Westfield – 27/08/11

Posted on August 27, 2011 by katese11

When I told people I was planning on taking Roo to Westfield a Saturday, they thought I was crazy. “Are you crazy?” asked one, which is where I got this impression from. And to an extent, I agree that going to London’s biggest shopping mall/small town on a Saturday is madness but there was method in my madness. Captain Barnacles of Octonauts fame was making a personal appearance and we had to be there. The man is a legend. Well, less of a man, more of a polar bear. Unless it was a man in a polar bear suit. Which it wasn’t, it was the REAL Captain Barnacles.  The same one that rescued the narwhal and other such heroics.

As you can see from the picture above, we met him. It would appear from the photo above that Roo was unimpressed but honestly, he did enjoy it. He pointed at him and said “Naut!” And that was worth a hour-long Saturday morning trek to West London.

Besides, it gave me a chance to scope out Westfield with a toddler. He had previously been there as a foetus (he was no trouble) and as a 6-month-old (quite some trouble, including a non-stop screaming fit in M&S). So I was curious to see what it would be like with a 2-year-old and whether I would get any…y’know…shopping done. For meself, like.

Despite my friends’ misgivings, it wasn’t too crowded. We were there by quarter to eleven, which helped, and it was a Bank Holiday weekend, which also helped cause I think we’re the only people staying in London all weekend. We got to the ELC to see the Captain, spent about half an hour looking at some toys and did some colouring for the chance to win Octonauts toys. I’m not holding my breath. While the child has talent, it’s clearly not in the art sphere. He gets that from his Mummy, as I am reliably informed that his Daddy won a drawing competition when he was a child. So there.

While in the ELC, a chance arose to try out the baby changing facilities (you can draw from that what you will) and they were fab. I remember the private feeding rooms with comfy chairs from the 6-month old trip and sadly we didn’t require them this time. But we did take advantage of the well-designed changing surface (baby lies down with feet pointing towards you on a padded mat, nappy bin on one side, sink on the other), even if Roo didn’t fit on it as well as he used to. Best bit though was the Iggle Piggle themed ride and big soft seats in front of a screen showing Peppa Pig. We could have stayed in that room for hours.

Notice how they have the same vacant look on their faces? I love it. So, I left Nathan and Roo in there and snuck off to buy me some shoes. Which I did, for £8 from New Look (and they’re lovely soft black ballet pumps. Thanks for asking). Meanwhile, the boys entertained themselves in the little play area outside ELC. I didn’t really see what was in there but it looked like various surfaces to climb on, under etc.  A handy diversion if you need one between the toy shops and the Peppa Pig screen. Then we went to buy Nathan some shops, in Deichmann, which also had a screen showing Peppa Pig, but stuck on the DVD menu, which isn’t ideal. Roo amused himself instead by finding some monster-feet slippers and going round saying “Rawwwwwrrrr” at random shoppers.

By now I was flaking. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue coffee. So it was time for lunch a la M&S, eaten on the seats just outside. And yes, Roo kept up his record of M&S tantrums. Something about only being allowed to go on the escalators when Mummy wanted him to…Needless to say,a  hasty post-lunch retreat was beaten…!

VERDICT: Shopping with a toddler is never, evereverevereverevereverevereverevereverever going to be the fun day out it was when you were childless. But good facilites, a play area and an appearance from a cBeebies favourite all take the edge off.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Creating precious childhood memories or something (days out) | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Wales with a Toddler – a photo journal

Posted on August 23, 2011 by katese11

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Bethnal Green-on-Sea and Museum of Childhood 17/08/11

Posted on August 17, 2011 by katese11

I love the seaside. I really do. I once had a project where I had to go to the seaside once a month for a year. I love it that much. And you probably won’t get me blogging about the seaside in London cause really..there aren’t any. Attempts to find a “beach really near London” will land you on the Isle of Sheppey during carnival time. You have been warned. I am going to Wales at the end of this week, where I hope to find seaside-age of some description so I can bask in the 17c heat but that’s definitely not London. I may do some kind of LWAT field trip special blog but then again I might not.

