The Nappy Lady

I truly believe there are differences. First physically - over my years of doing nappy demos I noticed that boys often piled on the weight & got much chunkier sooner whilst girls seemed to often slim own faster....not always but often. Then later boys are definitely more boisterous than girls and even the way the play is different - we gave my daughter a 'star projecting night light for Christmas when she was 3, she wanted to lie in a dark room and look at the stars, her male cousins wanted to shake it and take it apart to see how it worked!! My friend had boy/girl twins the same time I had my youngest and again we found it really interesting to watch the three play - the boy really investigated toys in a different way. Personally I believe these differences are entirely natural and my approach is to tell my girls (& all children) that they can do anything they put their minds to. I'm not going to pigeon hole them but I'm not going to try to quash their natural femininity either, it all works out in the end!! (very glad I had girls though. ;-)). ) Molly

Probably not possible in a loft but we have ceiling fans in our bedrooms and they are so lovely and make sleeping even in hot weather much easier. The insulate lofts so much now, it is difficult when we have a real heat wave. I guess the only positive thing to say is the hot spells never last that long. Hope all your hot babies sleep ok tonight. OP one thought, have you tried getting baby to sleep in a shady spot in the garden in the day, with you there reading etc? Our two quite liked that in the summer and it was cooler at times. Xx

It's been found!!! I'm hugely embarrassed to say it was in the toilet at nursery where my youngest goes!!! What a fool I am, must have left it there one day on the school run. I am, officially, an arse!! :-$

PS I know we are chumps if it was coz we left the car unlocked...it's the getting dogs, kids, bags etc etc etc thing. Hubby a bit absent minded professor about these things but to be fair I've done it at times too. I'm raving mad inside but trying to just let it go. Gah!

Hi all After an extensive search I've come to the conclusion that my daughters black Maxi Scooter with yellow handles has been taken from our car boot. Not sure when I last saw it but it's nowhere to be found and we do sometimes leave car unlocked by mistake so I guess it's possible. That or she left it outside but that's not like her at all. We and she are gutted. Just posting to say if you happen to see one like this for sale locally please let me know as it may be ours (& it's marked so I could check). Molly

Ali, If a school spot it would only be half days - so do you only want to use 3 of the half days? If so then I agree with Pickle that I think it would be frowned on a bit....not sure on your reasons, but at Ivydale they are trying something new, where instead of doing 5 half days you can do 2 full days and 1 half day, to use up the allowed hours in a different way. For working parents (like me), this is really helpful, and I'm wondering if the school you are considering might be open to this - it may be a case of finding another parent who is happy to take the other 2.5 days - i.e. the ones you're not wanting. For my daughter I wondered how she would cope with a whole day, but she's been fine (was used to being with a childminder for whole days already), and I think in some ways it is less unsettling than being dropped off by me, picked up by childminder, going to her house, then being picked up by me later if that makes sense. Hmmm, so much to ponder! Molly

Can't Margaret O organise it through school for you?

I'm shaking with fear at the thought of a forum free weekend. ;-)

Great, will wait to hear. ;-)

BUT, BUT, BUT....I've discovered a wonderful thing - if I get you tube up and put on something like a song clip from Gnomeo and Juliet whilst brushing my 3 year olds hair she doesn't even notice I'm doing it. This is the first time we've had peaceful hair brushing and plaiting etc. in over a year - so there is a GOOD side to all this LOL!!!! Overall, I agree with others regarding how much time we now devote to our children. My Mum (now in her 80's as she had me at the age of 40 - back then 'late in life') is always commenting on how much more interactive babies are now, almost from birth because we, as parents spend so much time with them, almost fast tracking their development, rather than having to leave them in a pram whilst we get on with all the chores. I was her 5th baby, and with quite an age gap, and life was very different back when she was raising her first 4 babies, and even me. So, whilst it wasn't internet and iphones, there was plenty of stuff parents had to do which kept them away from playing / interacting with their children. BUT, some of the article did strike a chord for me, and I am trying to think about how and when I tend to check my phone now. It is terribly easy to get caught doing email when I'm supposedly having quality time at playgroup or the park with the children etc. :-$

Hi all, Almost 250 adults and children will be running around Peckham Rye Park this Sunday to raise money for the school. Adults are running 5k starting at 10am, children 1 mile starting at 11am. Please cheer us on if you happen to be around at the time. Fingers crossed its going to be dry and dare I say sunny (!) for us. Edited to say you can't enter on the day & it is very much a fun run, not a race. Didn't want to mislead anyone! This is just a FYI post.

