Huddsballetmum

I really find it shocking that young women are so unaware of what suffrage actually is. However I have just asked several of my staff under 30 years of age and they didn't have a clue either. Sad state of affairs.

Won't be the same without Mary Berry

Best chocolates in the world are Whittakers of Skipton. They sell their after dinner mints worldwide. They always had the most fantastic window displays when I was a little girl.

I have always bought DD's pink tights from dance direct. Small adult fits her fine and they often do offers at 3 packs for £14.95. In my experience they last much longer than Bloch, they keep their shape and they don't snag much. Only downside is that they do fade quickly in the wash if you machine wash them, but are okay if handwashed. I tend to keep one pair back for exams and ensure that I always handwash them to keep colour.

Matchmakers and After Eight's will be next - stock up now!!!!

My advice after years of doing festivals from the age of 6 upwards, is to put as little as possible on her. No need for foundation, moisturise and use a light powder to remove shine, it's better than full foundation. Concentrate on making eyes cheeks and lips stand out, but if ballet, be natural. Avoid bright blue eyeshadow at all costs. It seems to be a festival tradition but looks garish and unnatural. Finally, take plenty of micellar water and cotton pads. Kids wriggle an awful lot, and if she is anything like my DD your daughter will want to remove the make up the minute she comes off stage. Plus points for me - the fact that she wore makeup for festivals from such a young age meant that as a teen she wasn't interested until 15, so I missed that awful teenage (usually poorly applied) makeup thing that girls go through about 13 years old.

My dd has just started studying her A levels, and was asked if she would reduce her hours of dancing to manage her A level workload. Her answer made me smile. She told them "I have managed to dance 20 hours a week and study for 11 GCSE's, I'm sure I can manage 3 A levels". I was so proud of her for not backing down.

I would love to own or work in an art gallery spending my days looking for and surrounded by fabulous art. Unfortunately Education pays the bills

I get that a lot, followed by "will we see her on telly some day?". I just smile and nod

I work in Further education and would recommend Maths, English & Science for your daughter if nothing else. If you are struggling financially for your child to do everything you want, give your local college a call. Most FE colleges will do maths & English for Home Educated learners and its free. Then perhaps you could spend your money on other courses your daughter would like to do. Most FE colleges are also very good at supporting elected home educated learners from a pastoral viewpoint as well and it gives a taste of what college is like without having to do a full time course. Not sure where in the country you are but feel free to PM me if you want further info on College's in your area.

Asda do a range and they do XS which may be smaller than the Primark small. Worth a try. My DD says they are the most comfortable knickers she owns.

Great to hear such an inspiring story that shows other dancers that the road may not always be smooth. Congratulations to your DS and I wish him all the best in his career. It is very true that you should never compete with anyone but yourself. Everyone's story is meant to be different.

My top films would be Children of Men ( Alfonso Cuaron 2006) 12 years a slave (2015) The Hurt Locker (can't remember the year) However with a teenager in the house the majority of my film viewing has been Harry Potter, Divergent, Series, and other teenage films, 1950's movies (breaking the criteria but Hitchcock was an amazing director) or musicals.

So proud of my DD who has aced her 11 GCSE's with all A*, A's and B's whilst continuing to dance 20 hours per week. Hope everyone else who took GCSE's did well!

Is it just me or is anyone else becoming a little irritated with Claire Balding's throwaway comments and talking over the athlete she is interviewing.

I think we also need to tackle it from the other end of the spectrum in educating parents and children of acceptable and safe behaviour at dance schools. Many of the parents on the other thread said they were unaware and a new dancing mum has no idea of what to expect, particularly if they have no experience of the dance world. Maybe an online guide of expectations of a dance school/teacher would be a start so that parents had other opportunities to research and their expectations could be based on fact rather than tv programme experience.

Whilst there has been some lovely stories such as this one, I am disappointed at the poor sportsmanship of the Australian & Canadian cyclists who are commenting that team GB must be cheating in some way because they are winning. It kind of makes sense that after 2012 GB poured lots more funding into Olympic sports and therefore have had better training and equipment than before, which aids winning. It's bad though that competitors cannot support each other as the ladies in the story above did.

I once assisted my dd's local dance teacher by standing in for missing pupils whilst the 6/7 year olds were getting ready to perform, and at that age spacing is difficult. It was a normal dance class, 1 hour long, and at the end of it I was out of breath and sweaty. The children of course were full of beans and happy. High intensity? I don't think I'd survive!!

we can't watch gymnastics in our house because all I get is comments "Why can't they point their feet properly?" and "what are they doing with their arms?" The floor routines are a nightmare of comments about the quality of the more dance moves. I've just given up trying to watch now! Mens gymnastics only allowed in our house!!

Quality must vary from area to area as my Aldi is the best place for longevity of fresh fruit and veg. The quality is good and the price is excellent. Me and my "middle class angst" can often be found with a trolley full. Plus the Prosecco is a steal at only £5.49 a bottle!

It disgusts me that a teacher or parent think it is acceptable to push a child to the point of vomiting or that screaming like a fishwife is an acceptable way of treating pupils. Stamina is increased over time and should be measured by the starting point, not every child starts from the same place. Summer school should be an enjoyable learning experience not a military boot camp.

I think this olypmics is shaping up to be even more exciting for British Sport than 2012 and I never thought I would live to say that. Second in the medal table is a fantastic result. Go Great Britain.

A trick I learned as a poor student was to go to the supermarket at the end of the day when they reduce the price of both meat and fresh veg. we used to buy up all the cheap carrots and make carrot & coriander soup in winter. If you buy the reduced chicken and fish you can freeze it and use it all week. Now as a busy working mum, who is not always home before my daughter goes to dance, I have learned to batch cook and freeze. Usually stuff like lasagne, chicken curry and Bolognese so my daughter can have a home cooked ready meal when she gets in from school and isn't dancing on an empty stomach. Also if you batch cook it works out cheaper in the long run.

Have to say I am very proud of our sports men and women and their performances and attitudes in the Olympics. We are a relatively small country with a tiny population and yet we are 8th in the medal tables with 16 medals, 4 of which are gold. This says a lot about the training, strength, determination and endurance of our athletes, and the number of people who wish to train so hard.

Gold in the kayaking. I don't know a lot about the rules, but it was very tense and exciting to watch. So pleased for Joe Clarke.