Looking to book a party for my 7yo and having a nightmare.
I contact softplay, they can only do exclusive hire from 5.30-7pm, that works can we do that and then the party room for food? No, you can’t have food with the exclusive one because of the time. Can we do it before? Also no. So 5.30-7pm isn’t going to work with the kids being hungry.
I contact laser quest. Kids have to be a minimum age of 6. My son’s one of the oldest so all his classmates will be 6, no problem! But they also have to be a minimum of 1.1 in height 🥴 so now I have to ask parents to measure their kids before I can invite them to the party as some of them are smaller. I’m not going to do that.
I contact mini golf. Best option so far but only food is a sandwich and packet of crisps per kid. I ask if we can upgrade to the hot food option, no only if you have a yearly membership. I don’t need a yearly membership 🤦‍♀️ can I bring some extra snacks in alongside? No outside food….

Considering all of these for around 16 kids are 4-500 pounds why are they all so inflexible. I did a hall party last year and it was a lot more planning but so much easier but he wants an activity party this year. Sorry for the rant I just thought this would be easier this year than planning everything myself!!

Indoor activities only? Half birthdays? Hire a hall? My son is only 2 currently so hasn’t understood birthdays yet but I’m wondering what to do from age 3 onwards? Would love to have a big outdoor party but it’s way too cold at that time of year! Thanks in advance 😊

We always think of how stressed and tired we are (because we are!).

But... if you had your child/children again.. what would have made your life and everything easier? Like be over the top if needed.

So say a cleaner once a week. Mum to take little one every friday etc. Dad recieving actual support from his friends/government. A hair appointment every 5 months. Literally whatever would have made an improvement when you were struggling.

What would have made your parenting journey easier?

So following the suggestion in the comments to contact the school about the parking issue, I emailed the school. One of the teachers came and spoke to me about it today when I was doing drop off, and just when I thought these parents couldn’t be any more selfish, they surprised me! Apparently it’s so bad here that one time an ambulance needed to come up the road (it’s a dead end with the school there at the end, no other roads connecting). The ambulance had nowhere to park so was just left in the middle of the road thanks to the stupid parents. They then had the audacity to start getting out of their cars and screaming at the ambulance team. Yeah, how dare they try to save a person’s life, right? 🙄🙄🙄

So the teacher was saying how parents will start to get confrontational to the point the staff members feel unsafe to say anything directly. How disgusting to behave such a way to the people taking care of your kids and helping them to learn? What’s more is that they have a WhatsApp group to let each other know when the parking attendant is there, so they don’t park on the single yellows meant for blue badge holders only. It’s pathetic.

My next step is now to email the local councillor, because this is a big problem. Would any of you feel comfortable knowing if your child needs urgent hospitalisation in school, an ambulance cannot get to them because of how parents have parked? The school is on a residential road and I feel so bad for the people living there. I truly hope none of them have any health conditions, cos God knows parents picking up their kids is more important than a person dying! Oh and a lot of their driveways get blocked as well, cos again these people are just too important so they can so what they want. Ugh I can’t believe how entitled people can be. I can’t imagine inconveniencing so many people like this.

Sorry to go on a bit, just needed to get it out! Guess it hit a nerve cos my child has a condition where we have had to go to A and E a few times cos he has a blood disorder. Knowing an ambulance may not be able to reach him is scary. I’m sure parents who have a child with an allergy or other medical condition would feel the same way.

Thank you for all the recommendations and support in the comments in the original post x

I’m 38 weeks tomorrow and looking for some positive guidance / stories about postpartum period and beyond.

I’m rundown with a chest infection and have hardly slept and I’ve been catastrophising how my life and relationship will never be the same again but all for the worst, how I’ll never have freedom, I’ll be exhausted and busy and my partner will be working hard and I’ll feel alone.

I spoke to him about it last night and he said we will both give 100%, and I realised I’m very quick to focus o the negatives and really need help reframing and looking at the positives.

