Sashybo - Back Again

sashybo

Hi Nicnak, Beanie & SA. 👋 

Beanie, the mice even have tartan on them, I think one has a tartan scarf and the other a tartan coat. 😊 My memory is awful, I only bought them 2 days ago and am struggling to remember. 😆 

SA the goodie bag is a nice idea, I've noticed that our nieces & nephews often love the small silly things we buy for them rather than the "main" presents. I have accordingly bought some dinosaur & unicorn temporary tattoos, as well as eggs that hatch a dinosaur or unicorn when you put them in water for my little nieces as part of their christmas presents. 😂 I think the christmas eve boxes are nice when they have pjs, snacks and a film or something to do as a family in them. 

I think a lot of the Christmas lights, markets and things that would normally be going on have been cancelled this year. 😔 It's sad for the kids but hopefully we can all still have a nice time. My two are still so young that I don't think it will impact them too much, they don't know any better/different. 🤷‍♀️ 

I'm hoping to start doing something like the snowmen made of boxes painted up for the kids' christmas presents so the biggest present on the bottom up to the smallest on the top. There are only a limited number of boxes so you can't go too mad, a lot of people do this and use something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read as a basic guideline. I like the simplicity of it, let's face it, my kids really don't need the toys/books I buy for them, they already have plenty! I hope that if we start this fairly young then they won't expect/want loads of present every year.

I've also been looking at memory blankets online that are made using kids old baby clothes, they are beautiful. 💕 I have some clothes saved from both DS & DD so will need to see if I have enough to have blankets made at some point. I think it's a lovely use of their old clothes that mean something to us and they can also be useful too rather than sitting in a box somewhere. 

beanielou

Excellent idea on snowman made of boxes   

Willowtree222

Those snowman boxes sound amazing. I know DD like the little things more like Slime and other things like that. I am going to start buying soon as I usually do to make sure it isn't all coming out at once. 
I don't know what to get DD this year. She has only asked for a football kit that my mum has already bought her. x

Sun_Addict

The snowman box idea is brilliant.  Anything you can do to make kiddies have a magical Christmas. Also the memory blanket. That’s what it’s all about making lovely memories. Happy times don’t have to cost a lot.

sashybo

Hi again all, I think I probably saw the snowmen made out of boxes somewhere on this site last year. I thought they looked great and were a really good way of limiting gifts. I know that I can get carried away looking at things and thinking DS would love this, that, oh and this when in reality it's too much for him and he doesn't really want or need any of it!

I need to look at what size of boxes I'd need and some paint for the boxes as well. I guess I could always flatten the boxes for easy storage as well during the year. 🤔 We get a lot of online deliveries, so getting boxes won't be a problem!

I want to start some wee family traditions with the kids as I always remember putting our new pyjamas on on Christmas Eve and putting out the food and milk for Santa and the carrot for Rudolph as well. 😊 (No doubt DH will say Santa wants a whiskey or a beer rather than milk. 😂)  My sister used to wake up every hour asking if it was time to get up yet. 😂 It was always so exciting and not just because we were getting presents.

I was thinking I'd quite like to do the glittery Santa footprints on the floor for Christmas morning, think you can get stencils for them. It doesn't take much to make Christmas exciting for kids, it breaks my heart to think about the poor wee kids whose parents don't do anything special for them. 😔 My mum didn't have a lot of money but she always did her best to make Christmas exciting for us and that's what I remember.

I already have a toy ambulance, bus, people and some books towards DS's presents. I think I'd like to get him a toy garage as well and then just some pjs and small things. I'm not sure what to get for DD. 🤔 Probably not much as she won't have a clue what's going on anyway!

The weather has been so wet and awful the last two days, the rain has been so heavy at times. The new bed in the garden is still not finished and I'd like to get it done before winter sets in. I have plants to go in it as well as some bulbs for Spring and would like to get them settled in.

I will also have the bare roots hedging arriving in November, so will need to get the front garden dug out and prepped where the plants are going. Also need to buy some canes for the hedging plants for support as it's so windy up here.

DH's priority in the garden is finishing painting the fence, he is probably about a third of the way round but can only do it when a) it's dry outside and b) when he has someone here to watch the kids. I might ask my mum if she can come up on Thursday when I'm at work to watch DD when DS is at nursery so DH can get on with it if it's due to be dry. 🤔 

I still need to remind DH to get all the junk that's been distributed around the garden together so that he can get it taken away. We will probably need to pay someone as we have an old fridge and lots of random other stuff to go. No doubt I'll be accused of nagging him when I ask about it. 👀 

DH has been a bit sulky recently and acting like a little boy because I don't listen to him properly (apparently). I think it's because I'm not staring at him in rapture nodding and looking super interested whilst he's talking. 🙄 I am listening but am usually doing something else at the same time and/or stopping one or both children from injuring themselves/each other/the cats. 🙄

DH actually goes in a dramatic huff if I need to run off mid-story to stop a child from maiming themselves. He flounces off saying "well you're obviously not interested so I'll not bother telling you the rest of the story". 🤷‍♀️ 😂 Yeah I'm gutted. 👀 

Personally I blame MIL as she acts far too enthusiastic whenever he talks and he is obviously used to a much more adoring audience being an only child. 😂 He never had his mum running off mid sentence to deal with fighting siblings. 😆 

