a good slapping!!!!

[bea]

noooo! not children!!! we don't want to stir up that hornets nest do we!!!

no i mean hands up if you feel those Sheer Blonde Girls "alex and Brit" need a good slapping! i have never been so irritated by an advert and find them incredibley frightening!... do people like this really exist?... i fear they have been to sulky smoulder school to perfect their stares to the camera!!!

or horrors of horrors.... does it really mean i yearn for 'sheer blonde' hair! and am just jealous!

I don't think so!!!

who else do you think deserves a good slapping!!!???

I nominate Dean Friedman who was on Jonathan Ross this morning. Why does he bother, he is so sh**e. And he should shave that stupid moustache off as well.
And Noddy, as I think he is a very rude little boy, and he wouldn't get sixpence from me for anything!
So I'm in a nice mood today then!

I did have a soft spot for Dean Friedman - can't say why. But he was doing a kid's show at the Lowry in Manchester and there were no concessions for kids!!! Gone off him.

And Gaby Roslin likes Dean Friedman too, and if there weren't enough reasons already to slap her, that's another one!

bettys - don't know about you, but I laughed my xxxx off at Jezza.

Dean Friedman's not still doing the rounds, is he? I thought they'd locked him up and thrown away the key years ago after he produced that absolute pile of drivel, Lucky Stars. How I HATE that song!

Salalex, did someone get out of bed on the wrong side today? What has poor Noddy ever done to you?

Sofia, my husband, spork, will want to know why you have to have two SUVs.

Does anyone else have a husband that threatens regularly and/or does post on mumsnet despite repeated warnings?

jj, did i get it right, spork is your husband and he has hijacked your computer to post on mumsnet? I wish my husband was that enterprising....he can barely figure out how to turn on my computer and is forever hassling me to look things up online for him.
Please tell your husband that the 2nd gas guzzler is not an suv, but a '64 plymouth valiant convertible and is only driven as an occasional treat as it is a vintage car and is forever needing repairs (luckily my best friend in la is a car mechanic). Here in the uk I drive a Hyundai Amica which is just about the teensiest 5 door you can get and I adore it.

Oh Sofia you are so lucky! I am so jealous, I've always wanted a classic American car...when I was 17 (20 years ago!) I'd just sold a motorbike for £600 and I saw a '59 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado for sale for £650. Could I raise that extra £50? No! I was only a poor student at the time, just think what that car would be worth now either here or in the States!

Actually MandyD, they aren't that expensive as long as you stay away from the really popular ones like mustangs etc.. I paid $3,500 for mine (which is probably the present day value of $650)...it was a birthday present to myself. The problem is all the money that goes into keeping them working. In 5 years I've had the push button transmission replaced and rebuilt twice, the steering column rebuilt, the entire electrical system (not that much to it) replaced and the list goes on. Finding parts is a project in itself. But as i mentioned before, at least I get the labor done for free.

SofiaAmes, ah, now that makes a lot more sense.

Yup, I've got to claim spork as my husband.

i nominate journalists who write stupid, misogynistic "superwoman" or "having it all" - how i loathe that expression! - articles in the national press.

i suppose "women just getting on with managing both work and home - children well adjusted" just doesn't sell those papers in the same way, does it?

True, BossyKate

\\SLAAAAAP//// to people who do that!

Actually, add anyone who uses the word "juggle" or balancing act as well!

Next - for selling children's clothes in size 12-18 months and then 2 years. Err do they go naked between 18 and 24 months?? The shop assistant told me that they had stopped that size. So I bought my 16.5 month old son the 2yr shirt which is miles too big and I now have to take it back and decide whether to bother with the 12-18 month.

Lots of shops do 2-3 years and then 4-5 years which really annoys me - how can clothes for a 2 year old still fit a child who is approaching 4. Three and a half seems to be a real no-mans land in clothes shopping.

what's worse is that there seems to be no consistancy at all in the sizing even within one store. My ds (18 mo.) wears 2T shirts (baggy, but barely fit over his large head), but 18-24 mo. trousers (legs always too long, but waist just right) from h&m. Yet the 2T gap pj's I just bought him for next winter, barely fit him now. Although he is considered completely average in size and weight, he has never fit clothes labeled for his age!

I think it is time that clothes manufacturers realised that not all children are the same shape or size and started offering tall or short options. We have always had difficulty with waist sizes/leg lengths never both fitting at the same time. I don't think they realise that nappies take up so much space either and that not all 2 year olds are ready for slimmer fitting trousers.

My DD lives in leggings which are generally fine (except for the ones which shrunk in the wash and she never got her wear out of them).

Don't think it gets any easier as they get older.

Many styles of boy's trousers stop having elasticated waists from age 7/8. Sports trousers and baggies are OK, but try buying a pair of normal jeans for an 8 year old with a bit of a tummy.

I just wish that the E.U. would standardize clothes and shoe sizes for children and adults. Don't know what would happen with American shops like Gap and Gymboreee though. And, why is that Baby Gap sizes are tiny but the Gap Kids clothes are meant for giants?

Talking of clothes, I would like to nominate Next and Gap for making children's clothes and using poor kids in Third World countries to make them in appauling conditions for pittance. Shame on them!

Angharad -I've always found Baby Gap clothes tiny! Had to buy age 3 T-shirts for my 1 year-old! I find US clothes in general much smaller than UK ones. So which cothes shops don't use cheap Third World labour? Didn't Next deny that they did, or was that IKEA?

Bozza, my Next branch told me that they have just renamed the 18-24 size as 2, that the clothes are the same as before - just with a different name

Yes they said something like that to me today at the 3rd branch of Next I have vistited in 4 days. Did not have the shirt in 12-18 so have had to get a refund. Last week I had to go running round 3 branches to get DH a top for Father's Day in the right size. So 6 trips to Next in 2 weeks and only 1 item purchased - I still want to slap them!! And I still don't know what DS is going to wear to the Christening I intended the shirt for.

I'm annoyed that I spend a good 15 minutes wandering around the many cosmetics displays in my large branch of Boots looking for my favouite lipstick on the Ulay makeup stand - I then found out they have discontinued all of their makeup in the UK!

Rhubarb

There is a big difference between use of Third World labour (which is not necessarily a bad thing and can be a highly positive thing for the country concerned) and using child labour - any evidence whether GAP, Next etc use the latter?

At risk of starting another long discussion/arguement. Child labor isn't always bad either. In many poorer countries a family couldn't survive if the children didn't work too. They just don't have the luxury of going to school. Instead of just simply saying "no child labor" we (rich nations) would be better off encouraging our companies in poor countries to have programs that combine some amount of mandatory schooling with a job for children. That way they can still help to support their families, but can also have the possibility of a ticket out of poverty. There are some companies already doing this, but I don't know which ones.