The point? The connection to the photo of a giant tiger above? Well you’d hope there was one of each of these.

And you’d be right! The connection is Bethnal Green, E2. Unlikely? Maybe. Inevitable, given the blog post title? Yes. Tower Hamlets were today hosting a “Bethnal Green-on-Sea” day, where the park adjacent to Bethnal Green tube was magically transformed into a seaside. You could see what they were trying to do, but the beach elements – i.e. a couple of small sandpits and a paddling pool – were a bit on the disappointing side, while the good (and free!) stuff – donkey rides, ice cream, teacup rides, helter skelter – all had queues as long as the Central Line. Including that loopy bit around Hainault. So, we didn’t linger on the beachfront for long and there was almost no tiddly-om-pom-pomming. Reuben did enjoy the Punch and Judy show but there’s something about the squeaky voices and gratutious violence that grates on the adult palate. Think Spud from Bob the Builder doing Reservoir Dogs.

Luckily, we had a Plan B in the form of the ever-excellent Museum of Childhood. Reuben’s friend Jake is a local boy so often hangs out there, and we were honoured to be invited to what is surely the coolest place in East London (take THAT Shoreditch!).

We are slowly but surely moving towards the giant tiger picture above. On level 2 of the Museum, they were hosting a retrospective of the work of Judith Kerr – she of “The Tiger who came to Tea” and “Mog” fame. She also wrote “When Hitler stole Pink Rabbit”, which I remember reading school. It almost made me cry because it was so close to my own Grandmother’s experience in 1930s Germany. The exhibition includes a life-size tiger (or bigger than life-size? How big are tigers anyway? I’m always surprised at the size of them in zoos as you’d expect the lions to be the biggest but no….) and a kitchen set up with play food, pans and giant foam tins of “Tiger Food” (on Reuben’s head, above). It was a lot of fun. The “Mog” section had cat costumes, a giant cat basket, different “Mog” facial expressions and a magnets game where you could mix and match bits from her different characters. It was all decorated with original illustrations from her book, including the upsetting final book – “Goodbye Mog”. Published when I was 20, so not surprising that I missed that one in the series but MOG DIES! It’s a bit of a shock to find this out after all these years…. (since I was reading the books, not so many years since I was 20. Cheeky beggars.)

The rest of the museum was pretty good as well. I went there with Roo once before about a year ago so he didn’t quite appreciate it as much then. Now, he played with the garage with Jake for a long time, both behaving beautifully. The fact that they were supposed to be in the cafe eating their lunch is neither here nor there. While we’re on it, the cafe is nice but a bit pricey. I had macaroni cheese, which was lovely, for a fiver and Roo had a kids meal deal for £5.50 which included sandwich (and he ate some of it voluntarily! Shocker!), grapes, nice apple juice and a mini muffin. Naturally I scoffed the muffin on the way home when he wasn’t looking. He’ll never know. Mmm, muffin…

Where was I? Ah yes, he also played intently with the duplo table for a loooong time – about half an hour, which in toddler time is about a week. I should probably get him some more duplo. I amused myself by looking at the children’s fashions display, which showed the changing styles of children’s clothes through the ages. Why do we not live in an era when Reuben could wear a sailor suit?! And I also browsed round the displays of toys from yesteryear – three of which I had as a child and are still at my parents’ house. How old am I that my childhood toys are in a museum?! (not that much over 2o…as discussed previously).

This toy! I had this EXACT toy! With the Saint Bernard on it!

And therein lies the joy of the Museum of childhood. While it’s fun for the kids, it’s also a big nostalgia trip for the adults.  Kinda like those pub conversations where you talk about kids TV from the 80s, only without the alcohol and nobody feels like they need to sing the Thundercats theme tune.

Thundercats?! Get a grip woman! The good people want to know what else is at the Museum of Childhood before you hit a thousand fricking words!

OK, so here’s a run-down – model police car with steering wheel and police hats (big hit), indoor sandpit (better than the soggy one outside), convenient deckchairs next to the sandpit, a DIY Punch and Judy booth with glove puppets (Roo both loved doing the glove puppets and watching bigger kids do it better than he could), a jukebox and dancefloor (jukebox not working today),  a stimulation area with lights that changed colour depending on which panel you pressed, mask-making (guessing this is school hols only), dressing up, rocking horses and a tempting-looking gift shop.