Willowtree222

I'm always doing the same thing. Running and shouting sorry behind me. It's the way it is! X

Honeysucklelou2

Love the idea of buying a decoration each year, so by adulthood, each will have their own collection🙂.

sashybo

Hi Nicnak & Honeysuckle. 👋 

I managed to get out into the garden for an hour or so today and did a bit of tidying up. I finally took the netting off the gooseberries and binned some dead/dying off plants. I managed to add more compost to the new bed, won't be too long until it's ready to start planting. Hopefully I can do that towards the end of the week but just depends on kids and weather. 🤷‍♀️ 

DH made a roast chicken with potatoes, carrots and yorkshire puddings for dinner which was lovely. I made a peach cobbler for dessert which we had with custard. DS didn't eat much of his lunch or dinner today but managed dessert funnily enough. 🙄 DD loved everything, she is very interested in food and has started taking a cup of whole milk at lunchtime. She can hold the sippy cup herself so is very pleased with herself but not amused when we take it away from her. 😊 

DS has been playing up something awful all weekend, everything is a big drama, tears at the drop of a hat, especially when he doesn't get his own way. Just constant tantrums and hitting the baby out of frustration. He's not himself at all and poor DD doesn't know what's going on (join the club). 

He's still not sleeping well so I think he's mostly tired but think a good part of the behaviour is just his age. It's awful. 😩 He is so bossy and thinks he's the boss of the house!

When he wakes up at night nothing I do will settle him, he won't stay in his bed if I leave the room and just screams. He seems to want me to sit on the floor beside his bed all night and not move. 🤷‍♀️ Obviously I just have to get up and go after a while but then the screaming starts and he wakes DD & DH. I just don't have the patience to deal with it. He will go back to his bed when DH tells him to but not when I do it. He still doesn't go to sleep though as we can hear him chatting to himself. 

I just spent an hour split between cuddling DS and then sitting on the floor in his room next to the bed. I thought he had finally fallen asleep so left the room, as I was closing the door he started screaming again and got out of his bed. 😩 DH had to get up to tell him to get back into bed. Feel bad as DH is up at 4am for work and DS woke him up (again). We're all getting more tired and grumpy due to this happening most nights but strangely not every night. 🤷‍♀️ I hope it's just a phase that passes quickly because it's horrendous. 😭 

Willowtree222

Hopefully it is just a phase and he will eventually just stay in and sleep through. How strange though that he is not responding to you telling him to go back to bed. 
I wonder what is disturbing him. 
Tired, grump and then hungry were like the three worst things in our house. They used to cause huge arguments. x

sashybo

Nicnak, DH says it's because I'm too soft and just give in to DS, my mum says the same. I don't think I'm too soft, I just don't always want to be shouting because it doesn't work.

I have definitely been shouting too much recently as I'm frustrated but it just makes things worse. Coming down too hard on kids doesn't solve anything except to make them too scared to talk to you about things, I don't want to go down that path. 😞 I do find it hard to stay calm though especially when I'm tired. I hate listening to DH shouting at DS though and think that's what I must sound like which is horrible. 

I can only think that DS is still processing nursery and the change to his routine and that's why he keeps waking. Sometimes he will go back to bed after a cuddle but most of the time just now it's the screaming in temper and wanting me to sit beside his bed in the middle of the night. 🤷‍♀️

At bedtime I just have to leave the room and he stands at the baby gate across his door screaming or shouting on me. We have a baby gate across the door as his room is right next to the stairs so don't want him falling down them if he got out of his room at night. He usually stands there for a few minutes to see if I'll come back then closes the door and goes to bed. Luckily DD is quite a heavy sleeper!

Yes Nicnak, tired, grumpy & hungry are the worst things, especially when combined! I don't know how many arguments DH & I have had over "What's for dinner" over the years. It's one reason I really need to start meal planning properly again. Both being shift workers doesn't help as DH can be up for work at 3 or 4am or finishing work at 1am so his body clock is all over the place and he isn't as tolerant of the kids because he's exhausted. The earliest I have to be up for work is 5am and the latest I work is midnight so I'm not as all over the place as DH. 

Only had one meltdown from DS today, he wanted to put his trainers on to go to nursery before his trousers. 🤷‍♀️ Had just changed his nappy, so trousers were off and he was adamant he wasn't putting them back on. Not fun wrestling trousers on to a big, tall resistant 3yo. 😩 I wish he would try to use the toilet but it just leads to more screaming if I even suggest it.

🤔 Maybe I should keep a food diary for DS and see if the poor sleeping/ meltdowns coincide with particular foods. He's not eating well just now, keeps picking at his dinner and just wants snacks instead. 

Have ordered some personalised Christmas stockings for the kids and a fireman outfit for DS (thinking ahead for halloween) using survey vouchers. I only had to pay £8.85 in "real" money instead of £31.85 so a saving of £23. 😀 Just need a fireman's helmet for DS and he's sorted, assuming that the outfit fits - it's actually pyjamas that look like fireman sam's uniform so that he can get more wear out of it afterwards. 😂  I have ordered a size up as DS is tall so fingers crossed it fits.