Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

[Deleted User]

Hats off to ALL of you that are involved in the teaching profession, you're a much needed and probably undervalued bunch, the job is NEVER easy no matter where or what you teach, Thank you ALL!!!

parsniphead

I like all the cheese and chocolate makers.;)

FairyPrincessk

Hi,

I've been poking my head into this thread from time to time since January and just thought I'd let you all know I've been lurking. I'm very much into the spirit of make do and mend, but I also appreciate that it isn't all or nothing in this thread.

Mrs LW, big standing ovation for your DD.:T OH sometimes runs into similar as we don't have children. Just next week he'll be doing yet another open evening when some staff haven't done any, but he doesn't like to leave his head of department in a lurch. For the most part we don't mind. He enjoys his work and he is fortunate that the people who make decisions in his school are aware of and reward dedication. And honestly he does have more flexibility than some. I do think sometimes it gets out of hand though--such as him still fighting off a three week cold that I'm sure was exacerbated because he has done six trips in as many weeks, two with multiple overnight stays. He was just run down and exhausted and in several cases it was because other staff either wouldn't step up, or planned badly and needed others to solve their 'emergency' problems.


My own work goes through very definite ebbs and flows, although I'm not full time right now while I finish my degree. In fact, our hope for the next year is that I can pick up some more part time work to continue working on the things on the side I need to do to get a permanent, full-time job in my field. It has taken most people I know in my field 2-3 years to get a position after finishing their degree, and we're fully prepared for that. Any money I earn goes straight in our savings. I feel we live pretty comfortably on one income and are still managing to save for a house, but it wouldn't work if we had children and OH (who had a more conventional upbringing than I did) sometimes reminds me of the things 'normal' people have that we don't. I take my hat off to women who do it differently than I do, honestly ten years ago I never would have envisaged this particular working model for my family. I thought there would be children, I'd be full time etc. etc, but this works for us and we're both happy which I do think is what matters. Although I must confess there are days when I get a bad case of the 'I want it all right nows'--a cottage with a beautiful flower and thriving kitchen garden, a job, enough sewing skills and money to make the lovely clothes I want and a better behaved cat.;)

My mother is very much my make do and mend inspiration. She (with a bit of help from my father) can make just about anything she sets her mind to. I grew up with second hand and hand made clothes, curtains and furnishings, with home cooked meals, lots of books for entertainment and always some kind of garden. I'm slowly bumbling my way towards a better skillset.

[Deleted User]

My youngest DGD Holly is just about to start her teaching career and having helped out at her Mum's special needs school with the children as an unpaid classroom helper before she went to Uni and graduated she has no illusions about the amount of work involved.
But almost finished her student year training she startsfull-time in September teaching Year 6 at a primary school.

She absolutely loves it and says although it can be tiring, and at times frustrating, its what she always wanted to do,bless her I hope she keeps her optimism .

Teachers that I know work extremely hard and it drives me crackers when people say about their holidays and 'short' working day.Myself I can't think of anything worse than facing a roomful of bickering kids and trying to get them to settle down and learn,then having someone from the local LEA peering over your shoulder at odd intervals to make sure your doing things right.

My eldest DD is a business manager for a local special needs school and although she doesn't teach, her job involves balancing the books as schools that overspend, or don't make their number 'crunch' correctly can be closed, or put into all sorts of 'actions' by the LEA minions who,many of them have no idea what running a school entails.
She works from 8.00 a.m until 5 then takes stuff home often as the amount of unnecessary paper work that has to be done is huge.

She says that one day the school system will drown in paperwork and most of it ends up being filed at the LEA anyway.Her holidays especially in the summer are usually split up with her going into work to sort out budgets for the coming year .

With a budget of several million pounds to get right to the penny for the council auditors its quite stressful.This week she has had a day in London on a course plus several finance comittee meetings.When ever she asks the LEA for anything for the children its a battle to prise a penny from them.
But she argues, harangues, and quite often shouts at the LEA as she thinks the children deserve the best ,but sadly special-needs doesn't apparently warrent special attention, and every penny is looked at as though made of solid gold.

A lot of fund-raising is done and she herself will go to local firms cap in hand asking for help for the children.I give them their due my DD can be quite persuasive and she usually gets it (I think they give it to her just to get rid of her :):))
But the running of a school along with sorting out the teachers wages and problems (she is their go-to lady ) can be exhausting.Her and her OH bought a caravan in Deal last year and every Friday night when the weather is good in the summer they vanish to their little bolt hole and she reads,sleeps and relaxes as she is too far away for anyone to phone (and they have ) when things go wrong.Her Headmaster once phoned her up at 10.00pm for help as he had got himself lost somewhere in Kent and she had to look up the road he was in and direct him back to where he wanted to go!!!He is a bit like that though and not the brightest of chaps.
Like all big organisations wether teaching or the NHS fokl are often overworked and underpaid yet where would we be without our teachers and medical staff.Perhaps its time to give them their value as we cannot do without any of them.

