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Where to put all these kids?! Wwyd?

667 replies

MissMooley · 25/03/2023 21:00

Wasn't sure where to post this to get the most advice.
Basically I'm in a 3 bed house. Me, dds 14 & 19, and ds 11&8.
Currently, dd 14 & 19 have their own rooms, and the boys share. I have a bed in the living room.
It's worked for us nicely, but now I'm due twins in 10 weeks 😂🙈
I have no idea where they're going lol
My options so far are:

1- Scrap having a living room and just make it a full bedroom for me and the twins.

2- make the living room a full bedroom, and move the sofa etc into the outshed, but not sure how that will go in winter, it gets pretty cold and I don't have the money to fully convert it (also a council house, so would need permission I assume?)

That's it. I don't like the idea of having no living room but there's literally no space to have the cots and all the baby stuff in there with my bed and the sofa etc too.

I've considered the girls sharing, but eldest has asd and several mh disorders so can't see that working for her.

Just feel a bit stuck and hoping someone has a magic solution I haven't thought of!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
threeplusmum · 26/03/2023 16:57

@MarieRoseMarie

How do you know I can't afford to look after my children? In my pp I didn't mention wether I work or not etc tbh it's none of your business - but I'll let you know my kids are healthy, clothed, loved and fed. If I wanted 7 kids it still would be none of your business. It's not my fault I'm extremely fertile... but 3 is my limit.

SpringViolet · 26/03/2023 16:59

What is your 19 year old doing OP? Working, studying? Obviously she is going to need to move out pretty quickly as horrible as it is to be usurped from the nest (so to speak) as your twins will need a room of their own in the next 2/3 years max, if she’s not there twins can go in her room and you can remain downstairs until the 14 year old moves out (residential college for autism?)

Is there any potential to make an extra bedroom in the loft space or build an extension for an extra bedroom. Secure council tenants can ask for permission from googling but obviously you’d have to pay for it yourself I assume.

In the meantime, you’ll have to remain with the babies on the lounge. Is there a sitting area in the kitchen so you can watch TV as it’ll be hard for other DC to use the lounge when babies asleep/napping.

What about the boys Dad/s? Could they move in with him? Again horrible to be usurped by new babies but it’s going to be a really chaotic situation for everyone with two new babies in an already overcrowded household.

milafawny · 26/03/2023 17:02

@MarieRoseMarie

Bit judgemental?!

I live in a council property with my 3 children. I'm a professional with a degree qualified job.
My husband up’d sticks and left us years ago, we lost our owned house where every child had a bedroom and a shared play room because of his actions. When he left me with nothing,social housing was our option.

I didn't make poor life choices or continue a cycle. Social housing was something that happened to us in a time of need due to circumstances beyond my control.

On my single person wage I cannot afford private rented locally. My social housing doesn't allow my children to all have their own room. But social housing allows us to live a happy life together in secure housing that I can afford.

It's not a negative thing, stop making out like people in council housing have failed their kids or made piss poor decisions.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

jenandberrys · 26/03/2023 17:05

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

threeplusmum · 26/03/2023 17:05

@milafawny

@MarieRoseMarie is just jealous and bitter.

jenandberrys · 26/03/2023 17:07

threeplusmum · 26/03/2023 17:05

@milafawny

@MarieRoseMarie is just jealous and bitter.

😂😂😂 you actually think someone is jealous of you have three under 5 in a studio. That’s one of the most deluded things I have ever read on MN

Capricornone1 · 26/03/2023 17:07

threeplusmum · 26/03/2023 17:05

@milafawny

@MarieRoseMarie is just jealous and bitter.

I think it’s you that’s bitter as in your own words the council don’t give a crap. Yes I am repeating myself!

Capricornone1 · 26/03/2023 17:08

jenandberrys · 26/03/2023 17:07

😂😂😂 you actually think someone is jealous of you have three under 5 in a studio. That’s one of the most deluded things I have ever read on MN

I’m so jealous of her tbf 🤣🤣🤣 it sound’s idyllic

Capricornone1 · 26/03/2023 17:10

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Condoms and the pill, double up!

threeplusmum · 26/03/2023 17:12

I probably live in a better area than most of you replying to my pp. and my studio is a decent size it's not ideal but doubt we'll be here for more than another couple of years.

FlyingWormsAndSubterraneanBirds · 26/03/2023 17:13

milafawny · 26/03/2023 17:02

@MarieRoseMarie

Bit judgemental?!

