Juggling, Organising, and Holding it All Together - 2011

Triggles

Am feeling quite lucky and clever tonight. I had won a Nintendo DSlite from a reputable company online in a draw, however, they had problems sourcing it (?), and there was a delay. They have contacted me today and said as an apology, they are going to deliver one of the new Nintendo 3DS's instead. :j It's a reliable place, as it's the same one I won the Wii system through. I'm so thrilled as we're going to give it to DS2 for Christmas - there are games that will help his fine motor skills as well as just be fun for him. We could certainly not afford it on our own! And then, I entered a draw for free spins on another site - won, and withdrew £100 from the site!! Very very cool!!

On a less thrilling note, I dug out an old pair of boots and wore them, and because I didn't lace them properly, I now have a painful blister on the back of my ankle/foot. Ouch!!

DH is back to work this week. It means, of course, that I must struggle to get back into our previous schedule, but at the same time, it's nice to do something with a bit of normality again. His counselling starts this week. :j

Triggles

DS2 home ill from school today. Fever for unknown reason, feeling poorly, and his asthma is acting up. He's stretched out on sofa dozing and watching VH1 Christmas videos at the moment. :cool: It's unusual for him to be this still, so I know he is definitely not feeling well!

We need to pick up up some light bulbs. I am puzzled by our ceiling fan. It regularly blows light bulbs - we've had it checked by 2 separate electricians - nothing wrong with it that they can find. We even replaced it with another fan unit - and still it does it. So I can't figure out what's up with it. It will go months and months without blowing any bulbs, then blow a few in a few weeks! Strange.

I had planned to do some household catching up today, but that's been changed a bit as DS2 is home. I will try to do a few things still, but it will be more "as and when" during the day. I MUST make Christmas cards this evening and get them put together to post to the states.

Triggles

DS2 back to school today. So glad he's feeling better. He went to his RDA riding this morning and they had arranged for "Father Christmas" to come riding, so he got to ride horses with Father Christmas, play games on the horses (musical buckets lol) and got a gift from Father Christmas. He was soooo excited and happy about it! What a lovely thing for the RDA group to do! :T

Tired after a couple days of ill children being up during the night. Need to finish organising Christmas stuff so that it's all done, as I hate still fussing with it right up to the day. I feel so incredibly disorganised right now - everything just seems to pile up when the children are ill, as I just don't get anything else done. It's all I can do to keep up with the laundry and dishes. I think the miserable weather doesn't help much either. Makes you feel rather lethargic. Relaxing this evening, but trying to make an effort tomorrow to get all paperwork and a few Christmas cards done.

DS2's class is studying Victorian days, so they're supposed to dress up in Victorian clothing. We had about a week's notice, which I don't think is great. I would've appreciated a couple weeks, as, unlike other parents, I'm not just going to go out and buy new clothing for one day. DS2 would be just fine to wear his uniform, he doesn't want to dress up in Victorian clothing anyway. :rotfl: We'll see what we end up with. I do wish schools would consider hassle and expense when doing these type of things.

chivers1977

Subscribed (Ben10!) Never got round to doing my own debt diary but yours is very inspring I LOVE Sainsburys basics. The tea is my new favourite basics purchase :money:

Triggles

Hiya Chivers!! Welcome to my insanity. :rotfl:

We did a shop at Sainsburys the other day. Spent £89, but that wasn't just our groceries. We also bought extra nappies (name brand was buy one, get one free, which when adding in DH's discount meant that it was actually cheaper than store brand! :j) so that bumped it up £10, and a birthday present for a classmate of DS2 (birthday party), and birthday present for DGS1 (party this afternoon). I try to keep the shopping to £50 per week, although it fluctuates some.