This morning I have a little bit of ironing ,a little bit of sewing and a fair bit of feet up and relaxing :):) I have just done my menus for the week and all the finance's are sorted I am hoping for a refund from my gas company as because of the mild winter we had I am £265 in credit :):) fingers crossed as that will help pay for two of my DGS birthdays next month one is 11 and the other 14 so toys are not an option really,Not too sure what I'll get them yet, I'll see what their Mum and Dad think I'm sure the boys have dropped a few hints :):) DGS Jack 15 starts some of his GCSE's this week I think he has three science ones to do.Looks as though I will be baking him a few of his beloved victoria sponges :)
Have a good day everyone what ever you are doing
JackieO xxx

silvasava

Just popping in to add my 'pennorth' I worked full time since DS's were 2 1/2 & 3 1/2 - their excellent childminder was a round trip of 20 miles morning & evening but she was so great & the boys were happy & that was the most important thing. MrsL I would have loved to have been a teacher - have helped lots of littlies to read tho' instead I trained as a hairdresser - which I used to do at home after work and at weekends to help pay for my 'banger' to take the boys to the childminders so I could go to work! TBH when I look back I really don't know how I did it - & it doesn't look like its changed much in the last 30 years for so many Mums.
Changing the subject - went to see the Trio last night - they were really good & had a nice evening with chums. I bought a raffle ticket & won a joint of lamb! Result!! Thats replacing the one we're having today
Have a good day all x

vhalla1478

Good Morning All,

As I've said before, we all have/have had different lives and circumstances and there is absolutely nothing wrong with 'begging to differ' - we're all doing it politely.

I was brought up in an era when women were just beginning to have meaningful careers and we were also encouraged to be 'superwomen'. As it happened, I saw both ends of these circumstances. When I was first married I had a fairly high flying job in retail management and my husband and I were in the fortunate position of being able to share child rearing as he was self-employed and although he worked long hours, they were fairly flexible. When we went to Swaziland one of the conditions of our residency was that I did not work, so I became a lady of leisure and although the first year was like a lovely long holiday - loads to do, things to see, people to meet, I got horribly bored when the children were at school and got a job with the government out there.

When my marriage broke down and I came back to the UK in the mid-eighties, I didn't have the option of not working as I needed to keep a roof over our heads and ensure the children had as good a life as I could give them. I had no maintenance- try getting maintenance from someone 7500 miles away. At that time there was no working tax credit or much help at all, although when I decided to do a very late degree there was a very generous grant - I was better off as a mature student than I had been in years.


I managed with the help of my two wonderful children and the moral support of my friends. Although,, of course there were words like 'stress', I honestly don't think we thought about it much - we just got on with it. Each generation seems to want more material things; what were once luxuries have now become necessities. When I was a child, I remember mum's sister getting a washing machine - the sort that used to have a wringer on the top - we went round to look at the marvel (and of course I got my arm stuck in the ringer because I wanted to know how it turned on its own!) because it was the first one in our family!

Reminiscences over, have a good day, Everyone. recipe later.

Viv x

[Deleted User]

VHALLA it's an odd thing that in my lifetime what started off in childhood and was regarded as a big treat has become everyday life now. When we were little it was just after WW2, I started school in 1953 and can remember going with my mum to the local sweetie shop and buying 1oz of sweets in a blue twist of paper, usually something like lemonade crystals or hundreds and thousands or midget gems, all of which looked like more than a 1d bar of chocolate and now we throw multi packs of sweets, crisps, etc into our shopping baskets without a blink. I was lucky to get hand me down clothes and most of my childhood things were jumble sale buys and now even our babies are dressed in 'designer label' clothes and infant school children have mobile phones, renewed each year so they can 'not be picked on for being the only one without the latest model'. When did it become the norm that ordinary everyday people wore Armani perfrume, carried Gucci bags, had thier nails and hair done on a regular basis and started regularly going on cruises and 3 or 4 holidays a year? When we got married we had gifted or loaned furniture, could just afford a tiny fridge and the washing machine we inherited from a relative was a single tub with a mangle on top!!! I seem to have been too busy being and making ends meet along with rearing children to have realised when people started to regard all things as thier right and an everyday part of life, we still after 37 years of marriage have mostly second hand things in our home, you'll notice I say home not house, because that's what it is. All the posessions and status in this world can't make up a home if it's only for looking at and not for living in and none of the treats we console ourselves with from the chocolate to the diamonds can fill the gap that is in our lives if we don't love who and what we are can they. I think true peace comes from accepting you are who you are and not trying to be anything else.

vhalla1478

So well said, MrsLurchwalker! Looking forward to meeting you at Jan's if you can make it and everyone else who is coming, of course.

Viv xx

[Deleted User]

Certainly hope we can make it Vhalla, looking forward to meeting all of us so very much and having faces to put to names when I 'see' you all posting. Are we all going to take a contribution to Jan for part of feeding us? if so what's needed and should we decide ahead what to take or end up with 27 plates of sausage rolls and a 'pot luck'?

janb5

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

VHALLA


All the posessions and status in this world can't make up a home if it's only for looking at and not for living in and none of the treats we console ourselves with from the chocolate to the diamonds can fill the gap that is in our lives if we don't love who and what we are can they. I think true peace comes from accepting you are who you are and not trying to be anything else.

This is such a fab post Lyn ( it is Lyn isn't it!) and really resonated with me! I have just come for a little peek as just in the middle of doing the weekly cakes- two down two to go+ the dreaded gluten free number!


I am so looking forward to welcoming those who can come to the Meet up next month here. Don't worry re food menus just yet. I am sure we can all sort it out well between us but the most important bit is meeting up and having a good laugh!


I do have a Westie called Max so hope no one is allergic to dogs. He is welcoming too and not averse to lots of cuddles!