Croydon with a toddler

Posted on October 31, 2012 by katese11

Well, a preschooler really. But let’s ignore that particular Inconvenient Truth.

So, we went back to Beanies, Croydon today. Last time I visited, it was with a  3-week-old baby and no Reuben. It was lovely and mellow and peaceful. This time, the 3-week-old had turned into a 6-month-old and I had the 40-month-old in tow as well. And it was half-term. Not quite so mellow and peaceful then!

First off, I need to get one thing crystal-clear. There are still no lifts at Vauxhall. Still just a big corridor. And the posters declaring that lifts are coming in “Summer 2012” have conveniently disappeared. Maybe because Summer 2012 never materialised, the lifts never needed to materialise either. So it was the old haul-buggy-up-steps-while-Reuben-trails-behind routine, until some nice lady took pity on us. I considered going buggy-free, but was pretty sure that Roo would need a nap at some point, and I didn’t fancy carrying him and Eva and the changing stuff. I considered not taking so much changing stuff, but that would have been a mistake too. More on that later.

It’s quite annoying, this whole Vauxhall situation. It would be a really handy link to nice places in the Surrey-direction (Richmond, Hampton Court etc) but it’s a huge faff to do it solo. Are you listening SWT?? It’s not just the steps up to the platform, it’s the huge gap getting on and off the train. Sort it out, SWT. Assuming someone is listening, that is.

But we got there. Clapham Junction has these magical things that go up and down between platforms and East Croydon has these not-so-magical Big Ramps. Both work. So we got there without any more awkward flights of stairs. And Roo was fascinated by this magical train that ran down the middle of the street. A roadtrain, if you will. Roo’s Mummy was fascinated by the closure of the Last Allders Standing. I wonder when they’ll close the Wimpey?

Anyway, onto Beanies itself. How did the play floor stand up to the challenge of a child who actually wanted to play, rather than a 21-day-old blob? Not bad. I was surprised to see that the entrance fee for over 18-monthers was a fiver. That’s more than the Central(er) London soft plays, and for much less in the way of facilities. The toys weren’t bad at all, but they were on par with Battersea Park one o’clock club, and that’s free. I’m happy to pay a charge, but £5 for non-members is steep for what it is. Eva and her baby pal Oscar were happily both free, so I can mentally divide that fiver by two.

The big advantage of Beanies is that it’s a cafe first, so has quite an extensive menu and a lot of options for kids. The food isn’t amazing, but it’s perfectly nice and they bring it to you on the playfloor. The disadvantage is that there are yet more stairs, so you can’t access the playfloor with a buggy. This wasn’t a problem for us cause we parked it downstairs and Roo walked up the stairs. But Oscar was asleep in his buggy when he turned up, so we had to take food back downstairs. Luckily, Roo was hungry and able to be tempted away from his Stormtrooper mask (see top) for some food. Then he sat in the cafe downstairs and ate for a few minutes before getting bored and wandering off to stack some bumbos. That’s not bad for him. Eva grizzled and grabbed bits out of my salad before dropping them on the floor and grizzling again. If I’d been in a generous mood, I would have put her in one of the many highchairs with her own “picking plate” of little nibbly bits (you can pick and mix your own). I wasn’t feeling generous, for a few reasons. But I might be next time we go!

Of course, peace never lasts for long. Roo had gone to investigate the little shops next to the cafe (two clothes shops, one toy shop) and came staggering back, doing his John Wayne walk. Something had gone wrong. Something in the toilet training department. Not sure how that happened, as he’d already used the teeny child-size loos upstairs. But apparently a carton of apple juice can go through a boy quickly. I got him to the downstairs toilets quickly enough to avoid any mess, and they had a cute sea-creature themed toilet seat to entice him to…err….finish his business. So, points for having toilets everywhere. And sorry if we made any mess. I don’t think we did.

Back upstairs after lunch, and it was Eva’s turn to have an explosion in the bottom area. We were rapidly getting through our spare clothes, but again we got to try out the changing facilities. Eva liked the mobile above the changing mat. It even stopped her wriggling for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, Roo was getting himself into trouble in other ways. An irate mother came over while I was feeding Eva and said that she’d had to shout at my son. Never a good start. He’d been trapping her little girl’s fingers in the window of the play house. Still not good. He hadn’t seemed repentant. OK, bad enough to require action. I went over to the the play house, dragged Roo out and asked him to apologise, which he did. He also said it was an accident. The other mother said it wasn’t.

I have to admit I was confused by all this (and poor Eva was confused in the long break in her feed). I would never think that Roo was an angel, but he’s rarely violent or malicious. Boisterous, yes. Snatchy when it comes to toys, yes. But not mean. I went to talk to the older boy that had been sharing the play house to see if he could shed any light on this. He said that they’d been playing “big bad wolf” and the little girl had been trying to blow their house down. So Roo fought her off. I’m sure it all makes sense in his tiny mind. Anyway, we had a small talk about how to treat little girls and how we shouldn’t hurt them even if they’re trying to blow our houses down. Order was resumed.

I say order, I mean he went and played in the gated-off bit with children who were more his size. So they were bashing each other with cushions, but that’s OK because they all agreed to it. I think. I didn’t get them to sign anything.  Meanwhile, Eva played peacefully in the baby-doughnut, with Oscar next to her on the sheep-shaped blanket. They were happy until Roo came and started piling all the toys into the doughnut, saying “I’m collecting my stuff”. Honestly, that boy should not be allowed near babies. Whoops! Then he put the doughnut on his head and charged repeatedly into Oscar’s Mum. It was time to go.

We paid for our food on the way out (must remember to do this!) and Roo begged some carrot cake off me. Turns out it was a pretty crumbly carrot cake, which got us some funny looks as we walked back up towards East Croydon. Or it may have been the strawberry-headed baby sticking out of my coat. Folks outside London do tend to stare at that. Both children were asleep by the time we got onto the train and I had a lovely quiet sit-down, feeling glad that I’d brought the buggy along after all.

VERDICT: A nice place to spend a lunchtime and an afternoon. Be careful that your child doesn’t tread on the smaller ones.

