new and local to canterbury.

[childminders]

hi everyone im new to all this just joind today im a single mum of a 3 year old. and a newley registared childminder in thannet.so lifes a bit mad at the mo.:-)

Thanet huh well that's where I live too. Ramsgate to be specific. I have 3 kids (7,3 and just 1) and a husband(almost 40) .

I live smack bang between Canterbury and Dover (along the A2) Not far from you lot. my kids are 12 and 8 and a DH of 43.

hi i live in canterbury and have a 4 year old son and daughter who is just coming up to 10 months!

Hi Jenjins. I think we must be living in parallel universes. I live just outside Canterbury (Boughton) and have DS almost 4 and DD 10mth .....

hi squiffy how funny!! mine dd was born in september, dont tell me your dd was born at the william harvey too!

I wish - they were full so we had to go to QEQM. Saying that they were great - the only real concern is that DD now has 'Margate' as her place of birth...oh the shame...may as well give her a kiss-me-quick hat and a pint of jellied eels

DD is a year old on the 18th. And your DD's birthday?

hi there again. my dd is 1 on the 19th september!! my waters broke on the 17th but after 54hrs still only 2cm so had to have yet another section. i remember them being full when i was in but they still had plently of time for you especially helping to bf etc. its funny how so many of us think oh no not margate on passport! not sure if have anymore but would go back again.

We should have a meet-up over the summer maybe....we have probably passed each other in soft play areas/swimming pools a million times... I had a CS this time and am a big fan - soooooo much better than the 48 hr/syntocinin nightmare that I had with DS (see? we are definately in parallel universes).

absolutely. you're probably right about crossing paths. i work tuesdays and fridays and we tend to go to playgym at kingsmead on monday and wednesdays but has become boring now and so much better to be outside this time of year. the beach is great for ds and his scooter! is your ds starting school this september? mine is but they seem so young but he is definately ready after being at nursery 3 days a weeks since 13 months. right about the synto, bloody lethal stuff. it hyper stimulated my uterus with ds birth and gave me 4 mins contractions so he was severely distressed hence the section. They did offer me a lower dose this time but no way was i chancing that rubbish again.

I work in Londons Mon-Thurs. we do Kingsmead beach first thing Sunday mornings when it is quiet... but in the summer we tend to go to the Faversham outdoor pool instead - highly recommended if you've never been - 2 playpools for the kids and grassy area to lay out and sunbathe. Gets very busy but worth it - you can take the buggies out there and take picnics etc (though they also have a large cafe). I love being where we live in the summer - what with the oyster festival a couple of weeks ago and the fun fair in Herne Bay this week makes entertaining the kids much easier. Still in two minds over whether to book up the panto at the Marlowe for this year - took DS last year and it was a disaster - I had DS demanding to leave within 20 minutes!

DS starts at Junior Kings in September - cannot believe it has come round so quickly. There will be tears and tantrums no doubt.

yes i have been before to faversham pool but it was years ago but my work colleague goes often and ive just been unable to go so far this year. mind you the weather has not been great either. i have taken ds to see fireman sam before at the marlowe which was cringeable!

my brother went to kings too!! my parents owned a restaurant opposite the mint yard gate for thirty years but sold in 2003 when ds was born. whats your son like at putting his shoes on and wiping his bum? mine just doesnt want to know. i have visions of him with his PE kit around the wrong way getting change for games and a stinking bum!

DS has got the clothes and bum thing both sorted out, but I do feel as if I am throwing him to the wolves, especially as he went for an open afternoon and was terrified He came running back to me crying and after 2 days I found out the reason... the teacher in his class only has one arm and because of this he is 'scared' of her..... the poor mite thought that maybe his own arm might drop off one day .

Which school is your DS going to be starting at? I went to St Stephens when I was at Primary and loved it...

oh the poor thing!! have to admit there is a funny side of it too. you cant blame him for thinking that though. i watched a bit of child of our time last night and i thought god what a horrible mum i can be. im paranoid to do anything now.

my ds is starting three weeks today at blean as we are only a mile away. i did go and see st stephens which i liked a lot but i felt was a bit too mumsy for my ds. at blean there seemed to be a bit more structure which he needs, other that a kick up the backside!!! to be honest didnt have clue what to look for when visted the schools its just Blean felt right.

