Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Meet-ups

When meeting up take sensible precautions. Meet in a public place and let others know where you are going.

Original poster

*Moving to Saffron Walden, Essex , in August - does anyone live nearby?*

548 replies

SaffyCat · 31/07/2006 23:05

I am moving from Surrey to Saffron Walden in mid-August with my husband, 7yr old son and 1yr old daughter. We don't know anyone in the area yet and I would love to meet other local mums (am happy to drive a few miles) and also to find out about toddler groups/recomended family activities.

OP posts:
2boysmacca · 10/05/2007 18:43

Good luck tomorrow.

I'm off out to a pliates class. Really can't be ar*ed!

Millarkie · 10/05/2007 19:43

Have fun

2boysmacca · 10/05/2007 21:02

It might have been fun had I not done an hour of torture at the gym earlier on today!

englishspringer · 10/05/2007 21:04

Ok need some advice - my little one sleeps all night no problems but i can't get him to ba wake during the day. He is 5 weeks old now and i want to start to get him into a routine and i cannot wake him up for love nor money - how do i wake him up - i have tried undressing, topping and tailing etc. he stirs wakes up and then falls right back to sleep - HELP

2boysmacca · 10/05/2007 21:13

Erm if he sleeps during the day, and sleeps fine at night.....why are you wanting to change? Remember they still need to sleep around 18-20 hours a day.

2boysmacca · 10/05/2007 21:15

Btw Ds2 has just recently stopped his morning sleep (he is 14 months old) He used to wake around 5.30, go back to bed at 8am, wake at 10, go back doen at 12.30, wake about 3.00 and then go back down at 6.30.

He now wakes at 4.30 sleeps from about 11.30 'til 3.30 then bed by 6.30. Give or take 15/30 mins each sleep.

2boysmacca · 10/05/2007 21:18

I won't post anymore, honest.....but just wondering how Center Parcs was?

Millarkie · 10/05/2007 22:48

Not envying you the early wake up! - but been there, done that with both of my 2 (another reason for stopping at 2)

ES - I found it easier to work on getting into a routine myself and hope baby would eventually fit in to it.- ie. take child 1 out after breakfast for couple of hours, home for lunch, quiet time after lunch (to encourage napping), then a run around in pm before tea...I found maternity leave really hard though (mind you, ds had sleep apnea and woke every couple of hours, and dd managed to wake in the hours inbetween).
I'm sure at 5 weeks I was spending all evening bfeeding and most of the day feeling miserable - I'm sure you're doing better than that!

englishspringer · 11/05/2007 19:52

oh thanks for the advice - i just feel like everyone else i talk to has babies who wake up at 7, feed, go back to sleep at 8.30 sleep for an hour wake up, feed, have a little play do teh two hour lunch nap thing - you get my meaning and my little man sleeps all night but i tell you i start the bedtime routine at 5pm and he is still feeding now - i breast feed him for an hour and a half and then he drinks 4oz/120mls of formula. oh i don't know

anyway Centerparcs was so fab - i love it there and wish i could go more often - G loved the pool, the bikes etc. and we didn't spend that much as we cooked in due to the baby. i did a lot of sitting on the sofa feeding, sitting in the park feeding, sitting on the poolside feeding - you get the picture.

well G has started a pre-school today - the Wendens Ambo one (well it is in Arksden) he loved it and has now made a few friends.

Millarkie · 11/05/2007 22:13

Hope George enjoys pre-school. Have you still got your fab au pair? And how's the building work?

Millarkie · 12/05/2007 13:09

Just a thought ES - are the local authority going to pay for transport for G to get to school and back? I know that when we looked into schools for ds we were told that since there were no spaces at RAB the LEA would pay for a taxi to take him to a school with a place, since the other children have a bus from the village to RAB.

englishspringer · 13/05/2007 19:30

well no apparently not and also at Elsenham he can't start full time until after Christmas - yikes what am i going to do?

Do you think that that rule is fixed - you know do you think that he can go in September?

aupair has gone - missing her loads! but she had to go back to France for her studies.

2boysmacca · 13/05/2007 19:38

that's the same with all the schools here. The younger ones only do part time for the first term.

Millarkie · 13/05/2007 23:41

OMG Part-time for a term, and I thought ds's school was bad enough with 3 weeks run-up rather than the usual 2 for this area - how the heck do families with 2 working parents cope?

Shame about the au pair. We are going to try to do without until the summer hols and see how dire it is. If we ever move that is!

