ClareC

oimissus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I guess if it's on distance, the idea is that if > you move out of catchment once your eldest child > has a place at school X, you shouldn't expect your > younger children to get in. Which seems fair > enough as they'll be stopping children who do live > nearer the school from getting a place. I have > sympathy for parents who end up with children at > different schools, but equally it's pretty > frustrating when you're applying for child 1 and > see at least half the reception places disappear > as they go to siblings. One school near us a few > years ago had it's entire reception taken up by > siblings! (I believe there were 30 places and 33 > siblings.) Which is fine if the sibling already in the school is automatically guaranteed a place in the new area school - except that guarantee doesn't exist as its dependent on space......

Hello, I went by train. Bruges is tiny, it's easy to explore the whole town in a couple of days. Beware, restaurants close early!! it's a fab town, enjoy! We found a great restaurant, I will dig out the card and let you know the details.

So how would that work in practice? How can parents physically be in two places at once?

Well that didn't make any sense ;) First was Emergency (EC) second Elective (EC)!

She is welcome to join ours, we are in Kent now though ....... Maybe someone travelling this way?

Anya, sound like you have had a terrible time, so sorry to hear of your bad experiences. Go with your gut feeling ..... And don't forget, you can change your mind if you want to. I had ECS with number 1 and an ECS with number 2. The ECS was an extremely positive experience in which I felt totally at ease and in control. Kings were fantastic and I had a really easy recovery. Good luck with whatever you decide x

Sounds fantastic, what a lovely birthday treat. Everyone there seems to be a repeat visitor. You will have a fantastic time. It's a great area for your son to learn too :) I've been a few times and always maintain its hard if not impossible to beat that spa! Think I always return a stone heavier from the amazing food too! I do find the picture windows of the treatment rooms (looking out over the home run) a little disconcerting ;) I want to go back to obergurgl now :)

Obergurgl is lovely, one of my favourites and very snow sure. The Apr?s ski is fantastic and finishes in time for dinner too so perfect for small people! The Neiderhutte is the place to go for that! Esprit have a fantastic reputation for English kids ski schools - a good starting point would be to see who they use. The edelweiss and Gurgle hotel has the most amazing spa facilities if you fancy some pampering :) Have fun :)

Ski wear aside, biggest must is a great English speaking ski school! The first time we took our kids skiing the instructors, whilst lovely, didn't speak much English. Neither child was that keen. The second trip we went to a fantastic ski school that had a bouncy castle, "sand" toys, a warm hut with DVD's etc and instructors fluent in English. It made all the difference! the reality is there are few English speaking 3/4 year old learner skiers, they are a minority which makes choosing a ski school carefully an absolute must. Where are you off to?

Thirded for Pickle. Have bought for my own children and gifts for friends. Can't recommend enough

Our two are 3 and 4, we use two pieces for ease of going to the bathroom but ensured the sallopettes were dungaree style with poppers to ensure toasty warm and no snow could get down trousers when falling. We bought everything from this website; https://www.icanski.co.uk Can't recommend enough, have everything you can possibly need, clever gadgets to make skiing with kids easier and were super helpful when I called them to discuss helmets. Everything arrived really quickly and well packaged and all very reasonably priced too. Have fun, after a rocky start for my youngest my two now both love skiing now and my 4 year old is happily skiing blues and riding chair lifts - which still scares me!!

I have a number 5 and a 26........ Neither made top 50 when we chose them. 4 and 5 years ago!

I wouldn't bother with a toddler bed, my two are 3 and 4. We had cot beds for both but as someone else mentioned above, found them too narrow and was sure that effected their sleeping. We moved my eldest into a large bed at 3 (a 3/4 size Victorian iron bed which we used a bed guard with) and have just bought them both an izzywotnot tempo mid sleeper. They love them! We bought my daughter the ribbons and rosettes play house, and my son the Pit stop playhouse. The iron bed was fine, just couldn't buy one a mid sleeper and not the other. The plan now is fit the iron bed to replace the mid sleeper when my daughter decides it's no longer a cool bed! Would definitely recommend the mid sleeper, it's really well made and has large steps up so they don't hurt their feet. I would wait until your eldest is a bit older though. My son was 3 in May and is fine with it.

Pampering vouchers and offering to have the kids whilst she goes :)

Think I would do a huge pot of chilli, sour cream, flat breads, cheese and Doritos! Not forgetting plenty of red wine :)

Some fantastic suggestions, thank you! Feeling very incentivised and can't wait to get started. We are rural so the only one we struggle with is internet speed. Wifi is a must, but is high speed critical? Mobile phone coverage rather limited too - which has its positives ;)

Some fantastic ideas here, thinking I want to stay too!! It's a large barn so there are lots of options at this stage. Loving the idea of putting the shopping away and recommended babysitters. We have hens (ex battery rescue hens) so thought it would be a nice touch to provide a box of eggs in with the welcome pack, also like the idea of home made jam (lots of fruit trees so we make more than we could ever eat), although would need to investigate whether that would be permitted / regulations that would apply. Other ideas are that we could organise celebration cakes / flowers / locally produced fizz etc. Good quality bedding and towels a must to. We have a small number of rescue animals. 3 pony's, 2 sheep, 3 lambs, 6 chickens, and a rabbit - all extremely tame, used to having small children making a fuss of them and all with a story behind them. Would children being able to see / stroke the animals be a positive or a negative? Thinking back to when we were in London I would have liked that but I am an animal lover, realise not everyone as keen! Thank you all :) feeling very excited and incentivised! Will have to organise some forum "trialists" when we are up and running.

Ours wasn't either..... Again, not a bad thing but have no idea why.

Thank you Oxalis, that's really helpful. The nurse actually photocopied the Vaccination schedule in the red book, the MMR isn't shown at all with the pre school boosters which seems odd. Perhaps an error given what the link states.

Hello, Having moved out of London, we are now @ 1 hour away, living in the country. We are in a rural location @7 miles from the sea, and sandy beaches. Lots of country pubs with good food nearby and farm shops etc selling local produce. We are about to have plans drawn up to convert our barn into 1 or 2 holiday lets. Would love to hear what everyone looks for in a holiday let on the basis we currently have a clean page to start from. I've posted in the family room too, also interested in the views of those without small children. Thank you in advance Clare

Hello, Having moved out of London, we are now @ 1 hour away, living in the country. We are in a rural location @7 miles from the sea, and sandy beaches. Lots of country pubs with good food nearby and farm shops etc selling local produce. We are about to have plans drawn up to convert our barn into 1 or 2 holiday lets. Would love to hear what everyone looks for in a holiday let on the basis we currently have a clean page to start from. Thank you on advance :) Clare

Is there anyone "medical" that can help. My daughter had her MMR jab at 12 months and her booster at 15mths. This is in accordance with the red book issued by Southwark. There is no mention of any further MMR boosters being required as printed in the inoculation schedule. We have now moved out of London and are with another health authority. Their view is that the booster should be done between 3 and 5 years and having it at 15 months is too early. They claim she is subsequently no longer covered and therefore want her to have another booster. I have refused for obvious reasons. Surely the current London "way" is different not wrong. I can't seem to find any conclusive evidence either way....... Thank you

How long ago did the nanny leave the employment of the nursery? Even if their contract with the nursery contained a restrictive covenant of this nature, it has to be reasonable and certainly wouldn't (and couldn't) last for ever!

Thanks all, some great ideas:)

Need inspiration for nephews birthday presents...... Help! Thank you