Hmmm I reckon allergies are a complicated issue, but 'over sanitisation' of our environments certainly isn't a good thing. One of my biggest issues with the UK is how the weather limits our outdoor lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, with a dog and an allotment we have to get out every day no matter what and the girls often have to come along and get muddy, wet, whatever. We are so lucky with all the green space around Nunhead, and ED too. I grew up in the country but don't feel deprived of green spaces here, and love the fact that lots of them are wild & woody not all pruned to perfection. BUT it's hard to spend too long outside when it's relentlessly cold and/or wet. Dreams of emigrating drift into my mind again but it'll never happen (& must admit everywhere looks so green and lush right now, which is the plus side of a fairly miserable spring). Come on SUNSHINE!!!

We have both as my eldest graduated to the Maxi at 6 and her sister (then under 2!) got the Mini. However, littlest one, now 3.5 can ride either scooter quite happily so if I was buying from scratch would be inclined to go for the Maxi if you feel you can afford it as you will get much, much longer out of it, and I'm sure it would sell on the classifieds for a great price in the future anyway. The other thing I like about the Maxi is that with the handle up a bit higher I can actually wheel it back from school without having to stoop - saves carrying it, and actually it is strong enough that I can even scoot on it myself if I'm feeling wild and reckless(!). You are welcome to come and view both options if you like, just give me a shout, or a Tweet(!).

Hi all I'm looking for a play scheme for my (by then) 8 year old for the first 2 weeks of the summer holidays while I work Mon-Thur ideally 9-5 though could manage with shorter hours at a push. Can anyone point me in the direction of some good ones? I have to drop my 3 year old at Colyton Rd (childminder) and I work on Barry Rd so something equally local would be ideal.

I got one at the Baby Show for my 2nd daughter and loved it. It was shaped the same as the mattress in the Bugaboo carrycot so used it in that first, then in the buggy seat. It was so lovely and snug. I liked buying it that was as there was loads of choice, and actually some of the fleeces were much softer than others so I do think it was preferable to mail ordering. The colour shades vary too and they had dyed ones as well, though I went with natural in the end. It also allowed me to try out the different makes & shapes, like the ones with 'legs' cut in them vs the natural shaped or oval "ish" type one I ended up getting. Mine was ?40 & was a gift from my sister. Happy shopping!

Gosh yes I think you may be right. Apologies.

Hi, there's a bus that runs from Goose Green to Putney High Street, takes about an hour.... Otherwise there's a car park on your left as you go down the high street - up above the shopping centre. Putneys a pain to get to either way because of going through Clapham & Wandsworth traffic can be awful, fingers crossed its ok for you. Xx

Have to say JB does it for me!!

imap works on a GPS, so it tracks speed, calories, pace per minute or per mile (or kilometre) etc. I get on with it pretty well, and if you go to the actual website you can see a calendar showing your workouts over the month, total calories to date over the year and the month etc. which is all very inspiring. It also emails me if I don't work out for a week or so saying something about 'don't let is slip' etc. etc. which always makes me gulp in fear and get going again!!

Hi there, There is the imapmywalk and imapmyrun apps - both excellent, there is also imapmyride if you cycle. Good luck with it - I'm still running (slowly), you could probably power walk and keep up with me!! xx

It's great news, and I'm not THAT surprised, based on the feedback I've been getting from people I know who have children that go there. We are so lucky to have schools of this caliber close by and we will certainly be considering it for our daughter's - only 3 more years until my oldest will be off to secondary school - arrrggghh!! How is that possible?

It's great news, and I'm not THAT surprised, based on the feedback I've been getting from people I know who have children that go there. We are so lucky to have schools of this caliber close by and we will certainly be considering it for our daughter's - only 3 more years until my oldest will be off to secondary school - arrrggghh!! How is that possible?

Renata - I saw you in reception yesterday and thought this might be what you were there to talk about - thank you for your efforts. It's really good to fully understand the situation. It is amazing to realise how much things have changed over the past few years, and I do feel very sorry for the families who live nearby but may not get a place either for nursery, or reception in 2013.

The Scarlet Peacock (on here & Facebook) does classes in just this type of thing, worth checking them out.

Trinity, she might like Beavers too - baby cubs & scouts. Mixed boys & girls & very pro active - lots of weekend camping trips etc. My daughter started at 6 & is now 7.5 so going up to Cubs after the summer holidays. Beavers is 5pm - 6.5 pm at Rye Hill Tennants Association Hall on Peckham Rye (Nunhead side).