Polmoche

Can we just agree that 90K is NOT an average salary???? And to add...a secretary salary of 15K? Is that wifey then earning the secretary salary? What is this the 70's?

Hi Tarafitness--I was in Blackheath Village over the weekend and saw that the cafe/deli Hand Made Food is looking for a shop assistant..http://www.handmadefood.com/

I'd get the two wheeler. I think they have kickstands now on them. We have both the sprite and the maxi. The maxi seems a bit more flimsy than the sprite--which is all metal. Kids quickly get the hang of the two wheeler. I personally think its better for their balance. Three wheelers for 8 year olds is pretty babyish (according to mine who won't be seen on it near school!)

I personally would want to know, and I will make up my own mind whether the school is being alarmist or cautious. To me this is a right to know issue--we could argue about whether it's sensible or alarmist till as e-dealer said the cows come home. As for people genuinely offering children lifts--puh-lease--why not then offer everyone at the bus stop a lift?

You need a new babysitter. I pay 7.50/ my 2 kids. She comes after I have bathed and fed them, and has about 2 hours before they go to bed (she puts them to bed). She is fab--she reads to them, plays games with them, chats with them, etc before putting them to bed. When I was a babysitter as a teenager and as a uni student, I played with the kids--it was fun!! Find someone who likes kids! Also--totally unacceptable to clear out the fridge and rack up double-digit pay per view charges--that just shows a complete lack of respect. I'm happy for babysitter to have dinner/snack etc, but "clearing out the fridge"? And one pay per view movie, fine, double digit charges NO. There are many wonderful babysitters out there, you just need to keep looking (this is what we have found!).

Don't bother with party bags. Go to Bookpeople and get one of those bumper packs of books and give each child a book. Or sometimes Amazon does some great deals. I've done this for the last three parties (starting at age 5) and the kids have never complained. I hate all that pound store crap they get--though of course the kids love it!

They should refund you if you don't get a place. Seems ridiculous to pay to be put on wait list, and then not be refunded if you can't actually get in because THEY don't have the room. One thing for the customer to walk away, another for the nursery not to have the service available and still make you pay the pleasure to find out!

Has anyone ever checked this secondary school out? It's the one near Peckham Rye Park. Apparently, It's just got it's Ofted back and its an Outstanding school. Secondary is a few years a way for us, but nice to think there's an Outstanding comprehensive secondary in the area!

Ah Yorkie that's terrible! Have you tried putting your name down for Chelwood? It's Lewisham Council, but it's an excellent excellent nursery (Outstanding on Ofsted) and you must be relatively close to it if you are close to Ivydale. Yes, they are often oversubscribed too, but I would definitely put my name down on the wait list--that's how we got in. There's often a lot of "movement" at the nursery stage with people dropping out/ moving etc.

Hi KBN, I'm about your height and used the Bugaboo buggy board on our pram. I never tried a Lascal, but never had a problem with the board getting under my feet. And yes, you can fold it up when not in use.

Hi Nikki--I would get in touch with the Belgium Childbirth Trust (BCT) which is like the NCT here. The group is formed mostly by expat British and usually English-speaking mums. They are enormously helpful. You can find their contact details and more info on having a baby in brussels here: http://www.expatica.com/be/essentials_moving_to/essentials/having-a-baby-in-belgium-1437_8504.html

I think I'd rather be attacked by a chihuahua rather than a staffi.

Does anyone know what those massive fish are in the duck pond? Saw about five of them swimming close to the surface and had never seen them before.

Hi sorry to hijack thread--but I am selling an Isofix "convertible carseat" as they are called in the US, that is rear-facing up to 35 pounds and can be used from infant (at least 5 pounds) to when they are a 50 pound toddler, though they recommend they go forward facing at 35 pounds. It's practically brand new as I bought it for use during a 2 week holiday in America. The seat itself won a consumer report award (the Which magazine of the US). http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,697714

puppet theatre with puppets? That age still LOVE role play.

It's definitely the parrot--judging from the photo on the lost poster (attached). Apparently he has a ring on him with 01/DA/08 on it and likes to say things like hiya Reggie.

No, there is a specific product recalled both in the US and canada, the Infantino "SlingRider." http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/24/baby.sling.deaths/?hpt=Sbin

Not to mention, your child can get the bad teeth gene. My daughter had 4 cavities by age 2!!! She drank nothing but water, milk, breast milk back then, and never gave her sweets/or even raisins back in the day. I consulted 3 dentists and they all assured me some of us are just born with teeth that are more prone to decay than others. :(

thanks!

Has anyone ever tried to replace the wheels on their maclaren buggy themselves? I've got an old buggy I could scavenge wheels from but it looks near impossible to replace on your own.

Heidihi, be careful what you wish for! There are several medical bodies that are pushing the govt to do just what you say--make them compulsory. Think the gov't was hoping that "educating the public" would work, rather than using the long arm of the law.

josiebee Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Putting people who dare question the > orthodoxy on immunisation into the same bracket as > holocaust deniers sort of sums things up. Josiebee--those "who dare question the orthodoxy on immunisation" have put *themselves* in the same brackets as holocaust deniers, no one else. If you actually root about the web site that antijen holds up as evidence as to why jabs are dangerous, you find that its authors are also putting forth the theory that the holocaust did not exist.

You said it helena... As for people paying to have separate jabs, the NHS ultimately would have to put more time, money and resources to do this, this is what I mean by the NHS having to fund this, and as a tax-sponsored organisation they look for value for money. A tax-funded health care system is not about endless choice, it will always have constraints as there is not a limitless pool to fund every person's wants, especially when there is a perfectly suitable system already in place that suits the vast majority.

Sorry but why should the government license these clinics just to offer people "choice" when they already have a system that seems to suit the majority? If you want to pursue your own course, go for it, but to expect the overstretched NHS to pay for that alternative in time, money and resources to license it is a bit rich. And to those who think that the NHS is in the pocket of drug companies, then what on earth do you think of these clinics that have sprung up to offer separate jabs? Surely not some fluffy altruitic organisation that is giving you the choice you seek--they are preying on parents fears and profiting from them too.

But just remember, in the US under the way their insurance works, those may be considered out of pocket expenses depending on how much your insurance covers. Sure you have the choice, but you do have to pay for it. I assume in the UK there is an all or nothing approach because the jabs are covered under the NHS. Not to mention that US schools have the right to refuse entry of a child who does not have all of the jabs they require.