We have never been, had planned to bunk off school for a day last month but couldnt quite bring myself to do it.

Im so worried about going and it being a let down for dc due to the busyness/queues. Is there plenty to do aside from rides for 9 and 10 yr olds?

Just that really? What have you done that has really worked or that you can't go without? A product or habit or anything that you think has really helped you to look better. I am just in a bit of a rut and want some inspiration! Thanks!

My Dd had her drink spiked last night.
Im sitting in ITU.
I have sons……. But wtf goes on in men’s heads.
For completeness, her best friend, was also spiked, but is not as poorly.
police are being crap.
Just why????

Hi everyone

i just wanted to share a disturbing text I’ve received from a guy.

The date was planned for this Friday and I received the below by text out of nowhere…no previous sexual talk, just planning the date. Totally icked out and disturbed. Urgh!

Quick checkin: Are you behaving yourself or do I need to intervene?

I've had BIAB for the first time. It looked good when first done but after a week the regrowth was already visible, and the nails look very fake, iykwim. The salon advised infills every 3-4 weeks and tbh I was hoping to extend it to the 4 to save money but I dread to think what they will look like in even two more weeks.

Is this normal? Do I just have very fast growing nails (ironic as the whole reason I went for BIAB is because they would break before I could grow them all to a similar length), or is the salon not very good - there was a small, but noticeable gap between my real nail and the BIAB even when first done, so I suppose if they had covered this up better the regrowth might not have looked as bad so fast, although I can't imagine wouldn't be very visible after 3/4.

Would I be better off getting gels or similar, or would that be exactly the same issue?

MIL is here every other Tuesday looking after our toddler whilst we both work. She is really helpful, and tries to do stuff round the house. Recently, she has started putting washes on. I find this a step too far - the first time this happened, there wasn’t a great deal of washing in our basket - it would have fit in one wash. She left one item in the basket which was a rather ‘risque’ all in one bedroom outfit of mine if you get what I mean. She had obviously seen it, and decided to leave it (and nothing else) in the basket.

DH says she’s being helpful and it saves me a job so I should be grateful. I find it..invasive? Fully appreciate it may be a ‘me’ issue but thought it’d get some impartial views.

Hi, not sure if myself and husband are overthinking this so would like some fellow parent advice!
my eldest (4) starts school in September. Both her and my youngest (3) have been going to the same nursery for all these years. There is an option to move my youngest to the same nursery/school and would be in the same mixed nursery/reception class. She will only be going there 2 days a week but husband is concerned as nursery has said that she needs to come out of her shell more and only plays with her sister at nursery and not bothered about other friendships! What are your thoughts? Thank you

This is just for fun, it’s in my contract that OT is mandatory. But today she told me I had to do OT tonight so I told her I was too busy washing my hair. She laughed and put me down anyway. So that got me thinking, what other silly excuses can I give?

‘I have to walk my fish’ for definite.

I’m sure you lot can come up with some good ones!

Hope it's OK to ask this here even though it's not a parenting issue. Long post warning.
I have an old friend I was planning on visiting soon when me and my husband will be visiting my home town. My husband has told me he is happy for me to see her but will not join me on the visit.
He then told me that, sometime ago (I'm talking years) when he had commented - he thinks in a friendly way - on one of her Facebook posts, another person had taken issue with his comment and my friend had responded " take no notice of him, he's a d**k". He thinks he told me at the time but I have no memory of it and I'm pretty sure I would remember as I'm feeling quite shocked now having been told/reminded about it today. He can't remember what the post was about and what he and the other person said.
I have to talk to her about this and my dilemma is whether to phone her now and find out if that is what she thinks of him or talk to her when I visit. If I speak to her and find out it's true I don't think I want to visit.
She's an old friend but I am fond of her. Part of me thinks her response was in character as she was always outspoken and part of me really hopes it is a misunderstanding.
Sorry for the long question but, if you were me, would you address this in advance by phone or face to face? TIA

Nowadays I see so many posts about weightloss and then about the weight loss jabs and pills, has anyone lost weight without using the medication ? I’m really big for what I was before and uncomfortable but feel like I’ll just fail also taking the jabs medication is not an option for me

Bored of make-up brushes that, despite me washing them and caring for them, end up losing bristles and I have to replace them annually.

there wasn't this fuss over brushes in the 80s/90s. Can we just used fingers again?