More details here (official site)

Posted in Cake and the finest wines known to humanity (eating out) | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

A WordPress writing challenge – kids in adult-orientated places

Posted on October 22, 2012 by katese11

I never normally let anyone else tell me what to write. But my loyal host-ers WordPress, threw up this writing challenge and I couldn’t resist answering. After all, it’s kinda my area – taking toddlers out of the house and unleashing them onto the wider world, which occasionally involves those places designated as “adult-orientated”.

The actual question is this: “How do you feel about children in adult-oriented places?”

My first question for the question is, what do you mean by “adult-orientated” (sorry, I’m gonna persist in the anglicized version). Are you asking about whether or not to take your children to seedy alleyways in Soho, so they can look at sex shop facades? Is that a bad thing to do? Guess what Roo’s friend Micah said when she saw this, opposite our church centre in Soho:

“It’s the Team GB flag!”

After which, they pointed at it and repeatedly chanted “Team GB! Team GB!”. I think the adult-orientation of the British Adult Shop went right over their heads. The Britishness didn’t.

But I suspect, that’s not what they mean by “adult”. I suspect they mean pubs, restaurants and onto the murky grey areas of art galleries and museums. I’ve been to a lot of these, with and without my children so I think I know what I think.

But before I get onto that, what do you mean by children? Would I take my 11-year-old niece to places I wouldn’t take my 3-year-old son? Well, yes. It’s a matter of discernment. When Roo was brand new, we used to take him anywhere and everywhere with us. Pubs (in the evening!), restaurants, the Turner Prize – everywhere. He was always welcome in our local, being as how he’d nearly been born there. Besides, he was either feeding or asleep. He went to restaurants with us and, again, he slept. He spent an entire birthday meal in a Turkish restaurant snoozing in his car seat under the table. It was only when he woke up that anyone noticed he was even there. For a little while there, we could pretend we still had some kind of social life.

Then, around 5 months three things started to happen: 1) He lost the ability to sleep through anything, anywhere, 2) he started going to bed in the evenings and getting ratty if he missed his bedtime and 3) he started on solids. The combination of these three things (awake, upset and messy) meant that he wasn’t as welcome as he used to be. One evening, when we were at our local, the Landlord was out and some newbie barmaid was running things. Roo started crying, she chucked us out and the dream was over. Similarly, once he started chucking food about the place, we had to be a bit more selective about where to eat. Not that we ever ate anywhere fancy anyway. Luckily, London is just full of places to eat with a toddler.
I guess what I’m trying to say, is that “children” covers a huge scope – a newborn baby can go anywhere and do anything with you because they will mainly be asleep, an older baby is trickier, a toddler is a darn nightmare in most civilised “adult” situations but as soon as you get to the bribeable stage, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Even now, at the grand age of 3, Reuben is starting to be take-out-able again. Just look how well behaved he is when someone gives him an iPad and free access to Peppa Pig videos on youtube:

As you can tell from the photo, this is a (Sunday) lunch time trip to the pub, rather than a Friday night hard-drinking session. That’s the other thing to consider – it’s all about timing.  If your child is either a) reasonable, b) distractable or c) bribeable with chips and a J20, there’s no reason you shouldn’t taken them out for a Sunday roast. And it would be a very stupid publican who didn’t welcome them, especially in a local pub. If you refuse a large group of local people just because they have a child with them, then you might as well just take a large wad of notes and flush them down your inaccessible toilet. Especially if – as above – your pub has an upstairs room where the children can run around without bothering the grumpy old men.

I realise I’ve talked mainly about pubs here. That’s because I think they are one of the only true grey areas in the “where to take children” spectrum. Nightclubs? No, you don’t. Parks? Yes, you do.  How about museums? Well, some museums may be more entertaining for children than others, but I believe they are welcome in most. Some – like the V&A – have precious and delicate things behind toddler-height ropes. They require a bit more control. But most of the big ones – the Science Museum, Horniman, Natural History Museum and even the Tate Modern – have either kids’ areas or activities designed for kids. That’s a pretty clear indication that they welcome under-18s on their premises.

In other words, things have moved on since the 1950s. Museums are no longer dusty mausoleums. They are interactive, bright and friendly. My very simple rule of thumb is that if they have baby change facilities, it’s fine to take a baby there. That makes sense, no?

And don’t get me started on whether or not you can breastfeed in public spaces.

In answer, then to the original question I’m going to use a classic Danny Wallace answer and say “there are a lot of variables”. What kind of places? What age are these children? What time of day? But basically, as long as you have a certain amount of control of these children you’re dragging around with you then it should be fine. Common sense says if they’re being disruptive somewhere, you deal with that in some way (take them out or -more likely- bribe them to be quiet). Even commoner sense says to take them somewhere that’s child-friendly in the first place. I can think of 100 of these in London.  And you’d be surprised by just how child-friendly some of them are.

Posted in What I suppose you'd call "tips"....? | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The mobile milk bar – breastfeeding around town

Posted on October 22, 2012 by katese11

(Before WordPress kicks me off – that’s a picture of some ice-cream. What did you think it was?!)

I’m not really one for being contentious on this blog. I’m more about sandpits and stuff. But a few facebook arguments recently have led me to write a post on the “nursing in public” issue. Let’s not dignify this by calling it a debate. There should be no debate. Of course women should be allowed to feed their baby wherever it needs feeding. No-one would ever question the right of a toddler to eat rice cakes in public, would they?

Incidentally, I’m going to call it breastfeeding rather than nursing from now on, if that’s OK. Nursing, to me,  means inserting catheters and changing wound dressings and neither of those should be done on the bus. It’s not hygienic.

Another reason I’m not going to call this a debate is that a debate needs reasoned and intelligent arguments on both sides. What are the reasons against breastfeeding in public that I’ve heard lately? “OMG so gross” (you want gross? You look inside Eva’s nappy Right Now). A woman I know recently got told she shouldn’t feed in public because “no-one wants to see your boobies” and “babies should have bottles”.

It just so happened to be her 4-year-old son that came up with these gems. She just reminded him that he was breastfed, and we all laughed about it. But I’m yet to hear an anti-breastfeeding argument that goes beyond the level of a 4-year-old.

