Only freedom will do

edinburgher

If not sleeping = bright, DD will be a frickin' *genius*!!! :rotfl:

earthgirl

DS1 slept through fairly early - within a year. Ds2 took ages maybe 3.5 years, and in the end we could explain to him why he needed sleep and reason with him. We also bribed him and gave him piriton (he was coughing all the time) incase he had hayfever which I am sure helped Each child if different and wired differently. You are doing nothing wrong and it will come.

AlexLK

I wouldn't believe any of the old wives tales. Looking back, I actually feel quite fortunate to have not spent any time around other parents when my son was a baby / toddler apart from my Brother in Law. People tell you so many things that may or may not be true for you as parents, you will also read things that may or may not be true. Enjoy watching your children grow and how far they come in such a small space in time.

I've realised it doesn't matter whether your child is a good sleeper or a good eater or precocious in some other manner. When my son was younger, I was obsessed with what areas he met "required" standards in and how I could devise methods to have him exceed expectations for his age. I would spend around 3 hours per day prepping "lessons" for my pre-school aged son after he'd gone to bed and still found some areas he naturally excelled and others he struggled to meet "required" standards. I analysed and experimented with different methods, working out which suited my son and tried to consider why that may be. I was terrified he'd be "left behind" in some way and that would be my fault. Now, I still teach him things but without the fear of each "lesson" meeting the objective of being able to tick another box off various development charts. Looking back it was crazy and I made parenting into such demanding work that it had a severely negative impact on my business. Try to enjoy being a parent and understand each child is unique, some things your child will excel at and others it will take time, encouragement and persuasion. I know it's hard when your child is up in the middle of the night, screaming and crying but you'll get there as a parent and most importantly your child will move on from his or her difficult stages.

edinburgher

It really does matter that my child is a good sleeper - neeeeed snooze! :rotfl:

Your dedication to your son really is inspiring Alex, I have no idea where you get the energy. Whatever your doubts about other facets of your life, that's something that you've nailed :T

£24.08 paid off of 0% CC, £0.98 OPed, we have agreed to go for the shutters, I spent some of yesterday evening glossing the woodwork around our chimney surround. Just about on time for work today, restless night for all.

Karmacat

Lovely post from Alex!

Your little DD will get the sleep she needs (unless there's an allergy issue going on like earthgirl, maybe?) It's *your* sleep thats the problem, you poor thing! Glad you got to work on time

edinburgher

Nah, she's only allergic to sleep

AlexLK

edinburgher wrote: »

It really does matter that my child is a good sleeper - neeeeed snooze! :rotfl:

Your dedication to your son really is inspiring Alex, I have no idea where you get the energy. Whatever your doubts about other facets of your life, that's something that you've nailed :T

£24.08 paid off of 0% CC, £0.98 OPed, we have agreed to go for the shutters, I spent some of yesterday evening glossing the woodwork around our chimney surround. Just about on time for work today, restless night for all.

:rotfl: Not worked out that children don't consider your needs yet, Ed?

Thank you, I try my best. Energy levels may have something to do with the fact I haven't had a proper job for years.

You really do put me to shame with the house decorating / renovation / finances. Hope you put the house project to one side in a few years and still plan to do father and daughter piano lessons when she's old enough, though.

Karmacat wrote: »

Lovely post from Alex!

Your little DD will get the sleep she needs (unless there's an allergy issue going on like earthgirl, maybe?) It's *your* sleep thats the problem, you poor thing! Glad you got to work on time

Thank you.

A_Frayed_Knot

Once upon a time .........

I'm sure I told you the tale about the "dummy and bottle of whisky"
Are yours still unopened :rotfl:??

edinburgher

A_Frayed_Knot wrote: »

Once upon a time .........

I'm sure I told you the tale about the "dummy and bottle of whisky"
Are yours still unopened :rotfl:??

Dummies or whisky? Neither! :rotfl:

edinburgher

Happy moments - DD playing the bottom step of the small step ladder like a drum with a big grin on her face at 7 in the morning

• £257.03 paid off of 0% CC
• £241.50 paid into bond fund within ISA. This will be my last ad hoc investment of the year. Combined with our scheduled monthly payments, it will equal 2% of our gross salaries for the year
• £0.52 OPed

It's been a funny sort of week, hasn't it? The fickle nature of the up again/down again stock market and the ever zen comments of MFW's resident Boglehead SuperSecretSquirrel have got me thinking about my priorities (that and 'dusting off' my electronic copy of 'How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World').

I think that I need to be wary of falling into emotional traps and ignoring my behavioural investing 101. Too much gut feeling, too many feints at things without clearly defining specific goals. It's ironic that I may be partly to blame for feeling that I lack agency these days

So what does this mean for the diary of a thousand twists and changes? I suppose back to the basics, logic and not making decisions under the thrall of strong emotions (whether excitement, fear or greed). I can't say that it will be an easy job, most of my money spinners over the last few years (MB, whisky, P2P lending) have aspects of gamification and calculated risk/greed that have worked well for me, but left me frazzled.

So here are my financial goals for 2016, 6 months late! They should all be SMART

• Have over £20,000 in my current work pension
• Save a cash Emergency Fund of £500
• Take on no more debt
• Make no ad hoc purchases of investments
• Purchase an up-to-date copy of 'Smarter Investing', calculate my current trajectory towards FI and implement any changes required

I think that last one scares me the most. Walking the walk towards our big plans will be hard work and a high savings rate turns out to be surprisingly expensive. Even 16% is over £600 a month on paper (although a good bit less in real terms thanks to the wonders of salary sacrifice).