Tips and Quick Questions on “How To Start Being Old Style”

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

cyclingyorkie wrote: »

On the house of Tiny Tearaways that used to be on the BBC it was constantly pointed out that kids will not starve if they don't eat whilst you are getting tough.... the problem is it's usually the parents who cave in first - not wanting to see their offspring go hungry....

At 6 DS ate sausages, quorn burgers, tinned tuna and salmon and chips and broccoli - and that was it. Now (at 20) he eats virtually anything ( except green beans.).....

Yes, but they didn't allow for children telling other relatives, teachers and miscellaneous officials with responsibilities for child protection that Mummy eats big meals whereas they languish on just toast and there is NOTHING to eat, ever.


I'm not saying that putting up with such fussiness is OK, it's not, but it is a possibility you need to be prepared for in advance, even if it is just Nanny huffing and puffing about how wicked you are to starve her precious gandchildren and not teachers having a quiet word before instigating a child protection referral.

Chickenopolis

Good for you budgie !

Wow you are organised !I have 14 cupboards in my kitchen stuffed with well ...stuff ! :rotfl:

Good luck with the g.c

budget_babe

Chickenopolis wrote: »

Good for you budgie !

Wow you are organised !I have 14 cupboards in my kitchen stuffed with well ...stuff ! :rotfl:

Good luck with the g.c

14 cupboards :eek: Poor Budgie has a small kitchen we even had to take out the hot water tank in a cupboard in the hall to move the washing machine there, so I could fit a dishwasher in the kitchen.

There are somethings that Budgie will do to become an oldstyle kinda girl, but losing the dishwasher, trust me its not a not an option.

Hope you have had a good day?

Take Care
Budgie xxx

bossymoo

Possession wrote: »

She wouldn't not eat for the whole week though. I doubt she'd last half a day - almost no modern child used to eating something whenever they can would last. If you get tough, and get OH on board so you are all eating the same thing, it will work, and it will make your life a lot easier too.

I agree, mine are 3.5 and nearly 2. They don't exist from meal to meal, so a bit of tough love might help. I'm quite strict. I insist they try things, and unless they are unwell, I do expect them to eat if I know it's something they like.

With foods I know they don't like, I just try from time to time in a small amount, to see if tastes change.

I have been known to send mine to bed without a proper meal if they are fussing for the sake of it. It only happens once or twice and now a gentle reminder usually does the job, even with my youngest.

I have neither the time / money / inclination to be cooking different stuff for everyone.

I also make sure I do their favourites once a week (DS likes pasta but not beans, DD likes beans but not pasta, so we alternate) - makes for a relaxed mealtime and I don't think it's too often to add to the fussiness.

mardatha

My daughter still remembers the night she went to bed without her supper. She got up though the night and ate some toothpaste and had the worst stomach ache ever. She's 44 ! lol and she never had a food tantrum again after that

Pink.

Hi budget babe,

As your thread has now dropped from the first page of the board I've added it to our thread on how to start being Old Style where you should find lots of tips. If you have a look at the first post you should find lots of threads to help.

Good luck with your journey.

Pink

vodkawitch1

My daughter was an awfull eater but doctor used to say as long as she is getting milk, carbs, some protien and some fruit don`t worry.

PipneyJane

budget_babe wrote: »

Need to meal plan, but suprised at just what I do have in, as another poster said on another thread, its silly having too much money tied up on stock. Though you do need a stock cupboard of course.

Hi Budgie

Personally, I think that's wrong. If you rotate your stock and use/eat it all in turn, then buying when things are on offer is a good idea. It's all a matter of perspective and planning. A good stock cupboard means that when disaster strikes, say last year's heavy snowfalls, one thing you don't have to worry about is feeding your family.

Unlike a lot of people around here, I don't do a huge amount of menu planning because I operate a stock-cupboard system and shop to restock. I usually decide a day or two in advance what we'll eat, then take the meat/fish and/or any relevant pulses out of the freezer to defrost (I bulk cook dried pulses). Firstly, though, I look in the fridge and consider the state of the fresh veg - do the carrots need using? Is it time to bulk-cook the mushrooms before they go slimy? Often it's the veggies that are the deciding factor in what we're going to eat. Lots of carrots looking a bit bendy? Then it's carrot and hazelnut roast for dinner tomorrow, just have to take the hazelnuts out of the freezer, and while I'm at it, I'll make two and freeze one. (Safest place for nuts in my house is the freezer, otherwise my husband eats them all.)