 

So, why should a woman feel free to feed in public? Firstly, her rights are protected by law. So there. Secondly, countries where it’s normal to feed in public (eg in Scandanavia) are the countries where babies are breastfed more and for longer. I think most people would agree that breastfeeding is a good choice for babies. I know that some mothers struggle with breastfeeding and end up formula feeding. We certainly topped Roo up with formula at times. So no judgement if you do formula feed, but I don’t think anyone would argue that enabling women to feel comfortable breastfeeding is anything but a Good Thing.

Back to the fbook arguments – I think what’s really “gross” here is the lack of understanding about how breastfeeding works. One woman said “isn’t it just as easy to express a bottle before you go out?”. Err, no. Expressing is bloody hard work, even for pro breastfeeders. Plus you have to sterlise all the fiddly bits of the pump and the bottles. How could that be as easy as just whipping out a boob?

If you think about it, there’s only one real alternative to feeding in public, and that’s staying at home all the time. With a baby, this seems like a bad idea. By the time you have a toddler as well as a baby, it becomes nigh on impossible. It may just be my disposition, but I can’t think of anything more depressing than being trapped inside a house with a baby all day, every day. I’m sure PND could be mitigated or avoided if new mothers were made to feel more welcome in the outside world. Well, I say I’m sure – I have done no research on this, so it’s just my opinion really. I’m no expert on this, but then “Experts” don’t help. Gina Ford advocates strict routines for mother and baby, which could make you feel guilty about leaving the house at the wrong time. Jo Frost suggests that you shouldn’t take a baby out in the rain (she clearly doesn’t live in Britain). Roo as a baby refused to sleep unless he was out in the buggy, so staying home was just not an option. We pretty quickly learnt to feed in public. The first time I fed Eva in public was in Tesco, at about a week old, but I would have done it sooner if she’d ever been awake on any of our trips out.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that supporting a woman’s right to breastfeed in public is an important step in rebuilding a post-baby social life, which is in itself an important step in avoiding PND. It was for me, at least. Everyone’s different. So, that’s why I think breastfeeding in public should be not just acceptable, but absolutely normal.
Enough of the why, how about the how? I find that nonchalance helps. If you make a big fuss of latching them on, that’s what makes people turn round and look. If you just do it, no-one really cares. Especially on public transport in London, where everyone is absorbed in their own thing and no-one looks at each other. I generally feed Eva as soon as she starts fussing cause I reckon my fellow travellers prefer the noise of slurping to the noise of screaming. But it doesn’t always work that way. If we’re on a short trip I don’t really have time to take my bags off, arrange my clothing and latch her on long enough for a decent feed. So she just has to scream. Those kind of journeys feel a lot longer than ten minutes, and make you appreciate the peace of just reading a book while the baby snuggles up for a feed. And I’m pretty sure that most people I’ve sat next to while feeding have had no idea that we’re doing anything other than cuddling.

Nonchalance works in most situations. I took Eva into work for lunch with a colleague last week, and that was one situation I was unsure about feeding in. I work for a medical research trust, so in theory they should be all about promoting breastfeeding. But in practice? In the end, Eva woke up in the middle of lunch so fussy that I had little choice. So I just asked my colleague a question and kept eye contact while she answered, while sorting out my clothes and putting Eva into place. And bam, done! What most people don’t seem to understand about breastfeeding is that’s it’s only the start and end of the feed where you seen any flesh. The rest of the time, it’s fairly easy to cover up.

There are a few ways to cover up. Some people swear by breastfeeding tops, but I’ve always thought they were a bit overpriced to be able to build a full wardrobe of them. Others use a canvas breastfeeding cover aka “The Hooter Hider” and they come in a variety of pretty patterns. Now that I use a wrap everyday with Eva, I find that does the job pretty well. The kind of tie I use goes around my waist (for tummy coverage) and in a cross across the Feeding Area. So a few minor adjustments, and you’re pretty covered.

That’s the why and the how. Your baby has the when covered…now how about the where?

I’ve breastfed in a LOT of places around London. I mentioned a few of them in this post, but if you missed it, highlights included – Bethnal Green overland station in front of a strange Eastern European man, both Tates, London Zoo, on the 53 going down Old Kent Rd and at least half of the Royal Parks. So, where are the best places for a feed out and about? Here are my top 5:

5) Westfield

Feeding in public can sometimes be stressful for you and your baby when there are a lot of people and noise. Westfield have thought this through and provided little feeding booths with squishy chairs so you and your baby can have some time out.

4) That Place On The Corner

Lots of toys to entertain bigger ones, and very child-friendly.

3) Mamas & Papas

Just like Westfield, Oxford St can be overwhelming for a little one sometimes (and for a grown-up too). A little oasis with a rocking chair and changing facilities

2) Beanies

Comfy sofas, food brought to you and a whole floor of toys for your toddler to play with while you feed. And they can’t escape! Loses points by being in Croydon.

1) Royal Festival Hall

Feeding rooms are all very well, but why not feed while being entertained by a Romanian gypsy band? The Royal Festival Hall is always full  of other mothers breastfeeding, the cafe is nice, the sofas are comfy and  there’s a free concert every lunchtime.

A couple of notes –

Note 1: I talk all the way through this post about breastfeeding a baby. That’s cause I have a baby. If you’re breastfeeding a toddler, just swap the words over in your head.

Note 2: The photo at the top wasn’t taken in public, but it’s the only breastfeeding shot I could find. And yes, she’s dressed as a dinosaur.

Other helpful sites:

NHS advice

Maternity Action on the 2010 Equality Act

Thoughts from the Analytical Armadillo

Posted in Rants | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Tate Modern – 20/10/12

Posted on October 20, 2012 by katese11

I haven’t been to the Tate Modern for a long time. Not in fact, since I had a baby boy who was the same age as my baby girl is now. We were overdue for another visit, especially as Roo’s friend C was there, checking out the under-5s area. I didn’t even know there was an under-5s area. There you go, we’ve all learnt something today.