There’s a thread going about must-buy foods from Waitrose and I have enjoyed trying all the delicious recommendations!

I thought I would start a similar one for M&S Food, as I’m sure I’m missing out on lots of good stuff.

My contribution: the Somerset butter with maple syrup in. It’s absolute heaven on a toasted bagel!

Been on the market for a few months now, loads of viewings but no offers! I honestly can’t see the problem and I’m worried I’m house blind at this point.

this is the listing: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88856211

i honestly don’t think it’s the price. There are unextended, unrenovated houses on for £20k less the next road over.

it’s also a fair price - we paid 550k in 2017, based on inflation it would be 750k now but that just isn’t supported by the area.

weve done lots to maintain it in that time - new boiler, washing machine, dishwasher, fridge. We replaced the laminate floors downstairs with wood. We changed the purple vinyl bathrooms to nice tile. It was meant to be our forever home so none of this was to make a profit.

bits I know are of; we’re a bus ride away from a train station, but I think this is reflected in the price. The carpets upstairs need to be replaced - this was the case when we moved in but we kept putting it off as we were planning a loft conversion.

tbe feedback has been perplexing - one viewer said we’d made the house too traditional and they would have to redo the kitchen / bathrooms to modernise, but I think they are pretty neutral?

what can I do? Is the market just a bit rubbish at the moment?

The Montecito diaries continue……..will it be Balmoral or bust?

We live in a semi-detached bungalow and the adjoining bungalow is having a huge extension, they are literally stripping everything back and redoing the entire inside. No problem. There is currently no-one living in the property and they have a company overseeing the work. They started this work a few weeks ago and the noise is insane. They start at 8am every morning with drilling, banging, including on the shared wall which happens to be the wall of both my kids' bedrooms. This wasn't a problem when we all up for school etc... but now it is the holidays and they are being woken every morning, Monday - Saturday.

On top of this, they have scaffolding up around the back of the house and are often on the roof, shouting, swearing, playing music loudly. It feels like our garden isn't our own. When they are on the roof they are literally overlooking us. They are friendly and sometimes say hello but it just feels a bit awkward and intrusive when you are trying to enjoy a coffee in the sunshine. We have had brick dust over the clean washing on the line. Straw blowing all over the garden from some sort of insulation that are removing from the roof.

Today, DD (age 11) was in the garden, practicing cartwheels and gymnastics, and one of them shouted 'Keep going love, you'll get there'. It was an entirely innocent comment and meant to be encouraging but it has made her feel embarrassed and upset as she now thinks they were watching her practice, especially as she was in a leotard.

I don't think I am being unreasonable but realistically, is there anything I can do?

I don't want to be that neighbour and, I get it, building work is noisy and that is unavoidable, it needs to be done.

Is it just a suck it up situation and accept that this summer isn't going to be one we get to enjoy in our garden?

How much are people paying to go on holiday this year?

Our stats:
2 adults 2 children
1 week in July to Lanzarote
Basic 2 star self catering apts, small pool, all clean and pleasant. No luxury.
£1800
Spending money approx £1500

We eat out for lunch and dinner each day, visit a music bar/play pool after dinner and do a few local day trips but kids happy with pool/beach/playparks. They could run up and down a wall beside stairs for hours!

I pass by some of the bigger hotels with the entertainment and activities and wonder if we would like that. Would anyone share how much they are paying for these types of holidays?

Just wondering how much people are paying for different holidays and also, as an aside, when is the best time to book for best deals?

I’m early 50’s and dye my hair a mid-dark brown. I’m naturally an auburn colour but feel a deep brunette shade suits me better, I’ve had it for years. I’ve been blonde before & it doesn’t suit me. But lately I’ve been thinking can dying hair a dark brown be aging? I don’t mean if you’re naturally brunette, that’s different but like for me who isn’t & I dye my hair dark, sometimes I feel am I making myself look older?

I feel like I spend ages planning meals, only to hear "I don't like that" before they've even tried it.
Do you make one family meal and everyone eats it, or do you end up cooking different things?
Always looking for ideas that don't end in a battle at the dinner table!

