Missy’s Surviving the storm so we can dance in the rain.

slm6002

I agree, none of us are morning people and just getting the children out of the house on time takes all of my energy.  It has always worked better when we do it the night before

joedenise

Homework was always between getting home from school and having dinner.  The kids used to come in and have a glass of milk and a snack and then it was time for homework - never more than 30 minutes.  If it wasn't done in that time then they had been given too much (this was while they were at primary school so under 11).

Secondary school was a bit different with all the extra homework!

Bluegreen143

We vary time-wise a bit - I tend to bring a snack to school pick up and if it’s dry we go to the park before going home so we don’t always get back at the same time. If we don’t go to the park they get to play for an hour at home then I give Monkey the choice of homework before bath or after bath. Either way, playing, bath + homework all need done before he can get a little screen time before dinner.

At the moment he doesn’t have too much homework as he’s only in Primary 1, so it takes about 10-15 mins. We have the rule we do homework Mon-Thu, Fridays we take off as that’s our day I keep free for playdates and we don’t do homework at the weekend for now.

missymoo81

Have fallen off the wagon slightly. Not catastrophically but a meal deal and a McDonald’s for the children as had no time. The car is still playing up and the other car needed £300 spending on it to get it through the MOT 🤦🏻‍♀️. I had 7 cancellations last week which is £200 down!!!!!!!! Honestly feel like I’m throwing cash up in the air and only a quarter of it comes back down!

Just had a letter through from BG with my estimated amount for next year for gas and electric and it’s £600 more. We’re already paying around £180pm as I had to change the dd this month as they said it wasn’t enough. but that doesn’t seem right, as the current bill
is £1200 a year. but I think it’s because we’d been underpaying, so we should in theory not have to pay more than the dd I set up, in fact it should be slightly less. 

Thank you for all of the help on getting more time to do things with the children. Mornings work better for us, as we get up super early. And after school everyone is super tired. I make packed lunches in the evening, the children get dressed by 7am. Have had breakfast by 7.30, then we leave for school at 8.30. So we have an hour of whatever we like. I just need to be organised!

I’m still on antibiotics and have a scan on Thursday, fingers crossed everything is all ok. Really struggling to eat when I’m allowed as tablets need to be taken on an empty stomach and I’m always eating normally! 

Although I did get a meal deal and a McDonald’s, there were 3 other occasions that it either crossed my mind or OH mentioned about getting a takeaway or similar. So that’s an improvement. Need go keep it up. I have bids of £19 on my eBay stuff so let’s see what we can get up to tomorrow. 

Roo now has a School trip in Nov, which is a residential at a cost of £250! Ex is going to pay half but still 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️.

MsPennyMinder

Maybe try reaching out to the school about the trip? Most schools have some support in place so parents aren't unfairly burdened or to help make sure no kids are left out.

Bluegreen143

Ah sounds stressful especially with all those cancellations! Why so many?

Your mornings sound the opposite of ours! My alarm goes off 6.45 but I don’t tend to get up til 7.15 🙈 Kids have breakfast then play while I shower, dress (I don’t take long to get ready 🤣) and spend some time checking my work emails. By 8 I stop and get Bambi dressed (Monkey dresses himself) and we leave by 8.10. 

Cheery_Daff

Do you have a cancellations policy Missy? Eg less than 24 hours/48 hours notice and they don't get a refund? Or buy 5 classes upfront and pay for them all upfront? Sounds like it might be a good idea if not - you need to guarantee yourself an income that doesn't depend on whether other people are flaky or not x

CRANKY40

Did you show May how to do her 9 times tables using her fingers? It's one of the few times tables my son with dyscalculia can do because I showed him the quick way. 

missymoo81

Ah thank you all so much for your lovely messages.

@MsPennyMinder thank you, I haven’t. I’m not in as much need as others. And I can pay it as it’s in instalments, it’s just a lot, but if I struggle in the future I will definitely speak to them.

@Bluegreen143 yes lots of cancellations. 1 is half term and no childcare. She has multiple sessions, but I did know in advance. 1 had a migraine, 1 is on holiday, 1 has broken her collar bone and the other is a dr who ended up on call. So not really things I can argue with.

@Cheery_Daff I don’t hVe a cancellation policy because sometimes I have to cancel last minute too. Everyone does pay up front but I don’t take the missed sessions off I should I know, but I like having the flexibility in case I need to cancel etc.

@CRANKY40 thank you so much for thinking of us. Yes we did the 9 times tables and she actually showed ME how she did it with her fingers! 

Going to see how close to £30 I can get the shopping again, so sat under my duvet on the sofa about to write my list!

ladyholly

Just a thought when people cancel with less than 24hours notice could you charge a percentage so you at least get something and as part of your t & cs.