So, the kids area…it was small but interesting. It was based on two cubist paintings – one of a bottle, the other of some fruit and a violin. The structure above is a bottle, or a cubist interpretation of one. It had “bottle” written on the sides in various languages, which is how I know. Otherwise I would have said it was a “big blocky blue thing”. I really don’t understand art.

But I do understand what entertains a 3-year-old. And one of those things is a big blocky thing with coloured lights inside. The lights changed colour and Roo got very excited when it changed to red. “Issa my favourite colour!” he said, repeatedly. Apparently, red is still his favourite colour, and has been for a few weeks now. That’s a rare moment of consistency for Roo. Roo and C spent ages running through it and pointing themselves in the mirrors. And pointing at any other hapless small children who ran through – “that girl gone red too!”. Eva also enjoyed it:

The other main features were a slide in the shape of a violin and a chair in the shape of an apple (with a built in seat that was handy for Eva’s friend R to have his milk). Both in a cubist style, obviously. The slide was a big hit with all the small children there, and Roo particularly liked going down it backwards, hand-in-hand with C. It was just about wide enough for two boys to go down together and when they did, it made a violin sound. That was pretty cool.

There were also some small stepping stools in the shape of grapes (again I know this by the labelling) and a spectacular, if scary, view onto the Turbine Hall below. The boys clung to the glass and looked at what appeared to be a group of people standing around randomly. After a while they moved position and stood around in a different place. I think it’s art, but as I said before I really don’t understand art. I just liked looking at the tiny, tiny people far below…

What else do you need to know? Baby change facilities were located handily nearby, even if the change table was very near the handdryer, which freaked R out. There was a small cinema room, showing films about past installations, and surprisingly both the 3-year-olds sat and watched for a while. There were also some “interactive” tables, with a challenging art quiz. That’s challenging for a bunch of 30-somethings, let alone small children. I didn’t even try it but Roo would enjoy pressing the buttons randomly. Weirdly for an under-5s area, it didn’t seem to have buggy access so we had to leave the buggy at the top of 5 steps.

After a while everyone was getting hot and bothered so we took the boys for a run-about on the lawn downstairs. Luckily, there was a small kiosk next to the lawn which sold innocent smoothie pouches and muffins. It also sold coffee and some weird fresh juices and smoothies. I was feeling adventurous, so went for the apple and elderberry juice but it was a bit odd. Probably better to stick to the normal apple juice. Again, the boys sat quietly for a bit, before running off to chase the pigeons with Nathan in hot pursuit. At some point C fell into a muddy puddle. At another point a little later, Roo and C both tried to escape down the steps towards the river. From where we were, you couldn’t see that there was a small beach at the bottom of the steps so it actually looked like they were just about to plunge into the river. I’m not sure who left the gate at the top of the steps open. Needless to say, Nathan was in hot pursuit again.

It was nearly time to go home. Granted we hadn’t seen much in the way of actual art (except people moving around), but that was never really the intention. However, within the space of a few metres, we did see a fire-eater, a jazz trio and the Globe Theatre. That’s enough of the Arts for anyone, no? So, we headed home. And that’s where the Troubles started.

C’s Dad wanted to get the boat home to Greenwich, which was reasonable enough. C liked this idea and also wanted to, which is still reasonable enough. Roo also liked the idea and wanted to get the boat back to his house. Still reasonable. There is a special Tate-to-Tate boat service, which goes as far as the new pier at St George’s Wharf, Vauxhall. So, that would work perfectly!

It didn’t work perfectly. There was a queue for the ticket kiosk when we got there, so we joined the queue. The queue didn’t move. At all. For about half an hour, The man in the ticket booth said that he didn’t work for the Clippers, so couldn’t sell us the tickets. Eventually, a woman turned up who did work for the Clippers and told us that we couldn’t pay on the boat, and had to buy a ticket. But she couldn’t sell us a ticket. Apparently, the reason the queue was moving slowly because they were busy. I pointed out that “busy” didn’t normally involve being tenth in the queue for half an hour. “Busy” would suggest a lot more people and a little movement. Eventually we gave up. Cue simultaneous 3-year-old meltdowns.

We started walking towards our respective bus stops/stations, stopping at the whiskey exchange along the way. Roo wanted to buy a bottle of wine in the adjoining wine shop “for my Daddy”. The bottles of wine were arranged on a pretty rack like this:

What were the chances of a stroppy preschooler extracting a bottle of wine safely without toppling the whole lot? I didn’t fancy them. so quickly put a caboosh on that idea. Cue more meltdowns.  To try and cheer him up, I suggested going through the tunnel with the pretty lights. C’s Mum agreed. I said to go right. She said to go left. Turns out we were both right. There are two tunnels in the Borough Market area with pretty lights. In fact there were three! So, just for C’s Mum here is a picture of the one I was thinking of:

But, is it art?

VERDICT: A fun place for a play but could do with being a bit bigger.

More details here (0fficial website)

Posted in Token attempts at culture (museums) | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Lucas Gardens – 17/10/12

Posted on October 17, 2012 by katese11

Ah, Camberwell. Ah, the memories. We lived there for 5 years as newlyweds (as in that time before children….seems a long time ago, doesn’t it?) and it was what Time Out would describe as “buzzy”. Lots of cheap bars and restaurants, the occasional car break-in or handbag theft…and a Nandos. We were pretty happy there. We’ve been living in the slightly-further-North for 5 years, so it was strange to go back. But also kinda nice. Roo’s friend Rufus has just moved there (with the rest of his family) so I expect we’ll be visiting a lot more.

Roo and Ru needed a run-around, so we took them to Lucas Gardens, the patch of green between our newlywed flat and Nathan’s bachelor pad from the days before I lived in London. So, I’ve spent quite a lot of time in or around the Gardens, but somehow didn’t remember the details. Like whether or not it had a playground. These things just don’t seem as important when you don’t have children. Anyway, I won’t leave you in suspense for long. It does. Look, here it is:

It’s also way bigger than I remember. I remember it as being quite small, but also hosting the Camberwell Festival. I’m not sure how the two things match up in my memory but hey, that’s babybrain for you! There was definitely a festival of some sort there (albeit a very small one) as me and Nathan went there, did it and got the self-printed t-shirts. He made one with a flaming skull in a tasteful pink. I made one with a shoe on it.

