Samsam

Hi there, if you look in next at the moment the front page is describing this seasons fashion as "boy wear" - I've just done my winter order and theres loads of stuff that will go up to an 18 and they aren't girly at all!

Well I'm 31 and I can't wait. I'd even go without the kids hahaha

Hi Smiley, wouldn't it be far more special to have the rose named after your nan - that way if anyone else ever wants the same rose they are actually buying a rose which is named after her and her only. I think it seems more special this way. Also in the name your own rose kits you get the seeds to grow yourself so you would actually be the only person with that rose with that name if you see what I mean.

Just a quick one as I am in a speedy rush this morning, if you can't find the reply you want there is always this. http://www.johnlewis.com/230453782/Product.aspx?source=14798

We're not all that gutted, they've got 20 members of the lib dem team on the government payroll 5 of which are secretaries of state. We knew we would never win the election but I think we all believed that it would be EITHER Lab or Con so with this result we get Cleggy in a high role (despite the Deputy PM being a bit of a nothing job) and I am sure he will keep the tories in check as much as he can and stop them going all out to make the poor poorer and rich richer. Hopefully we will all be a bit better off as a country for this coalition.

We travel with Thomson/First Choice (same company now) every year, we have always used their kids clubs, it is important that you tell them as much information about your child before you go. We usually write a plan laid out a little like this. Likes: - (your answers here) Dislikes : - (again your answers here) Medical needs : - (here I will include things such as allergies, anything he can't eat/drink) Development : - (anything they would expect another child of his age to do that he can't) Emotional : - (for us this is textures, noises and that if he says he doesn't want to do something what they should do) When to contact us : - .... We keep it to one word answers as much as possible so it's not like an essay and then we laminate it and take it with us to each session. As he is 5 he should be ok in his own age group session but for us our son is 10 so he usually goes into the same session as his brother which I think is up to 7 or 8 years old because it is more developmentally appropriate for him and they are usually fine with that as the older children usually go climbing or have loud discos which he wouldn't do (although he always has the choice to go to either). Also we ask if we can take him for the first time 10 mins before the session starts so he can get familiar with the room before all the other kids arrive. We have never had any issues with any of the staff - they are usually fantastic, welcoming and very inclusive and they always inform us of the activities they will be doing that day so we can make sure our son is ok with them. Hope that helps x

I'm sorry but the whole harsh cold turkey thing is incredibly wrong if a child uses the breast as a comforting method, I am a trained breastfeeding peer counsellor and I know that this method is akin to controlled crying and something I do not agree with whatsoever. If possible I would work out the times that he feeds as accurately as you can and during these times try to find something incredibly distracting and entertaining. If this doesn't work then a comforter may not be the end of the world not so much a dummy but maybe one of those rags with a head and an arms which you can always hold between yourself and your son so he still gets the closeness and something he could chew on as well but try to do this during the times he doesn't usually feed as this will help him realise he doesn't just have to get comfort from the breast. If you remove his main method of comfort too quickly it could create issues with separation anxiety which will manifest in other ways and at times you really don't want them to happen.

But isn't the point of voting to vote for who you want to and vote for the person who's policies you agree with most? if everyone voted for who they thought would win then nothing would ever change and we'd be stuck with the same parties every election. Even if the Lib Dems got a few more seats this time and then a few more the next time eventually it would lead to them having a good chance of getting in, maybe not this time but I'd like to think that maybe I can make an informed choice about who will run the country when my children are much older.

There is this site http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/ it gives you the choice of six policies one from each of the main parties, you select which policy appeals to you the most from 4 areas such as economy, education (you choose which 4 before you start) and at the end it tells you who to vote for.

Hiya I know this sounds a bit daft but would having a large mirror or mirror tiles help in the kitchen as they can sometimes make a small room seem bigger. Also if it's not already a light colour that can add to some of the feeling of it being small. Thats all I can think of at the moment, hope you feel happier there soon x x

Oh I agree completely, On the world awareness day website there is a prominent link to Autism Speaks and it was the I am autism video that first made me aware of them. I agree that dads need a little more support because as my husband didn't have as much time as I did to research Autism when our son was diagnosed, I was in the very fortunate position of not needing to work back then and this allowed me to become involved in support groups and eventually taking over the running of them (and then eventually becoming employed by the company that had given me so much help). My poor husband only ever had the info that I gave him despite wanting to become so much more involved. Through my community work I have seen that this is one of the biggest barriers that dads face and also there is the barrier that a lot of the groups are primarily mum orientated I've always said that it one of the best things that dads need is their own group maybe on a weekend. Recently I heard rumours around my way of a dad and child karate group for children with additional needs which not only gives dads a chance to spend time with their children but it gives the dads a chance to talk to other dads about what is going on and swap ideas which I think is awesome. I keep meaning to look further into it but I never have the time

I was discussing this with my husband earlier, I said I can't muster up the energy to support anything pushed by Autism Speaks as I think they are a little terrifying. However I will support your facebook group (joins)

Hi there, if it counts most of the cheap DVD players are multi-region and there is absolutely nothing illegal about having them, I buy lots of US DVD's and play them on my cheapy £15 one I got from the green lettered supermarket. It doesn't solve you're problem I know but not a lot of people know that

ohhh I've had another idea What about popping some talc on like you have before but then giving him a hairdryer on cold setting so when he feels itchy he can blow the hair off his skin.

I think boots would be a sensible place to try, I have seen them on Ebay too. Another option is to do what we did, we had many nightmares with hairdressers and one woman even said "he's not having it done if he's gonna cry". Eventually we called around many many hairdressers (not barbers) and explained our situation, one woman was amazing, she told us to bring him when the salon was closed so it would be quiet and she kind of let him wander around the shop and when his interest took something she went in with the clippers it took her an hour and a half but she was so patient and wonderful. I know this isn't really an option because your sons issue is with the hair touching the skin but I thought someone else might find it useful. Anyway 5 years later he just goes to a barbers now and is their favourite customer because he sits so still.