Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 9: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

Aww, Spudlet. I hope it gets better.

About the only thing I like about lockdown is the handwashing

They say 20 secs here but there's something comforting about having your hands in warm water for half a minute.

@Spudlet, you are absolutely doing the right thing. If your DS is too distressed to learn anything in Teams calls then it’s pointless to make him sit through them. You tried, gave it your best shot but it wasn’t right for him and far from it being an ‘utter shitshow’ you got hold of resources that he can actually learn from so well done to all involved in sorting that out. Go eat more biscuits once you stop feeling sick from the last lot!

A bit exciting, my husband's had a text from the GP asking him to book his Covid vaccination.Unfortunately the link they provided doesn't work, so I'll ring the surgery in the morning.

@MissConductUS

Feel a bit better. I'm at work and could really use a sleep but it's been absolutely dead so I'm assuming I'll get away early.

I always take it with food, because it makes me feel a bit sick if I don't.

Today was the day to take down the decorations. DH pulled the storage boxes out, helped take the ornaments off the tree and then disappeared completely when it was time to take the lights off. He didn't reappear until the swearing stopped, even though I shouted for him (not to help, just to tell him off because I foolishly let him put them up this year and, honestly, there was NO logic to it). We've been married nearly 30 years, and sometimes it really shows.

Thank you @MissConductUS, @Frownette and @Nydj. I try to stay upbeat but sometimes it’s a struggle! Like probably almost everyone else I have no idea what I’m doing with this and it’s difficult to know what to do for the best.

We have a new plan for tomorrow - their topic this term is space so we’re going to make an astronaut helmet from a box and do a rocket ship dot-to-dot to practice numbers and pencil control. Apparently we should have some alternative activities on the way too, so that’s a relief. And DS is very keen on the reading monster, so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I do hope so. He came over to me and said quite matter-of-factly ‘I’m naughty today Mummy, I’m not concentrating’ 😢 We had a cuddle and said it’s ok to find the calls hard, and that I’ve emailed his teachers and that tomorrow we’re going to do things differently. Poor kid.

Sorry to hear that Spudlett, so difficult but the new way sounds better. I do find with DS sometimes after 2 weeks of throwing himself on floor, screaming, stomping and moaning he suddenly starts participating and being the perfect student - it seems to be the change that sets him off but its hard not to have a nervous breakdown and join in the screaming yourself. If he'd been younger I would just have stopped and found alternatives but he's y9 so some GCSE stuff is starting.

We had first two days of slumping to floor and moaning whilst I did everything for him just reading it all out. Today though he actually said Mummy make sure you don't miss my drama lesson, its on now you've forgotten haven't you, tune into Teams. I did miss 2 lessons this morning as I overslept but will catch them up tomorrow. We did drama, news and French today. French you have to reply really quickly so I just reply and tell DS French and answer and he's delighted as he's now far better than anyone else with my help. He then got up from his slump and joined in.

He did get distacted though as I was checking my messages as we are about to exchange and was reading them out and there's one job site I am registered as a duck and someone else connected with me, also registered as a duck and we follow all duck companies like DuckDuckGo and I was getting lots of spam e-mails about those. DS was so impressed. He was especially impressed that I am registered as a duck at a real company which has a duck's name.

Spudlet I think the BBC is starting something on Monday, BBC1 primary, BBC2 secondary - last time was unsuitable for mine as older and it was bit rubbish (far too easy) but maybe better for younger kids.

@Silkiechickscat It’s so blooming tough for them - for any child to an extent, but chuck in the additional needs as well and the stage really is set for a breakdown, isn’t it?

I felt a bit daft throwing in the towel only three days in but I just don’t see the point of persisting with something so patently unproductive for him, tbh - better to say something now before we all get stuck into a rut. At least he appears not to be the only one struggling, not that want any child to struggle but it does help not to be alone with it. Hope your DS starts to settle into the groove soon, he sounds such a lovely lad!

@Spudlet Do what is right for him.
I told school that DS would much prefer a list "subject, pages to read, work to do, hand in by date" - Instead he got encouraging notifications via server I had to sieve through in order to find the important stuff.
It gets better, but the whole "upload and tick off as done" they introduced this time is beyond him again.

When i reached the fourth floor on my way in I met a cat. She allowed me to pat her head.

Hopefully you'll get a good response from school, he can't be the only one who finds the format hard.

Neighbour is under the weather so I just went to do his shopping, one of the things he wanted was shower gel. I picked up a bottle then realised it was called excite and hastily put it down again. Red grapefruit is 29p this week so got quite a few. And some Italian sparkling water. I love carbonated water.

