22 Foxhole East

greenbee

Have you thought of introducing the little darling to Marie Kondo and her folding methods?

apple_muncher

Enjoy a posh hot choc. Hope you don't have to share it with anyone...

f0xh0les

Ugly dog with a pencil was accidentally smashed by DS1 this morning. 2 down, 4 to go!
Took the kids to school, came home, tidied all bedrooms on the top floor, including clothes drawers and bookcases, hoovered whole house, cleaned bathrooms and loos, then wrapped all DS3s birthday presents, he is getting a tablet (cheap kindle type thing) 3 x DS games (second hand titles he has requested) and about 25 vintage books from me (via c/s), for some reason he wanted Secret Seven books and Hardy Boys books, which are a ridiculous price new, and I found them and some don't even look read. They are 1980 vintage, so smell like books.

Easy supper tonight of an all day breakfast, which goes down well and has been requested that we have once a week. It is 3 of their 5 a day as well but shhhhhh don't tell them, stick a hash brown on the side and anything feels naughty! It can also be done in 20 minutes after picking up DS3 from an after school sport, and DH is teaching until 5, so it makes him less grumpy and much cheerier.

The living room is freezing! mind you I have been sat down for 30 minutes having a cup of tea after racing around hoovering and sorting and wrapping, which made me so hot I had to take my jumper off. Warmth lasted for 15 minutes after I sat down, now it is freezing again and I have half an hour or so to kill before I go out hunting kids. DS4 is having his front tooth filled - he got a chip on the corner of it, probably falling at school, he is always falling over and bumping bits of himself, but now his teeth are straight and the braces are off, we might as well get him sorted, before he starts getting teased, and it is only a tiny chip so should not take long. Which is handy as DS1 and DS2 will be in the car waiting (otherwise we fill most of the chairs in the waiting room), but no time to drive them home until after the appointment.

Used up 2 boxes of herbal teas from m-i-l visit (her preferred brands and flavours, one had from each and then were dismissed), so they are gone, tried the 3 ginger ones which were so utterly vile, they immediately went to live in the bin, utterly undrinkable, quite expensive too, but also gone from the shelf. Only two more boxes to go - a rooibos and a green tea with jasmine. Will continue with Operation Use-It-Up.

Tomorrow appears to be my last day on the postal survey thing. Will wait and see what happens, 3 to post today, one tomorrow. Plenty of stamps left to continue my competition habit.3 scented candles left to use up, did not find any ys candles after xmas this year at all. Might have to actually buy some of my own this year! horror!
DS3 has requested a dinosaur birthday cake, so I will have to be on the lookout for some green icing or green food colouring, and hopefully inspiration will strike.

Right, have to go and herd kids.

f0xh0les

So, what is new in my world? I hear you ask, well.....
DS4 had his front tooth chip filled, and he looks marvellous, you would never know it had ever had the edge knocked off.

The house is still cleanish and tidyish, all the laundry has been done, and it is starting to come together.
DH is back to teaching full time from his writing leave, so he has decide to write a book now (I kid you not). DS1 is at after school GCSE extra lessons 3 nights a week, I was at a 'Parent Information Evening' for two hours on Monday night (yawn!!) on the benefits of revision. Less than 20 people turned up. So we were split into 3 groups, and were talked at about the benefits of various apps, how rewards and holidays were important, and how every school holiday would have study sessions every day..... hang on a minute, holidays are important as something to look forward to.... but you will be expected to go to the study sessions during the holidays...... hmmm, should have asked the physics teacher for a wibbly wobbly timey-wimey hourglass like Hermione Grainger had, so he can be on holiday and in class at the same time. There was also the obligatory -don't write down the exam dates as they will be on the website from tomorrow.... except they are still not on the website.... it is Thursday.....
and I got up this morning and went into the bathroom where the water cylinder was making a tardis-like rumbling noise, so I figured something was wrong, and went downstairs where the water heater led light is loudly flashing yellow and now the boiler won't turn on properly. <sigh>, so on the phone to Mr Boilerman, who I was putting off until next week (payday) for the annual boiler service. So really it serves me right. Or, I would have had it serviced last week and it would have just sproinged this week anyway. Who knows!
I have a full cylinder of hot water anyway, so the washing up has all been done, the laundry is done, the drier is going round and round, everything has been folded and redistributed to the needy. And now I sit and wait in anticipation of a phone call to say when Boiler Bob can come over and take a peek - shall we say at school run time? no, I would not take your hard earned money like that.