The birthday party yesterday for DS2's classmate was brilliant!! It was a swimming party at our local leisure centre. They booked the small learning pool for an hour for a "splash party" - deep enough to swim but shallow enough to play as well - lots of floaty things to play on and swim with for the kids. It was the first time I let DS2 go into the pool by himself with his floats and watched with another mum that I knew from the side. The classmate's mum and dad were brilliant, plus they had a few adult volunteers in the pool playing with all the children. DS2 had a lovely time. We looked it up and it's something we might consider doing for DS2's birthday next year. It cost £70 for an hour splash party for the children - they all loved it - it was private, so not too crowded, but plenty of room to invite whoever DS2 would like. I don't mind "splashing out" for a simple party (that I don't have to have tons of children in my house for!! ) that everyone will enjoy.

We also had a £4.99 gold star from Sainsburys in our shop. Because DS2 has been going on and on about how "it's supposed to be a STAR on the top of the tree, mummy!!" and we have (until now) used one of those "me to you" christmas bears on the top. That's fine - the bear is now elsewhere as a decoration in the living room and DS2 is pleased (and apparently so is DS3) that we have a "proper star" on the tree. :rotfl:

Oh, we also bought a £5 box of Thornton's chocolates (was £10 box half price in sale) for elderly family friend that we always buy a small gift for at Christmas - she likes chocolate and doesn't really NEED anything, so it was ideal. So I need to add 9.99 to my Christmas total today.

Sainsburys has some basics mince puffs that are quite nice - I think they're around 50-60p for a package of 8? We had them last year and quite enjoyed them. Slightly cheaper than mince pies, but still very very tasty. I'll probably pick up some of them soon, as well as some lemon curd, as DH quite likes that and it's very inexpensive.

I noticed that the basics curry sauce (which we buy regularly) was 25p on the shelf, but rang up as 17p. The basics rice was higher priced online than on the shelf as well. (by maybe 15p?) Not sure why.

I still need to buy a beef joint for Christmas. I'm going to check with the butcher on Friday, and if they don't have a good one, I'll probably end up buying it at Sainsburys. I don't mind freezing it if I have to. I might ask the butcher to put one aside and pick it up the Friday right before Christmas. Decisions, decisions.

I posted FIVE Christmas cards to the states (with pictures of the boys in them) and it cost over £9!!! I cannot believe how much it is just to post letters!! I whittled my Christmas list down to 5 actual cards to the states, and the rest of the people I know will have to deal with internet greetings by email or facebook. I'll post some cards locally, but that's a lot less expensive.

I'm going to make some rice krispie treats this week as well as some peanut butter cookies. We always make M&M cookies just before Christmas, so I'll do those the week before, when DS2 is out on school holidays, so he can help with that. (although I imagine he'll be nibbling more M&Ms than helping! )

MIL is coming over soon, so I best get some picking up and hoovering done so she doesn't think we live in a tip. :eek:

Triggles

Sunday was chaotic. DGS's birthday party ended up being rather stressful, as DS2 had a meltdown. I won't go into detail but it was just a lot of sensory overload (and other adult input that was unnecessary :mad:).

Today he had a paed appointment. I'm baffled. What is the point of having an appointment, just being asked "so how is he doing....." and then that's really it. The paed makes notes, says she'll meet with us again in a couple months. Honestly. DH was at work, so I had to drag DS2 who was out of sorts and not feeling great, along with DS3 who's struggling with a cold and right at naptime, so he was miserable as well. They have 2 play areas. One is set up so you can sit on one side and keep the children from running out easily. The other is at a Ubend in a hallway, so the children have two easy escape routes. I always take them to the first one. Nurses today insisted we had to wait at the second one, once he had his height and weight checked. :mad: So with the paed running 30 minutes late, I had to stand for 40 minutes, pulling back children running off repeatedly until it was time for the appointment. And I get to pay for the parking as well. :mad:

Sorry, but why can't this be done by phone or by email?? Surely they could ring and chat for a couple minutes to see how things are going. She doesn't EXAMINE DS2.. she mainly talks to me. I understand when they want to do some testing and such, by all means, bring them in. But just an appointment to check how things are? Surely that can be done by phone, unless I had a specific concern that would require a physical examination - which could be brought up on the phone and then scheduled to bring in if needed. It's a hassle, it's time consuming, expensive (petrol, parking), disrupts DS2's schedule completely so he's off kilter literally all day - missing part of the school day as well.