And “gift” was word 1000. You have done well if you’ve got this far. You did well if you got past my seaside ramblings at the beginning. Go to the Museum of Childhood.

VERDICT: Yes, it’s in East London. But that’s OK. So much for toddlers to do and all for freeeee. Lovely.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at culture (museums) | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Archbishops Park

Posted on August 17, 2011 by katese11

Check it out! It’s another sarf-of-the-river, lambef walk type tip! (And yes, we actually go up Lambeth Walk to get to this one). To be fair, it’s also incredibly close to St Thomas’ Hospital and not far from Waterloo. So, it could be handy if you get stuck in one of those places (and I hope for your sake it’s the latter).

The first thing I love about this park is that it’s pirate-themed. The second thing I love about this park is that they let local schoolchildren choose the theme. There’s even a note somewhere saying that the children chose a pirate theme, even though there is “no record of piracy on this part of the Thames”. I can just imagine the scene – “OK children, what do you think really sums up this part of London. The park’s in the back garden of Lambeth Palace and was bequeathed to the people by the Archbishop – that would be a good start, no?” “We want pirates!” “OK, it’s near St Thomas’ Hospital – one of the most famous in the world. How about a hospital theme?” “We want pirates!” “How about some of the very famous landmarks located close to the park – the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye….?” “Pirates! Pirates! PIRATES!”

So, Pirates it was. One piece of artwork depicts the pirates being hanged. It’s done in felt-tip, glazed and put on top of a barrel to make a seat. You can’t make these things up.

The playground has been redeveloped quite recently and -pirate themed or not – it is very nicely done and well thought out. The sandpit is remarkably clean for South London and there are picnic benches right next to it for tired parents to sit on, as well as a grassy bank. There is a “natural” play area, with a tunnel cut through another bank. It’s all divided roughly into different age ranges although (shocker coming up), Reuben likes to disregard the natural order of things and go straight for the biggest of the big boys’ slides and attempt to walk up it. Of course. The slide count is at least 4, including the toddler size one (scorned by Roo), the aforementioned big boy slide, one in the sandpit and a medium sized one that he will occasionally deign to go on.

Oh, and don’t forget that the park is very close to Magic Coffee Man

VERDICT: Well designed, never too crowded and a pleasant atmosphere. Inevitable tantrums whenever you try to leave.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Greenwich Park – 14/08/11

Posted on August 15, 2011 by katese11

For all my fear of the countryside, it is nice to go outside London for some fresh air once in a while. Somewhere green, quaint and civilised. Like Greenwich.

Ok, so we got the Jubilee line there and then a bus but still it felt like a different world (not surprising, given we got onto the tube at Bond St). So green and lovely. Walking back from the park it felt like we were in a seaside town in Dorset (ye olde pubs, a little ice cream shop, the British fish n chips shop) and it was quite strange to look up and see Canary Wharf. Nathan’s boss lives in Greenwich and he’s decided to start teasing her about being a country girl. I gave him a great joke, which I’ll share with you as long as you promise not to tell her. They work in a finance office so I told Nathan to say…”Hey X, there seems to be a discrepancy in our figures here. You see, I got 20 acres and you got 43…”

Comedy gold, hey? Need me to explain it? No, I won’t.

So, the park itself? Well, it’s massive. You could lose yourself in there quite happily. We were at a birthday picnic near the bandstand (as pictured), which seemed to be some kind of toddler magnet. They were all walking around it, climbing onto it and occasionally falling off it (or attempting to.) Not sure what the fascination was but Roo enjoyed playing with it. There was also a group of people playing drums. A lot. I doubt they’re a permanant feature so don’t let that put you off