H3rm3s have lost another of my parcels -the curtains for the back room- so I got a refund and a goodwill payment of £3.99 (!!) from the seller. Hopefully they will rock up like the 'lost' curtain pole did, at an undisclosed future date.

I bought 3 light fittings, like fishbowls on a silver hangy-thing - then I saw the exact same thing on the checkatrade advert! Oh well, they were reduced, and I got cashback on top. Had to send one outdoor lantern shaped one back, as it came without the glass inserts. £8 to be refunded, and I got a Moroccan style metal holey lampshade for my bedroom to finish it off. DH really likes it - I am not sure, but it will do for now, and DH is happy. It may move to another location in the house with a longer cord/wire thing, so the shadows fall more dramatically. Anyway, DH says he will attempt to put the ones up that need electrical wiring doing, this weekend. If it is not done by end of play on Sunday, I will get a man in to do it. I have had enough, things need to get moving, or get out. I could actually clear a whole load of space if I filled the car and took it to the recycling centre//tip, but I am fearful I will just need to go out and buy more of what I got rid of, when I figure out what on earth I am up to.

And finally, I have £50 on my credit card that needs to be paid off, and £500 in the builder fund. I have £40 left in this week's budget to use before tomorrow (will not happen!) and just when it is all looking quite good. The stupid boiler decides to throw a wobbly. Oh well, at least I have the money.

And now to make a lovely cup of coffee, sit on the sofa with a trashy historical novel - they are being read and leaving the house - while waiting for school run time, and mystical boiler man. Supper tonight is pasties, as the school run will finish just before 5, and DH is out doing collegiate stuff with other lecturers and will end up in the pub.

I will inform you of the damage, once Bob has been.

mark55man

OMG your post is taking me back a good few years with all the briefings at school - thanks but thankfully behind me

I would say that on balance the teachers are probably right and helpful about 70% of the time - ie kids who study harder do tend to do better even if bright as a button - and a lot of the how to revise and how to answer a question is important as how else do they know!

The other 30% is that the world of work - even the lives of people with school-age kids tend not to revolve 100% around school, and the things that they say really matter - well it isn't always the case - hard work and enthusiasm and people skills get you a lot further than credit is given for

greent

Having had 2 go through the whole GCSE/ A levels thing I'd have to agree that revision is (obv) important - but so is the child knowing what method of revision works for them (and then how to go about it) - eg: mind maps don't work for everyone. Breaks are important (with things like access then to their phone/ social media and a cup of hot choc ) Mine didn't want to go away anywhere in school hols in the run up to exams as the temptation not to revise when away would have likely been too great (plus who wants to take a load of books away on hols anyway?!) An odd day out worked well instead

School revision sessions may be handy in that you can say what's not going well and they focus on that or bounce ideas around and something suddenly clicks (even though it's in a classroom it's not the same as a lesson)

If you are really desperate to know the exam dates you can probably find them on the examining boards websites (you'll just need to know which board sets which paper for that school) - although I'm not sure either of mine officially got their dates until just before the Easter hols!

Hillwalker11

When my 2 revised for GCSE and A levels they both did it the same way. Before the Easter holidays, when revision started in earnest, they drew up a daily revision calendar for just the holiday period.It does help if you have the exam dates.
They always started at 9.00am, then books away at 6.00pm.They revised in 30 minute chunks with a 10 minute break after each 30 minute session.In the break they could do whatever they wanted, TV, music etc. They had an hours break for lunch, plus by stopping at 6 they had the evenings free.
Once back at school they drew up another more flexible timetable until study leave began, when they drew up the final revision timetable.It was stuck on the wall and diligently crossed off when each day /subject was complete.

Doing it this way meant there was no last minute cramming and as everything was planned the atmosphere was reasonably calm. Although both had desks in their bedrooms they chose to study in the dining room, where I let them leave all their books out until the exams were over.

They wrote out what they were revising rather than just reading and by the end had filled 15-20 A4 pads, which they took great delight in burning after the last exam.

They also downloaded old exam papers which they worked through to the time set in the exam.This was invaluable for A levels.

Neither used mind maps, the eldest used mnemonics for remembering history and geography facts.

A revision timetable does work but it is a pretty grim time at home especially when they have exams in the day, sometimes 2 and then have to come home and revise for the next day.

I was lucky, they were both very self motivated and still stuck to the same revision routine through University.