So rushed around that I had no time for breakfast, just got the boys their breakfast. And lunch is a packet of crisps, as now I'm just too tired to deal with making something.

I need to get DS2 a new pair of trainers, as his current pair has finally fallen apart. Will see if they have any at Tesco, as then I can use my coupons to save money.

I must get more cleaning done today, but right now am taking a break. I need to destress a bit while DS3 is napping and DS2 is at school.

Triggles

Ah, almost Christmas! We're doing alright here at the moment. A few blips, but otherwise okay.

Almost ready for Christmas. Still need to wrap presents, put a few family cards together, bake more cookies tonight, and do a bit of organising. Family visits on Friday, relaxing on Saturday, and then Sunday's the big day. :j Looking forward to it.

I splurged a bit and picked up a few items at the Disney Store for the boys. I used some of the winnings to pay for it, so it didn't come out of the budget, so I refuse to feel guilty over it. Also paid for a bit of extra nibbles and some wine for Christmas day. :cool: I'll add my total in later today once I've tallied it.

We need to buy more food recycling bags - for the food bin. A fair bit of food wastage in our house, but a lot of it is due to a 2yo with messy eating habits (we're working on it ) and a 5yo with food problems due to his disabilities, so there's not a whole lot we can do about it at present other than keep it inexpensive.

We never did put all our Christmas decorations up - we put quite a few - but I'd like to put some of the shiny ceiling stretchy things up (do they even HAVE an official name!?!). It's not complete without them. Very 70s/80s I suppose, but there you go. :rotfl:

Another couple loaves of banana bread to make and pop into the freezer, as we have some bananas that are quite ripe. So a fair bit of baking tonight. That's okay, I'll turn the heater off for a bit as the house gets quite warm when doing an extended baking session. :cool: Some sweeping and mopping to do as well. I will say that it gets frustrating to sweep and mop the kitchen only to have the dog trail mud in 10 minutes later. Feel like I spend half my time doing that.

Triggles

Well, that was charming. I had a post almost completed, fairly long, and DS3 reached over and banged a couple buttons on the laptop, managed to lock it up, and I lost the whole stupid post! :mad: pretty much typical of the last couple days. Kids on OTT level, I'm ill and exhausted, DH at work. Yup, ho ho ho, merry christmas. ah well...

Good Christmas, a few wobbles in the last few days. DS2 did come down with chicken pox a couple days before Christmas, which mainly just affected my sleep at night, as he was miserable. I then came down with a dreadful cough/cold, which has kept me awake every night since then.l So I'm exhausted. Due to this, when DH was in a rotten mood the other day, I snapped and we had an almighty row. We're both tired and cranky, which I'm sure doesn't help much.

My biggest issue is that when DH is ill, he can go up to our room and sleep a few hours to recharge and feel better, but I can never do that, as he can't cope with the children. I went up to take a bath the other day (30 minutes max) and they were each in their rooms with safety gates, and he STILL couldn't keep track of what they were up to - DS3 had stripped down and thrown his nappy out his door. So he needs to build up to coping with them for a few hours, starting with short times and working up to it. I cannot afford to entirely burn out or wear myself out and sometimes I DO need to rest.

So.. things that need to be improved:
1- DH needs to build up his skills in coping with the children
2- I need to regulate my sleep better - I tend to stay up late (get a bit of insomnia when stressed, which seems to be a lot lately), so am exhausted in morning when children get up
3- Finances - be more proactive instead of reactive - we KNOW when bills are expected, need to put aside money ahead of time, putting it in savings until bill comes in, then pay it
4- Stick to budget and meal planning better. Any little hiccup seems to throw our mealplanning right out the window, so I think we need to build in some "stress nights" as an option, keeping in some supplies for quick and easy something to throw in oven for tea when it's been a particularly stressful day, or when one of the boys is ill, or whatever.
5- We both need to improve our communication skills with each other.