Wandering through the rest of the park, there was a nice looking teahouse and a flower garden. Near the Observatory there was what appeared to be a huge white canvas structure but it turned out to be the sky. Unusual in London (although we weren’t in London) but there was a massive expanse of sky…and yes, a giant white canvas-looking structure over there a bit. They call it the 02 arena i believe, but it’ll always be the Millenium Dome to me. What I think I’m trying to say (look, I’m struggling here…it’s a Monday morning and I’ve had no caffeine yet) is that Greenwich Park has the most amazing views over London, possibly even better than Hampstead Heath (see here). You come to the end of a road and it looks like the world has just dropped away (and the land pretty much does drop away) and you can see right across the City (as in the Square Mile, not the whole city!) as far as the Shard at the London Bridge (Nathan and Reuben’s half-finished skyscraper of choice, given its proximity to his childminder).  It was awesome and this photo really does nothing to sum it up.

The best part was that we’d got the bus up to the park so hadn’t even had to exert ourselves to get this kind of view. Incidentally, it wasn’t that dark. I just haven’t mastered the camera on my new Blackberry yet.

Roo and Nathan ran down the hill (I followed with buggy), which seemed a lot of fun. Then we wandered back towards the edge of the park, completely missing the playground as we did it. I was convinced – on the basis of a half remembered map – that it was in the north-west corner of the park. While we found the north-west corner, we failed to find the playground, being situated as it was in the north-east. Never mind. It’s a good excuse to return at some point and finish this review.

Home then, via the Thames clipper which Roo enjoyed at first and then got a bit frustrated with as he realised he wasn’t allowed out on the front deck or to steer the boat. Still, he enjoyed looking out of the windows at all the other boats. Definitely the civilised way to get back to London from the countryside!

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

London with a toddler, a 6-year-old, an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old

Posted on August 12, 2011 by katese11

And my Mum! She traditionally dislikes London but has been persuaded capital-wards ever more often as her grandson gets cuter. Today she had in tow one of my nieces and two of my nephews – the aforementioned 6,8 and 9-year-olds, (I know! My sister is a baby machine!). We took them to the Science Museum, in a curiously similar trip to the one last week with Nathan’s nephews (6 and 3), and it was a fairly successful day. First to melt down was Roo at around 2:30 but that was swiftly followed by a nap. And the next meltdown was minutes before they all got back on the train. And it was fairly minor. I call this success.

So, a few things I have discovered this last week (cause everyone loves a list):

1) The Science Museum works for everyone. Today we went to Launchpad, spent a good hour and a half there, then down to Pattern Pod. My niece (9) loved the little dance booth where your shadow makes funky video shapes and Roo did some pretty groovy moves in there as well. Last week, with the 3-er and the 6-er, we spent all afternoon in The Garden and the 6 year-old was enjoying it as much as Roo was.

2) For the reasons above, the Science Museum is pretty hellish in the summer holidays. Don’t go unless you have random nephron to entertain (or heaven forbid, your own school age children)

3) London is harder to navigate with four kids than one. But doable if you have another adult with you

4) A 9-year old girl can actually be pretty helpful in getting a toddler on and off the tube and round a busy museum. She has the energy of the young and can fit into small spaces to haul him back…Roo was out of his buggy for the first tube journey as it’s so much lighter to haul it down the steps without him in it. So, she held his hand, I took the buggy, my mother took the two other boys…and it all works smoothly.

5) Westminster tube had lift access everywhere. Which negates the need for complex plans, as above.

6) South Kensington tube definitely does not have lift access everywhere. Which requires complex plans, as above.

7) Even in a relatively safe area (the lawn outside the Natural History Museum) Roo will find his way back to the road. The busier the better!

8.) You can buy a 1-year-old’s birthday present in the Science Museum gift shop. Score!

9) The lifts in the Science Museum are the most hellishly busy part of a hellishly busy museum in the summer holidays. They go up when you expect them to go down, tempers get frayed and if the doors don’t open and everyone looks at you like it’s your fault then heaven help you. If you don’t have a buggy, take the stairs.

10) When you and the children have very delicately built an archway in Launchpad, do not let the toddler near it. At least not till after you’ve taken the photo….

And it’s all worth it for those precious childhood memories (see top)…y’know, for the ones that will actually remember 2011. Which Roo won’t. Luckily, we have this blog to remind him…!

