The Darling Crepes of May

[CointreauVersial]

My turn......

My bindi intro - I'm London too, tho northeast, unlike most of the capital crepeys, and have a four-year-old son.

As for grey, I suspect my fringe and temples are pretty much silver by now, but combined with my mouses hair and nondescript face I'd suck all colour from a room.. So Nice n Easy dark ash blonde it is...

And yes - QQ is a dreamboat, with silver hair and red lips.

CV, I'm sure your DS has other great qualities. And Go Girls!

And yes QQ is a fantastic role model for silver vixen

Actually BTM I think you should buy it and wear it to the next meet-up. Go on. FGS you HAVE got the figure for it . We could go somewhere really sophisticated

DS has many qualities, unfortunately not academic ones. He wasn't the slightest bit embarrassed at being trounced by his sister, who is four years younger.

On the grey issue, I honestly don't want to do the dying thing. All my grey hair is at the back, so I can't see it (yet). Ask me again in five years time.

Beachy - best of luck with the kitchen roof. It is indeed supposed to be sunny over the next few days, so hopefully you'll be OK.

Crepeys, I am truly touched by your kind words. I go out for the evening and come back to this lovely thread . It was having ds1 that turned me grey! I do like it - it makes wearing a largely monochrome wardrobe very easy and my hair when younger was a very "meh" brown. do think a bit of lippy helps - I can look quite deathly without so usually have some on (and about 50 knocking about in my bag in many variations on red and pink.

Welcome Bindi! Nice to see you sticking around...
High end clothes business sounds good!

And God Hatty, how awful. Heard tonight about someone's dd who is suddenly very unwell in hospital when she is meant to be in the middle of her GCSEs. Definitely a bit of a reality check.

What a quandary, Rudy. Tbh I would have moved at the drop of a hat a few years ago as I love the States, but it's not so simple when you have ailing parents. I think the experience is great for the children (friends did it twice). Whereabouts would it be? Don't write it off, lots to consider.

AND you've just moved!
Bad Timing.

Is it for work, Rudy?

I wouldn't move the kids myself, but that is coloured by my experiences of disruption and more importantly being with my own parents.

Must drop DD1 at school with stuff for trip, having lovingly made DD2 porridge as requested, but also need to get you lot to kick my @rse about holidays about which I have done nothing.

Rudy, blimey.

MI, I am little travelled, but love talking holidays.

Would the DC be able to pick up the courses they are doing there? Exact same syllabus/exam board? Or would they be prepared to re-do Y10 if not?

Hmmm. WRT education, think long and hard - just because of where they are in which stage. (Also it's not always madly fun to leave your own life for a year or two as a child/teen - but again this is v much from my own embittered perspective and I'm sure it's been very different, for instance, for the Schadenfreuleine.) OTOH I personally would give several bodily organs to go to SF and indeed if DP announced we had the chance I would probably ignore all the above and say we were off.

(Confession time. I have never been to the US.)

Our hol: four of us, want something that preferably is NOT France again, affordable (!), enough for us all to do...DP yearns for Italy, and I seem to remember Rudy recommending an area that's not touristagogo?

Yes, MI, I would LOVE to go to the US! So would the DC, but I think DD would spontaneously combust if we said we were going now, half-way through her GCSEs! Yours may be more robust, Rudy

I would have mixed feelings at moving kids of that age, Rudy. I think for your eldest (half way through A levels) it will be difficult, but not necessarily impossible. You will need a school that does Advanced Placement exams, which are acceptable for uni entry in UK, and allegedly equate to A levels (I don't buy this; DD1 is doing at least one AP exam next year, and she's doing the IB as well). S/he will be able to do AP exams in the same subjects as A level, almost certainly, plus a few others as well. I wouldn't think about the IB - it's a two year course - but your younger two could finish GCSEs and then go to a school that does the IB. There are a few schools in the US that follow the British curriculum - the one in Washington DC is supposed to be very good, and there is another in New York, I think.

I have a friend who moved her DD to the US after GCSEs, did IB in the US and loved it, made a great set of friends and has a jet setting career post uni.

Re your Mum, I was overseas when my DDad was having cancer treatment, and it was no fun. At one point I was going back every weekend (a 3 1/2 hour flight, and I had a 5 month old baby at the time).

Gosh, MrsS, that must have been gruelling.

Lots to think about Rudy. I have no idea [helpful].

MI, what sort of things do you like dong on holiday? We had a lovely time in Slovenia a few years back and it is quite Italian in places....but it depends what you like: Slovenia takes "low-key" to new heights. We specialise in holidays in places that rain a lot.

I am very confused by school grades/years. Not helped by DD2's school using "old money" so she is in the second form.

So your younger two are in the same grade as DD1 (age 14/15) and the older one is a school year ahead, age 15/16 and main GCSE year? I think in that case, you could take them all with you if you go this year, and either find an IB school or one that does AP exams, but you would need to stay three years so that they all finished their education there. If you settle on a location, I can send you a list of schools that are "recommended" by my employer. An IB school is likely to be a private school, but good public schools will offer AP.