I find that when we are both stressed is when we have the most financial difficulty. I assume that means we are both "stress-spenders" or something like that. As we also tend to blow off the meal planning when things are particularly stressful, that means our grocery bills skyrocket that week as well.

Christmas totals haven't been completed, but I'm pretty sure I came in under budget. DS2's 3DS was won in an online competition, and we got DS3's little tykes kitchen on ebay for £10 as well as a large assortment of play food.

I'm tempted to do an online shop, for the first time in a while. We still would get DH's discount at Sainsburys, but I could just do it at home and no go anywhere. Plus it keeps it under budget as it totals it up for you. I believe we're still getting the 15% and will simply try to find the cheapest delivery fee going. It will also allow me to go into the other room and work it out at the dining room table, while DH has a short time to cope with the children. Hmmmmmmm

pennywisepoundstupid

Hi triggles sorry your not well, things sound stressful at yours at the minute. I would go for the home delivery as it means you can do it at home and not have to cope with trying to shop with the children.

Is there any short activities hubby could do with children, colouring in pictures for thankyou cards, make some biscuit dough and then hubby just has to supervise rolling/cutting out/decorating.

Triggles

pennywisepoundstupid - hope you had a lovely christmas!

Yes, it is stressful, but to be fair, it's ALWAYS stressful here, I just sometimes feel it much more than others. More often, I suppose when I'm ill or run-down.

There are a number of activities I'm thinking about for DH, but obviously I want his input. I figure he's not going to respond well to "here, sit down with the children and do this" like he's a child himself. I thought I'd present it tonight to him with the idea that as he realises he needs to work on this, I would like to know what ideas HE has, and then I'll add a few in as well. I don't even want to THINK about the carnage of DH in the kitchen with both children. :eek::D I think that he will be more positive about it if he is involved in making decisions about it.

I honestly don't have a huge problem shopping with the children, again, it's more the issue of DH coping at home with them if I go shopping on my own. But also the need to get our grocery shopping back within budget. I'm sorely tempted to stick to Sainsburys for awhile, with the exception of bread, milk, and loo roll (Farm Foods, much cheaper!) to keep things under control. Any Iceland vouchers we win can be put aside for next Christmas.

On a side note, I mulled over the idea of going to the sales, but decided I wanted to avoid crowds as not feeling 100% right now and resistance is down. And I don't want to drag the boys into town either. It's too tempting to buy stuff simply because it's reduced, rather than because it's needed. Yes, I know lots of people use them as a head start for next year's Christmas, but scary enough we still have plenty of wrapping paper for next year easily and I don't have a clue what I want to buy for anyone, so I fear I'd just be wasting money.

I feel a bit mean, as DD rang earlier and asked if we'd babysit on NYE, and I had to say no. First of all, it's kind of short notice IMO for NYE. Generally people have their plans made quite far in advance. DH only has Sunday off this week, and he has to work for 5 days on either side of it, so I'm not about to spend the one evening we have off that he doesn't have to go to bed at 8pm by babysitting. Secondly, she was very careful not to mention that it was NYE, was very studied nonchalant about how they thought they'd go out Saturday night and could we babysit, which I will admit I was annoyed with. She knows things are chaos here right now and that I'm ill and stressed, so why she thinks I'm going to be up for babysitting until well after midnight (most likely closer to 1 or 2 on NYE!), then she's either being horribly unrealistic or simply inconsiderate. She did seem a bit put out that I said no, but I have to look out for our health and our relationship at this point. She has a boyfriend, and they're perfectly capable of spending the evening in, rather than going out. It's what I had to do for YEARS when I was a single parent. And that's life, hey.

I hope everyone has had a nice Christmas and a great New Years!