Huddsballetmum

Hi my DD will be 16 in June and is likely to do the 2nd week as I am limited to my summer leave period. If you want more details please feel free to pm me.

My DD did the Laine summer school a couple of years ago and will probably be going back again this year. It is a fabulous summer school and the teaching staff are top notch. My dd absolutely loved it and the end of course show was unbelievably professional. I can highly recommend it - definitely well worth the money.

All the above are the reason why I sit in my car for pick up and drop off and go nowhere near the dance studio. There are some lovely mums at our dance school but unfortunately most of the diva mums are in my daughters year. Once caught a dance mum sneaking a peak at my dd's exam result which she had left on the chair whilst she went to the loo. The look on her face when she saw the result just made me laugh. My advice - stay as far away from them as possible!!

MIne would be to clone myself for a period of time so that I can attend the two meetings at a simultaneous time, plus take my daughter to dance, clean the house and go food shopping. Perhaps I could have Sunday as a day of rest then lol!

So glad things are looking up for Sean. It's tough these days for teenagers with the pressures they are under. We never had the stress of social media and the pressure to keep up with the latest trends/designer clothing etc. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he gets the placement he wants.

Although not gluten or dairy intolerant myself, my mum is and I found your blog really helpful as she was diagnosed later on in life after I had left home, and I never know what to cook for her when she comes to visit. Am definitely trying the chocolate cake as it sounds fab

Sofa Delivery companies! I purchased a new suite in January - impulse purchase - and was really pleased when the salesman said in could be delivered on a Saturday for a fee. I didn't mind the £80 delivery charge as I work full time and have to save many of my holidays for the DD and her dance related stuff ha ha! last week I got a call to say my sofa was ready and they would deliver it on the 13th Feb. "Great!"says I. "Cant wait". "What time will it be as I have DD's dancing commitments so won't be in between 10 - 11.30 and 3.30 - 5.30" Then the despondency commenced "We don't do timed deliveries. You will have to stay in until the sofa arrives" "Not possible" says I "Tough" says the sofa delivery company "Can you deliver it on the 20th?" says I (half term and no CAT classes) "NO, driver training" says the sofa delivery company "Cancel it" says I One week passes and I receive a call from the sofa delivery company "We would like to deliver your sofa on 20th February. Is that convenient?" "Yes" says I Why do you have to go through all the rigmarole and stress of arguing and cancelling an order to get a modicum of customer service in this country??

The stress of auditions as a full time working mum is horrendous - booking leave to attend etc and often taking work with means that on top of the stress of managing audition forms, photos, transport, hotels and dd's dancing stuff you have to organise yourself too! It becomes a daily challenge when they do associate or CAT schemes and you are trailing around the county (Yorkshire in my case) and adjusting working hours to suit. No wonder my house permanently looks like a bombs dropped and there is no food in my fridge. Thank goodness I don't have a husband or other children to worry about - that might just finish me off!

DD has been a number of times and always used the classes to try a new technique or develop a skill. Levels differ between styles however we have found as a rule of thumb Open - anyone can do it Intermediate - need to be at inter foundation stage Advanced - beyond inter foundation Masterclass - need to be advanced Hope that helps. Edited to add that DD has always found the contemporary classes to be amazing and very worth while

Whilst we are including councils, please can I add the transport department, particularly those in charge of road repairs. I have counted the potholes on a 4 mile stretch of road that I use approximately 16 times a week i.e. every day and back to work plus trips to Leeds and back for DD. 106 serious potholes, yes I did say 106. When I speak to the council they say that the road is not a priority as it is a B road, despite it being the main road for the whole of south Huddersfield and beyond to the M1. It is so highly used that the residents of the local village it runs through have complained about the amount of traffic! I have now threatened them with a monthly bill for tracking my wheels. I await with baited breath, not holding it as I'd be dead long before the council pulled their finger out!

There are a number of companies who will scan all your documentation onto disc or USB for you. It may cost you a few pounds but they are relatively cheap and highly confidential. Many scan for banks and insurance companies so they have strict data protection policies. Plus the scanners are industrial so the staff don't actually read the documentation, just stuff them through and then check that each page has scanned properly.

