The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

PRINCESSX87

Morning all.

We’re off to the vets today for poppy’s vet check. She’s got all her yearly boosters, Microchip check and pre op assessment.

Not looking forward for the long old walk in the unpredictable weather but it should be a nice fresh walk. Also taking some carrier bags with my for the journey home to berry pick.
(Anyone else notice how tasty fruit is when its free?? haha)

Anyways, Off for a quick cuppa before the chaos commence. Will pop back later. Have a good day all. & stay safe.

carlymummy

Happy Friday to you all,
Didn't have time to post yesterday but just caught up, well done to all those on their exam results, some very clever children you all have bet you are bursting with pride.
Pouring buckets here today so will be trying to find places to dry the washing, my current method is to iron it whilst wet then pop onto hangers on curtain rails, needs must and all that ;D
Yesterday I went to the local market town with my Dad and popped into the Morrisons managed to get my middle DS a school bag for £1.98! Bargain, I was chuffed with that and even better he likes it too and much to the shop assistants amusement I paid in coppers and silver, well money is money isn't it?! Also the boys got to spend the morning with their Nan whilst we shopped and then we stayed for lunch which was a nice change.
Had a letter from the council though waiting for me when we got back home which made me sick with worry, it threatens all sorts :eek:, we claim a small amount of council tax benefit and I wrote to them to inform them of DH new wage increase - what a complete nightmare it has been, his work have had to complete a form and I have had to send all his wage slips since April luckily I posted them recorded delivery even though I didn't really have the cash to do so at the time, but the letter states they haven't received it, I checked the tracking and they have, so had got myself into a bit of state by the time DH came in from work, anyway he calmed me down and pointed out that the letter was dated the day before the wage slips were signed for Still think that it is a bit out of order to threaten like that when we want to stop claiming it because he will now be earning just over £16k as a supervisor whereas before he was only earning £13.5k, I will stop moaning now sorry I actually found that remarkably cathartic!
Pizza dough to make ready for tea later and then family film night tonight with DH and the boys x

StressedOutMummy

Morning all,

Congratulations on all those fabulous results - you must all be very proud parents/aunts/ etc. I am getting v anxious now as my 3 year old is due to start nursery in Sep but I'm having difficulty getting him toilet trained - he will wee but not the other and if he isn't they won't take him. Also, I don't know how I will cope with dropping him off/ picking him up! Me and OH both work and both commute to work. Mine is 1.5 commute and have no family locally to help. I take LO to where I work as GPs live there but that will be no use come Sept! Seriously thinking of giving up work / selling up for sake of my boy and our sanity!

mardatha

My buddleia has just started to flower, must be a record for lateness.
I'm struggling with the low carb now, weight has stuck and I'm living on bacon egg & mushrooms cos I can't be a$$ed trying to cook anything else. But I did get over a stone off.
Going tomorrow to the Broughton Gathering - a wee village hall in the middle of nowhere crammed full of spinners and lovely wool
Ooooh and cake....

VJsmum

Hi SoM, does he have to start in September? Can't you defer till Jan? My DS was really late toilet training too, he was 3 1/2 when he finally "got it" and I had given up and put him back in nappies. It won't do him any harm to defer, it is whether you can manage.

Thanks, Kezlou, those bars are chilling in the fridge as I speak:D

Off to Wales for a week tomorrow, in the caravan. DS and FN (favourite niece) are volunteering on a steam railway there all week. DS will be working on the engines ( lovely oily clothes then) and FN works in the gift shop. So good for them to do it, excellent for their CVs. And it doesn't cost anything. Once I have delivered them to their various work places, I get the day to chill, read, walk, cycle etc - or go to the beach if the promised heat wave materialises. My sources say not a heat wave but lovely summery weather, which is probably better. Best laid plans though, the whole family will be there - MIL, two SIL - one with the difficult children who she does like to palm off onto people (probably why they are difficult), BIL and some friends. OH will be there for part of the time. DD is staying home - she reckons she's had enough of Wales to last a lifetime :rotfl:

Being palmed off with Not FNs minds me I have to sort some Mr T vouchers to take them to Cadbury world and a local theme park when I have them in a couple of weeks. It is so much easier being out with them than in.

Right, need to go to town to get my specs mended ( the arm fell off :eek::eek:), visit bank, library, and home bargains as we've run out of shampoo and I had to pay more than a pound for some - oh the shame . OK wally trolley, gird your loins, you're coming out

[Deleted User]

Morning Toughies, it's actually raining outside, only light rain but oh how wonderful it feels to be cool and vaguely damp, I know I'm soooooo sad but it's been such a long time since we were anything other than dry and warm, the garden looks fresher already, oh spit, that means more lovely courgettes doesn't it?

What a day of results yesterday, so much talent out there, so many hard working young people who will be continuing thier path towards the career of thier choice, smashing stuff.

