snowboarder

Can't wait till mine are old enough....:-)

I had a bed best for my second baby and loved it - he lasted in it until he was nearly 8 months, and it folds up so good as a travel cot too....

My two have both had them - my youngest still does at nearly 4 - maybe once a month. They seem to often happen when he crashes out into a really deep sleep when overtired, then we hear screaming about an hour later. I find it helps to get to him fast, then I take him to the toilet which seems to bring him out of it. He then settles again super quickly, and doesn't remember it at all.

My sister is just back from spending 6 yrs in Sydney - I'll give her a nudge to pm you!

Hello - I consistently get the cloudflare page screengrab that siduhe posted - on my macbook with safari and on my iphone...have done for a while now... Not a problem I suppose but it does seem to slow things down. Is it me or the EDF that causes it??

We have the trunki backpack booster - we managed to get it on offer and it's great for taking to sch when being picked up by others or taking on holiday because they can carry it themselves and you can actually put things in the backpack too...

It's a version of word I can't open...might be best for the OP to delink a PDF...?

Wow thanks Bawdynan - loads to be looking at! I do like the look of the Indigo places - but can I survive for a week without a bathroom?!? I've only ever done 1/2 nights! Husband is suggesting a trip to Eurodisney on the way/way back.....Oh my, that's a whole different ballgame!!

Can I have some recommendations please?!? We don't (yet) have our own tent but could be persuaded to buy, but honestly I think I would prefer a chalet or lodge (or mobile home?) type accommodation. Swimming pool and driving distance from UK is preferable, and not too big/holiday park-like. We need to holiday on a budget this year! Also - we've never done this kind of hols before apart from the odd 'glamping' weekend in the UK - would you go for 2 weeks or would that be a bit much and better a week with another option tagged on? OR...recommendations for a school holidays family holiday for 4 that won't break the bank!! (sorry - I think I do a post like this every January :-) )

As above - mine always did 12.30/1 - 2.30/3. But my youngest stopped at just over 2....which was both a relief (better nights, could go out for the day etc) and a bit of a nightmare (once eldest was at sch I would have loved those naps!).

Yep all accommodation, living expenses and food and often travel is provided as a minimum, and the au pair is often a school leaver who has come to London to learn English for a year before going to Uni, they will go to college and they will do up to 30hrs childcare per week for children over the age of two. Quite different to a nanny...and a cleaner! After bills, travel and food ?100 per week is more than my weekly 'allowance' to myself!

The desserts they offer do sound a bit ott I agree. Our school always has fruit/yoghurt as an option though and on the rare days my son has school lunch he usually opts for apple! What I find really weird is that they are quite strict about what they bring in packed lunches - no way would a piece of chocolate cake be acceptable! I smuggle in the occasional flapjack and feel guilty....

We have a limed oak effect karndean throughout our ground floor, including the kitchen and utility room. It's fantastic, easy to wash, doesn't scratch (unlike the engineered wood floor down previously) and the pale colour seems to help with it not looking too bad despite the kids/cats etc. It definitely lays better on concrete floors though - we have both concrete and timber and despite the screed there is still definite flex in the timber in floor areas.

Bribery. My three year old is currently not allowed his advent calendar chocolate if he comes into our bed. I've only had to enforce it once. Not sure what my strategy is post December 24th is though...😃

Monkey how are things today?

I know one of the things I did was actually try and feed as much as possible when the toddler wouldn't notice - so a 7am (ish) feed when husband hadn't left for work - 10am ish either toddler at pre school (I started him the day he was 2!) or I'd sneak upstairs for a speedy one following morning sleep, massive cluster lunchtime feed when toddler was napping (so as soon as put him to bed then just before he was supposed to wake up!) and then winged it through the afternoon - often ending in a tea time/bath time meltdown for us all! I think I was lucky that my 2 yr old obligingly napped until he was just over 3 - made life a lot easier!!

Ooh - could you point me in the right direction....:-)

Bluesuperted - we got eldest sb a maxi micro when he was 4 so his brother could have the mini - and very quickly he decided he wanted a 2 wheeler. We went to a funky little scooter shop in west wickham and they recommended the stunt scooters over things like the micro sprite especially for energetic boys as they are much sturdier - all of the ones that fold have an inherent weakness in them....and whilst Z is hardly doing huge tricks on his he certainly puts it through its paces at 5.5. His younger brother now wants one too (at 3.5!) and can balance fine on it. I like the Micro scooter stunt version as it's quite good proportions. And I can have a go on it!

And could you recommend me one for a 5 yr old? It's appeared on his (never ending) christmas list and actually I think might be quite fun to get him one - maybe not a 'toy' one but certainly not an expensive one? So....size? recommendations? Something like this - http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Junior-Classical-Guitar-Blue-by-Gear4music/OZX#full-des? Or would this be ok - http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-mini-guitar/p1691287?

I think my husband ordered them online (Amazon?), but we have a lego and playmobil advent calendars for our two....

This one is good - http://www.micro-scooters.co.uk/scooters-model-mx-stunt/micro-mx-trixx-scooter-blue-black.html My 5 year old is speedy on it, and it's an appropriate size. Have to say he was fearless on a three wheeler though - but I think the two wheelers are easier!

It seems like very few of us have the answer! I nearly started a post this morning entitled 'who else is on their knees with tiredness by the time they actually get to work in the mornings...'?!? It's the hardest thing. I had quite a good 'balance' when I worked 2 days in the office and the rest of the time with the children, but my earnings only just covered the nanny and my career was going nowhere. I've now upped to 3.5/4 days and it's a struggle, everything is slipping BUT at least I have friday mornings to catch up when my youngest is at preschool and I don't work. Working full time would be very full on and I honestly don't know how people do it. But yes, there are coping strategies as really well outlined above....

Trying to be organised this year! So. In particular presents for a 5.5 yr old boy. He's written a list already, seemingly mostly based on toy adverts he has seen on the TV (tough toys for tough boys car is one item - wtf?!?). What he really wants is a hand held games thing (a DS?) that he can play minecraft on 'properly' - apparently you do not play properly on the iPad? Does this exist? And really is it what you buy a 5 yr old? He's got loads of lego/playmobil/dinosaurs that he doesn't play with that much...there seems little point getting him more of the same, but at the same time in my head this is the sort of thing you would buy s much older child... Any wisdom or ideas?! Youngest is sorted - lego lego lego Lego......:-)

I've been to a few too and they're great - but they did start happening in the summer term of reception when everyone knew each other better and the kids were happy to be dropped off at parties...

We have had a nanny for the last 2.5 yrs (since our children were the same age as yours) and the overall experience has been great - particularly in the last year as we've had a really reliable nanny. I sometimes leave for work and the children are still asleep - mostly they are in their pj's eating breakfast so the only one rushing is me, and when I get home at 6.30pm they have had tea and bath and are ready for bed, leaving time for a play, story etc. I love that they're at home and have their own things. I work 3.5 day per week and we now combine nanny/preschool, so only have the nanny 2.5 days a week with presch/school covering the rest. The only nightmare is obviously when the nanny is ill - our old nanny had quite a bit of time off and then became pregnant - you obviously are the employer so have to deal with these things! But on balance nannys are less likely to be ill than the kids, I think, and I've left poorly children with the nanny before. My current nanny is totally amazing and on her half day even does some ironing for me before school pick up. She's also in for deliveries etc and often puts a wash on/leaves me their left over bolognaise in the fridge for dinner! I'm now worrying about next september when my youngest starts school and we need to look for wrap around care....it's going to be a shock!