So, yes it is a sizable park. There’s an ornamental garden with fountain (see above), a dog exercise area, the children’s play area and some more climbing frames for bigger children. The small boys particularly enjoyed this one:

This was shortly before Roo took his feet off the steps and dangled by his arms a foot away from the ground. He got out of it OK. Roo also liked the giant swing, which was again high off the ground:

He didn’t get off that one OK. He needed to be rescued from that one. That photo doesn’t really show the scale of the swing. Let’s try this one:

See, it’s huuuge! Beside the giant swing and the giant climbing frame, there were some rope walks and what looked like totem poles in among a little nature area. Oh, and a huge fallen tree branch, which provided a few minutes’ entertainment. Another interesting feature was the building site round the back of the registry office, fenced off with the most toddler-sized of gaps in the fencing. Lucky that little boys have no interest in diggers. Oh wait….

My favourite little feature of the park were these little carousel horses, stuck on their own by the westerly gate. They looked kitsch and vintage, which I suspect is because they’re actually vintage. Roo liked riding on them too. It’s a but random, but it’s random touches like that that give a park personality.

VERDICT: Much more there than I remember. Playground is pretty average, but there is lots of fun to be had.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Fitzrovia Children’s Playground – 14/10/12

Posted on October 16, 2012 by katese11

So, you know how often you need to entertain your 3-year-old in Fitzrovia on a Sunday morning? No? Just me? Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not the most toddler-friendly part of town. It’s pretty hard to find a slide around these parts. But I struck gold on this particular Sunday and discovered the Fitzrovia Children’s Playground.

It started, as most Sundays do, by parking on New Cavendish St for church. But this week, Nathan was back On Rota post paternity leave, so the children and I needed to make ourselves scarce for an hour or so, while Daddy wrestled with the laptop and swore gently at the Apple Corporation. I’m going to admit this right here and now. We are PCs. Church is all Mac-based nowadays. Swearing often ensues.

So, we wandered off towards Tottenham Court Rd, past the construction site that used to be a hospital of some kind, I think. Or a university building. Or something. Anyway, it now has cranes and diggers, which are far more interesting to Roo than some smelly university/hospital thing. And isn’t that just the prettiest construction site photo you’ve ever seen?

We turned off down Whitfield St, and there at the corner of the excellently-named Chitty St was the Fitzrovia Children’s Playground. I’d found out about the playground through a few snippets on the internet, but there wasn’t a lot of detail. It’s next to a nursery, so looks like private property to the casual observer. However, the sign says that at weekends it’s open to the public from dawn till dusk. If that’s wrong, blame the sign.

The entrance is on the left of the playground. It’s a narrow gate and there are a few steps to get up, so not ideal when you’re on your own with a buggy. But the playground is designed for 8-12 year olds, so I’m guessing buggies were not a primary concern.

It is very much a “big boy”‘s playground. But as Roo said as soon as he ran in “it can be fun for yittle boys too!”. He later clarified that it could also be fun for big girls, but not little girls. Now you know!

Anyway, despite being a full 5 years too young for the equipment, Roo managed to entertain himself for a good 30 minutes. He climbed over the swinging net and lay in like a hammock. He gave all the ladders a good go before conceding that he was “too yittle” for them. He span in one of those weird silver bucket things:

But the Big Hit was the climbing wall. This may have been because he’d just been watching an episode of Fireman Sam, where Mandy and Norman climb one, but he was very keen to give it a go. The wall was a full two sides of the playground, with varying degrees of difficult footholds (I think they may have been colour-coded by difficulty, but I’m not sure) and he struggled at first, but eventually hoisted himself up.

It looks like he’s really high up here, but the darker green bit is actually the ground….

So, climbing wall was a hit, he liked the totem poles and it was just a safe place to run around, in a very urban bit of the city. Naturally, we were the only ones there. I got hungry after  a while, so we left in search of a Starbucks and Roo spotted a man with a blue mohican, much to his delight (“That man got funny hair!”). Then we went to church, where Daddy was stressed with the laptop.

As a reward for such good solo-parenting, I later got to hand BOTH children over to Nathan (this is a first!) and skip off to buy some new undies. Stuck in Soho with a restless toddler and a wailing baby, he took my advice and went to Soho Square. There, Roo did a short survey of the naked statues, before pronouncing his verdict on this one:

“She has nipples, she has no willy”.
Again I say – Now you know.

VERDICT: A great place for a runaround in Fitzrovia.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , | 3 Comments

100 things to do with a toddler in London

Posted on October 6, 2012 by katese11

Note: a revised, updated and some would say improved version of this list is now available as an e-book! Click here to buy it!

Well, this is quite a moment. In case you hadn’t realised, this is my 100th post. Most blogs I’ve started have stalled around post#11, so this is quite an achievement. Thanks to everyone who’s come along for the ride so far. Last time I checked, you were from 85 different countries and 6 different continents, which means there must be someone out there that I don’t know reading this stuff. It’s just a co-incidence that the only people who ever comment are friends of mine.

So, how to celebrate? Well, I do love a list. People often ask me (well, they often ask Google. Same thing) “What can you do with a toddler in London?” To them I answer – I can think of 100 things. And here they are. Some are tenuous, some are repetitive, some are just filler. One is The Bends. But I hope you enjoy them anyway and if you do any of them, think of me. And be smug at how your toddler is so much better behaved than mine.

