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

[SaffyCat]

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.

Wasn't me, I've been away at my parents for a few days, only got back a couple of hours ago! I bet the woman you saw had black hair didn't she?

Umm..not sure. I was driving past, looked at 1) the buggy (oooh look a p+t..I love my p+t) and then 2) the children (ooh cute children..oooh 3 cute children) - didn't get round to looking at mum's hair - hee hee.
If you see a ugly turquiose mini-people mover in the Debden road area then it's going to be me! Give me a wave

I survived the school pick-up again today, and had a whole sentence spoken to me by another mum (despite me being a scruffy, windswept, pink cheeked, non-make up wearing, stresspot - with v badly fitting rolled up jeans and old T shirt (and I wore that to work too - having a bit of a laundry problem). So I'm on a high now. Might even try to say hello to one of them next time

Do you locals buy clothes in SW? Any recommendations for clothes shops for a non-designer, non-standard shaped woman? I've walked past a few 'boutiques' but don't want to enter anything too ummm...fancy ;} At the moment I am the only jeans wearer boarding the train..it makes me larf.

can i just ask what is a P +T - i have no idea

i don't normally buy for me locally but i went into that new shop Gun Hill yesterday and bought a few things - the ladies in there are really helpful and very friendly

Bishop Stortford has got some clothes shops but i am afrain i am an M & S girl and i shop at a little shop in loughton - i am such a short arse that i can't buy from amny shops

i know i know about the school thing - we have entered into a contract and have to pay a year (my mum has agreed to pay the first one) the problem for me is that i trained to be a teacher before i became a trader and i am obsessed with schools and the 'perfect' teaching etc. etc. i look at it from a different angle than my husband who is non teaching and become obsessed ove rthe slightest little things.

today i spent the best part of 4 hours on the internet looking at SATS results, OFSTED inspections etc. Dame B's only achieve slightly more than Elsenham where he has been given but both Dame B's and Elsenham achieve a lot higher than RAB - oh my God it is taking over my life, why can't i just let go and accept that he will be part of a large class

Buggy!

Mayhem and shop at top of High Street, can't remember what it's called, up by Woolworth's is nice for clothing.

P+t is Phil and Teds buggy (either E3 or the new Sport)- the double 3 wheeler where the littl'un sits on an add-on seat under the main seat. They are fab.

Thanks for the recommendations - will try to have a look round this weekend.

ES - Blimey a whole year commitment - we only have 1 term's at Fs. You only need to read down this thread to see how obsessed I got with schools when moving here..I'm trying to keep in mind that it's my child I care about rather than the whole school's results. The trauma of seeing your 'baby' go off to school is bad enough, let alone the worry over whether it's the right school for them. You have my sympathy.

For some reason I seem to keeep messing up my postings and finding that they are not making it to the page. aaarrgggh!

Twoboys - would be good to meet up, I'm free Monday to Wednesday next week - if any one else is....?

You can remind me of all the merits of the P & T that I saw vehemntly rejected when I had my second child, in favour of a huge double buggy. Now somehow the decision seems somewhat flawed! . It hardly ever makes it out of the garage as I usually carry daughter in a sling and take a single buggy.

but if you'd have been living here when you decided there'd have been no contest, the pavements are so bloomin' narrow, there is no way I'd have coped with a side by side! I even have to zig zag across the road to get the P&T down!

I'm available after school time on tues - anyone up for a coffee (Laura? 2boys? ES?) Will have hyper 5 yr old ds and 3.5yr old dd along.

Laura - I'm going to sell my (beloved) P+T so let me know if you would be interested

Sorry, I can't make it. We are usually out after nursery on a Tuesday. Mornings are def better for us.

I work all mornings (and most afternoons). Ho hum..I shall continue to stare at mums with red P+t's then ;)

You'll def see me during the school run on Thursday am. I usually get caught up in the Friends traffic, trying to zig zag my way across the road , looking stressed and probably telling ds not to keep singing at the top of his vocie!

can't do tues as we are off to Italy tomorrow - it always seems like such a good idea to book a holday and then when it comes around and you have to pack etc. i always think i cna't be bothered and can see why people take their caravans to suffolk

would love to do coffee when i return we get back 20th so let me know if anyone is meeting.

we had to buy a new pushcahir today - had to rush up to John Lewis at 3pm as the tyre on my pushchair had blown out and we are leaving the house at 5am - no time to buy a new one. DH tried to fix the puncutre but there wasn't one it just kept deflating.

anyway we got a end of line M&P lying flat thingy that is so light that i have decied to ditch my other one when we return and use this one. They weren't going to let em take it away but i told them that my current one had been stolen, i had baby in arms and turned on the water works to let them give me the display one

Shame we can't find a time to suit everyone - any other suggestions...?

Twoboys - What time is good for you on Tuesday...? I could meet you at the common for the children to have a quick play, or a coffee..?

