I guess a number of you have either got merged families or have grown up in a merged family ie. your custodial parent remarried and you suddenly had a new parent and bro's and sisters. Or perhaps in this case you are the parent and have taken on your partners kids and they've taken you on!.

I'm curious how this worked out - did it, or didn't it. How do you handle your partners kids when they don't behave or do you leave it to your partner etc. for example?

Hi there..

Came across this today. It's a new airline which is starting to fly the CT-London route on the 31st of October. The prices are really low at R2,000 one way & R4,000 return. There is still loads of places available for December. Only fly 3 times a week and arrives/departs at London Stanstead.

They will also introduce a flight from Durban - London for the same prices from December.

Operates on the same basis as Kulula where all inflight meals etc. can be purchased seperately.

http://www.civair.com

What a fantastic read! I had delayed reading this book as I had the impression it would be lots of gratuitous sex, but how wrong I was. I find it hard to believe this book is a novel, and though parts of it are based in fact, the majority is fiction and I am amazed at how well the author has captured the heroine's voice.

The author has given us a peek into the lives of geishas with such perceptiveness of the quiet charm I have come to associate with the Japanese culture.
Who else has read it? What are your views?

Does anybody know of a company who doesn't require you to pay by credit card for broadband??

My daughter absolutely inhales books, and she's finished all of the Dolphin diaries books, most of the Lucy Daniels books, and Enid Blyton is way below her now.

My daughter has enjoyed the Roman Mysteries Series by Caroline Lawrence, and the Animorphs. Oh, and JAcqueline Wilson. What other books might appeal to her at this age? (Age 9, going on 29! :haha: )

Well, my tomatoes have been flowering for two weeks already, and I am now faced with a dilemma - should I take the change and put them outside (as they still have a lot of growing to do, or do I keep them inside and harvest whatever crop they produce?

Question: What sort of interesting wildlife do you have in the areas you live/work in?

At home we have a wealth of bird life - the usual suspects in rooks, jackdaws, magpies, thrushes, blackbirds, robins and a host of smaller birds that I do not know. The birdsong is so loud in the early morning and evening that we just open the windows and enjoy it. Who needs a tv?

Along the canal there are ducks, swans, whatever lives underwater and rats, mice, and the usual array of bugs.

In the Phoenix Park where I work we have most of the above plus fallow deer, foxes, badgers (though I have never seen them), pheasants and grey herons.

Anyone who uses this site to download jokes, videos must please be warned!!!! Hubby has found a key-logger on this site - so be aware

Which books helped you through your children's first years? Back in SA, My book by Marina Petropoulos (Can't remember it's name) was my bible, and she helped me through many a troublesome period! What about yours?

I have this rule in my house – this is not a democracy I make the decisions until the boys stage a coup de tat.

Still I firmly believe that although I make decisions that may be unpopular it is my role as a parent to make acceptable adults and any decision or however they hate me at the time is acceptable to me if is the right decision long term.

Being a parent is hard with all the opportunities that a child faces in this world – from peer pressure, drugs and all forms of things good and bad – when and how they the children make decisions for themselves is dictated by themselves but as master in charge I can and do override a decision I feel inappropriate – whatever the outcome of how they feel towards me.

So parents when you have a decision to make remember that you have a responsibility towards creating a future for your child and you can and must make those difficult decisions no matter how hard they are – for the sake of the children.

Have you ever had to make a really unpopular decision and backed away because you thought your child will love you less or have you gone with what you knew was right even though it tore you up, remember when your child becomes an adult you suddenly have no recourse to mistakes you made will watching them grow up.