When you do your meal planning, do you consider what is in fridge/freezer/cupboards first or do you go to the supermarket and buy a whole new load of ingredients, leaving what you already have to moulder? When you go to the supermarket, are you buying to restock your pantry/freezer/fridge or do you just pick up what you fancy at the time? The former actions are money and time saving (very Old Style), while the latter aren't.

Also, carefully planning your stocking up of certain items, means that you can stick to your principles more easily and cheaply than if you shop ad-hoc. An example: I recently spent £151 at the butcher restocking our freezer. For my family, that's about 5 months' worth of meat and we'd saved for 4 months to fund that trip. However, it means that we now have a stock of quality meat, bought from a butcher who cares about the sourcing of his supplies and how the animals are killed. I can see that you like organic meat - would it be worth your while to set aside £30 or £40 a month for several months so that you can fill your freezer with meat from a good, organic butcher? In the meantime, you can eat the meat you've already got in stock.

Another example: I like Nouvelle toilet paper. It's soft and it's made from recycled paper, so buying it saves trees. However, Nouvelle is expensive. BUT approximately once a year, the big packs of Nouvelle go on BOGOF. That's when I stock up and buy approximately a year's worth. (Note, we set aside money for that, too.) I may spend - and I'm guessing a price - £30 on toilet paper in one go, but I'm saving another £30 across the course of the year which can then be spent on something else.

budget_babe

Pink-winged wrote: »

Hi budget babe,

As your thread has now dropped from the first page of the board I've added it to our thread on how to start being Old Style where you should find lots of tips. If you have a look at the first post you should find lots of threads to help.

Good luck with your journey.

Pink

Lol that explains why I was suddenly subscribed to this thread. ;)YOU have to understand that Dear Budgie gets quite confused at times.

But thank you and hello Pink-Winged.

Yes its a journey isn't it, I think it takes up many hours and a disciplined culture to achieve this old style status. I have lurked for sometime and I have truly be amazed at some of the more seasoned posters.

Florenceem take a bow

But in these hard times, I feel getting back to a more simpler kind of life is the key to staying afloat. I feel though things are much tougher if you have children as there is so much peer pressure to have the latest xyz. (Not that I condone that, but it is how life is).

My Ds is now in a good job having graduated from uni with a first class degree, :A. So now its just Mr Budgie and I though we do plan do get a yorkie. Thats a dog not the chocolate bar you understand.:D

Anyways enough of my waffling, I can go on a bit you know. Today has been spent in the garden and tweaking til tweaking no more can be done on my Ocado order.

Its been like the hokey cokey, its in its out its back in again.;) Still I aim to be a gold star pupil on the grocery challenge thread.

Also thank you and hello PipneyJane. a very good post which makes alot of sense. xxx

Hugs Budgie xxxx

budget_babe

Well, I have popped my head in the fly lady thread, they seem a nice bunch.

I am joining in from Monday but until then I am cleaning/clearing, Mr Budgie is doing outside related tasks, eg staining, power washing and hedge/bush cutting etc.

Its nice to have sometime to get on top of some jobs that are long overdue.

Dad has been to the hospital today and has another all day session of chemotherapy tomorrow.

This is the first time, I have felt glad that I don't have to go back to my job, I realise now just how much it sapped my energy as well as having a detriemental effect on my health and wellbeing.

My friend had to ring me twice yesterday as she was stuck and no-one wanted to help. She had rang me the day before too, just listening to how stressed she was brought it all home to me. Of course I have told he to call me because I will help if I can, we are good friends outside of work, but the jobs become a much younger persons game.

The relief of no targets, no compromising what values I have etc etc.

Its worth having less money, I don't care how hard I have to work to be more oldstyle, I never want to go back to that environmet.

Though I do intend to get another job when Dad is through his treatment, (hopefully all will be ok)? Touch wood. I am re-doing my cv in readiness as you never know when you will see something that could be suitable.

But targets, never again.

Hope everyone is ok?

Budgie xxx