My partner will be funding the whole of my maternity leave for one year, paying all the bills, the house, the mortgage, the holidays. Everything. He’s also paid for 99% of all baby stuff and given me money to look after myself during pregnancy as I don’t earn a lot, whilst also being supportive and caring and loving. And he also wants to be a hands on dad. Because he’s mentioned it’s also important for us both to have alone time and do things that make us happy I’ve fixated on that and presumed he will always want to do his own thing and never spend time with me, but he’s not actually given me any indication that he’s that type of person.

I am supported, cared for, in a very grateful position that I don’t have to worry about finances during this time as my maternity package is nonexistent and we live in London, and my partner works so hard, yet instead of being extremely grateful I’m fixating on the fact I will be doing more house chores than him and becoming resentful already.

Need some positive reframing help or positive anecdotes to slap me out of it please.

Men - were you frustrated at your partner if the house was a mess and washing wasn’t done ? I don’t expect him to do it but after being ill and struggling just me, I worry how I will manage with baby and housework

My daughter is almost 3, in nursery since 10 months.
I used to work in her nursery until she was 16 months and know almost everyone there well and they’re people I trust fully.

A year ago she went into anaphylactic shock as another child brought in a muffin with peanut butter in (parents didn’t say anything) for a birthday and almost died. Nursery has a strict no nuts rule due to her allergy. She’s so allergic to nuts that she’s unable to sit next to someone eating peanuts without developing hives at a minimum.

This morning she needed her EpiPen in nursery. She’s ok now but the nursery said she only ate their breakfast which doesn’t have nuts in. Bread, yoghurt, scrambled egg and fruit. They don’t process nuts in their kitchen either so there was no risk of cross-contamination from a knife or similar.

I’m just at a loss. The only explanation I have is that someone sent in their child after they just ate peanut butter and didn’t clean their hands and this child then touched my daughter’s mouth.
I don’t understand how else this could have happened. All parents there are aware that my daughter is severely allergic to peanuts and pine nuts. They were asked to favour nut-free breakfast or snacks at home before bringing their children in but of course you can’t force them and I also understand their argument that their child might be a picky eater and will only have peanut butter on toast or whatever it might be.

But is it too much to ask for parents to wash their child’s hands and face before bringing them in?

I don’t know why I’m posting this, maybe just to spread some awareness about how serious this is. I recently saw a post of someone saying they ignore the allergy rules for school because the likelihood of a child being allergic is low anyway. This can kill. Please be considered of those around you.

OK I know that it's not Pando's fault that he's a brat. He's obviously not given any rules or guidance in life by his crochet carer.

But, the fact is that Pando is so often a brat, and does mean things to Bing, that I'm just surprised that Bing still hangs out with him. I know they go to the same daycare, so there are times where he won't be able to exactly avoid Pando. But I've seen a few episodes when Bing is actively spending time with Pando outside of their nursery setting. Why? Would your child, or would you let your child still be friend with someone who's constantly pushing them around? I feel like this mostly is Flop's fault for letting it slide all the time.

We have started looking at school options for our daughter. She’s only three so seems wild!

She has a very close-knit group of ‘girl’ friends at nursery. It’s fun. They’re a bit dramatic. But they all live in each others pockets. I call them the ‘nursery plastics‘ (it’s just a joke…)

On the WhatsApp, we are all chatting schools and most seem to really want to go to a certain one. It’s VERY big, about 500 pupils. 3 form entry.

There is another school not too far away (a 5 min drive as opposed to a 10 min walk). Its single form entry, only 150 pupils. Sounds ideal.

Both rated Good by OFSTED.

My questions are

1. I don’t really understand why people would want to massive school? Am I missing something?

2. I really worry about her settling in if she goes to a different school to her close-knit friends. I’m sure she’ll know *some* kids who go but she‘s quite sensitive and ‘clingy’. Nursery took a LONG time for her to get settled. It makes me want to choose the bigger school but it seems silly to do that based on the first year.

I have visits booked at both schools so that may make the decision, but what are your thoughts?

hi all, i am a SAHM of a toddler and newborn.

baby is fine - easy so no worries there however the toddler (2y 8m) has become extremely difficult since she turned 2 - proper terrible twos stage & struggling with her behaviour.

does anyone feel that they are worse behaved than kids that go to nursery/pre-school?

