It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

kezlou

sammy your three re gorgeous, i agree full heartedly with you. My boys are both taught about real life scenario's. We recently had to explain to them why they uncle wasn't coming back, how he was up in heaven. Its hard but has to be done. Its help prepare them for the future i think.

It goes up to 6 degees whoo hoo, only another 10 to go to make it average :rotfl:

kidcat

I have always stuck with the honest approach with all of mine, the only exception being the gold fish who died a few days fater moving last year, and as the kids were so upset I decided to not add to their despair and simply replaced him with a look alike. When he died a few weeks ago though I was honest and told them that he had died.

greent

BB1984 - clean your flask with bicarb if you have any. I throw some in and then pour boiling water on (it fizzes up wonderfully!) a couple of times every so often to clear flasks of coffee-ness (DH will use a flask for 'real' coffee occasionally, so it really lingers and DD needed to use that one for soup for school one day) Clears stains, too

Sammy - I agree with the others. Children are so matter of fact about life/ death/ gore (and often fascinated) that a simple explanation relevant to their age is exactly the right thing to do

Was 8 degrees at 8.45 this morning. I had the heating on 10-10.30 last night (much milder than expected but I was working in a chilly room from 10-12) and the 6-7 this morning. The day looks as though it'll be quite nice here, so I'll check the weather forecast and I may even risk putting washing out - good job, too as I have sofa covers in the machine (DS2 had an accident on the sofa last night....)

Made a huge pot of soup yesterday - should keep me warm today Need to prep and freeze yet more runner beans. They've been a huge success this year - but I will be glad when they've finished! If it dries out a little bit more I'll finish clearing the potato pots out too - who knows, I may even find the odd weeny potato still lurking in there.... (I also need to clear out my hanging baskets - they've been dead since August (didn't water them) and they're still hanging from teh front of the house..... oops!

seasalt_2

greent wrote: »

Need to prep and freeze yet more runner beans. They've been a huge success this year - but I will be glad when they've finished!

That's the trouble with growing your own! One of my enduring memories of childhood was asking what we were having for tea and being told, "Well, there's the last of the beans..." - went on for weeks:) and my children get it now too.

Right now it is also the last of the beans - and the broccoli - have been eating the side shoots of the side shoots all summer and they are STILL going! Not to mention courgettes! (have grated and frozen rather a lot of them!) In spring it will be "the last of the kale" (oops, sorry, mardatha) and the purple sprouting brocc.

Have brought all my tomatoes indoors now - bigger ones ripening in eggboxes and bunches of cherry tomatoes hanging up in a sunny window - both methods seem to work.

I also rinsed this last lot of bigger ones (tigerella) in milton (pulled off the leafy stalk bit first) and then dried in the sun before storing them as the plants were getting mildew and too many of the stored tomatoes were going mouldy - checked them this morning and so far, they seem to be OK. Bought ones just do not taste the same.

greent

seasalt wrote: »

That's the trouble with growing your own! One of my enduring memories of childhood was asking what we were having for tea and being told, "Well, there's the last of the beans..." - went on for weeks:) and my children get it now too.

Right now it is also the last of the beans - and the broccoli - have been eating the side shoots of the side shoots all summer and they are STILL going! Not to mention courgettes! (have grated and frozen rather a lot of them!) In spring it will be "the last of the kale" (oops, sorry, mardatha) and the purple sprouting brocc.

Have brought all my tomatoes indoors now - bigger ones ripening in eggboxes and bunches of cherry tomatoes hanging up in a sunny window - both methods seem to work.

I also rinsed this last lot of bigger ones (tigerella) in milton (pulled off the leafy stalk bit first) and then dried in the sun before storing them as the plants were getting mildew and too many of the stored tomatoes were going mouldy - checked them this morning and so far, they seem to be OK. Bought ones just do not taste the same.