Congratulations to your DD carmen67. I know she will love it - all the students seem to. I'm at NSCD tomorrow if you would like me to ask any questions on your behalf I am more than happy to do so. Just PM me. Happy to help!

After 10 years of festivals and 8/9 dances per festival I still hold my breath every dance! If you start a thread on festival disasters I can contribute to it in spades ha ha.

I babysat for two girls who lived in the funeral parlour across the road. They were lovely girls but used to frighten the life out of me if they came down stairs late on in their long white nightdresses. I thought they were ghosts!!

Think that would put any woman off Lisa unless she was Mary Poppins!

I've seen my DD and her friends with a few winners. Dependent on whether your DD is looking for dramatic or comedy here are ,my suggestions Comedy - babysitter with baby who won't stop crying Dramatic - Girl dreaming of spiders (always a winner) - Spirit of the titanic - girl on titanic who then realises she is a ghost ( always a winner) - passenger on the titanic (any class) trying to escape - matador fighting a bull Pretty - girl dreaming of dancing with the boy of her dreams ( very 50's style) All have been done at age 13/14 and are a little different from the norm Hope that helps

Have you thought about online dating Lisa. There are quite a few free sites out there now and although there seems to be plenty of frogs, there are also one or two princes. My best friend has met the love of her life through PoF and they have been happily together for 6 months now. Plus we had a great time trawling through the site and chatting to some nice, some strange and some downright naughty men. As long as you take it for what it is, there is the possibility of true love or even a great friendship if nothing else.

It's sad and shocking news. favourite film: Truly, Madly, Deeply in which he played his part superbly. Favourite line from a film: "and cut their hearts out with a spoon" from Robin Hood RIP Alan Rickman. The world of entertainment is a much sadder place without you!

Hi Yorkshire Pudding. Not sure where in Yorkshire you are but both the CAT programme and the JA programme at Northern Ballet have a good number of boys. They also do non audition ballet classes for all ages which have a mixture of boys and girls. It might be worth taking in a class or too if you are near enough to Leeds. One of my DD's greatest friends is a boy that she met at ballet class when they were both 3. He was the only boy in a class full of girls, but his love of dance integrated him with the girls anyway, and when he was about 11 another boy joined the class so he had a bit of solidarity.

Think you may well need the next size up petalviolet. My dd has a similar style tutu for a festival routine and it doesn't stick up much. BTW this post has had me in stitches on a day when I needed a good laugh so thank you so much!

My DD started pointe at 12 and was carefully assessed before hand, not just her feet, but also for strength of ankle and knees as the muscles supporting the leg need to be strong. I also know dancers that didn't start pointe until 14 due to strengthening. Personally I think 10 is too young, but it is the ballerina's dream to be on pointe and it is hard to say no to them. As everyone has said, each child is different, but a good teacher should have assessed before inviting a child to do a pointe class.

We always film any choreography and then store it on Dropbox. Great way of remembering and also provides dd with the audience view.

So sad. I loved his music - it provided the soundtrack to much of my youth. Bowie was a true genius and the world will be a little worse off without him!

I'm sorry legseleven but I have to disagree with your comment on parents of children on the CAT schemes. My DD is on the CAT scheme and gets an MDS which funds more than 70% of her fees. If she didn't I could not afford for her to go. I am a single parent with no support finacially or otherwise from my DD's dad and whilst I have a good job, I couldn't support the many thousand pounds per year training costs on the CAT programme. I have had to change my working hours to accommodate her transport which means leaving for work at 6am two days per week. Please do not assume - everyone's situation is different!!

The 5p bag payment is a real issue for me. I totally agree with charging for plastic bags - particularly in supermarkets - I have had bags for life for many years. However I don't agree that they should be branded. Why should I pay to advertise a retailer? I am happy to pay for the plastic bag (never remember to take them when I go clothes shopping!) but I want a plain one. Many shops are now starting to provide paper bags like Primark do which is much better as I am happy to advertise if it's not cost me anything. In fact shopping on Saturday I bought a number of products from MAC and she gave me an extremely large paper carrier which I happily carried around Meadowhall all day. My DD gets so embarrassed by my refusal to purchase bags she no longer wants to go shopping with me - it's saving me a fortune!!!!