I live in a council property with my 3 children. I'm a professional with a degree qualified job.
My husband up’d sticks and left us years ago, we lost our owned house where every child had a bedroom and a shared play room because of his actions. When he left me with nothing,social housing was our option.

I didn't make poor life choices or continue a cycle. Social housing was something that happened to us in a time of need due to circumstances beyond my control.

On my single person wage I cannot afford private rented locally. My social housing doesn't allow my children to all have their own room. But social housing allows us to live a happy life together in secure housing that I can afford.

It's not a negative thing, stop making out like people in council housing have failed their kids or made piss poor decisions.

Presumably you're not going to expand your family and cram 7 people - at least one of whom has a disability which makes her more vulnerable and means this is highly likely to impact her wellbeing disproportionately and increase her existing mental health issues - into a three bedroom home though, are you?

Capricornone1 · 26/03/2023 17:16

threeplusmum · 26/03/2023 17:12

I probably live in a better area than most of you replying to my pp. and my studio is a decent size it's not ideal but doubt we'll be here for more than another couple of years.

but your previous post indicates that you think it’s a councils responsibility to house which you haven’t responded to in any of your replies? (Or did I miss it?)

milafawny · 26/03/2023 17:16

FlyingWormsAndSubterraneanBirds · 26/03/2023 17:13

Presumably you're not going to expand your family and cram 7 people - at least one of whom has a disability which makes her more vulnerable and means this is highly likely to impact her wellbeing disproportionately and increase her existing mental health issues - into a three bedroom home though, are you?

No, not in my plans at all, plus im single, sworn off men for life, and my kids are old enough for me to work with no stresses no child care worries, and cant imagine anything worse than going back to the raising toddlers days. No thank you, im too old for that now.

However, the user i was replying to appeared to be flaming council house tenants in general, not specifically the OP, which was uncalled for and judgey.

GotABeatForYouMama · 26/03/2023 17:25

I think MNHQ should consider zapping this thread now. The OP will probably not come back, it's strayed so far away from the topic and it's turned into a nasty bunfight.

FlyingWormsAndSubterraneanBirds · 26/03/2023 17:26

Okay @milafawny , but do you accept that the OP's decisions will massively impact her children's wellbeing and life chances? That their needs are not being prioritised? It was stayed by the OP that her recently diagnosed autistic 19 year old would not cope well with sharing a room. Later after other posters said the girl's needs aren't the priority it was suggested she live in a shed or caravan or this vulnerable teenager who'll likely be more vulnerable than an average 14 year old girl no matter how confidently she presents and how well she has done at school go and live alone. Or just share with her sister anyway even though OP said it would not work for her.

Her younger sister who nobody seems bothered about at all despite being at a crucial age in her education. The brothers who have to share a room, no privacy, no quiet space to study. All of whom will be disrupted with chaos from twins, mother having next to no time for them and even fewer financial resources.

Who is prioritising their needs?

Painful as it might be to hear, posters are not wrong to point out that while the OP is of course free to make her own decisions, these decisions do not appear to have considered the impact on her existing children to the extent that they should. And that she has no apparent plan to fix this. Dividing one of three bedrooms in half when 7 people live in the house will not solve these problems. There will still be not enough privacy, attention, time, space or indeed money to give them all the life they should have.

ashamedmum007 · 26/03/2023 17:36

FlyingWormsAndSubterraneanBirds · 26/03/2023 17:26

Okay @milafawny , but do you accept that the OP's decisions will massively impact her children's wellbeing and life chances? That their needs are not being prioritised? It was stayed by the OP that her recently diagnosed autistic 19 year old would not cope well with sharing a room. Later after other posters said the girl's needs aren't the priority it was suggested she live in a shed or caravan or this vulnerable teenager who'll likely be more vulnerable than an average 14 year old girl no matter how confidently she presents and how well she has done at school go and live alone. Or just share with her sister anyway even though OP said it would not work for her.

Her younger sister who nobody seems bothered about at all despite being at a crucial age in her education. The brothers who have to share a room, no privacy, no quiet space to study. All of whom will be disrupted with chaos from twins, mother having next to no time for them and even fewer financial resources.

Who is prioritising their needs?

Painful as it might be to hear, posters are not wrong to point out that while the OP is of course free to make her own decisions, these decisions do not appear to have considered the impact on her existing children to the extent that they should. And that she has no apparent plan to fix this. Dividing one of three bedrooms in half when 7 people live in the house will not solve these problems. There will still be not enough privacy, attention, time, space or indeed money to give them all the life they should have.