Really hoping that we exchange tomorrow, otherwise dh wants to move the completion date daily which is going to be confusing and awful. And I can't believe that my first post on this thread was last July!

USAUKMum · 14/05/2007 16:58

Most Essex schools have only the one intake. So the younger children do half day until Jan. Here in Stortford we are Herts and have 2 intakes, so the younger ones don't start until Jan. So my DS starts nursery this coming Jan and full time in Jan 2009. (which sounds far away, but probably will feel like it is around the corner).

But if you work full time you need someone to do pick up and watch kids until you get home anyway, so they just get them a couple hours earlier. Only really a pain when you have one in school already.

Millarkie · 14/05/2007 17:31

In our area there is only one intake - in september, and most schools do 2 weeks half days only (half the year do mornings and the other half afternoons) and then straight into full days.

The term of half days is impossible if, like me, you work school hours so you can pick your kids up yourself. Would have to find a childminder just for that term (which would never have worked with ds, at least we only have more sociable dd to worry about). Doesn't surprise me though - we are expecting to put dd into school nursery for 5 full (school length) days, and although the school offers this when I rang to check the woman was aghast that I would leave a 'baby' (almost 4 year old) so long in school.

englishspringer · 14/05/2007 20:19

I spoke with the head teacher today and said that i want him to go full time in September and that we have organised child care around the fulltime and that i am working and we cna't pick him up at 12 every day for a term - she said she will speak to the governors and come back to me on Friday!

I am going to be paying for DS2 to go to nursery full time and now i need to pay for someone to pick DS1 up and look after him - he has been ready to go to school full time for ages, he has been reading and writing for about a year and needs school - aaarrrgghh

oh yeah can anyone tell me how to get my smiley faces working again?

englishspringer · 14/05/2007 20:19

:-)

Millarkie · 14/05/2007 20:32

To get the smilies to work - take out the nose '-'

I can recommend a local nanny who is happy to work part-time if necessary if that might be cheaper than nursery for ds2 and after-school care for ds1.
At least the school are looking into it for you.

We didn't exchange contracts again today - supposedly, by the time my solicitor got out of a meeting and rang the others, one of the others had gone home early It has to happen tomorrow morning or we can't get a moving van booked in time. Dh was up at 3am US time (um..11ish here I think) to ring people and pester them (didn't trust me to do it, although I had tried today)..so we are all knackered but in different time zones.

2boysmacca · 14/05/2007 20:37

OMG. Are you actually going to pay the solicitors?

Millarkie · 14/05/2007 20:49

If we weren't so damn near exchange we would be off to use another firm (my best friend is a conveyancer but thought that she was too far away to use - as it is she has been giving us great advice by telephone and can't believe the way we have been treated by our solicitor)
It should have been so simple today - pick up phones, ring other 2 solicitors, say 'exchange contracts' - ring a delighted millarkie....instead we had - 'solicitor is in a meeting all morning, will ring this pm' then 'solicitor is seeing a client', then 'solicitor is on the phone' then 'solicitor tried to ring buyer's solicitor but she goes home at 3pm on Mondays'

Actually we 've had one major delay caused by the seller's solicitor doing something daft, about a month added on by buyer's solicitor being over-anxious and demanding, and this past week by our solicitor being too jobsworthy (I think) and too busy to answer the phone...so the blame is evenly spread along the chain.

Can't believe this might be ds's last week at this school and we can't even tell him to say goodbye to his friends yet (and don't have time to organise a party). Last day of current nannyshare tomorrow, and last day of current nanny on Thursday..and no replacement on the horizon in London so we have to move!

ES - if you get a RAB place over the next couple of months you're going to have to go through the whole 'ask the guv'nors' thing again aren't you - you poor thing, must be v. stressful.

englishspringer · 15/05/2007 13:37
Smile
englishspringer · 15/05/2007 13:38

;)

Millarkie · 15/05/2007 16:03

Yippee, we have finally exchanged - but solicitors secretary isn't sure of completion date . She thinks 23rd but we had asked for 22nd. Estate agents think it's 22nd. Solicitor's secretary said she'd look into it - then rang me back to tell me to ring and ask tomorrow! I have to book the removals van and I'm not sure what date to aim for ....ARGHHH

Now, going to distract myself by looking at pictures of climbing frames with ds, as buying one for the new garden is our top priority (according to ds)

2boysmacca · 15/05/2007 16:47

We just bought one from Hanchett Toys. Take a look at their website. It's only about a 15 min drive from us