Help I need some friends in islington!

[momochan1974]

Hi everyone. I am a mum here from the States for three months and am looking for some other mums with children about the same age who I can meet and spend time with. I two girls, 5 and 2 years old. My older daughter loves to have friends, both boys and girls and is lonely now that she is not in school! my e-mail is [email protected].
please get in touch

Hi again, just wanted to bring this to the top in a last ditch attempt!

Hi Momochan1974,
I'm not in your area, sorry !
You may get more responce today, weekends are sometimes quite, quiet.
Good luck.

You found somewhere to stay then?

For your 5yo, I guess it will be more difficult as most children here are in school now until, at the earliest, the first week of July - most schools break up around mid-July.

Have you tried your local NCT? Phone 0870 444 8707 to find details of your local branch or look on the NCT website . If the branch has a local newsletter, it will may have details of local groups and activities. NCT is mainly based around babies but some branches run 'toddler' groups.

You could take to visiting the museums - we sometimes used to get chatting to people there. In the basement of the Science Museum is an area especially for younger children and there are often mums and children in there. Get in quick though as school trips are thick and fast this half term so the museums get crowded.

The Natural History Museum has a dinosaur area that both children may enjoy. I first too my DD when she was about 2, I think.

My brain seems to be somewhat lacking in function this morning (I blame two nights of less than five hours sleep) but if I think of anything later, I'll post again.

We're in Nottingham which isn't a million miles away but is still around 2 hours by train so not practical to pop round for a coffee

Hope you find some local friends soon.

Hi momochan we used to live in London and it can seem scary the thought of ever making friends when there is such a huge amount going on a round you all the time. Try St Stephens Church on Canonbury Road noticeboard for playgroups. Like SueW says the Hackney and Islington NCT is very active so they should be able to point you in the right direction. Try Also Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood and the Jeffrye Museum (they have a great programm for kids activities )on Kingsland Road. Get Time Out magazine as it has listings for kids and families and go to the play park at Highbury Fields (there is a swimming pool there as well)
Sorry we dont live there any more. Good Luck and have fun.

Hi momochan - hate to think of you lonely! Not sure of the older one but there is a very busy one o'clock club in Clissold Park most days, just turn up and play with toys and other kids. (If you don't have them in the States they are social clubs really.) Nice in good weather.

I'm not a million miles from you so will email you private-like.

I have just sent you an email as I would love to meet up with you and the kids for a coffee.

I'm not local either . Have you tried looking to see if there is a netmums site for your area ? They have details of what's on locally and a whole stack of other information which may help you.

Crescendo (a UK version of Gymboree) and Rucksack Music are both in your area. You might meet people thru taking your 2-yr-old to classes such as those while 5-yr-old is in school. You're so lucky to live in Islington, btw. Great part of London.

Thanks so much.
I will check out all those things,like the park and bullitin board. I am not sure I am up for classes, I had hoped to leave those behind in the states, but at this point I am open to anything. Thanks SueW. We did find a place, though I wished I could have helped choose, my husband has been living the single life working here and the apartment shows it. I knew mumsnet would help!

I used to live in Islington, then in Leyton, before we did the big escape. Anyway there is a mother and baby group that has outdoor play facilities in Victoria park. My baby was too young but my friend used to go and in this weather she thought it was fantastic. Not sure but I think it was called the one o'clock club and it was on Tuesdays. If you have a car there is one of the park roads that is free parking. Good luck

Have you tried Highbury Fields? There's a huge playground and sandpit down the Highbury Crescent end by the swimming pool. Also at that end of Highbury Crescent is HomeStart, a charity designed to help mums with PND or just feeling stuck or lonely. Contact them and they'll tell you which morning they meet at the sandpit (used to be Tuesdays I think). The organisers will be able to introduce you to some local mums.

There's a 1 o'clock club in Highbury Fields too, the white hut to the left of the cafe if you were approaching from the Highbury Grove side. Don't know if it does start at 1.00pm tho', sorry.

And a No. 19 bus will take you from Angel/Islington Green (the big batch of bus stops outside Virgin store) to Finsbury Park Station, go in the park at the Seven Sisters Road entrance, opposite KFC and on the left as you walk up the hill you'll see the Jamboree (?spelling) Play Huts. That's really nice with lovely toys, art and craft and shady outside play area. Open every day, 10.30-12.00 and 1.30 to 3.00.