1) Play chess with peacocks in Holland Park

2) Build with giant lego blocks at the Science Museum

3) Splash in the Diana Memorial Fountain

4) Play in a play train, while waving to the real trains in Peddlars Park

5) Watch tree surgeons at work at St James Churchyard

6) Climb through a real aeroplane at the Imperial War Museum

7) Take a wander over Clapham Common

8) Tunnel with the meerkats at Battersea Park Children’s Zoo

9) Paddle next to a train line in Ruskin Park

10) Fly a kite on Hampstead Heath

11) Go down the aerial runway at Coram’s Fields

12) Have an al fresco swim at Oasis Leisure Centre

13) Stroke the Shetland ponies at Vauxhall City Farm

14) Feel like Austin Powers at Battersea Park 1 o’clock club

15) Climb on tree trunks in Walthamstow

16) Eat sandwiches while you sing at That Place On The Corner

17) Spot rare ducks at the London Wetland Centre

18) Eat home-grown food at Lambeth Palace

19) Lose your toddler at Brixton Tough Play

20) Complete the assault course at Pasley Park

21) Take in a lunchtime concert at the Royal Festival Hall

22) Enjoy a cupcake in Crystal Palace

23) Drink coffee while they play at Latchmere Leisure Centre

24) Go for a ride on the wizard train (aka the DLR)

25) Let them loose on the play floor at Beanies, Croydon

26) Dress up at the William Morris Gallery

27) Play with sand and water in Herne Hill

28) Dive into the ball pool at Peckham Pulse

29) Go down a big yellow slide in New Cross

30) Visit the piranhas at Foyles

31) Go and watch a major sporting event (now the Olympics is over, why not go and watch a road race or wait for the London Marathon?)

32) Chase the pigeons in Soho Square

33) Watch the trains at Kings Cross

34) Meet an Octonaut at Westfield

35) Run through tunnels of water at Myatt’s Fields

36) Revisit your childhood in Bethnal Green

37) Visit the floating market at Mile End

38) Pretend to be a pirate at Archbishops Park

39) Drink pink milk in Vauxhall

40) Visit the world-famous Mick Darnalds

41) Admire the view at Greenwich Park

42) Put on a puppet show at the Discover Centre

43) Build an archway in Launchpad….and let your toddler knock it down

44) Buy a coffee from Magic Coffee Man

45) Feed the ducks at St James’ Park

46) Watch the boats on the South Bank

47) Get your free balloon and have a nice meal at Giraffe

48) See the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum

49) See the slightly less accurate dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park

50) Wave your metal chicken around at Nandos

51) Share rizlas with the hipster dads of Hackney

52) Make your own pizza at Pizza Express

53) Pretend you’re in Spain when you’re actually in Pimlico

54) Get spooked out by the Pleasure Gardens at the Museum of London

55) Eat gyozas with cherry sauce at Wagamama

56) Visit an art-deco lido and have a smoothie at Brockwell Park

57) See the model village at Vauxhall Park

58) Look at the horsies at the National Army Museum

59) Play in a huge sandpit at Regents Park

60) Chill with Rastamouse in Brixton

61) Watch a kids film at the Ritzy

62) See the jellyfish at the Horniman Museum

63) Have a car chase at London Film Museum

64) Play in a sandpit village at Victoria Park

65) Discover the stuffed walrus of Forest Hill

66) Make a pearly king and see the taxidermed bear at the Cuming Museum

67) Drive the play bus at Kennington Park

68) Drive a real bus at London Transport Museum

69) Get on an even real-er bus and see the sights (we recommend the 159)

70) The Bends. I mean, go to Jelly Babies at Camberwell swimming pool.

71) Try on vintage fireman outfits at the Fire Brigade Museum

72) Sit on wooden animals in the Toddler Enclosure

73) Avoid the living statues on the South Bank

74) Visit the poetry library at the Royal Festival Hall

75) Discover what “Mexican street food” is at Wahaca

76) Ride on the toddler carousel at Winter Wonderland

77) Go shopping while you leave your husband and toddler in the play area (or with Iggle Piggle in the toilets)

78) Dance in the Pattern Pod at the Science Museum

79) Discuss “where babies come from” in front of the Walthamstow Tapestry

80) Slide down the elephant water slide at the Latchmere Leisure Centre

81) Wander through Soho back alleys

82) Get a train. From anywhere to anywhere. They aren’t fussy.

83) Fight schoolchildren in the indoor sandpit at the Museum of Childhood

84) Eat ice cream, limited only by your gag reflex at the Ben and Jerry’s festival

85) Whizz down the big-boy-slide of death

86) Walk over the Green Bridge

87) Rock out at the LolliBop Festival

88) Get lost in the woods

89) See what’s on at the Southbank Centre

90) Explore the Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens

91) Play and sing along at the Stow Festival

92) Plan military manoevures at Kids’ Zone

93) Clamber over a giant pirate ship at  the Diana Memorial Playground

94) Fire jets of water into the air at Lloyd Park

95) Find some toilets you’ve never been to before

96) Hunt for deer and scramble down hills at Richmond Park

97) Actually find some deer in Greenwich Park

98) Visit Ducky Park. I dare you. There will be a prize for anyone who sends me a photo of their child at Ducky Park

99) Check out the new playground at Brockwell Park

100) Find somewhere I haven’t blogged about and send me a guest post. There will be yet more prizes.

Posted in What I suppose you'd call "tips"....? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Slinging London

Posted on October 3, 2012 by katese11

When I posted on the Mumsnet Bloggers’ Forum for advice on this blog (yknow, the whole not really having a toddler thing), someone suggested that I should just blog about my daily life and the coffee shops and markets I visit. Sadly, my daily life is pretty dull (especially since Roo started nursery) and the only markets I visit are preceded by the word super-. Sometimes, we see how many different branches of Tesco we can visit un a day. Look, here’s me and Eva in the fruit and veg section:

But today, I’m gonna buck the trend and tell you about my day. There is a  point buried in here somewhere, but it’ll take me a while to get there. Bear with me.

My day started, unpromisingly, in Elephant & Castle. Not literally. I didn’t wake up there. But I was there, with my entire family, at 8:30 am which is pretty darn early. Too early, in fact, to be dealing with the crazies of Elephant. Specifically the gold-toothed fella who stood beside me chanting “Hello fatty, hello fatty” at me. Sod right off. That’s a baby under my coat. And some chocolate.

At least Roo was happy. As we were walking there, he told us that his favourite animal was an elephant, and his favourite colour was red. So a giant red elephant made him very excited. You wouldn’t know that he’d been there literally hundreds of times before. But sooner or later, he always realises that there are no real elephants around, just the world’s dodgiest shopping centre. It smelt, as always, of human urine..but I wasn’t one to judge, given that this potty I’ve been hauling around is starting to smell a bit. So, it helped us fit in.  Anyway, we went to Tesco, failed to buy a cBeebies magazine, and then went to the bus stop with my disillusioned boy. Parental overpromising strikes again!

