Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Ooh love a bit of Jolly Phonics! iPlayer is also quite good for young children, both boys will watch things like Numberblocks, Alphablocks & Messy Goes to Okido (Science). I'm so pleased we have a smart TV, it's going to be worth its weight in gold ☺️

DS's school also gave a couple of learning apps on licence so DS1 can access those, we've been quite good at incorporating these into our down time too so just need to keep encouraging them both. DS1 us quite excited at the prospect of seeing his teacher and classmates on Mummy's laptop on Wednesday, hope the novelty doesn't wear off too quickly.

So lockdown#3 is on, let's see what the next 6 weeks bring...

Stay safe xx

DancingInTheRain

Quick coffee break and have just transferred £77 to the savings pot as this is money we'll save with DS2 being unable to access his pre-school sessions and DS1 not needing school snack money for the rest of this half term.

Popped to the office earlier to collect some files to enable me to do some urgent admin, roads very quiet so looks like people are staying home 👏 that's my last journey anywhere for the foreseeable.

No definitive confirmation yet regarding furlough but looking more likely given a conversation I had with a manager earlier.

Stay safe all x

savingholmes

Good luck with it all. Really hard for many currently.

Lookafterthepennies2020

Our youngest has been sent out a pack from school which we should receive tomorrow hopefully, he's watched a bit of number blocks, played some games and when I came back from work practiced his writing in some of the books I had already bought previously. Oldest has convieniently forgot his Google classroom details so I have emailed for replacements and he has done very little today. As they have been with my mum I feel guilty pushing it but I am worried how much they are missing x 

DancingInTheRain

Thank you @savingholmes same to you.
Really feel for you @look_after_the_pennies the parental guilt is awful but these are really unprecedented times and I think children are more resilient than we give them credit for at times, all we can do is try our best & try to be kind to ourselves too.
DS1 has had a number of tasks set on his online learning account so DH and I worked through these with him in between our more urgent work tasks yesterday.
We were also asked to log some activities for DS2 with him attending the schools 2 year old provision so we took the lazier option with him and put some counting and learning colours songs on YouTube 🤷
Also got them both out in the garden to kick a football for half an hour as the paths are treacherous where we live, my niece slipped and broke her arm on Tuesday 😬
No news on furlough yet, I think they've had a number of requests so are assessing what impact it will have on the business before giving a final answer, hopefully will know for definite by close of business tomorrow. I'm just doing what I can at the moment, prioritising the tasks that I'm targeted on and doing the bare minimum elsewhere to juggle everything. Thankfully DH's job has been a little quieter than expected this week so he's been able to do more with the boys than expected.
Keep on keeping on, take care all x

savingholmes

Be kind to yourself over schooling. Can only do what you can.

DancingInTheRain

Week 1 of 2021 completed.

Home schooling tasks done (in a somewhat haphazard manner but done).

Key work tasks completed (won't mention the massive to-do list still outstanding... 🤫)

Full furlough verbally confirmed by my line manager but no official confirmation from HR, see what Monday brings...

1lb weight loss, could be better but could definitely be worse.

Meal plan and weekly shop completed last night, went to A$da at 8pm and it was really quiet and stock levels decent, got what we needed (including toilet rolls 😊)

Week 1 budget completed, had £21 left over but after playing in the snow today we discovered both boys need new wellies so have ordered from A$da.

All in all not too bad, let's see what week 2 has in store 🤞

Hope everyone else is well x

savingholmes

Glad things are getting sorted. I think it has been a tough week for all of us in different ways.

Lookafterthepennies2020

Sounds like a brilliant first week x 

DancingInTheRain

Bit of a flat weekend, felt really tired and obviously nowhere to go so have been mainly in our PJ's although we all went for a 30 minute walk yesterday, it was quite slippery underfoot so didn't stay out very long. The ice had all melted away today and we've had a fair bit of rain but DS2 and I went out for an hour today in between the showers we've had so at least we've all had some fresh air and exercise.

Positives:

• I realised if I overpaid the mortgage by £1 we'd be in the £52k's so job done    and signature updated.
• Got a large pack of play-doh for the boys for only £5 in A$da the other day, used the last of their Xmas money to pay for this along with ordering a few bits to go in their arts and crafts box so they will all come in useful during this lockdown period so a good use of the money as they'll both benefit from the purchases.
• Used a little of my personal spends to order myself some skincare products as part of my self care plans, looking forward to those arriving.
• Didn't feel much like talking to anyone but I did send a few messages to say hello and check in on a few family members and friends, will make an effort to call them over the course of this month.

Bath and early night tonight, start afresh tomorrow. Hope everyone is okay, stay safe xx