MSE Parents Club Part 12

jillie1974

pigpen---that must be soo expensive. but you are so right seperate presents for each celebration

pigpen

Oooh.. I forgot.. we also have OH's sister b-day the 22nd.. I've not had her long so I forgot.. oops!

I decided a good few years ago I don't do presents or cards for adults.. I will text them a happy b-day but cannot afford to be laying out cash.. and if they don't like it... tough.. I will have 9 children this christmas plus DGS and DIL so I think i buy for more than enough people!

Krystaltips

pinknico wrote: »

Hello Weezle, the main cost I have found with OH children and now our own is just going to school!! Trips,lunches,sponsored events, non school uniform day (happens quite a few fridays!)
The older ones like branded stuff but are under no pressure to have them.

Me too! Aimee brings home a letter asking for money every other day, they're always fleecing us for something!!

delain wrote: »

However my ex-mil has bought my twins a dolls pram each for their birthday, a large M&P one and then had a go at me about how I'm 'not allowed' to keep them outside. I wouldn't have anyway but their bedroom is small and not really big enough for two big doll's prams with everything else, and she knows it's a small house and 5 (soon to be 6) people live here!

I said maybe she should keep them at her house she said I could keep them in my garage so they could use them all week not just on sundays (when she has them). What does she think we're going to do, take them to school every day?!

That woman drives me mad.

My Mum bought Aimee a vintage silvercross coach built dolls pram... Right before the recession when they were very expensive, and she's a cheapskate so she didn't want to spend a fortune on it... So it's a 'fixer upper' only she's not fixing it up, we're expected to... I had to buy a new shed just to fit the bloody thing in so I didn't have to keep looking at it!

Argh, Caitlyn's miserable!! She wouldn't sleep all through church, just wailed and grotted the whole time... Fell asleep on the way home but Aimee's tantrum because I wouldn't let her put the Wii on woke her up... Now she's grotting all the way around the living room... :rolleyes:

3onitsway

weezl74 wrote: »

We're all on MSE for our own money saving reasons. It seems to be that IRL people say that children get very expensive as they grow up. How much does everyone feel this HAS to be the case?

As has been said - it depends a lot on the child and the group of friends they have.

Fortunately for me, L is very happy with Primark. :money: She'd much rather have 5 Primark t-shirts than 1 with a 'name' on it and her little group of friends are all the same. But you can see the other types of children at school who have 'everything', luckily L isn't impressed by them.

My friend has a lot of trouble with her 13 year old boy since he started at secondary school. He's got in with a chav bunch of friends and has to have everything named or he's afraid he'll get picked on. He'll only shop at JJB or WadeSmith and says places like Sports Direct and Primark are gay! :mad:

The other major expense for us at the moment is school.
For L we have £10 a month for Football & £34 a month for Gymnastics.
Monday morning L goes to school with her £10 dinner money for the week, and on a Friday she takes 50p to go to the shop on her way home from school.

J has playscheme every Saturday which is £6.50 (most of that is towards the transport). He has packed lunch for school, but takes in £2.50 on a Tuesday for when they do 'independant living skills' and go to the cafe.

Tomorrow however, J will be taking in an extra £150 :eek: for this years school holiday.

Both schools send at least one begging letter a week for some sort of activity/non-uniform day/charity.

I'm sure L is going to get more expensive when she gets to big school and 'needs' a laptop, mobile & a social life.

searching_me

3 zoes expensives arent in clothes as usually shes happy if its a dress doesnt matter where it comes from .. but toys not that i give in but she wants all the toys there is .. not bothered about gadgets as its all about the toys mind you shes just as happy with the cardboard box it comes in x

Becles

csh wrote: »

Superdry is on eof the ones that can be shopped around for cheaper if it comes to the point where he really does want that and only that.

We're going to Turkey next month and I'm hoping SuperDry has reached there. They sell good copies of all designer over there at cheap prices, so I'm going to let them buy some stuff.

When we moved in here, the previous owners had left a load of toys in a small shed, including a dolls Silver Cross pram. It was beautiful. Then my ex cleared the shed out one day and took the lot to the tip. I was gutted as I wanted to keep the pram in case I had a girl and Charlotte would have loved it.

I wouldn't like people rolling birthdays and Christmas into one. My Mam's birthday was on the 19th and she often got joint presents, but as a child you don't understand the value and just think you only got one present instead of a Christmas and Birthday present. She was never allowed a party or anything as it was too near Christmas. We always do something non-Christmassy on her birthday now

CrazyTink

Hi Folks,

Hopping out of lurksville from behind the pregnancy thread (although i could always be here too as i have 2 boys 4 & 11yrs)
Anyway,
Question for you all:
does anyone have any experience of using avent and then tomee tippee bottles accessories?
i have previously used avent everything as it was the most recommended, but tomee tippee seems to be more popular now and with the asda baby event on i'm looking into it more.
I've had a look online and their is both lots of comments re leakage, and the main con seems to be the shape of tomee tipee fitting into changing bag pockets?

If anyone has any experience or advice i'd be very grateful xx

Krystaltips

Tink, I had an Avent pump and bottles for DD1 and bought TT pump and bottles for DD2, I didn't have any leakage problems with the TT ones, but then DD2 wouldn't take a bottle so I didn't use them much, it is a nuisance that they wouldn't fit in anything standard bottle sized, plus you have to buy the TT brand teats whereas with the Avent ones I know I bought boots own brand and they fitted the Avent bottles... Plus you can buy the spouts that go into the Avent bottles to make them cups and you can't get those for TT ones...

I ramble... Hope it's a little helpfull?

Tigsteroonie

Andrew didn't like TT CTN teats at all, so we stuck to Avent. But Avents do leak too, you have to work out how to screw them up to avoid this!

And onto the main reason for me re-appearing I see some of you are discussing Open Uni courses. I've done five Year 1 courses, and am starting a Y1 & a Y2 course both in May (book-keeping, and personal finance). I've only had to juggle study around work before, now I have to juggle study around a baby and maybe even work later in the year (jobhunting stalled until end of June due to circumstance).

Somnium

On the leaky bottle front they tend to do that if you screw the cap on too tight it should only be finger tight or you wreck the seal by squishing the teat too much. You'd be suprised the amount of folks that try to return bottles for leaking when there doing this!