We didn’t take many photos today, so have an arbitrary and very old picture of an elephant at Elephant. And now on with the story.

At the bus stop, we witnessed some bad bus etiquette. I may have mentioned before how I dislike bad bus etiquette – I know it’s complicated, but some things are straightforward. Like if another buggy is at the bus stop, you let them get on the bus first. This morning, someone decided to flout that rule and shoved her way on, leaving me to do the complicated getting-past-the-pole manoevure with my giant buggy and potty attachment. I decided to ignore her, at which point Reuben struck up a conversation with her son. About apples! So, as we rolled down the Old Kent Road I was sitting next to someone who was ignoring me, but whose son was talking to my son and her, while my son was talking to her son and me. All very awkward. Not helped when a man got on with yet another buggy, which had to squeeze in between the two. She still didn’t move hers. This was still very early in the morning to be dealing with such social niceties.

Eventually, we were last buggy standing as we climbed up the hill from gloomy Deptford to beautiful Blackheath. By then, I was sitting next to an older lady, who I’d had to have a short and awkward conversation with when Roo piped up “Who’s that sitting next to you? Is it a lady?”. Again I say, too early in the morning. Ever wish your toddler hadn’t learnt to talk?

Anyway, we have reached our destination and the point of this post – the Greenwich and Lewisham Sling Library. It’s run by a friend of mine, and is a good place to drop in for a play with some slings (and the scary weighted doll) and some advice (there are toys out for marauding preschoolers) Cause, yknow, slinging around London is the best. And that’s the point I was eventually getting to.  The stresses of taking a buggy on a journey like this morning have only made me appreciate more the joy of hopping on a bus with Eva and being able to sit anywhere we like. Or a tube or a train, or anywhere with steps.

We were so nearly buggy-free before she was born. Roo was happily walking miles every day. But regression set in with the appearance of a sibling, and we reverted to the buggy. Then the extreme STUFF-ness of potty training set in, and now we need the buggy for the stuff as much as the potty-trainer. But if you have any choice at all, try slinging., It really is liberating.

As you may have gathered, Eva is pretty much exclusively slung. The only time she goes in a buggy is during Mums-and-buggies exercise, and she tends to scream until she’s released from her cage, back into her rightful place. With Roo, we used a baby bjorn (see below), which isn’t as bad as these slinging-types make out, but neither is it super-comfy for either party. But it did the job, and we carried him around in it when we needed to use the tube for the first few months. Then we got a framed backpack carrier, which was just ridiculously heavy and only got used a few times. By the way, Nathan is gonna KILL me for using this photo. Doesn’t he look tired?! You can tell he hadn’t slept for a month. So much for trying to get a baby to sleep in their own bed. Compare and contrast with the fresh-faced, co-sleeping Daddy at the top. Yes, the crunchy mamas HAVE got me.

Talking of which, with the advent of Eva we discovered the Moby. A long, stretchy, red bit of fabric that she lived in morning, noon and evening until she was 8 weeks, at which point I got myself a summery sports model:

Home dyed and everything. Yes, I’m becoming one of them. A little later, the lovely purple Zara joined our family, and today I hired a ring sling for two weeks. But I can stop any time. From being a complete, cack-handed rookie 5 months ago (happy 5th monthiversary Eva), I am now wrapping all the time and it’s revolutionised everything. I’m running out of space, but before I do, here are 5 reasons why slinging rocks my world:

1) If you’re sans toddler, you avoid the stress of getting a buggy onto a bus. And then having to make conversation. If you can sling a toddler, you’ve probably never experienced this. Count yourself lucky.

2) In busy places, it’s handy to know where your baby – and all their accessories – are. No-one can put their grubby hands on her face without you knowing, and you have a better (not a good – better) chance of catching their baby socks when they drop off.

3) You can use as many different forms of transport as you like, without worrying about steps. Again, this won’t work if you’re still dragging a buggied toddler round with you too.

4) You can check they’re breathing. I like to do that every so often, especially when a child of mine is doing something abnormal (i.e. sleeping)

5) Wraps are so pretty and you can dress your baby to match. Except nothing matches a bright red Moby.

You’ve probably got this far and thought – “well, I don’t have a baby. I only have a strapping toddler who won’t stay still long enough to be wrapped”. I say, get yourself down to a sling library and have a chat with someone who knows about things like Becos and Ergos. They might be able to help. I’m the last person to be a slinging fascist, but it really is useful for getting around the place.

Oh, and if anyone’s wondering we went to two different branches of Tesco today. Good times.

Posted in Just wandering.... | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Greenwich Park, take 2 – 29/09/12

Posted on September 29, 2012 by katese11

Hi Greenwich, we’ve met before. Last time, I got a *little* confused and entirely missed the playground. This time we had a native guide, so we found it. Woo-hoo! But let’s begin at the beginning.

We were there to see some wildlife, with Roo’s friend C. The Greenwich Park website promised an event where you could do crafts and “see whatever wildlife is passing by”. That’s good expectation-management. We might see some wildlife or we might not. Don’t get too excited.

But luckily, we spotted some wildlife straight away! Roo DID get excited. And here it is:

It’s not the wildest of wildlife, granted. But he was obsessed with it. As we went into the Wildlife Centre to hunt out the real animals, Roo kept a little whinge up: “wanna go see the froggy bin”. In a minute, darling. Let’s have a look around here first. He and C squeezed the toy birds that the nice ladies had put out for them. They even named some of them. For a moment, it looked like they might sit down and do some crafts but no, they wanted to join the nature walk.

And they did. Kinda. They ran round the group, under people’s legs and climbing over logs while the man was explaining to everyone the difference between a sweet chestnut and a horse chestnut. Needless to say, it wasn’t geared towards 3-year-olds. But we did find this pair of giant hands:

It’s sculpture. Not just a freak of nature.

