Playpennies

That's a generalisation, all of England? Have you really looked around, this is what we've got in our area ... the one o'clock club, children's centre, music time at the library, watch with baby discount morning at the local cinema, baby time in the small pool at the local leisure centre (discount on weekdays), the baby section at the same centre's soft play (discount on weekdays), the free small ones soft play in a local museum, the mother and baby coffee mornings from 11am to 12pm at a local bar, the coffee shop that has a sofa section with baby toys, the local PlayPen playgroup (free).

Wow Carol, that's a lot of variety! I kind of agree with both of you! When I lived in London there was plenty of option and variety, and we could do mum and baby cinema every day of the week (e.g.) within a 15 minute drive, but where I live now there really isn't as much option, unless you go to a different soft play every day. We even wanted to go to a farm last week but entry was so expensive for the amount of time we had (it was 2pm when we decided we wanted to go) that it wasn't worth it - at least in London we had one of a number of City Farms to choose from. I do think it's very dependent on where you live, and for many reasons I quite miss being in a big city, but out in the country, options really are very limited at times (summer is great though!)

When son was a toddler I had snow suits for the winter and an all in one rain suit for the spring and autumn. We went out every weekend, usually for the day, and never had a problem. You have to make sure you're well dressed and comfortable yourself. I had my waterproof trousers and an excellent waterproof jacket. The parks are virtually empty, and you can have the playground all to yourself.