Milarkie - I could meet you for a quick coffee after school? What time is that exactly? (I have a nine month old and a twenty-eight months old so nothing is leisurely anymore!!)

Laura Tuesdays and Thursdays are generally bad for me. Tuesday mornings I hit the gym, then in the afternoon ds has nursery. I usually meet friends after that for an hour before dinner. Thursdays ds is at nursery in the morning and I hit the gym in the afternoon.

I'd strongly recommend you check out the Parent centre tomorrow or Thursday morning before term ends. You can make a few acquaintances before the long summer holidays begin, you'll also find out about a lot of the activities over the hols. There is a Teddy toy Library fete coming up very soon but I can't remember when.....

Okee-Dokee. I'm back to work next week so it's my dp who has the Summer ahead of him (lucky bugger!)

Are you looking forward to it? What do you do? FT or PT?

I sometimes wish I could go back to work

I'll be doing a three month full-time stint, just so I don't have to pay back my maternity leave. Then I'll be resigning to be a full-time start at home mummy (eek!!).

I'm an Early Years Development Manager for a council. They know of my intentions to quit so I'm going back to do some project work rather than manage my team again, so I'm quite looking forward to it on one hand. But it's a lot of upheaval and I feel a bit lost at the momment: neither fully opart of the working world or established here at home. I think I'll be able to throw myself at SW ciommunity life etc. once this period is over.

I know what you mean about work. I really have always enjoyed my work and am still toying with doing an MA while I'm off. But another part of me is looking foreward to the freedom for a couple of years. I guess it would be good to keep an open mind. They mentioned maybe offering me bits of consultancy work if I was interested..so we'll see.

You sound as if you have a pretty full life without work ("work" in the conventional snese of course!!) This is often the most gruelling/challenging job I've done trying to live up to standards as mother.

Where did you work beforehand? Are you planning to go back when the children go to school or are you plannning more family??

Sounds good!

Me, I used to work in equities as a Business Development Manager (although most people would associate it with Product Management). I loved it. I loved everything about it but I can't see me going back to the city and doing those hours. We made a decision that one of us would quit work and put our careeers on hold, and as I was the main earner it was going to be dh. I didn't envisage how much I'd fall in love with my babies and so we decided to change lifestyles a little and dh continued to work and I gave up. I miss the mental stimulation, the adult company and the everyday challenges associated with work. I hate having no identity. People see me as a mum, and rarely believe you were anything other than that before you had kids. But, I do enjoy being at home and a mum, and it's not at all lonely here as it was in London. The daily challenges of a 15 month and 3.5 year old keep me very busy!

Sorry Laura - didn't see your offer of meeting for coffee until too late (dh 'stole' the internet to sort out car insurance).
Good luck with your return to work. I went back because I couldn't hack the pressure as a stay at home mum (although I've always worked some sort of part-time hours since having a family)..so i take my hat off to both of you

Milarkie - no problem. I'm sure that we will all manage a get together at some point in the future. Either that or we shall iadvertently come across one another - Saffron Walden just isn't big enough to hide in I guess!!
I wonder if I too will be wanting to keep my foot in the working world once I get back to it. I'm doing a lot of preparatory reading at the moment and it's whetting my appetite somewhat. Although on hot days like these, there's no competition really is there? I wouldn't put me down for any mother of the year awards though!! . My friends who work full-time seem to do a much better job!

i'm back form Italy and have read the bits about stay at home mums, i take my hat off to you both, i am going back to work because it is easier than staying at home - i remember when i left for mat leave and all the office said i would be off for the summer - ha!

oh yeah and i am never going on holiday again (well at least not out of the country) what a nightmare, i won't bore you all with my whinging but i will mention that dreadful airline not the orange one the other Irish one - 15 hour delay need i say any more

Hey! I have broadband again
Sorry to hear about your flight delay ES. We still haven't decided on where to go this year, let alone booked it (kind of typical of me and dh though). And I still haven't arranged any sort of party for ds's birthday . Can anyone recommend any party locations - I was originally thinking of using our house, but we still haven't sorted out the garden toys and I would have to hover so am now looking for a venue that isn't all booked up. Anyone been to a party at the leisure centre?

Yes! Both were for 1st birthdays
Have the pool to yourselves for an hour then, into the hall for softplay.

Coconuts do parties, here also Cheeky monkeys in Fulbourn.

No holidays here this year

Hello Millarkie

Re: party venues

There's a place in Great Chishill - its actually an outdoor toy display/shop but they do kids parties too - been to one there myself which was a great success and we ended up buying a trampoline AND a climbing frame... (at least the kids will be occupied this summer!) Take a look at the website: www.jumpoutdoortoys.co.uk

can recommend the outdoor place - we bought a climbing frame from them and DS1 had his party there - great place.

no holidays sounds great to me - seriously two buggies, two car seats, milk powder, clothes, toys, suitcases, 90 degrees and a Ryanair flight NEVER AGAIN - Cornwall it is for me