Ok so my child is going to summer club for a couple of days per week. I am flat broke but because she hated nursery so much, I have funded lots of groups for her myself outside of nursery to get her involved in things. As a result I have struggled financially trying to work full time hours every week from home. I don't qualify for benefits despite massively struggling. I will just about be able to afford a couple of days out in the holidays. Some months I would hit the criteria but because I'm self employed my earnings are up and down so it's a nightmare and some months I really struggle.

My issue is my daughter has been asking why can't she have a hot meal. She's at that funny age of 4 where they want what others are having etc. I am under the impression that the hot meals are for haf funding only. I don't for one second begrudge children that qualify for hot meals etc, not one bit. But it is irritating when I'm sending her in with a sandwich and my child isn't even given the option of a hot meal, it's like the group is divided, those that can and those that can't. There will be other mums like me really struggling but kids are left out. No answer to it really, just don't think it's fair on some of the kids like mine.

It's actually is DH being unreasonable. He thinks DD (15) should be happy to share a room with us all (me, him, DD2).

She doesn't want to share a room with us (she will share with me & sister, not her dad).

I can see where she's coming from but DH doesn't see her p.o.v.

Has anyone experience of being overlooked by their neighbours security cameras?

Our neighbour has installed cameras which record visual and audio in the soffits of his detached house. One of the cameras is directly opposite my daughter's bedroom window, and an other is 16ft directly across from our bathroom window. (I have hung voiles in her bedroom for privacy, but frustrated I've had to do this! We already had a blind for nighttime, she just felt 'spied on').

I feel I'm being watched constantly daily and the neighbour refuses to show me the camera footage, and denies it records audio. It isn't possible to converse with him, we have tried.

I have spoken to a local supplier of the make and model of the camera that is installed and it is a top of the range camera for audio and image.

Having tried to speak to the neighbour and being completely dismissed I just feel like I have to accept the unwanted intrusion into my daily life.

He has also installed sensor lights on the front of his house that light up as soon as I go onto my drive and get in and out of my car or go to my gate.

The legal department of my home insurance say that other than asking him to show me footage , which he won't, I can write a letter requesting any footage of myself and family as he has a responsibility to produce it. I doubt he will do this as it relies upon the neighbour being responsible and honest about what he is recording.
I'm looking into installing a pergola to give us privacy in our garden, as the rear camera is directly over our patio. I did ask that a camera at the rear was repositioned to not look directly onto our property, I was told it focused purely upon his gate and vehicle and he walked away.

We live in an area that, thankfully hasn't a high crime rate and no history of burglaries or car break ins etc.

Any suggestions? Moving isn't an option!
I love my home, I just don't love feeling constantly watched and my comings and goings illuminated at night and captured 24/7.

single parent, in 60s ,to 2 young adult DDs no other family other than ex, their dad. I keep starting to write down instructions for the worst case scenario on bits of paper or in note books but I have quite limiting ADHD so I feel one of these books would focus my mind but are they all very American? I think the idea is that the book prompts you on what to include so if it's a non UK one i'd assume a lot would be irrelevant or confusing. any thoughts/recommendations?

My son has been offered social housing.i can help him with sone things. But not larger items.

I'm hoping i can find a charity of some sort that sells 2nd hand furniture. As we could probably get most things he needs under one roof and its likely they will deliver.

Just to ad British heart foundation and simlar are to expensive. We can't use free cycle . Facebook anything that requires collection . We do not drive or have access to a car. So it makes sense to use a charity

So bit of a long shot but does anyone know of charity's that sell 2nd hand furniture in the southeast london area..

Thanks 😊

Follow on from previous

We were flying with Ryanair last week to go on holiday.

Before boarding the plane, we heard them calling cleaners to our boarding gate. As we got closer, there was a young boy who had been sick all over the floor. He clearly had a fever and wasn't well at all.

We boarded the plane, and you guessed it, the family were sat really near us. Before the plane even took off, he was sick 2 more times.

During the flight, he was sick every hour. The Mum said 'it is such a shame he has a bug at the start of our holiday'.

I am just amazed that he was allowed to fly when visibly unwell with a sickness bug.

I am absolutely amazed we didn't catch it but I bet other people did. I thought it was SO unfair that he was allowed to fly, potentially infecting so many people on that plane and ruining holidays people have looked forward to all year. I know kids aren't allowed to fly with chickenpox, so why can they with a sickness bug?