From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning MFW'rs

Wash has just completed.   Homework was in progress, but LG has just had a flounce, so we may be here some time..... 🙄

Water bill arrived yesterday, I just got round to opening it today 😱 £10 per month increase 😱 I wish we could have a meter, but I have just checked, and the company can install the meter where they want.  Because a cabling company has made a hash of speculative cable laying in our street, I have been told that it is unlikely a meter would be supplied outside for our house, and I don't want it under the sink - there is no room and we would lose what little space there is 😟  So even though outside meters are being supplied left, right and centre -  and to people who don't want them and want to stay on assessed bills 😟  The increase equates to pretty much what EH membership would cost for the year.  Do we ditch that?  Having to go without modest family leisure activities, just to meet essential bills.  It's started 😟

At least we are all able to move around today after yesterday's exertions 🤣 Although DH is a bit creaky, but that is par for the course.  

I need to peg out and then I think it will be time for a second cup of coffee.  I'm surprised I've not reached for the gin yet already........

Rugger to watch this afternoon.  Hoping for a safe interesting contest.  I did like that Wales never gave up yesterday. That's what competition is about.

Oh goodness, I think I'm going to peg out - get outside.  This homework mularkey is getting very stressy 😟  No wonder kiddos in LG's class don't bother with it.  

Greying X

Moneywhizz

Homework should not cause stress for the parents or the child. It can be helpful in preparing children for the amount of studying they need to do as they get older but it does little to benefit their learning in earlier years. As always it is the children who need it most who don't do it while more diligent parents struggle to get it done because it is expected. I would make an assessment on an individual basis and if it is unreasonable and causing problems on a Sunday morning, you could just scale it back and inform  the school that it was not possible to do it. Don't let it spoil your lovely family time at the weekend. 

Cheery_Daff

Sounds like sensible advice there from @Moneywhizz 😊 Glad you all had a lovely walk yesterday, that's a long old hike for a little kiddo so well done all round! 😃

redofromstart

I have to admit that I ended up writing to the primary school more than once to say that any homework that ended up with a child and his mother in tears every weekend was unfair and unreasonable. We used to get black marks on reports for it but I ignored that. 

Greying_Pilgrim

Moneywhizz - I totally agree with what you are saying.  As much as anything, LG was just being an !!!!!!.  I agree that homework shouldn't take up too much time, and shouldn't be too onerous.  As it happened, LG also brought home some additional 'homework' (dressed up as a game, but there is learning ingrained into the game - plus there is the need for additional 'players', kiddos can't do it on their own).  So the 'normal' homework got done - DH supervised and I pegged out. 

Then we set to with the additional stuff.  DH took round 1 - and by the end of it LG was giggling and enjoying beating papa, then I took round 2 which we couldn't actually complete because we hadn't got the right equipment.  And yes, you're right - we're an educationally 'engaged' household (although I don't slavishly agree with all the bs the school comes up with), but even we hadn't got the additional items needed for this game.  So we did what we could, used the experience as a recap/learning moment and stopped when we'd done what we could. 

And I totally agree with your point about some kiddos never do homework, and yet the kids who are (probably) already doing something, be it Sunday football matches, swimming lessons, visiting a castle/grandma/the beach, brownie camp or singing in a choir; are likely to try to shoe-horn it in, in addition to doing all the things that folk like to do, which (increasingly) aren't provided by school. 

I will refuse to let LG do unnecessary amounts of homework, but when they're just being flouncey, we need to plug on.  Although we do always try to take account of the 'why' is there this flouneyness/arseyness.  Sometimes it is what it is, sometimes something else is wrong.  This morning was just a flounce 🤣

It was a good way Cheery - although I am always in awe of folk on R2's Friday evening prog who are walking up Helvellyn/Snowdon/Ben Nevis/Kinder Scout with a 5 year old in tow, so we're novices in reality 😁  But for sure it was the furthest LG has walked thus far, and it did involve walking up to an elevation of 650m (I think), so it wasn't "easy" (but neither was it rock-climbing, scrambling over scree or tip-toeing along precipices).  

Everything is now calm again, and LG is happily "helping" DH with some outdoors things.  

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

redofromstart said:

I have to admit that I ended up writing to the primary school more than once to say that any homework that ended up with a child and his mother in tears every weekend was unfair and unreasonable. We used to get black marks on reports for it but I ignored that. 

I would do the same in a hearbeat redo.  I already ignore a significant amount of the curricular "enrichment" activities that the school send out (usually half way through the term, rather that at the start of the term 🙄) because a large proportion of them are unrealistic. 

But we do chose - as a family - to do quite a few activities that can in effect support learning.  I don't know how much of it "goes in" with LG, but i personally think it is good for a child to actually see the remains of a Roman wall/bathhouse/villa, than to see a picture of one in a book.  At the moment we can do (some) of that - I fully realise that those are options not open to everyone/it's not every parents choice to do that. But if bills keep on rising the way they are, we'll have to make do with the book pictures too.

Greying X

rtandon27

Happy Sunday GP - a second sunny day in a row & 2 loads outside drying! - It is just lovely out in the sunshine and if the garden was a bit less quagmire, then I'd be out there soaking in the vitamin D 

The leftover wet load from yesterday & a load fresh from today went out in the morning sunshine, as only 2 loads were fully dried by bedtime yesterday & that was with an hour of additional dehumidifier intervention.  I'm in full catchup mode this weekend, so hopefully 5 or 6 loads will get done in total, including regular cloths, smalls, bed sheets, tea towels and bath towels!

Greying_Pilgrim

Right, Monday morning. here we are.

A smalls wash on.

Tea last night was veggie sausage, mash, baked beans and broccoli.  The sausages were actually the YS'd ones from MrL 'plant-based' range.  They were the cumberland flavour.  They had been a bit heavy on the addition of sage, but we all preferred them to the 'ordinary' ones in the same range (I'd also got a pack of those YS'd).  Mash was made from some tatties I had got in MrAl.  The variety was 'Melody' and they made super mash, and tasty baked tatties on Thursday.  So glad I plumped for them, even though they were £1.45 for a 2.5kg bag.  The broccoli was the second head from the MrL box - it lasted well.  Beans were the last St0ckw3ll tin from MrT - far too much sauce at the expense of beans in the tin.........

Activity tonight.  Will definitely need a prepped tea that is ready when we get home, as there will be quite an onerous challenge to take on for LG.  I'm trying not to be a nervous ma........ 

I think LG has a bit of an onerous week at school too - tests, tests and more tests 🙄

Right, best crack on.

Greying X 

Staffordia

Do you have any friends who have CSSC membership? If so they can invite you to join as a linked member. They get £10 for the referral. You pay for the membership for the year, less than £60 I think and you get free entry to EH sites amongst other benefits. 

Cheery_Daff

I've never heard of CSSC Staffordia! Looks like a useful thing to be part of 😊