Juggling mum/work life, whilst looking after my future self, both financially & healthily

joedenise

Meant to say you need to add a handful of frozen peas towards the end otherwise the everything looks a bit “beige” and not particularly appealing.  If you can’t find any cheap chorizo then use some lardons (or cheap chopped cooking bacon and add loads of paprika - this would make it even cheaper).

I agree with S@Spendless that now isn’t the time to be thinking about a tutor for May while jobs at risk.  Rather than emailing the school I would phone and ask for a meeting- it’s harder ignoring a phone call than an email.

Spendless

My experience with phone calls to school is you never got a reply back after the inital call, because its usually reception that answer the calls not the person youre needing to speak to.  I started putting everything in writing so I could evidence that Id made contact. I found that worked especially the higher up the chain you went with it. 

joedenise

It’s been a long time since I’ve had contact with schools (even my grandchildren have left school now).  Hadn’t realised things were that bad now but suppose I should have realised that!

fionaandphil

As someone who works in schools sometimes, I have to say the number of calls into schools is astonishing, even with an online absence reporting system.  If you put it in writing you can send again if required and work up to the Head, this should do the trick. Make it clear that you are going to do some work with her over summer but could do with some guidance.

Does May get any homework set on the school apps? We used to have Sparx Maths and Seneca but each school is different, some set it on Teams.  BBC Bitesize also has a lot of resources split down into each year group but you need to work out what they are doing with the curriculum so you can make sure it fits in with that.  The curriclum will be on the school website but you may not understand all the jargon and some school are better at explaining it than others.  I'll dm you with the links to ours which explains what  they are trying to do with reading and lists the books they recommend - could fit in nicely with a trip to the library over summer ;o)

joedenise

Another recipe site worth a read @missymoo81 is cookingonabootstrap (Jack Monroe).  Loads of very cheap recipes, mainly vegetarian and vegan but some of the earlier recipes included meat.  One of my regular meals from there is the Mixed bean goulash.

missymoo81

Good morning,

Having a brief quiet moment at work, so thought I would post. 

Thank you @jo@joedenise I will definitely look at adding some paprika to maybe cut up sausage or bacon in the recipe instead. Ah forgot about Jo Monroe!

And thank you all for your thoughts and advice on May’s schooling. I will email both maths and English teachers and cc in the head of year and ask what is to be done. I just emailed the head of year before. 

Children have their school trip tomorrow, but they need lunch money. And I forgot I borrowed some of OH’s birthday money that I need to give back. Will crunch numbers and see what I have spare. I didn’t have enough to allocate any spending money at all. I’m waiting on some invoices and have guessed what they are so hoping they are less so I have some money to play with. I have some spare time Sunday night, so will attempt to do Vinted then.

OH and I are going to the beach tomorrow and usually go to the cafe first, spending around £30. But I’ll get some eggs and cooking bacon and I am going to make a picnic. We’ll have breakfast before we go, maybe egg and bacon sandwiches. Then a picnic later in the day. I will make a batch of pastry and make a quiche and sausage rolls and some sandwiches, I have some brownies already and crisps, and we can take apples and a flask of coffee and bottles of water. So all good. Might get some tomatoes too. Trying to not spend too much as that will come out of next weeks shopping budget. We have burritos tonight and lasagne tomorrow.

Working_Mum

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time at the moment missymoo81 - I've been reading along and sending virtual hugs.

Time by the sea with your OH sounds like a perfect way to reconnect and count your blessings this weekend.

I live near the coast and sea swim most weekends with a few friends; between our little group one of us bring breakfast. Last time I made a big tub of Moroccan style couscous (made with raisins and roasted peppers) I served it with feta cheese, tomatoes, sliced avocado and sourdough bread. It was filling and kept fresh for hours.

I also take watermelon salad and serve it with feta cheese.

When it is my friend's turn she always brings a much sweeter array of goods! She makes banana pancakes and serves them with fresh fruit and Greek yoghurt. I love it when this friends does breakfast!

I usually take a flask of hot water and use either teabags or the coffee bags so we can have a nice quality cuppa whilst there.

You seem to be very capable and resilient and I hope you make a bit of time to take a few deep breaths and see the landscape that you're in and get a plan together. When I was going through a really tough time a friend kept telling me that I'd survived every other crappy day to this point I simply had to get through one more!

Sending big hugs,

((WM))

jwil

You've been doing great.  Hope you and OH enjoy your time at the beach!  It's always good for the soul.

Hope you get a response from school.  You'd think they want to prioritise improvements particularly in English and Maths.  Little jwil is also in yr 7.

missymoo81

Thank you so much for popping over @Working_Mum. I really appreciate your support. 

@jwil thanks so much for posting. Always value your comments. And yes I finally got a very quick email from head of year apologising for the delay, she will do a round robin of teachers and see whether May needs help and will get back to me. I went back to say it’s more maths and English which are obviously the ones she is finding most difficult. So I will see what they say. But it’s so close to the end of year I bet it will just be forgotten! 

Ok so I have dropped the children at the bus stop ready for their trip. Bless OH gave them their spending money. He’s a good stepdad. 

I’ve come home and just put some washing on. And have made some short crust pastry. I’m going to try and make quiche and sausage rolls… wish me luck. Have never made a quiche… 

Very much looking forward to our day at the beach. Just looked and could really do with shaving my legs, but hey, no one’s going to get that close…. I’m tired though, woke up with a start at 3am
thinking about work, and then had awful dreams. So enjoying my down time getting my head together this morning. 

Am trying to eeek out the food until Sunday. Not sure we’ll manage but I’m going to try. Bonus is I got to take home a load of fruit and some cake from work yesterday which will help 😊.

oh and little cat had managed to open the fridge as I forgot to put the lock on, and he was happily munching his way through a piece of bacon when I got in from the school run. He only got one bit so I’ve sealed the packet up and put it back in the fridge! He’s so naughty! 

Being outside is so good for the soul. The birds are tweeting and on the feeder and the sun is coming around. Just stopping for a moment can be really healing. Thank you all so much for your support by the way. I really value your support and comments 😊.

missymoo81

Hello!

We had a wonderful time at the beach! Even with sun cream I ended up getting a little burnt. We went into the sea and had our picnic, so good for the soul. Although the sausage rolls and quiche were a bit hit and miss. Needed more cheese in the quiche and the pastry on sausage rolls was a bit too flaky. And OH wasn’t keen on the more bread than filling sandwich. So we’re at work today and I had to buy bread and bits for lunch, which was cheaper than 2 meal deals. I am going to struggle this month to stay in the black, I absolutely need to allow some money for extras. Like school trips, shampoo, weekend work food, days out that doesn’t come out of the food budget. I will in future try and allow £200 but I haven’t got that this month. Trying to limit what is spent though. Will see if i can recoup when I do Vinted tomorrow. 

Children had an amazing time on their school trip, so happy mum!

I really hope I’ve put the lock on the fridge at home. Else small cat will have eaten all the bacon 🤦🏻‍♀️. We have burgers and sweet potatoes for dinner tonight. Going to watch a film too. Meant to do it last night but fell asleep….