I absolutely agree with a lot of the points you made. A lot of people make lifestyle choices around how many children they can a. afford, and b. have the emotional capabilities to support. I have family with lots of money in a big house who chose to have 1 child, i have family with smaller houses and less money with 4 children and all children have to share a bedroom. I chose 3 as as that what we could afford, and had the ability to get a house big enough for all to have a room (at the time), although if i had one of each sex i may have stopped at 2, but thats a whole different thread. In an ideal world everyone would consider these things before having children, and once they do, consider the potential impact further children would have on the ones the do have.

However, its too late for the what ifs and the should haves for the OP, unfortunately, she doesnt have the ability to change her past decisions. So now she needs to find the best way, within her personal situation and circumstances, to support all of her children, financially, physically, and emotionally. I dont think berating someone for choices that cant be changed will help them do that.

flollopingalong · 26/03/2023 17:40

OP you are very recognisable in this thread, I knew who you were IRL straight away, hence my own NC.

Wtf are these replies about? In what world are after the fact birth control comments helpful to a question about bedrooms?

I am not close to OP, but from what I do know of her the wild assumptions about her and her kids' happiness are totally off the mark.

I would suggest, if you haven't already, asking just about every hcp you can what they suggest. Your midwife, your health visitor, GP. Contact the council and everyone else you can think of because there is every possibility there's help for people who find themselves in situations (because shit happens) that aren't advertised. They might know of funds or charities who can help that aren't widely known.

FlyingWormsAndSubterraneanBirds · 26/03/2023 18:14

In an ideal world everyone would consider these things before having children, and once they do, consider the potential impact further children would have on the ones the do have.

However, its too late for the what ifs and the should haves for the OP, unfortunately, she doesnt have the ability to change her past decisions. So now she needs to find the best way, within her personal situation and circumstances, to support all of her children, financially, physically, and emotionally. I dont think berating someone for choices that cant be changed will help them do that.

@ashamedmum007 yes, in theory. Yet it's reasonable to ask why people keep prioritising their wants over their children's needs. I think the reactions on the thread are primarily huge frustration at this: the fact that so many people continually do this and the complete lack or remorse or even understanding about the impact of these selfish choices. Making out that it's a funny matter with "lol" and smiley faces. The impact om their children, and on other taxpayers for that matter is not a joke.

It's all very well saying "oh it's too late now" but it always is, isn't it, by the time the person has made those decisions that are detrimental to their children? And then people are called "evil" as they have been here if they question it. But when were they meant to question it? How could they do so beforehand? So that argument effectively means that disadvantaging children in such a way, putting your right to "choices" over their wellbeing, can never be challenged or questioned at all. Because you must be evil to even suggest it was a bad plan, of course you should just pay more even if you couldn't fund a family that size yourself because you pay so much tax to fund others being subsidised. People should just pick up the NHS and education and welfare bill for entrenching disadvantages because yet another person has decided to ignore their children's wellbeing and their needs and what is in their best interests because the parents' freedom to choose trumps everything and everyone should just shut up even when they can see how damaging it will be, and that there were other options. But it can never be questioned at all because the retort is always "it's too late now, it's done". It's completely reasonable to question the fairness to the children of expanding families people cannot provide for adequately, for the children's sake, in the hope that fewer people might do so in future. It's not "evil" for people to challenge other adults to behave like adults and expect them to put their children's needs above their own. It's not evil for people to point out the proven fact that growing up in an overcrowded environment with little parental attention or money harms life chances. This is fact.

We all know that in some circumstances people do end up in dire straights due to unpredictable circumstances. But this isn't that. It does not absolve adults of the responsibility to try to improve things for their own children, not actively make them harder when there were choices, and then shrug their shoulders and say "oh, it's too late now so you're evil for saying this was a bad idea" when they actually could have avoided making things even harder for their children than they had to be. But it's too late now, you "evil" people for mentioning it, shut up? It's an excuse to shut down any questioning ever of adults being utterly selfish.

Ultimately not enough people prioritise their children over themselves, and people being upset about this is reasonable and normal. People are empathetic and don't like to think of children growing up in disadvantaged situations when it is avoidable. It does impact the rest of society hugely as well as the sadness for those kids. The dismissiveness of the children's needs and right to a decent childhood on this thread has been shocking. Then to top it off people are called nasty for stating that this isn't a good thing, or funny, to put children in this situation. I think it would be nasty to condone it, frankly.