lol! I've just been out and picked 2 large bundles of beans (I picked the same yesterday and on Monday (and both weekend days....)) (it's all the rain we've had this past 2 weeks, it must be!) and a couple of ripening tomatoes and some chillis. The courgette plants are mildew-y and also look like they could be suffering from the frost soon - so I hope the last few grow a little bit more. They were a massive success, too. I was eating them daily at one point. I froze a lot grated and chunked and some cooked in ratatouille and have been making soup with them this last week (also good to use up not so pretty tomatoes, because I don't really like eating them 'as is' otherwise:o) I've been really pleased with the garden this year - everything (other than the never watered onions and 1 aubergine plant) has been massively successful (oh, and the butternut squash have had loads of little squashes that have either fallen off, been eaten or rotted ) My best year yet - and I didn't give it much attention, but we had quite a good summer here

1.5 loads of washing now on the line Checked the forecast and it's mainly sunny here today and heavy rain tomorrow - so ran around and found another load (well, just under) and have put that on too. DH is back tomorrow with all of his washing - so I don't want there to be lots of ours outstanding as well...

DS3 has just fallen asleep on my lap whilst feeding. Far too early for him normally - but he's been awake since 6.15 (normally about 7.30/7.45) I'd like to stop feeding him soon... but he keeps massively protesting! I'm hoping that DH will be back for a few weeks when this contract ends and then he can help with it!

gailey_2

Morning guys.

I thourght it was colder then it was this morning but suns out and its dry at least.
usual stress of hubby rishing for meeting, eldest dawdling and rushing to school so not late.

schools only 10mins walk for me but eldest can drag it out for 15-20mins plus busy road nitemare to cross then playground full of parents is like obstacle course feel like I run a marathon every morning as so tired.
Had to pop into spar which is crap with buggy.

watched bit of wright stuff, put baby down bed shes still not asleep but she seems happy.

just about to face the washing up as was too sick this morning.
whole house needs hoovering and polishing.
always washing to do.

want to make soup today plus more quiches and tomato sauce.

half day at school so 1.30 pickup then gymnastics club at 3.50 so neverending.

hubbys in meeting today locally so should be home to help with tea and bedtime im hoping.
last nite he fell asleep with daughter whilst I watched sky box as memory nearly full watched the starting up your own school -free school was on bbc2 people so hostile and have set ideas about education its mad.

I dont think the comprehensive system has made the uk more socially inclusive and less devisive.

as good schools have strict catchment areas whre houses cost a fortune so its fees through morgage.

Those who lucky to still have grahmmer schools can afford private tutiion to get them to pass 11plus plus lots of extra curricular activities they favour like sports, music even languages.

yes the very wealthy go private but lots of people in inner city are overstretching themeselves financially as state schools seemed so bad.

My city seems to favour academies but shiny new beacons of glory in rough areas but not all have improved attainment .

I personally do not want my kids to be trained muppets purly to pass the test.
would like them to have good general knowledge, love of reading , perhaps be more successful at maths and languages than I was as languages open so many doors but its been dropped from compulsary curriculum so take up has dropped as gcses like film and media studies seems far more imrportant.

I think financial education should come from the parents , the thourght of banks going in to classes on natwest advert I find awful.

I think back to home ec and it was 1 term of sewing, 1 term of woodwork and 1 term of cooking for 4hours a week. cant rememebr any of the recipies and dont feel like i gained much from it maybe if it involved practical things like

how to darn a sock
sew on a button
how to make your own clothes
how to manage a household budget and shop around.
cuts of meat how to cook it whats cheapest.
how to make like 10basic dishes ie


pasta sauce
cheese sauce
bread
casserole
soup
crumble or cake.

maybe introduce couse of foraging or grow you own veg would be good.

guess im thinkiing home ec should be oldstyle lessons.

I dont think todays school do equip kids for the world.
My mam when secondary modern and she said they encouraged skills boys sometimes when into trades, girls were trained to keep a home or do things like nursing, secretarial or childcare where as an underperforming child whos not that academic may feel school does not equip them with lifeskills.

