. None of my son's friends lived anywhere near us, which meant less hooking up after school, and also less school gate socialising as everyone has to rush to get home. Once I started work again we obviously had to go in the car, which meant being another family clogging up the roads which were gridlock at that time. I found it very disappointing as the school had no real parents activities or support and I think one reason was because it was not embedded in the local community. Everyone came from somewhere else. To top it off, our lottery ticket meant we got allocated what was known as the worst school in Brighton. No real idea why, but someone has to be I suppose. I really think that had this school been more connected to the local community and to parents it would have made a real difference to the feel of it.

for those that like art...the National Gallery has a facility where you can custom make tour guides for kids, i.e. make you own painting trail to look at dragons, horses, soldiers etc. my 8 year old absolutely loves it....my 4 year old less so. I don't think it's necessarily about whether kids "like" art or not .... most young kids have a limited attention span, so yes they love going to museums etc but visits best kept short!

Hi Mine are out of nappies now...but if you search the family room there are quite a few threads about mums meeting up.

you are not going to lose your milk over a few days, so don't worry. as Pickle says, the main thing is to express for comfort. it doesn't need to be at same times she would eat. just make sure you express frequently enough so you don't feel uncomfortable. I would express as much as you can each time so your breasts don't hurt, but don't worry about squeezing out every last drop.

I think there would be a meet going on....but somebody needs to take the initiative and set it up! As I said, a group of forum parents did start to do this a year or so ago and there is a lot of demand. I dropped out as my kids were a lot older than the others. We just set a date and a meeting place. At this time of year it's easy - picnic in the park?

Hola if you search you will find a thread about a group of spanish speaking parents that started to get together just to hang out in the park and so the kids could practice the language. it wasn't a class, just informal. there was quite an appetite for it I remember but I think it petered out as no one stepped forward to organise. so if you wanted to have another go, I'm sure you'd get a lot of takers!

if you do a search on the family room discussion you will find a couple of threads about spanish speaking parents and children.

also there are so many end-of-term parties, sports days etc etc that it does drag on a bit. I think we all need some lounging time. we have friends from Spain staying at the moment. they keep asking when the kids are finally going to be out of school...and must agree I feel the same!

not a huge fan of modern Disney myself....but to be fair all they are doing is making films of fairy tales that already exist. cinderella, beauty and the beast, sleeping beauty....all these girls weren't doing a whole lot for positive female role models before they were turned into movies either!

Does it need to be a job-share, or could the company just employ 2 part-time workers? i.e., will you and the other worker be dealing with and sharing the same clients, cases or whatever - or different ones? could you just go down to part-time and let the company deal with whether or not it needs another worker? just a thought.

a wise friend said to me, cut yourself some slack for the first year. there is no magic pill for suddenly whipping back into shape (if there was, i would have taken it!). just get as much sleep/rest as you can and do things that make you laugh. eat healthily, exercise, get a good face cream, haircut, wear some nice clothes (most days, baby permitting!)and you will be on the road in no time.

I think - unfortunately! - some kids are just early risers, and especially when they are little. My sister's little boy has been a 5am starter since more or less born, and he is now nearly 4. sometimes there is just not a lot you can do, but adapt your own life around it. my sister just goes to bed really early too. remember it will pass! After 8 years of v early morning starts, I now have an 8 year old who gets his own breakfast and his nearly-5 year old sister's as well at about 7. the irony being of course that I now get up at 5:30 myself so I can take advantage of the peace and quiet and do some work!

my friend has had au pairs for years and they work really well for her. she has really clear guidelines, which she says are what helps: au pair and everyone know when her/ his "on-duty" hours are, i.e. when my friend gets home from work she makes sure kids know the au pair is off duty and not on hand for playing, bathing etc nice own room, and supplies several box sets of TV series for entertainment and help with english uses an au-pair website to contact, and then Skype to call pays going-rate for her area - which is outside London au-pair eats with them in evening as a family clear dates from the beginning, i.e. they expect au-pair to go home for Christmas, and I think the contract is always 11 months so the au-pair has a month or few weeks at end of time in england to go travelling around - and they get some non au-pair family time in school holidays - when they take annual leave she's been doing it for years. says obviously you just click more with some than others, but in general good. stresses they do need a lot of support at the beginning until they find their friendship group, and as their language progresses.

I have a different surname to my kids and they look nothing like me. I have travelled loads with them on my own and never once been asked. I've never thought of having to take proof but I will now. to be honest it all seems a bit random. In many countries women do not change their name so they always have a different name to their children, who take the family name.

I brought up 2 kids in Spain, and in summer they usually wore just light pyjamas and maybe a sheet to cover up. muslin bags sound good. if it is an old villa the bedrooms will be cool, but if it is new they could get very hot, so he might need to sleep just in a nappy and no bag. enjoy!

afternoons can actually work out well. i was also against at first, but it means you have little one when they are full of energy in the morning. plus the mornings are pretty early - 8:45 - 11:45.

no, in lots of cases parents also club together and organise classes in different subjects - especially as they get older. there is a big home schooling scene in south london. google should bring it up.

argghh! think surely part of it is just London stress? I brought up 2 little kids in Spain, and my eldest was fond of the odd melt-down. I can honestly say that I never ONCE had a stranger tutting or interfering or doing anything other than smile and me and give me words of encouragement, as in it's hard, don't worry, hang in there....etc People here are so judgemental, it's crazy.

get on the waiting list anyway as i think there are quite a lot of changes nearer the time. afternoons tend to get more spaces available. We got a place for January. also, a tip - even if you haven?t heard anything from the nursery I would just pop in at the start of term and remind them who you are.

think it really depends on the child. I?d trust your instincts on this one. And definately not expect too much from your older child. Even if he seems to be fine at pre-school you might find he lets out his stress at home. I did this, and to be honest in retrospect I wish I hadn?t. The theory was that I would have more time for baby etc, but the reality of the daily routine to and from nursery with baby in tow, plus a toddler who was over-tired and a bit grumpy in the afternoon and needing a lot of attention was not worth it. Everyone kept telling me to keep with it, so I did, but it never really worked. my older child was shy and nursery was difficult enough, without additional change and sharing mummy. but i do think it completely depends on the child.

i second Angels and Gipseys in Camberwell. Tasting menu with house red. best meal I?v? had in ages!

ironed shirts?

this tooth fairy when caught unawares has been known to get into debt with own children who then charge a penny per day until said debt repaid!

I used to put baby and toddler and me in the car and drive to a park. kids would fall asleep in the car, then I would park up and fall asleep too with windows a bit open. then when we woke up we would go to the park. helped that we were not in london though.

i think at 8 months your baby is either free or has a minimum charge on a flight, so could you take just baby and leave your older one? other than that, think it depends entirely on baby plus grandparents!