I'm probably going to sound maudlin sentimental but it's not what is in my mind, we are really lucky to have the company of all our fellow posters on this thread, I was struck so much yesterday at how much we share the joys and the triumphs as well as the support that flows unstintingly when there are problems, the depth of experience that people have and knowledge they share to make all our lives better and more comfortable. You are a grand bunch and there are some wonderful youngsters (well compared to my end of the age spectrum) amongst us who have thier own set of problems and who are the first to reach out the hand of friendship and comfort to any of us who need it. I know we don't know each other in real life but this place is my comfortable place, I know I'm amongst friends when I'm chatting, I know you care about each other, I know you help each other and me willingly and kindly, you are the best of the best, all who post, all who read along and all who just pop in to say Hi and then pop out again, bless all of you, it's a better life because you're in it!!! Thank you, Love Lyn xxx.

StressedOutMummy

No, VJ he does not have to start Sept and I can defer. The thing is I have a lot of pressure from my sisters - they have always done it feeding,walking, talking ! Ny son does things in his own time, was 11 weeks prem and has caught up brilliantly but I have always had "he should be.........." since he was home from hospital 3 months later.

VJsmum

StressedOutMummy wrote: »

No, VJ he does not have to start Sept and I can defer. The thing is I have a lot of pressure from my sisters - they have always done it feeding,walking, talking ! Ny son does things in his own time, was 11 weeks prem and has caught up brilliantly but I have always had "he should be.........." since he was home from hospital 3 months later.

Stuff them, I hate competitive parenting. All kids do things in their own time, cripes both mine were well over 3 before they were dry. it has nothing to do with intelligence (as DDs exam results yesterday testify) and everything to do with nerve endings. A prem baby was always bound to be later wasn't he? I don't even have that excuse, DS was 10 days late, weighed nearly 10lb and had to be induced :rotfl:

You know what's right for you and your boy - s0d anyone else.

edit - I don't necessarily think exam results have everything to do with intelligence either, btw, but you know what I mean!

nuttyp

Morning everyone, I have woken up to rain and its still warm. It was a lovely sound to hear rain drops against the window.

Oh has another busy day, I am home all day so will do the ironing and get all the washing put away that I line dried yesterday. My boss messaged me to say I may have to work all day Saturday as the person who didn't turn up on Wednesday still hasn't arrived into work. Annoying as I had made plans, but the extra money would be nice. I wish that this person would be more responsible, it puts all the staff out when they have to drop everything to cover.

DD has a teaching assistant to help her at collage. We have bought a Dictaphone so she can record the instruction for the work she needs to do at home. All the Tesco vouchers I had and some money from her nan she was able to get this and a netbook to do her work at home. She has to work extra hard to understand but on the plus side she is kind and caring. Will help anyone if she can.

Tomorrow DD will be working on a flower stall on the market, all the old ladies stop for a chat. I know its hard work but she gets some money for herself.

Well tomorrow I have a 14 and half hour shift again, it seems our employee who went awol on Wednesday still hasn't turned up for work. don't you just love un reliable people....

Well must get myself showered and dressed. Take care x

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,

Feeling a bit refreshed this morning--don't think it is a cold at any rate.

For those of you with children who don't find they naturally excel at school, well I would imagine it can be hard to convince children that it will all be fine in the long run, but it really will. I was terrible at school in primary. I mean, I loved to read and read everything in sight, but maths, spelling, remembering facts--none of that came easily to me. I got much better in secondary--partly because I had more freedom to work to my strengths--I could submit essays after typing them so I had spell check and maths was more about concepts. I'm so grateful now that my parents made clear to me that being good at school was not the same as being intelligent, being curious, being passionate, being creative, having talents and working hard. You can be all of those things and still not be good at school. In fact, I think if you have some of those things it might mean you struggle more with school. I also have to say that the other side of my experience, the side that teaches new undergrads in their first year really worries about what we do to children in school. Most of them are afraid to tell me what they think themselves, a much larger proportion than you might expect aren't really sure why they're at Uni other than it was the next thing they were supposed to do (this frustrates me to no end because it usually means they're acquiring debt under the impression it will guarantee them a good life. Some of them are even miserable at Uni).
Yes, grades are a nice accomplishment, but I think that as a society we put far too much emphasis on them and forget that they represent only one very, very small set of skills that not everyone excels at. And to be honest, the students who don't have to work hard for their grades often don't know HOW to work hard the first time they're in a situation where they need to.

I don't want to denigrate the accomplishments of those who did get good grades--for many of them it represents months of very hard work, but I also wish we taught children to value a wide range of accomplishments and didn't make exams out to be the be-all-end-all. So many of my students I just want to hug and tell them to take a year out. Get a part time job, live on 10p noodles and explore a little bit. Have a little fun, make some mistakes, learn what it means not to feel the tyranny of your next exam hanging over you. Then, if you want to, come back to Uni, you'll get far more out of it. And if you don't, that is fine there are so many wonderful professions out there that you can train for.

Right, I suspect that was a whole lot more opinion than was asked for.:rotfl: