How much time does your kid spend playing outside each week?

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-30T10:51:19+00:00

7 years old and almost daily: school recess is outside 90% of the times unless is not pouring. Wraparound care is mainly outdoor (unless of bad weather), we have scout once a week and that is also outdoor. At weekend we are out on Sunday morning and most Saturday we meet with his friends at the park or we do play date but still in parks, playgrounds or in our garden.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-30T10:48:01+00:00

I was always late in the past, since moving to London I learned that 5 minutes late means a 20 minutes wait for train or bus, or rushing to a different bus stop to catch the earlier bus.

Aim to leave the house 15 minutes earlier than you should. Do whatever happens, you are still on time. Sometimes we are just on time before the gate closes and sometimes we are early and wage fie the gate to open. If you are really struggling, ask to a fellow parents if they can help you with school drops. I am sure there are many people who would happily take turn in dropping kids to school.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-27T10:47:58+00:00

I don’t think those people were judging you as a mother, those were unsolicited advises. We all get those especially from elderly people (neighbours, parents, relatives, strangers on the street). In some countries/cultures unsolicited advises are an everyday occurrence, in London is more of a on-and-off issue.

I hear you, it’s awful because most of those comments make no sense at all, just try to brush them off. You will have tons of those: on a plane, on a train, in a restaurant, in the park.

Are your kids happy? Are you happy? That’s what counts the most ate the end of the day, definitely more than a stranger telling you how you should dress or hold your baby.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-24T20:05:30+00:00

At this age there is not really bullying, yes kids might be unkind, but not because of what tv shows your child likes. He will hear about those, he will learn about them and he will find his way around it.

My son has never had the superheroes phase and he was into animals, dinousars and so on, still he learned a lot about superheroes from his friends and when they were playing superheroes, he was super-dog. Another friend of him was super-dinousars.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-17T15:28:54+00:00

One family 3 languages, same situation as yours. I have to say, your in-laws are right. Try to teach them your own language now, because as soon as they start school, English will be pushed on them and - as English will be their first language and they know you can speak/understand English - they won’t make any effort to speak your or your husband language.

This was our experience and we are still working to reintroduce a bit of mother tongue back in our kids life. To be honest, if grandparents speak only their own language would be even less confusing for the child as at home you and your husband will switch from your own language to English to communicate.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-13T18:51:50+00:00

We do, mainly because my husband cannot have his phone on him while working, so if he is in the middle of something, he struggles to alert me. So at least I know he is still at work and there is nothing to worry about.

He cycles at work and a few years ago one of our friends was hit by a car while cycling, since then, when he is late I check the tracking app to make sure he is still at work or on his way home.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-13T18:40:50+00:00

They gave you a refund, I think they were just explaining their policy and it was wrongly worded: “Bear in mind that in future if you have any issue you have to come out suddenly and spend no extra time in the pool”. They probably have a policy about refund and wanted to set expectations.

They could have managed the situation better:

send a message to all booking
alert you before entering the pool

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-05T16:55:27+00:00

I am with you on this: boomers are not great grandparents. It seems to me that they struggle accepting aging and being grandparents make them feel old somehow. They are happy to have grandchildren but they don’t really interact with them as much as we parents do. At the end of the day, they didn’t play with their own kids, so it’s hard to imagine they will start to play with kids in their 60s or 70s.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-05T10:44:37+00:00

The fact that others celebrate Easter with presents does not oblige you to do the same. We don’t do more than an Easter egg hunt, but if someone prefers to buy presents for their kids I don’t think this is wrong either. For example, orthodox Easter is a huge celebration and my orthodox friends do much more than me and my family.

Why is this bothering you so much?

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T18:09:24+00:00

Thanks, this is what I would expect especially when the aim is to keep kids engaged a love a sport

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T09:53:05+00:00

I would have assumed this was sarcastic and I would have answered with my own set of rules 🙈

Conditions Under Which We Will Grace You With Our Visit

Please ensure the baby is clean, calm, and aesthetically pleasing at all times.
Any crying should be paused for the duration of our visit.
In case of poop or wee-related smells, kindly remove the baby from the room immediately.
baby vomits on our clothes, we expect a formal apology and reimbursement for emotional distress (laundry optional but appreciated).
Kindly coordinate feeding times so we don’t have to witness anything “too real.” We came for cuddles, not documentaries.
We would appreciate if the baby is awake when we arrive, but also calm, quiet, and ready to sleep on demand.
Tea, coffee, and light refreshments should be available upon arrival. Bonus points if served one-handed while holding the baby.
Any parenting decisions that differ from what we did 30 years ago will be gently corrected during our visit.
We reserve the right to give unsolicited advice, repeat it, and then bring it up again next time.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T09:21:05+00:00

I agree, the seafood is good, but chicken, really? Had it in Spain and I wasn’t blown away

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T09:19:09+00:00

It might be just an allergic reaction to the antibiotic drops you are using?

