Claire29

Not sure if this is worth mentioning on here, but earlier this morning at around 9am I had a knock at my door (whateley road) and a guy was there and he said I've come to do some plastering , at which point I said No we dont need any and haven't asked for any to be done. The thing that made me think this was odd was that he had a bottle of water and that was it, if you were turning up planning to do some work you would have tools/bag with you, no sign of any vans parked outside either. And most tradesmen if they were planning to do work would query you about doing work not just say ok and walk off. While i had the door open for the few brief seconds he was looking above /around me through to my kitchen, not actually looking at me. Just felt uneasy about him and that he was possibly upto no good!

Our cat is 8 years old so not sure if that has anything to do with it but he has always been very tolerant with both my 2, the only time he has lashed out is when they have stood on his tail or paw by accident and given a quick swipe, which is to be expected. i always try and say gently when stroking the cat, and also our cat has learned while they are very young to just stay out of the way as it's too noisy and too much hassle having little un's wanting to come near you. hopefully your little un and the cat will soon learn to get on ok together without too many more scratches!

Minnis Bay is nice in that it's just a beach, it has 1 shop a cafe, car park which you can pay for or just park along the road which is by the beach. Worth checking out the tide times though because tide comes up very high, and like we found the other week when we went it was high tide at 11.30am so make sure you sit right up by the wall. Only downside is the toilets are upstairs on the grassy bit, but if you are going with another adult should be fine. It's also very easy to find. Have fun x

Depending on their age I would normally take the toy in question off the kids if they can't share or play with it nicely taking turns. Or if you know that a particular toy is a fave with your little un, and is also likely to be popular with other kids i would put it out of sight while other kids are around, that way no one get's upset. It's hard trying to explain sharing to really little ones but they do learn, eventually! Also depending on age of kids I always find its easier to get kids to the park for a quick run around before having friends around, that way they haven't got as much energy and generally it can be a bit calmer.

I know only too well about obsession's with Thomas, my eldest who is now 5 has been mad about him since around age 2. He is train obsessed and has dare i say it nearly most of all the thomas train characters (and theres a lot!) he has got them at birthdays and christmas, we have tons of train track and all the bits that go with it, ie bridges/turntables etc. He doesn't use the thomas trains now when he plays, he has real trains (ie brio kind) but anytime anything thomas related comes on the TV he says lets get that.....even though he doesn't actually play with them anymore! We have most DVD's and i've sat through god know's how many hours watching it. So he has outgrown the thomas phase but now is just obsessed with trains in general!!!

When I was offered a place for my son at the school nursery I asked if I could just send him a couple of sessions and was told no straight away! I took him out of the private nursery he had been going mid term to start the school nursery and it was the best decision I made. If it's the nursery that is attached to the school that he/she will be going I would def take the place as it really helps them settle, by time he started reception he knew the building/uniform etc and it wasn't a big deal starting school.

I think I spotted this boy a few weeks back and was thinking of putting a post on here but didn't really have much to say, except I'd spotted him first walking around the lake - it was quite at the time, 9.30ish and I was with my little boy. It was really warm out but he had a hoody on, and kept looking back at me - i'm 7 months pregnant so it wasn't as if he was admiring my figure! Then I noticed him walking along the dog walking path, and he then stopped and was just hovering around. He just looked a bit odd and to be honest I did feel a bit uneasy. If i spot him again will inform the wardens.

I think it's down near the end where le garage is just spoke to my husband

I think been pregnant is a license for people to say what they want, I work part time and every time I go into work each week I get a running commentry from the girls in the office saying how big my bump looks, have I eaten a watermelon or stuffed a football up my top........ I've learnt to just accept people always feel the need to mention how big/small etc you are and just ignore them. My mother in law is great in that she always speaks her mind " Claire you have really put on weight this time you can notice it in your face and also you'r much bigger this time aren't you" Then she always goes on to tell me how tiny she was when she was pregnant and that she would actually lose weight! Grrrrrrrrr Mother in law's !!!!1

I have had some rubbish experience's with past nannies so I would be inclined to sack her, pay whatever she is due and look for someone else. It is obv more hard to do this if she is a really great nanny and kids like her, but even still it's not fair on you to always be worrying will she turn up or wont she.