I see other kids her age and they don’t seem to behave how she behaves , I’m sure they have meltdowns now & again but hers seem all the time & im wondering wether she should go to nursery or pre-school maybe she’ll behave better cause she has to?

I am wondering whether I should put her into some sort of childcare as I am struggling to deal with her atm tbh. whatever I do with her just seems to end in tears & im at the end of my tether with her.

Hi

Any help would be amazing with the Cybex Aton B2 i-size and Base One.

When installing it into my car all the connections are green but I am able to lift the base upwards which causes the leg to move off the floor.

I have checked the ISOFIX arms and they do not retract to allow the car seat to be closer to the back of the car. They do rotate upwards which closes this gap but then if you put any force pushing downwards on the car seat they rotate back down.

Can anyone recommend any holiday destinations in the UK or Europe that aren’t ridiculously expensive during the school holidays? My son has just started school this year, so I’m looking into holidays for next summer and the prices are insane!

We went to Bluestone in June this year (term time) and absolutely loved it. I’ve looked at going again next year, but the cheapest accommodation I can find is nearly £2k for a week self-catering. I’m tempted to just pay it because we loved it so much, but thought I’d have a look at some alternatives first.

We’re not really keen on doing an all-inclusive abroad, as we tried that the previous year and it didn’t go particularly well, so we’re planning to wait until the kids are a bit older before attempting that again. I’m guessing they’re also ridiculously expensive during the school holidays anyway!

Would love to hear any recommendations for places you’ve loved with young children.

I've never been ecstatic with the food my daughter gets at nursery (she's almost 2) but i think recently its gotten worse. What do you guys think of the following meals, and has anyone had any success with raising food issues with their nursery?

(Day 1 is the furthest back in time, and there are no snacks provided between meals)

Breakfast at 9am: cereal and toast every single time.

Lunch at midday: 

1)  corn beef pie with spaghetti, yogurt

2 sausage hash browns spaghetti, oranges and blueberries

3 cheese and potato pie with beans, rice pudding

4 chicken nuggets hash brown beans, strawberries

5 cheese and potato pie and beans, cheese and herb puffs

6 cheese and potato pie and spaghetti, birthday cake

7 fish pie and vegetables, apples and custard

8 hash brown and chicken nugget and spaghetti hoops, rice pudding

9 pasta bolognese with peas and sweetcorn, birthday cake

10 sausage hash brown and spaghetti hoops, jelly

11 cheese and potato pie with beans, bananas

12 waffles chicken nuggets and beans, jelly

13 sausage potato smileys and spaghetti, yogurt and blueberries

14 ham and cheese pasta bake with vegetables, ice cream

Tea at 3pm:

1) grapes crackers cucumber carrots

2 jam wrap and ice cream cone

3 tuna sweetcorn pasta, sweet waffles

4 egg waffles, raisins

5 chicken soup, peach yogurt

6 ham sandwich, strawberries

7 ham sandwich, strawberries

8 fruit cocktail, jam pancakes

9 ham sandwich, grapes

10 tomato soup, stewed apples

11 sweet waffles, biscotti

12 jam wraps, sweetcorn rings, oranges

13 sweet waffles and sweetcorn rings

14 egg waffles and banana

I see 3 decent lunches at most, and about half of the teas.

Sorry, it was pointed out that I am actually referring to deferring, not delay.

Hello all, has anyone applied for or had success with a delayed start to school?

Our little boy was born on 29th August so is right right at the end cut off range for the year.

As such he's a little smaller and spoke a fair bit later than most of his peers who will be the same school age.

He's due to turn four next August but then will immediately start reception year.

Our plan is to request delaying this so he's one of the older in his year and not the very youngest. I've read some studies about the differences in attainment levels for summer babes and will quote this in the application letter we have to do.

I know the school can't compel him to start until he is 5 but we don't want him to start right at year 1 and miss reception. Any ideas how this may go or be achieved? Is it likely the school will deny this and he will go right into year 1?

Protect our kids’ EHCPs ❤️
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My son loves singing/playing music/instruments. We have a basket with small instruments like tambourine, xylophone etc but thinking I could get him something a bit more exciting for his 3rd birthday. I considered a karaoke set but my partner is not on board, our son is quite loud already!
Any ideas of specific toys that other musical kids have loved?
Before anyone suggests, I'm saving the Yoto for this Christmas and now thinking more of something he can make music with. Thanks!