Anyway waffling now best go look up chicken soup recipie.

made delias york pud last nite does not look appetising but dont want to waste it.

greent

My DD goes to a state single sex grammar (we're lucky in Glo'shire - we have 6 single sex and 1 mixed grammar schools) (both Oh and I went to Glos grammar schools) She does 'Food Tech' (or cookery as I insist on calling it ) for one term/ year (one term 'Textiles' (needlework) and one term 'Resistant Materials' (DT). Last year in Y7 she made crumble, soup, scones, rock cakes, potato salad, macaroni cheese. Can't remember if there was more. So far this year she's made pizza (inc the dough and sauce from scratch) They also have to cost up ingredients and look at ways of making things healthier (eg: in the crumble oats and seeds were added and no sugar was added to the fruit) and report back as to whether the family liked it and if/ how it could be improved. Next week she's making a pear and chocolate tray bake cake - sounds yummy

DS1 takes his test for grammar entrance a week Saturday. He's bright enough but borders on dyslexic, so he has a tutor to help him with dyslexic-related literacy issues (non-test related - it will continue after the test, as he's making great progress - he just needed that 1-on-1 boost for his confidence) (she's also talked about coping strategies for the test, but not 'tutored' him for the test) DD didn't have a tutor for the test either, we did some practice papers at home and she went to her friend's house twice (mum is a primary teacher) for a couple of hours of 'coping strategies/ techniques' They didn't spend much time on it, tbh - they played more than anything - it just gave DD a different viewpoint on what to do other than mine, which was the main thing.

kidcat

I agree that schools do little to prepare kids for household stuff, my eldest is doing GCSE cookery, its a joke, she has made pizza for eight weeks. My DS12 has cookery this term too, he has made a chilli using a pkt mix, a trifle using ready made custard, tinned fruit and ready made swiss roll, and a chicken dish using soup!! I would really like to see schools teach kids one dish per week that is a basic that can be built on all from scratch. That way at least kids would leave with enough meals under their belt to survive and have the basic skills. As it is now, my kids dont even have to prepare the stuff in school, it all has to be sent in pre chopped, sliced and peeled. What is the use??

lickylonglips

kidcat wrote: »

I agree that schools do little to prepare kids for household stuff, my eldest is doing GCSE cookery, its a joke, she has made pizza for eight weeks. My DS12 has cookery this term too, he has made a chilli using a pkt mix, a trifle using ready made custard, tinned fruit and ready made swiss roll, and a chicken dish using soup!! I would really like to see schools teach kids one dish per week that is a basic that can be built on all from scratch. That way at least kids would leave with enough meals under their belt to survive and have the basic skills. As it is now, my kids dont even have to prepare the stuff in school, it all has to be sent in pre chopped, sliced and peeled. What is the use??

Schools do little to prepare kids for household stuff because they have to teach what the government tells them to teach. they don't decide. it's called the national curriculum and has been in place since the late 1980s. schools would love to teach different things and teach them differently. however, as we have to do as we are told, there is no choice in the matter. perhaps you could write to your m.p.?

greent

kidcat wrote: »

I agree that schools do little to prepare kids for household stuff, my eldest is doing GCSE cookery, its a joke, she has made pizza for eight weeks. My DS12 has cookery this term too, he has made a chilli using a pkt mix, a trifle using ready made custard, tinned fruit and ready made swiss roll, and a chicken dish using soup!! I would really like to see schools teach kids one dish per week that is a basic that can be built on all from scratch. That way at least kids would leave with enough meals under their belt to survive and have the basic skills. As it is now, my kids dont even have to prepare the stuff in school, it all has to be sent in pre chopped, sliced and peeled. What is the use??

Wow! DD's school wants it all 'normal' (ie unpeeled spuds, ungrated cheese etc) so that's good. She's not used pkt anything and only one tin (tomatoes for the pizza sauce - which I use anyway, so that's acceptable) They do use stock cubes, whereas I'd use homemade stock - but I guess that's a convenience thing (and I can guess some parents would have to buy ready made stock from a supermarket if they did) They also do everything the long way - cream butter and sugar for cakes, rub fat into flour for crumble. I don't do this now I throw everything in the food processor, but have done it for the purpose of showing DD (and I always make dough entirely by hand) The only thing I prefer to do beforehand for her (or, rather, get her to do) is take the exact amounts, so that there's no waste/ spills etc (unless it's something like tomato puree, in which case she'll take the tube)

I've been walking around the boys schools this month and they've been making things like apple pie - making the pastry themselves, peeling and chopping apples. Also cookies (yum!) And soup from scratch (with stock cubes)

We're quite lucky, it seems....