Sashybo - Back Again

jwil · 27 January 2024 at 10:42AM

Hope the MOT goes well.

Funnily enough there's an article on the BBC at the moment about kids wanting all these skincare brands after seeing them on tiktok and you tube, and they are really inappropriate for their skin and could be harmful.

Bluegreen143 · 27 January 2024 at 7:45PM

I have to say, I don’t think tik tok (or any other social media) is appropriate for kids who aren’t teens yet, it does worry me that they’re getting exposed to all the materialism and focus on appearance at such a young age.

It must put a lot of financial pressure on parents to fund expensive skincare habits in pre-teen kids! I don’t even buy expensive skincare now though 🤣

I do worry about my daughter in particular and the pressures on girls to look a certain way.

Willowtree222 · 27 January 2024 at 8:24PM

It's hard to balance. My DD isn't allowed social media, but her friends are so she's exposed to it second hand and then there's the pressure of why can my friends and not me. I still hold my ground, but I know other parents who have cracked and given in.

I have some.expensive things as I have ultra sensitive skin but I equally have aldi products too. I try to use whatever works for my skin.

sashybo · 27 January 2024 at 9:54PM

Jwil that’s what I’ve been seeing on the skincare groups I’m in. The active ingredients in this expensive skincare are too strong for young skin. It’s a very clever marketing ploy but I find it so odd that it’s the pre-teens that are really getting into it.

Yes the social media thing is a worry. I haven't had to deal with it yet as DS is only 6 so he doesn’t know what it is. I have a friend whose DS is the same age & already playing Fortnite etc online with a headset. 😱 For me personally I just don’t want my DS exposed to that yet, I think he’s too young. He’s happy enough playing games offline on the Xbox for now. I had to ban utube because he was getting too obsessed.

Ideally I’d like to keep them both off SM or phones/online as long as possible as it can be so bad for their self esteem etc. But as Willow said it’s a balancing act as kids will see it one way or another and start asking why they can’t be on it too.

I like my skincare brands but can’t really afford the good stuff! 😂 A lot of the more budget and mid price brands are very good these days mind you.

Bluegreen143 · 27 January 2024 at 10:14PM

One of my friends posted on the year group parents’ whatsapp asking if we could all consider not allowing smartphones or social media til secondary school (going for flip phones or similar if they need phones earlier for safety reasons), so as to avoid peer pressure.

I was really pleased to see how many of the parents agreed with the idea (and I’m fully on board too). I think we will end up with there being a backlash against it as people start to realise how it’s damaging young peoples’ self esteem.

My DS is 8 and so far we’ve avoided any online access (he’s not allowed to use YouTube except if we specifically look up and show him a specific video, eg he did watch a few videos on pumpkin carving techniques with us at Halloween 😂), I just don’t feel he’s missing out on anything or needs it tbh. He’s still happier getting muddy outside or building Lego and long may that innocence continue! I do worry more about DD when she gets that age though as the girls in his class do seem to grow up that bit earlier.

Sun_Addict · 27 January 2024 at 10:17PM

I can remember starting to get into skin care when I was 13. I used Boots 17 herbal skincare for oily skin whereas my friend used the, what I thought was much nicer, orange blossom for dry skin. Guess who has the less wrinkled skin now - one plus of oily skin 🙂

Today my DGD cadged a lip balm from me as the brand was on her list of must haves!

The skincare brand DGD is using is Bubble which is apparently formulated for young skin. Personally I think she’s too young to be into skincare but understand the peer pressure starts young these days.

Willowtree222 · 27 January 2024 at 10:50PM

Yep, it's bubble here, too!!

I refused DD a phone until she was 10. I'm happy to say that she often leaves it around, uncharged, which I think is great because it shows she's happy doing other things. She's just bought a load of beads, so I know she's going to be crafting, and her phone will stay in her bag.

I allow her WhatsApp, but she's not allowed in groups, and she is allowed kids YouTube. All the logins are mine, so I get all the notifications. My rule is I can see anything on her phone, and the day she says I can't, is the day she doesn't have a phone.

It is hard being the parent that says no, but I know in the long run, it's what's best.

sashybo · 30 January 2024 at 12:46PM

Thanks for the discussion all, it's such a big subject and really hard to navigate with kids. DS asked me the other day if he can have a phone.....when he is an adult! 😂 I said you can definitely have a phone when you're an adult son. 😂 I want to keep both kids away from phones/SM as long as I can without it being an issue of them sneaking behind my back to do it. DS does have a tablet (rarely used) and plays the switch and xbox but it's not excessive so I'm ok with that. DD isn't really interested in tech stuff yet, she likes a bit of tv but mostly draws or plays with her toys.

Well my car failed it's MOT yesterday 😩 and cost us £500 all in for repairs, service and MOT fee. So the car fund has been wiped out and DH has his MOT and service due at the end of February. 👎 We will probably have to use the council tax money to pay for that. Lucky we have the council tax free months coming up really, although I'd wanted to use that money towards debt. Oh well.

Went out with DH the other day for an early birthday dinner as he's working on his actual birthday. We went to a Latin American restaurant and had the tasting menu which was lovely, it was like posh Mexican food. I had a mezcal peach sour cocktail which was delicious, it was a smoky peach flavour. Sadly it cost £10 so I only had the one. 😂

I'm making a birthday cake for DH and he's asked for coffee flavour so I'll be doing that at the end of the week.

I got out for a run today, first time in nearly a week but I managed ok and did 4k in 30 mins which isn't too bad. Back to work for 2 early shifts the next two days so I'm going to be tired.