Blean has v good reputation I know - a friend of mine will I think be sending her DS there next year, and I know she has spent yonks doing some st stephens/blean/st peters comparison.

I know Blean well - I grew up in Rough Common, and the Blean Hare & Hounds there used to be my local (mainly because you couldn't get away with underage drinking in the Dog & Bear in Rough Common ).

sorry jenjins, this is squiffy here - did a quick name change yesterday to hunt down some medical info annonomously (so shhhh, don't tell!)... will go and switch name back now!

i see was slightly confused!! have you been to that great farm play area opposite the hare and hounds on the hill. we go quite often as it near home and you can buy food and drink and take it to the play area x

No - didn't know it existed. Will try it out next time I'm in the area. I work up in London 4 days a week so rareky have the time to investigate local places, so thanks for the tip

happy 1st birthday to your dd!! mine dd is tomorrow? hows you son getting on at school. my ds fortunately is loving in, not suprised as he only going two hours a day!! x

Oh, sorry - completely missed your message until today. My DS seems to have settled in to school OK though I am never sure - he is always telling me that he has decided not to go to school any more, but seems quite happy when I take him there. The only problem we've had so far is when he came back one day and when he was in the bath he said "Mummy, is this my penis?" and I said yes. Then in a totally distraught manner he said "But Mummy, you told me it was called a willy!"

So now he knows: it is a penis when he is at school and a willy when he is at home. Can't wait to see what they say when my DD goes there and tells them about her fanjo.

How funny but how did penis come up at school?!

Let's hope it didn't 'come up' at school...

I think it all came about when he went to the loo. I've also noticed that now he stands up to do his weeing which he never did before, no matter how much I asked him to, so I guess the peer pressure is kicking in...

And how about your boy? Has he mastered the bum wiping that you were worried about (I have this horror myself of one day finding skid marks in DS's pants from forgetting to wipe)

It's harvest festival today and all the parents are invited but i'm stuck at work - so DH has been ordered to attend, whcih is great but I am hoping he isn't sat next to the teacher in the pews or anything - we were at a church wedding and I was totally mortified by his lack of church etiquette - he didn't know the tune to "all things bright and beautiful" (Scottish education - apparantly they didn't have hymns in school or anything).. I have a suspicion we might (rightly) be outed as the damned heathen non-christians of the school . given that our son is now saying prayers at assembly and at lunchtimes, this doesn't bode well for good relations at the parents evening next week...

hi squiffy sorry for delay! my ds has fortunately mastered the bum wiping but since he has started school he now does a poo at 830 at night for some reason. dont think he is saving it up though. thought you'd like to know such information. his class has asked that we bring in some homemade cakes on friday for the jeans for genes day and im thinking do we really have to do this?! i will make them this time but my friend says they often ask for things from home but after a while just dont bother doing them.

I have discovered the best cake recipe in the universe from nigella. DS makes it with me. If I make them with him takes 1/2 hr, if I do it myself it takes about 2 minutes..

If I recall:

1/2 spoon vanilla essence, 125g butter, 125g castor sugar, 175g SR flour, 1tbspn water and two eggs. shove it all in a bowl and whist with a hand blender thing. put into 12 cake papers then into oven at gas mark 6-ish.

You can top with anything though I find easiest just to melt some butter and add icing sugar until suitably gungy, bung it on top and throw on some broken-up buttons...

I find it one of the saddest things that before children I used to make recipes from the River Cafe, Alisatir Little and Masterchef books; since kids the only cookbooks I ever use are the Nigella ones. She may be softporn but I love her stuff.

Hi - I'm also new to mumsnet - I live in Barham with two girls of 1 and 2 and would love to get chatting to some other local mums with little ones! Particuarly people who have some new ideas on what to do on cold wet days this winter in Kent!