Everyone has to find the best way for themselves, but by planning well ahead it does help to alleviate some of the panic.

One last invaluable tip, after they finished an exam ,found it best not to discuss how they answered with friends.There is nothing worse than when you thought the paper was tough and others say ' that was easy'.Pointless exercise and has no value whatsoever apart from inducing panic over something that can't be changed!

crazy_cat_lady

As a teacher myself I detest forced revision sessions. You can't make a child that isn't interested in revision do any revision, and giving up weekends and holidays doesn't change that in the slightest. I would gladly give up hours to help any child that wanted my help, but not if they don't want to do it in the first place. Unfortunately, a lot of kids aren't interested in revising... Also unfortunately the pressure put onto schools and teachers to achieve results no matter what is massive.

f0xh0les

Thanks for your experiences!
I got banned for another 48 hours due to MSE not liking the IP address, but then it cycled through to another one, so I'm back!
DS1 is a pretty solid B grade (in old money), so he has decided to ace everything and get 9s (in new money) for a laugh. Odd child, but there you go. He has 2 English papers before the holidays. and a couple of other ones too, so he can concentrate on those first, knowing he has 2 weeks to study for the others.

DH has been a total star, and has put up my 3 fishbowl lights, which, just to be different, take fat screw in bulbs, rather than the bayonet ones we have. So I went to the handy box of lightbulbs left by elderly OCD lightbulb hoarder who was the previous resident of our house, and managed to cobble together enough ones to try to get all the lights working, and we now know we have been storing 4 burnt out fat screw in light bulbs for 3 years for no apparent reason. So off to the recycling at Mr Ts for them. 4 maps have been combined on the wall and I can now plan a road trip from Cornwall up through Bristol, all over Wales, to Portsmouth, Leicester, and up to Stoke ... I know I have Norfolk somewhere, and when I put my hand on it, it will join in with the others, but I have run out of wallpaper paste (only had a tiny amount left, so I used it up) after fixing the superhero wallpaper in DS4s room that he keeps picking at, but luckily, as it is in comic 'pages' it is really easy to cut out one section and paper over again.

Masses of laundry (again) and PE kits and sports kits to sort out again. It rolls around fast in this house! I think I am on the last load of laundry , which is a nice feeling.

Made scones, and flapjacks in bun cases for ease of carrying in lunchboxes before breakfast this morning, so they are all ready to go. The car developed a very horrible squeak for 12 hours, then it went away. Oh well, as long as it stays away!
The rain was so heavy this morning I spent a lovely half hour listening to it at 4.30. I didn't even mind being awake because it made me so happy. I put up a pair of curtains yesterday as well, in the 'kitchen/dining room thing type place' (work in progress), to see if the house is warmer - that room has no radiator, so thermal curtains might work, but it has suddenly become mild again, so it seems to be working but to be honest who really knows until it is freezing again. It can't hurt.

Budget for the week is £72. Payday is Thursday. Petrol will be needed. One mobile bill is going out. So it will be tight.

Renovations fund is currently at £350. I would not like to have to dip into it again - once a month is enough!It was £140 to get the boiler controls working again, and it still needs a service, which is around another £80. Will put him off until next week.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and either got loads done, or had a relaxing time, depending on what you wished for.

greenbee

Sounds like you're making lots of progress. Pity about the boiler, but consider sorting it out as part of the renovations!

I've found a draught coming from one of the windows (they're only just over 4 years old, so it has probably been there for a long time) and can't work out how to fix it. It may be that it needs adjusting. If not, then a thermal roller blind may be the answer.

I've got some help with sorting stuff out this week and next - a friend's husband is taking a break from their renovation/build project to come and sort my stuff out (and earn some cash) so I'm looking forward to getting lots of niggly things out of the way. It has meant emptying a bedroom though, which means two others are now full of stuff and I have no space to start on my packing for wednesday's work trip!

Maps on the wall are a fabulous idea. Are you going to put pins/notes/postcards where you have been?

I'm so impressed by your numbers - I'm ashamed to say I haven't managed any overpayments because I've been building up my 'what if I get made redundant?' fund (spend in 2017 while on gardening leave getting quite a bit of the house sorted) and trying to get enough together to get the odds and ends plus utility room done. I'd really like to get the kitchen done this year, but I'm not sure whether I'm brave enough to run my savings down that far. I'll have to see what I can do from cash flow first!