I meant to say this to you before but apparently I forgot... I had the same problem, but now I give things a damn good shake out when I take them out of the washing machine, get them back to a decent size before they go in the dryer. This especially applies to tops, t-shirts, pyjamas, sweatshirts, but also to some types of trousers and things. I'm not talking about wiggling them gently back and forth, but a really good snappy shake. It lengthens the body on tops which is where I was having problems. The washing machine starts the trouble but then the dryer locks it there because it dries it quick. When you put it on the line it has time and gravity to stretch it back out a bit.

It does worry me that I may end up with a whole load of parents on my back shortly, but I'm hoping that they might be just scared enough of what I will do to not do anything much to retaliate. If my house gets broken into or damaged while I'm away next month then it won't be hard to point the finger. You can bet I won't be letting the police or so-called Community Action Team (INACTION is more like it) sit on their bums and do nothing. The school si getting to see vastly different sides to me but in many ways they are both linked because both the bullying and the kids who can't read have the same thing in common - lousy parenting in 99% of cases. There are exceptions I agree but it covers the vast majority. And I do tend to get quite soap-boxy about the effects of bad parenting. But the kids I deal with in DS' year are all really nice to me, enthusiastic to tell me things, and the nicer kids I was talking to yesterday during the bullying incident (oh heck, I haven't mentioned that yet) were keen to trust me and involve me. I may even be 'cool'!

Last night after school, to really cut things short, there was a gang of bullying boys turned up on bikes, deliberately following DD and her mates to their new playing spot. I noticed them go past on their bikes so I followed and managed to break things up before anyone got in any more trouble or got hurt, and I stayed with the kids discussing the options for quite a few minutes. The bullies did hang around quite a while as I had to go back and forth to collect DS and then take him over to play. I've insisted that none of the kids wander round on their own now because they are just too vulnerable. I've already taken it back to DD's teacher this morning to follow up!

oh heck, I have to do some work!!!

Kerri.