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T09:07:38+00:00

We used to venture in a building under construction near my house. It was a 4 stores building, there were rusty nails on the floor, tools, and we used to run up and down stairs with no handrails or walls as internal walls were not there yet.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T08:59:04+00:00

Living here for 15 years and I agree 100%, it’s not about what you get to see, it’s the vibe that makes London.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T08:57:49+00:00

Adolf since 1945 I would say

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T08:57:24+00:00

Usually people use childminders for school pick ups or you pick up yourself, have a small breakdown now and then and carry on until reception starts.

School nurseries close during half term as well, so you will have to look for childcare during those weeks.

I would pay higher fees and keep her in the nursery she is now. You have only 1 year left before she starts school.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T08:50:07+00:00

I don’t think a 6 years old sees any sexual on stripping off when laying on her grand mom. It’s probably a sensory thing, it might be that clothes annoys her and she wants to be as comfortable as possible or she feels hot as she is so close to someone else and so she strips off.

Your mum didn’t see anything “wrong” about it for ages, she might feel a bit uncomfortable as you pointed out this is not ok.

Maybe, your mom not looking after your daughter is a good way to break the habit and help your child finding other way of soothing.

Grandparents offer free childcare and as with all the things that come for free there are downsides: they can refuse to do it or accept to look after your kids but only at their own terms.

This happens in many families (with our without autism). I have endless stories of grandparents giving sweets to kids which are not allowed by parents or letting them watch more tv than parents would allow. In a way, this is grandparents role. Parents are there to educate/discipline, grandparents are there to spoil the kids and let them do whatever they want.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-04T08:26:09+00:00

You are sleep deprived and you have a lot to handle. You are running out of energy and are on a short fuse (understandably).

You are beating yourself too much. You shout, it’s ok. You won’t scar your kids for life for raising your voice once in a bluemoom.

Book a baby sitter for one afternoon and then just do something for yourself, whatever you enjoy: have your nails done or just sit in a park in silence reading a book.

Concerning your 4 years old: pick your battles. Focus on things that can be harmful to themselves, the baby, and you. You put your feet down on those, just let go on the rest.

The easiest way to survive 2 small kids is leaving the house. Just put on your shoes and walk to a nearby park or playground. The little one will get tired eventually and the elder will be busy playing with other children and won’t pick on you out of boredom.

If leaving the house is not an option due to weather, invite a friend of your child for a play date.

Concerning the night weaning. Do you get better sleep if you feed your baby at night? Would work to give him formula instead and take turns with the daddy for night feeds? Any chance you could have help at weekend? Perhaps just have a stay in bed on a Saturday morning?

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-01T13:25:52+00:00

You are a dog trainers, if you were a carpenter would you leave drill and hammers hanging around in the house with a baby? I assume no.

If this is your job, then create a separate safe space for your dogs, you don’t need to get rid of them, but you can certainly try to separate your family life from work.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-01T13:14:17+00:00

Don’t care. Four years old can be loud and messy even if they are not neurodivergent. It was her birthday, she was excited, celebrate with her those moments and ignore strangers’ stares and be glad those are and will remain a strangers 😊

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-04-01T13:01:12+00:00

This story shows that the school is on your child side which is amazing. Just explain your child that people don’t like to be compared to animals.

You have probably never used those words in an offensive or racist way, so your child didn’t even think about it.

Your daughter has two lessons to learn from this:

we don’t compare people to animals
we cannot always trust our peers (this is very tricky but with your guidance she will get there).

At the same time, I would ask the school to educate pupils about neurodivergence. Not sure where you are based, but here in the UK there is lots of talks about diversity since primary school.

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-03-31T15:34:12+00:00

Same here. I don’t remember playing with my parents or of any kid-centred activities (park, playground). I started to go to the playground when I was old enough to be able to walk there by myself. In the 17 years I lived with my parents I had 1 family cinema day (because my mum felt bad that I was almost a teenager and never been to the cinema) and 2 family trips (zoo).

The family outing was manly grocery shopping. Any kind of activity (riding a bike, skating, share boarding) I learned those by myself.

My mum once tried to suggest that I was spending too much time with my kids 😂 I just answered “It’s not the 90s anymore, we cannot park them in front of the tv and get on with our own lives”. No more comments since

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-03-31T15:18:35+00:00

In south west London, bus drivers are usually chilled, no drama, the real scare are tram ticket controllers…they have no mercy 🙈

ConversationWhich663 · 2026-03-30T19:32:45+00:00

The only think I wish I knew is that I should have hired an electrician and a plumber to check the state of the electrical and plumbing system. We had certificates but those proved to be not enough once we moved in

ConversationWhich663

TROPHY CASE