We had all 4 hubcaps stolen off our citron picasso car last august, the car was only 6 weeks old and I was really annoyed as had been really careful not to scratch them! Haven't bothered replacing as no doubt would get pinched again!

Im due baby no 3 on the 2nd September so count me in - my brain has turned to mush even more so this time arounds and have now managed to make 2 big ish mistakes at work, great!!! Just hope I don't do anything else wrong before I go on maternity leave! x

I wish i could say it does pass but with my 5 year old and 2 year old I still worry about things, that dont happen very often but you do hear in the press every now and then. With the dogs if you see a dog that doesn't look under control or not on a lead and you feel nervous if possible cross the road, or just stop and wait until they pass. I think it is quite rare for a dog to just attack a baby in the pram i would be more worried if a child/toddler were running around and dog may run over to them, but again i think it is quite rare. I always try to encourage my kids to stroke dogs (when the owners say it's ok to do so) so that they grow up and accept dogs as part of life. From a personal view I prefer to go to Dulwich Park rather than Peckham Rye because I find the majority of dogs there aren't pitball types which i have seen over at peckham rye, and most of the dog owners i've met at dulwich park are very nice and the dogs are normally well behaved and ok around kids.

My litte boy who is nearly 2 loves his dummy, sometimes he will try and put 2 in his mouth, he always ask's for it during the day and it has driven me mad so now i'm allowing him to have it in the car, and sleep time either in buggy or cot. It is hard and sometimes i do give in just for an easy life. My older son gave his up just before 3 and we were expecting lots of tears and tantrums but it was ok he was old enough to know dummies were for babies. If you can stick with it i'm sure it will be worth it, but sometimes doing things for an easy life is an option worth taking and if it means you get a decent nights sleep dont be hard on yourself if you do relent and let her have it. It's only a dummy and she will grow out of it. Good Luck!

We went to Majorca a couple years ago and booked through Thompson www.thomson.co.uk a self catering resort Bonnaire - in Cala Bona. It was really good for people with young kids, they had a air conditioned room near the pool which had toys and soft play area so that if heat got too much you could take the little ones inside. It also had a creche, which you could use for little ones under 2 for a couple of hours morning or afternoon (have to pay) it was near the beach, and was a really nice resort it had quite a few restaurants but no clubs/discos etc so it was a real family resort. Also Portugal is really nice, we went in August last year with 4 year old and 16 month old and both coped fine with the heat, which was hot (28/29c) but not excessive.

My boys are both on the small side but thats mostly due to genes as both me and my husband are small so mine have always been well under what is classed as average weight/height. My youngest is also what i would call dainty, he is coming up 2 and is a grazer rather than one for eating big meals. Things that have worked for me are: the small pasta shells/stars that you can get in sainsburys easier for younger ones to eat, with pesto and cheese fishfingers beans and toast small bits of cheese cut up with chopped up grapes waffles cut up quorn goujons - my 2 aren't keen on meat so these are good and source of protein full fat yoghurts If she is active, on the move and doing well reaching milestones i would try not to worry, and at least seeing dr may rule out anything that would be stopping her putting on weight.

It is tempting but i didn't find out with my 2 and was convinced my first was a girl, actually a boy and remember when I had him I was given a baby boy helium balloon by a friend and I kept looking at it and smiling thinking wow I've got a boy! I am pregnant again with no 3 and wont be finding out, it is a wonderful surprise after going through giving birth, plus i think it's lovely to be able to send text/phone people and say it's a ........ Totally a personal choice though and i can understand the practical side of finding out, but as you don't get too many lovely surprises in life i think it's worth the wait!