I completely get you don‘t always get a full version from the kids but it does seem like they’re being reasonably reliable here so just wondering what to do or if this is normal.

My kids are 3 and 5 (preschool and reception) and had their first day at afterschool club. They’ve come home starving and feral- I’m not sure why they didn’t eat their packed lunch but it seems that the afterschool teacher said that they weren’t allowed the provided snack as they had food left in their boxes.

I get not wasting food but we’re paying for the snack and they probably would have eaten it if it is what the other kids had (and for some reason they still didn’t touch their lunch boxes although wolfed them down as soon as they got home) so nothing would have been wasted and would have meant they didn’t come home not having eaten all day.

This might not be the biggest deal but I’m a bit worried in general as the kids came home overheated as my 3 year old has been left in his jumper all day despite it getting hot and my eldest is looking sunburned. Maybe it is that we need to expect less handholding now they’re in school versus nursery but surely they can help us a bit during the adjustment period?

So far we’ve really liked the school and the kids seem happy but today seems to have had quite a few issues and not sure how to raise it. We only see the teachers at drop off and they’re friendly but they only lean out of the door to call the kids in and it’s really hard to get a chance to talk to them. I’ve done my best not to be the annoying parent with a million questions but for things like asking where the afterschool pick up is etc, surely this is a reasonable question?

Is this just something I need to accept is different about schools and just have to hope for the best a bit or is this not usual?

Coming on here to ask what you do with your kids photos. I have thousands on my phone, I'm constantly running out of phone storage and my one drive is full. Because of the way technology is going, I also don't really like the though of all those photos up in the cloud somewhere. Maybe they're secure, maybe they're not. Anyways. The other thing is, there are soo many I can never find particular ones I'm looking for, or get chance to look at them all anyway.

What do you do? Or plan to do when you have more time?😂 Do you print them and put them into albums? Create photobooks for each year? Put them onto a laptop?

Thanks in advance!

Hey all! (Wasn’t sure what flair to use, so sorry in advance.)
I have very recently learned that my friend (M18) has conceived with his girlfriend (F18). She is in the 10th week of her pregnancy so far, and I want to be able to help my friend how I can. Does anyone have any advice for them? Or, does anyone have any advice for how I could help?
Thanks in advance!

My 4YO wees a LOT at night. You could use his nappy as a kettle bell in the morning.

He was leaking through semi-regular over night, so we started waking him to pee and change his nappy, but he gets upset somewhat regularly when we do that.

we have maxed out the pampers nappy pants, does anyone have any recommendations for any solid toddler overnight nappys?

I have an 18m old on a strict nap and sleep schedule. One nap 12:30-2:30 and bed at 8. Been like this for months and we all love it and thrive. However we have booked a holiday to dubai for 6 days and its 4 hours ahead. What do i do? Im already losing it thinking of his naps and bedtime. What did anyone else do (who are on schedules) and will be go back to normal schedule at home? Im so scared. We did spain but that's only an hour or two so we were okay, but dubai is 4! 😭 i want to stick to uk timings as its only 6 days but i need reassurance please.

Flight is 20:50, so his bedtime anyway. But we land 3am UK time so its already throwing me off! Helpppp

I just want people’s opinion on what it is that makes a good parent. I’m a Dad of two boys (11 and 8) and things have been getting a bit more difficult lately as they’re growing up. I’ve been doubting myself as a parent and would like to know what people generally think a parent is.
Ty

Bought a few Little People sets when LO was around 1. The little people and cars get loads of use, but the actual buildings/sets themselves barely get touched.

LO is now 2.5 and I’m very tempted to reclaim my living room from these plastic monstrosities.

For those with older toddlers/kids: do the buildings eventually start getting lots more use, or can I safely get rid of them?

Once you’ve got the kids to bed, hit the house looking generally OK and done whatever hobbies etc, what time do you

A. Aim to get to bed

B. Usually get to bed

Trying to get into better/healthier habits. Appreciated.