Day 1 or 1000 all welcome on the tulips and snowdrops thread 🌷

[AFmammaG]

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/alcohol_support/4930949-tulips-snowdrops-and-another-day-1?page=40&reply=134961706

Ladies I’m making this new thread as we’ve gone up to 993 posts on the other thread and I need to link it before we fill up!

Will post a proper into later.

Hi all. Just checking in! Can’t keep up with all the posts but welcome to all the newbies and hi to all the OGs. Well done to those with kids staying strong over half term. I am on holiday this week. Biggest test so far as this is our first holiday since I started in September. It’s a bit weird and I can tell DH is a bit grumpy about it. But I have done it. Ticking off day 270 today.

Interested to see how those who are attempting to moderate will get on. This was my initial plan but I do not feel it is achievable for me as I know that a) it would occupy too much of my brain thinking about when I will next be drinking and b) I know it would be a slippery slope.

The keyboard / treadmill ideas are great. I have started sewing and I am loving it. And I am completely obsessed with my garden.

I have a treadmill too! Technically it is my DD’s since it was her Christmas present last year but she allows me to use it 😂 Ours is from Decathlon and cost about £350 - it has a small manual incline but a decent number of programmes and folds up when not being used. Nowhere near as fancy as the ones at a gym but it does the job. Not quiet enough though to be used while someone watching tv.

I can also be paralysed by indecision/research @AFmammaG so my suggestion would be to restrict yourself to one shop, eg Decathlon, and then choose from their range. It at least cuts down the choice into something more manageable.

Good luck in the search

Thanks for the tips! @TimesaChangeling I definitely don’t want a beast of a machine! Although the walking pad type ones don’t look very sturdy… I have visions of falling off them. I found that setting myself a maximum budget of £200 reduced the choice quite significantly 😆 will keep looking a bit later tonight.

@Limeandsoda2023 check out this decathlon image of one that goes under a desk…. She’s in heels 😆 so elegant! Not the one for me!

That one is £1,899 by the way. You can see why a small budget reduces the choice significantly!

Let me vent my stresses it helps me vent my stresses
Driving lesson was cancelled. It's not the first time. I've got a family member who goes on and on about how unreliable this is etc but at the same time won't let me practice in their car. Despite agreeing to a while ago and I've said I'd cover the additional insurance costs.
I work from home. I've not been able to get any work done so far as the systems aren't working. IT are playing with it and I'm in a panic as I have deadlines that need to be met. Which is impossible without stupid laptop.
Neighbours kept me up late with noise and the smell of weed. Their back door was open and I could smell it in my own home. The house and garden are filthy and stink as it is.
But I'll make this day 4. I will. That will be the longest I've managed for months.
Chicken kiev for tea. Debating on chips or fries.

Oh @CoffeeLover90 that sounds tough. Sometimes it does feel like one thing after another. I know this is little consolation but imagine how awful it would all feel with a hangover thrown it. Well done on day 4. Hopefully you have noticed some positive changes already 💐

@CoffeeLover90 your attitude is fantastic. You sound as if you have every reason to press the dammit button, but you are NOT going to because YOU are in control.
I sometimes use this tool for myself when everything is just shit. I cannot control what happens a lot of the time but I CAN control whether I drink or not. That is my choice and nothing can make it for me.

Thanks both. I've also avoided the shops this week just incase I was tempted. But I actually need a couple of things so will have to go.
Will get a bar of dairy milk caramel. The kind you're meant to share, I have no intention of sharing.

I have noticed already my belly has shrank a little. 3 days of no wine and no takeaways, that was quick. I'm more alert in the morning.
Last night was the first time this week I wasn't tempted. Today has tested me but chocolate is the better option.

Awesome!! Trust me when I tell you I don’t look like that when I’m on my treadmill 😂

Well done @CoffeeLover90 sounds like you’re handling a rubbish day really well. Hope it gets better and enjoy the chocolate!

@Limeandsoda2023 😆 that picture was one of many that made me laugh. I am closer to making a decision. It’s a risk when the budget is low but I figured I’ve saved £200 probably in the last 60 days but definitely since joining the original thread back in August. This is my little reward to myself.

@CoffeeLover90 I haven’t lost weight but my figure is totally different. My stomach especially so. Keep going!

I'm not sure I've lost weight, going to start weighing myself from Sunday. Must have been bloating as I suspected.
Enjoyed the Kiev, went with fries.
I went to the shop and didn't buy wine- woohoo
Got a galaxy cookie crumble, a lindt hot chocolate and my oodie.
I could get used to this.

@CoffeeLover90 you are literally living the dream tonight!

I am starting to feel like an advert for this hot chocolate now though 🤣 feel like I'll fall asleep with no trouble tonight

I’ve saved nigh on 2 grand since I started 😱!!

And I am eating ALL the chocolate this week. Today was stuffed full of politics, shouting and arguments. Happily I was on the sidelines but mentally bloody exhausting. Deffo a wine danger zone but I am now in my dressing gown, drinking Pepsi Max and stuffing my face with even more chocolate. Sometimes you just have to!

Whatever works @TimesaChangeling! Do an extra walk tomorrow and it’ll be fine!

Day 1. My children deserve at least one sober parent. 😔

Good morning @SadMama87 and welcome.

This thread will provide lots of support for you.

Thank you. I’ve struggled with alcohol my whole life and been sober for two years one time, and a year another time. Alcohol is destroying my family right now.

@CoffeeLover90 - I am enjoying the chocolate vicariously through you!

Morning @AFmammaG, morning everyone.

I think it's 5 weeks AF for me today 🥳🥳 I am revelling in the clarity and getting to know 'the real me'. It's genuinely quite mind blowing.

@TimesaChangeling - that saving is mind blowing. I've never thought about it like that before.

@Limeandsoda2023 love the images of treadmill heels - my back hurts just looking at them!

That sounds really tough @SadMama87

What's your plan for today?

Get some more sleep. Pray that I find calm in this storm for my kids. Get some fizzy drinks to make mock-tails if I absolutely have to.

That sounds like a good plan.

As you've had some long AF stretches before you have the tools to do it.

I'm sorry that you're in a tough place at the moment. As you know, you can only control your own drinking, not your partners.

Are you safe?

The fact you've managed 2 years af is amazing and shows you can do it, I've never been that long and can only dream of it, so be proud of that and get back on the wagon!!!