AlwaysGinPlease · 26/03/2023 18:17

@flollopingalong do you mean you know OP in real life?

Anycolouryoulike · 26/03/2023 18:19

God there are some sanctimonious,pompous posters riding on their high horses on this thread.

flollopingalong · 26/03/2023 18:23

AlwaysGinPlease · 26/03/2023 18:17

@flollopingalong do you mean you know OP in real life?

Yes, not extremely well, but enough to want to give her a heads up that she's recognisable and to know that a lot of the assumptions that have been made are not correct.

Capricornone1 · 26/03/2023 18:25

FlyingWormsAndSubterraneanBirds · 26/03/2023 18:14

In an ideal world everyone would consider these things before having children, and once they do, consider the potential impact further children would have on the ones the do have.

However, its too late for the what ifs and the should haves for the OP, unfortunately, she doesnt have the ability to change her past decisions. So now she needs to find the best way, within her personal situation and circumstances, to support all of her children, financially, physically, and emotionally. I dont think berating someone for choices that cant be changed will help them do that.

@ashamedmum007 yes, in theory. Yet it's reasonable to ask why people keep prioritising their wants over their children's needs. I think the reactions on the thread are primarily huge frustration at this: the fact that so many people continually do this and the complete lack or remorse or even understanding about the impact of these selfish choices. Making out that it's a funny matter with "lol" and smiley faces. The impact om their children, and on other taxpayers for that matter is not a joke.

It's all very well saying "oh it's too late now" but it always is, isn't it, by the time the person has made those decisions that are detrimental to their children? And then people are called "evil" as they have been here if they question it. But when were they meant to question it? How could they do so beforehand? So that argument effectively means that disadvantaging children in such a way, putting your right to "choices" over their wellbeing, can never be challenged or questioned at all. Because you must be evil to even suggest it was a bad plan, of course you should just pay more even if you couldn't fund a family that size yourself because you pay so much tax to fund others being subsidised. People should just pick up the NHS and education and welfare bill for entrenching disadvantages because yet another person has decided to ignore their children's wellbeing and their needs and what is in their best interests because the parents' freedom to choose trumps everything and everyone should just shut up even when they can see how damaging it will be, and that there were other options. But it can never be questioned at all because the retort is always "it's too late now, it's done". It's completely reasonable to question the fairness to the children of expanding families people cannot provide for adequately, for the children's sake, in the hope that fewer people might do so in future. It's not "evil" for people to challenge other adults to behave like adults and expect them to put their children's needs above their own. It's not evil for people to point out the proven fact that growing up in an overcrowded environment with little parental attention or money harms life chances. This is fact.

We all know that in some circumstances people do end up in dire straights due to unpredictable circumstances. But this isn't that. It does not absolve adults of the responsibility to try to improve things for their own children, not actively make them harder when there were choices, and then shrug their shoulders and say "oh, it's too late now so you're evil for saying this was a bad idea" when they actually could have avoided making things even harder for their children than they had to be. But it's too late now, you "evil" people for mentioning it, shut up? It's an excuse to shut down any questioning ever of adults being utterly selfish.

Ultimately not enough people prioritise their children over themselves, and people being upset about this is reasonable and normal. People are empathetic and don't like to think of children growing up in disadvantaged situations when it is avoidable. It does impact the rest of society hugely as well as the sadness for those kids. The dismissiveness of the children's needs and right to a decent childhood on this thread has been shocking. Then to top it off people are called nasty for stating that this isn't a good thing, or funny, to put children in this situation. I think it would be nasty to condone it, frankly.

What a great post 👍🏻

Anycolouryoulike · 26/03/2023 18:31

flollopingalong · 26/03/2023 18:23

Yes, not extremely well, but enough to want to give her a heads up that she's recognisable and to know that a lot of the assumptions that have been made are not correct.

If she knows MN she will know that MN makes those assumptions as soon as more than 2. 4 children and SH is mentioned.

Justrandomstuff · 26/03/2023 18:36

Kids don't get put up for adoption for over crowding. Half the people dish out so called advice and have no idea what they are on about. Alot of people have not walked a Mile in your shoes and have no idea how things really work . If the shit hit the fan for some of these people . They would nkt know where to start

Chippy1234 · 26/03/2023 18:43

Capri is spot on. It always is too late for people who literally make crap decision after crap decision, Who prioritise their own wants and need for a man any man and then wonder why it goes horribly wrong.