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Wandering along the South Bank

Posted on August 12, 2011 by katese11

As you may have discerned from this blog (if you are indeed the discerning type. I do hope you are), I like things that are either a) free b) cheap or c) something I can get my money’s worth out of (see the London Transport Museum post. I am going back to that place if I have to crawl every step of the way, dragging Reuben with me. But we’d probably get the no 59). I have Jewish blood on one side and Scottish on the other – two races not famed for their generousity. So, it’s not my fault!

What then could be cheaper than a stroll ? The walk along the South Bank is one I’ve done many times since he was born (and once, entertainingly, while he was in the process of being born). In the olden days, he would sleep happily in his buggy while I walked up to the Royal Festival Hall and the delights therein (see here. oh, I’m all about the pingbacks today). Now, with the buggy resistance movement, leisurely walks are a thing of the past. It’s all distraction, diversion and …I can’t think of another d-word. But, point made.

So today, I took the bold step of having a leisurely walk with the toddler running free as I did it. “Hold on!” I hear you say “Isn’t this the self same toddler that has no road sense whatsoever?” Why yes, it is. You may not actually ask that question as I don’t know that I’ve ever mentioned it on here (damnit! No pingback!). But yes, you’d be right if you did ask that question (don’t feel like you have to). He has no sense of danger yet and a compulsion to touch different types of wheeled vehicles….not ideal for an independant man about town. But the beauty of the South Bank is that very long strips of it are away from the road. From Lambeth Bridge to Waterloo and beyond (at least Blackfriars off the top of my head, but the top of my head gets a bit confused sometimes), you can walk on gloriously big paved areas with just the occasional cyclist, the more occasional Banksy and the not-at-all occasional living statue to bother you (oh, and all the tourists. And today a giant penguin). In the other direction, towards Vauxhall and Battersea, it all gets a bit further away from the river and a bit more road-sy but that’s mainly to do with that big Power Station and M..I…6…being in the way. Interestingly, I am listening to the James Bond theme on the proms coverage as I write this.

OK, 430 words in and I have said very little of sense or interest so far. So, here goes. If you fancy taking this walk with your own bundle of scrumptiousness, leave lots of time. We gave it an hour before having to meet people at Waterloo (that’s a whole other post…but I haven’t written it yet so again damn! No pingback!) and were still running late, even though the walk should take less than 30 minutes. I guess Roo was enjoying it too much, which is kinda the point. He liked climbing on every one of the benches (there are a lot of benches) and he liked looking over the wall at the boats (being on the bench facilitated this). He liked shouting in the tunnels along the way and hearing his voice echo.

And….this is a top tip if ever I heard one…he enjoyed a fantastic new treat called “watching Mummy get a coffee”. To be fair, the man making it was an artist. And Reuben watched in suitably awed wonder. It’s a little coffee portakabin type thing that has sprung up on the Albert Embankment (just past Lambeth Bridge, against the wall that marks the edge of St Thomas’ Hospital) and although this isn’t sounding promising, trust me. It was gooooood! Not too expensive (given that double shot is standard) and made with such love that even Roo appreciated it (being held up by me, toddler weight thankfully taken by the shelf on the edge).Of course, I had the awful moment when – having taken my beautifully presented, gravity defying cappuccino – I had to put a lid on it and both spoil it all, and splurge hot milk over my hand (which was better than the alternative – not using a lid and spilling it all over Roo). Luckily the man’s back was turned, making Reuben’s apple juice, otherwise I believe he would have wept. Real tears. I probably could have got away without buying Roo a juice, entranced as he was by magic coffee man, but I was feeling nice. And it was a kick-ass juice too.

Artistry takes time and by this time we were in serious danger of running late. Roo had abandoned the idea of climbing on the bench to watch the boats and was attempting to climb over the actual wall. Buggy time. On another day, we shall walk further and commune with those living statues and the giant penguin outside the Aquarium (did I just imagine that?!) but today was not that day. If you have the time and inclination for a little walk away from the traffic and with lots to see, I would recommend it to you. And go visit magic coffee man. But really, bear in mind the time thing….

 

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An addendum to my last post….