McDonald’s has just announced they’re stopping walk-in takeaway collections. The drive through is going to get even busier now then... 😕

My nearest is in a pedestrianised bit so no breakfast mcmuffin for me for a while! Think this lockdown is til end March?

@MissConductUS and @HeartsTrumpDiamonds think you'd be able to get hold of root beer quite easily? I had a terrible craving for one earlier but it's not widely stocked here

I picked up a bottle then realised it was called excite and hastily put it down again.

Aww, let the poor man have a bit of fun.

MissConductUS and HeartsTrumpDiamonds think you'd be able to get hold of root beer quite easily? I had a terrible craving for one earlier but it's not widely stocked here

Any supermarket, convenience store or gas petrol station will have it in NY. Hires is my personal favorite. I doubt it ships well though.

But if you have a Sodastream machine you can buy the concentrate on amazon and make your own.

www.amazon.com/Hires-Big-Root-Beer-Extract/dp/B00JMJZWI0?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I love a root beer float! Like MissC we can get it everywhere.

I have no idea what root beer is, but I could get this at a local supermarket chain: usually Tem's, Carter Root Beer, occaisionally A&W Root Beer and MUG Root Beer .

Should I try it? And if so which one?

All you lucky root beerers

I did a quick google and it appears the level of sodium benzoate might be an issue in Europe.

Honestly @MissConductUS neighbour is quite the flirt so I didn't want him thinking I was sending coded messages via shampoo!! I only relaxed around him when I realised he does that with everyone. He was asking me on boxing day if he should be completely shaven 'down there' and looked quite put out when I was disinterested and shrugged and said your body, your choice. He said but don't you care?? He should ask his girlfriend really. I'm honestly not bothered what other people get up to!

@Frownette - sorry, I assumed that if you were doing his shopping for him that he was probably a pensioner. If he's been making passes trying it on with you, you did the right thing to not give him an opening. Especially if he has a girlfriend!

I'm watching an old episode of QI about birds. The dog is Quite Interested (see what I did there? ) in the bird noises coming from the TV.

Today has been full of vertigo, kittens have loved having me flat on the bed and being able to cuddle up all day, everything is spinning and I feel like I'm on the waltzers at a funfair. when I do get upright i swerve to the left .

@NotanotherboxofFrogs couple of colleagues had that, less serious one wad trying to explain something had got dislodged in the eardrum? How long have you had it for?

@MissConductUS neighbour is only a few years older than me, he's been pretty kind on the whole just doesn't have a brain filter at times! Think he's just tired today as full on emergency services job, I don't mind doing the shopping once in a while if someone's knackered.

I'm late catching up again. I have an assignment due in less than 24 hours, so I've been on a self imposed phone ban. I'm 3325 words down (part 1) and have 1000 words to go (part 2).

Going back to cats on calls. EggyCat2 participated in my Behavioural training via Zoom on Monday. She felt that it was important that she sit on the sofa between me and the laptop so that she could be seen in all her regal straight backed beauty.

@Spudlet, I'm so sorry to hear that today was a shower of shit. You are doing exactly the right thing by sacking it all off. Learning remotely by Teams is shit quite frankly and your DS will get so much more out of a relaxed, unstructured approach. I took this approach with my DC during lockdown 1 (how depressing that we can number them now). I had the confidence to do it due to previously working in a specialist ASD school. I strongly suspect that DS1 is ASD, (though we stopped the diagnosis process for a number of reasons). It worked well (most days). Good on you for getting onto them for additional support. I didn't hear a peep out of our SENCO for the whole of lockdown 1.

The DC school rang us this evening to see if we'd consider dropping them to 4 days at school to ease the pressure on school. We have agreed to keep them home on a Wednesday. The DC were very cross and said they wanted to go to school everyday. We told them that Wednesday would be a day off and we'd not do any home learning. They cheered up. DS1 in particular is loving the small class sizes. Small class sizes suit him perfectly.

I had my best run of RED January so far today. Felt strong and fast. And I found a new playground around a mile away that I didn't know was there as it serves the houses surrounding it, so that's somewhere new to go on our bikes.

EggyCat1 has decided that the footstool is her new sleeping spot and has made DH move over.

@Silkiechickscat. I need to know more about this duck thing. It is so wonderfully bizarre. Also, I know you've said your DH is French, are you and the DC fluent too?

@Sunbird24, this is not good news at all. Recently DH drove to the one in Melksham asit was faster to do that than wait in the Chippenham queue.

Beautiful cat :)