My nearly 2 year old, when he wakes up still in either his cot or our bed he still cries for his dummy even though i normally leave 2 or 3 around him so he can quite easily get one, but it's much easier to cry as mummy or daddy will come and put it in! I didn't breastfeed mine so I'm not much help with the feeding but i do remember from bottle feeding that they would be fine up until hte 1/2am feed then once they had that they would sleep, but it would always be restless. I had them in moses basket next to bed for first 3-4 months as i found it easier for in the night, and also was able to stroke their face/ hold hand without getting out of my bed. I leave the radio on quietly in my little one's room when he does sleep in there, i think he likes to have some backround noise, that may help. Your not alone and i'm sure most of the mums on here will have gone through similar experiences with babies having bad sleeping habits at some time, for the lucky few some babies do seem to sleep soundly from a very early age......but the majority don't so try and take some comfort in that. As your little one get's older he should hopefully get into a sleeping pattern in the day which should help his night sleeping. If all else fails, take it in turns with your hubby as much as possible and get some ear plugs, let each other get at least a couple of hours of uninterupted sleep if possible by perhaps going into another room. Good Luck x PS I think the lack of sleep does continue when they are teenagers, then we will be worrying about them coming home and what they are getting upto!

I wish i had a magic wand to make things better.....but it does get better trust me! I've got 2 boys and have made mistakes along the way, the little one still end's up in our bed every night, a habit which is our fault because we found he slept better with us than in his cot which was on the first floor. I know now that to break the habit will take a good week or so of crying/tantrums etc (he is nearly 2) when he was born i was more than happy for him to have a dummy, they are a life saver but also can be sleep wrecker!!! Loads of time's when he was younger dummy would fall out and we would have to find it and put it back in. Next time I will probably try and give the dummy a miss because all the parent's i know whose kid's dont have dummies, tend to sleep better. But it's what works for you, I find a dummy handy for when he is tired in the day and wants some comfort. One thing i have also learnt is not to belive everything other mum's say about their babies been perfect sleepers and going through the night, i'm not saying that some babies are really good sleepers but ALL babies have their off nights and wake up, and ALL (or most at least) go through phases of bad sleeping or habits like waking up at certain times. I think personally i would find it very hard to do CC with such a young baby, at 12 weeks old he is still very young and is perhaps finding it hard to settle without the comfort of you around. I found starting a routine in the evening was a good start, having a bath, feed, bit of kids tv or baby music whatever is soothing for him and keep to it every night so that he will learn to expect what is happening next. I would try and see this as a temporary thing, the really bad sleeping that is hopefully he will settle down soon. My 5 year old still wakes up sometimes with nightmares so the days of a good uninterupted 8 hour sleep are a thing of the past! but you do get used to it and while baby is so young if he sleeps in the day you must take the time to rest/sleep too. It does get better and easier i promise!

Im surprised nobody has stuck up for builders yet so i will! My other half has to cut materials outside when working in peoples home's because generally people dont want to have lots of dust and dirt inside their homes when having minor works carried out. At the moment he is working on someone's front foot path so has to use the pavement outside to cut the materials on his machine. He has public liabilty insurance is always as careful as can be when setting things up so it doesn't become a hazzard to people walking past. But to be honest is it such a hardship to have to walk a couple of feet out of the way of someone working, I have kids and push a pram so to me if I see someone working on the pavement or loading/unloading materials i use my common sense and either cross the road to the other side or wait until they have acknowledged me and stop what they are doing so i can carry on walking with the pram. If people haven't got a big front garden, where are they meant to have materials delivered too? I can understand if someone dumps a load of stuff across the whole pavement, that would be a bit annoying but i've never come across that most builders/workmen do have some consideration - i'm saying most not all!

same thing happened to us last week, everything emptied into our green bin which was really annoying as the bin was full up then and we couldn't get any normal rubbish in

it's ?14 per child I have one booked for this saturday for my son. Have been to them before, kids enjoy, food ok. it does work out very expensive depending how many kids, minimum 10. they then charge ?2.50 per child if you want goodie bags, or other various extras, like providing sandwiches for parents at ?12.50 per tray. The only saving grace i'm looking forward to is not having the kids trash my house and it all been over in 2 hours!

Have just reported to Thames Water,so would suggest to anyone in the near area fill up some pots of water while you can!

Has anyone reported the burst water main on the top of felbrig road at junction with whateley road? it must have only burst in last couple of hours as was ok when we went out but now flowing out, and we have just returned home to very low water pressure.

I've had a pre christmas clear out and have got some nice toys suitable for a baby/toddler which i would like to give to a local playgroup or womens refuge (or that type of thing). Anyone got any local suggestions?