Posted on August 11, 2011 by katese11


Guess who got their letter published? (see this post) So, it was a little edited but still…I feel like I’ve made some kind of point.  Wonder why they left out the line about ill-conceived journalism?!

Normal service resumed soon…tomorrow is the Science Museum again (with a different set of nephron). It’s not that I have no imagination, it’s just the best place to take school age kids in London….new blog posts soon, promise!

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I take it all back! No more swimming or soft play!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by katese11

Amid all the riot coverage yesterday, the ever-reliable Metro published a small article on p11 about the state of today’s toddlers (aka tomorrow’s looters). As far as I can see, it hasn’t been reproduced online anywhere but I’ll do my best to share its wisdom with you. According to a new survey, toddlers are “pampered but ill-fed”. In this shocking survey, it was revealed that 80% of toddlers have…wait for it….tried pizza and chips. A number of those have also tried chicken nuggets. And there’s more – parents spend £1000.00 a year on activites such as swimming and “soft play”. Hence the pamperedness of our little ones.

I was shocked and dismayed.

By the quality of the journalism, naturally. There were so many ridiculous things packed into this short article that I barely knew where to start. Right this second, i’m questioning how anyone manages to spend £1000.00 a year (£20.00 a week) on swimming and soft play. That must mean you go to one or both every day of your life. Possible but it seems that the figure is taken from a very small sample of people who do that. As for the rest of the article, well here’s my response to the Metro (almost guaranteed to not get published)

“Hi

I felt I had to respond to an article on p11 of the Metro yesterday morning. Sorry the response is a bit late but, like most Londoners, I was a little preoccupied last night. So, the “shocking” claim that “80% of toddlers have tried pizza and chips”. Really?! The shocking thing is that 20% haven’t. Toddlers will try anything they see adults eat and a lot more besides. Let me share with you some other things that 80% of toddlers have tried – dirt, bubble mixture, their own bathwater (which probably contains their own pee)…I could go on. Trying pizza and chips does not make them ill-fed. If you’d said that 80% of toddlers were fed nothing but pizza and chips, that would have been an interesting point. Incidentally, pizza made well is not a bad foodstuff for toddlers (as long as you limit the salt) as it can combine all their major foodgroups.
Lets move on to the real shocker – the idea that toddlers are pampered because they’re taken swimming and to soft play. Soft play during the winter is a basic need. Toddlers need a good run-around every day and most people in London don’t have huge houses where they can do that. There’s a limit to how long you can stay in a park in the winter and the free provision (one o clock clubs etc) is being cut all the time. So, soft play is the only viable alternative. As for swimming?! That thing that exercises them and teaches them a basic survival skill? If that’s pampering then I hand in my parenting license right now. I have clearly misunderstood the whole point.
It takes nothing to make a parent feel guilty about the way they bring up their child. Please think before you publish such ill-conceived, sensationalist articles.

Kate, se11″

Today, we’ll be leaving the house and hanging around wherever’s open post-rioting. Then I might post some interesting new material and stop brooding on stupid journos. In the meantime, feel free to form your own opinions….

3ChildrenandIt

Posted in Rants | 7 Comments

London in a crisis

Posted on August 9, 2011 by katese11

So, you’ve probably been wondering where I’ve been the last few days. The answer is right here, carrying on with life in the wake of the chaos our city seems to have found itself in. I last updated on Sunday, just before our local shopping street descended into anarchy. Two days later and the city is a different place – bits of it gone forever, bits of it changed forever. Our area is as yet untouched but we wait nervously for the darkness to see what will happen tonight. Will it be us next?

I doubt it somehow. The looters have been concentrating on places they can steal stuff from – so mainly shopping areas. Our estate is probably home to some of those very same looters and as our lodger so eloquently put it “you don’t poop where you eat”. (He’s american so can get away with saying poop). Still, we’ve made an escape plan should anything happen and I doubt we’ll be sleeping soundly.

I made my feelings on London very clear in my first ever post and they haven’t changed. We’re staying, at least till someone throws something through our window. Tomorrow’s activities with Roo will be local and low-key but we’re not hiding yet. Life goes on. Ask me again tomorrow morning…..

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