So, we went back to the Wildlife Centre after one too many breaks-for-freedom, and the nice ladies there offered to take us all on our very own nature trail. One of them took us straight to the deer hide, bypassing the other group so we could see the animals up close. As soon as we got there, we spotted two stags milling around and checking us out. Roo and C were both excited again (let’s face it, they were excited all day). They may have made a little bit of noise, and the deer wandered off again. But at least we got to see them!

Can you see them? They were a bit far away and through glass, so I didn’t get a great photo. But I promise they were there.

We left the deer before we scared them all off completely. It was time to head to the swings. I won’t bore you with the tedious details of how you get two hyped-up boys across the length of a Royal Park, but we did it. We even had time to stop at the viewing point and take some photos that were slightly better than the ones I took last time. I’m particularly pleased with the panorama at the top, but here’s another nice one:

Ah. London-y

So, onto the playground. It was pretty big, with several climbing frames and sets of swings. C took charge of the roundabout and held court there, while Roo ran around and tried everything out. There was also a big sandpit, but I don’t think they noticed. Lucky, cause they had the same water-trough arrangement that they have in Corams. You probably know my feelings already on sand and water together.

Once again, I kinda sat back and let Nathan do the Roo-wrangling. I was having a nice chat with C’s Mum. We both had babies to feed, and that takes a while. Oh, and my boss was there with his nephews. So I had a nice chat with him too. In the meantime, Nathan ran round after both boys, played “helicopters” and rescued them when they got stuck. Don’t feel too bad for him -the exercise is good for him.

Talking of exercise. we had a hill to climb. Apparently what goes down must also go back up again. I made it halfway up, carrying Eva and pushing our very overladen buggy, before giving in and letting Nathan take the buggy. My friend made it all the way up, but she’s northern and therefore hardy. We, on the other hand, live in a river basin. I’m no good with hills. My sister lives in South Wales and up the side of a mountain and I still ache a little when I remember taking my niece and nephew out sans buggy (they were both preschool age), then having to carry them up the hill. They are now 18 and 20 and I still bear a grudge.

Anyhoo, we made it up. And we even made it to the end of an NCT Nearly-New sale, where I became the proud owner of a Peppa Pig rocket jigsaw and “That’s Not My Kitten”. A grand day out.

VERDICT: 3-year-olds aren’t the best nature walkers, but it’s fun to try and spot some deer. The playground is def worth a visit. View is stunning as ever.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Clapham Common – 27/09/12

Posted on September 27, 2012 by katese11

With Roo at nursery every afternoon, our spontaneous-outing count is at an all-time low. So, when he did a morning shift instead for a day, I seized the opportunity and picked him up at 13:30 for a Spontaneous Outing.

I’ll cut to the chase. He’s asleep. I’m writing this post from under a shady tree in the playground at Clapham Common, and both children are asleep. Guess nursery really does tire him out. Doesn’t he look comfy with his head like that?

So why Clapham Common? Why not? It’s fairly close by, it’s big and unexplored. It seemed like a good place to fly his kite on a windy day. But instead, he is snoozing. So, I’ll report back on what I’ve seen.

A big pond with lots of ducks and geese, flocking round a man with a bag of crumbs (mental note – next time, bring bag of crumbs), an empty paddling pool and most excitingly, this mosaic:


It may not look exciting to you, but I helped to make it, the first time we went to Ben and Jerrys festival. Back then it was only the central square – the outer bits got added on the year after. Good to see it’s still there. I do check every so often, to make sure no Clapham youngster has pinched my beautifully hand-crafted tile-leaves.

Clapham Common is not really a place you can entirely lose yourself. Although it’s big, it’s bordered by the As 3 and 24 and you never lose the feeling of being close to a main road. But I’m not much of a “lose yourself” type, so that’s OK by me. What’s the point of being in London if you wanna feel like you’re not in London?


I believe there are two playgrounds, and I’m sitting in the one near Clapham South and the Windmill pub. It’s nice. The playground, I mean, though the pub is good too. I remember it fondly from a birthday-party in our pre-child days. Ah, alcohol-y goodness.

But back to the playground. It has everything you need – two climbing frames (one tiny, one more challenging), a play train, baby swings and 2 sets of big-kid swings, and a roundabout of sorts. And childrens’ toilets. These are getting ever more important. Now, if only I had a child that could try it all out…

And then he woke up! I didn’t plan that, honestly. As you can tell, I am no longer live-blogging from the Windmill Drive Playground. My phone was running out of battery anyway. He woke up. Eva woke up. She wanted milk. He wanted to play. I wanted him to pee. You can see why the live-blogging went to pot. I fed Eva for a while, and then had to go and intervene in an altercation on the roundabout after a little girl made Reuben cry.

As you might expect, Clapham Common is Yummy Mummy Central. There are a few ways you can spot a Yummy Mummy hotspot  – the school uniforms that come with hats are a dead giveaway. Another giveaway is that when there’s a fight and your child’s crying, they try to pick him up and comfort him. That doesn’t happen on the estate playgrounds. When you eventually feel shamed enough to go and comfort him yourself (hey, I had a baby to feed!) they say things like “Sorry, I’m afraid she was quite horrid to him”. It’s all terribly civilised. I don’t have the money to fit in with them, but I have the accent, if I Winchester it up a bit. I also don’t have the clothes, but given that one mother was wearing denim harem pants with studs, I think I’m OK with that.

Then we found a sandpit.Not the cleanest or newest sandpit, but that’s all it takes to make him happy. He climbed up the little tower in the middle and managed to interact with some other children without any tears. Then he moved to the smaller climbing frame, took his coat and wellies off and stuffed them in the tunnel, telling all the other children that it was his tunnel now.

It was time to go. I’d already broken my own rule of not travelling in rush hour, and suffered for it as we squeezed onto a very full bus. Luckily, all the teenage college students were trustworthy enough to pass my Oyster card down to the beeper and -more crucially – pass it back. On the way there, I’d got off the 155 at Clapham Common tube and trekked all the way down to the playground (ducking under the A3 sign to do so). This may have been a mistake. So on the way back, I caught it from just outside the Windmill but that was also a mistake, given that the bus emptied at Clapham Common, You live, you learn….Oh, and we never did get round to flying his kite.

VERDICT: A nice enough playground, could do with some modernisation.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments