Being a Pommy mum for the summer

[Sarochenka]

Hello,

My name is Sarah and I'm a Kiwi. We're going to be spending the (UK) summer in Luton, my husband's hometown. Yes, I've been there with him before, and know just how magical it is (ha ha).

Now we have a six-month-old daughter and I'd be grateful for answers to these questions.

• What are the cheapest decent-quality nappies and wipes? We can't use our cloth ones as we won't have a washing machine.
• Do you have 'Bepanthen' cream over there?
• What is my best bet for getting a baby bath and such? Online now (would it arrive there by Thursday?) or in a shop? Looking at amazon.co.uk, your bath stuff does seem miles cheaper than here in NZ.
• We are taking loads of clothes, but where can you get really special summer dresses from?

Plus any other advice would be much appreciated. I don't have any friends over there and my husband's friends' wives are older and have older children, I think, so I'm not sure what we'll do all day.

Cheers!

It would never occur to me to be offended by 'Pommy'!

However, I do think you're living in a dream world thinking we'll actually get some nice summer weather to wear pretty dresses . Our summer happened in April this year .

It's got bugger all to do with that catch-all PC and everything to do with respect. Don't be so dense.

IIRC there is a babies R us in the industrial park next to the airport. Might be useful for baby bath etc.

I would also suggest looking in the supermarkets for nice baby clothes, I have got lovely dresses from Tesco and Sainsbury's.
Which Nappies are best does seem to vary with the baby (I had one who was great in Pampers but Huggies leaked, and another where the reverse was true.)
In fact from what I've heard, hold off buying anything before you come, and buy here. Luton is very multi-cultural so I would suggest you are very careful, there has also been racial tension there (minor really) so I'd suggest that you do listen to everyone who warns you about respect and language.

BTW Scots can be casually racist, even forgetting that I'm English when they rage about how awful the English are, but they are also lovely people on the whole. But in England, especially southern England, it is best to listen to English sensibilities. People's awareness is heightened, and if your DP has been away for sometime he may not be as sensitive to connotations as a local.

Hi! Don't know Luton but Harpenden (south) is probably worth a visit on a nice day. Lovely park (southern end) if you like walking , shops ( including Jojomamabebe) and cafes. Often bump into other mums in the park. Buses and trains from Luton and Luton parkway.
St Albans - verulam park - remains of roman town and bits of wall, cafe (Inn on the park IIRC), play ground abbey church (with cafe and change facilities) water mill with waffle house, ducks stream and separate paddling pool ( might be closed still?). Roman museum. Often lively on a Sunday afternoon.

"Scots can be casually racist" .

Well im sure your right mummytime as there is only about 50 people in Scotland so a sweeping statement is pretty fair. I pretty much represnet the majority !

It's funny though as one of our couple friends are Asian and moved from England to Scotland to get away from all the racism there and their girls are now very happy in Scotland as the school is so much more friendly, relaxed and welcoming as are all the new friends they have made. Im only quoting them though. Don't take it as a sweeping statement.

My English friends seem very happy here too which is surprising that since accoring to you the Scots are in an awful rage about the English (or could that just be a bunch of bald halfwit football hooligans you have seen on the TV ).

Yes, sarah, it's best to listen to English sensibilities, use no common sense and fear saying the wrong thing..............

OR, you could just go with your instinct and realise that it is how you say things and in what manner ie
"oi you Pommy bas*ard" - NOT ACCEPTABLE

"Hi, My name is Sarah and Im a Kiwi" "im going to be a pommy mum for the summer" - ACCEPTABLE.

Is racism not when you are calling people nasty names in a nasty manner and not when someone is being friendly and innocently saying something?

I didn't see any of you jumping up and down when she called herself a kiwi!

Yes, it must be different in England to Scotland, there is nowhere near the racial tension here it seems.

quickchat, you are continuing to shoot yourself in the foot here

I think I did politely mention that we wouldnm't call her a kiwi?

Quickchat I lived in Scotland and have Scottish friends (or used to:) ). But also heard a surprising amount of racism. Admittedly the worst racism I encountered in Scotland was from a man from Jamaica. I encountered a lot of anti-English feeling, although often it was forgotten that I was English (or they thought I was just Posh).

Where in Scotland did you live mummytime?

I live in Edinburgh and I don't get the 'anti English' feeling at all.

I do know some posh Scottish people too , I know, who knew .

To make myself clearer though - I did find the post funny in the first place (although it is wearing thin with me now) because of how innocently and obviously friendly the OP was with her wording and yet Political Correctness was jumping down her throat and it went over her head.

Do we really need to take offence to EVERYTHING without reading the situation or the manner in which something is said.

I wouldn't knowingly hurt someones feelings or dislike someone for their race or colour.

I also wouldn't take a good humoured remark at being called a Jock by an English friend if I knew they meant no harm.

I hate over PC.

Going to ignore the whole random tangent away from your question OP, whatever, you all think too much.

I live not too far from Luton, have not much call to go there really but yes it's not pleasant. If you have access to a car, Milton Keynes is much better for shopping even if it is just a shopping centre. There is a Mothercare, John Lewis, Next all in the centre where you can get nice outfits, Monsoon do a great girl range but is pricey - sales start in July and often everything goes half price.

I think there is a Tesco Extra in Dunstable and they do everything you need in there, tesco own brand wipes for under £1 a pack, food, toys etc.

Enjoy your trip over here, the summer weather won't be as nice as yours though!

Bought a lovely dress for dd for a wedding from TKMaxx recently - beautiful and only a tenner. Not sure if there's one in Luton, but if there is it's worth a look, they're usually £20+ in monsoon and they don't wear them for long.