... To just scream FUCK IT ALL and shove them in the local primary.

[Mrsfullhouse]

Good god I'm exhausted. I have three beautiful DC's. DS1 in Reception, DS2 in nursery and DD in year 6. All at a lovely prep school. So far so good....

However, by the ripe old age of 10, my DD has managed to become a rather excellent singer a consummate LAMDA exam taker and very talented hockey player, so all of my time is spent running her around to fixtures/ training/ concerts/ practices/ performances/ exams... you get the picture. DH is at rugby on Saturdays, so it is invariably me that does all the running around because he's either working or too tired on a Sunday. I just seem to spend my life in the car. This excludes all of the actual travel to and from the lovely prep (bloody miles away). Extra travel for all of the lovely things that they do that nice mummies actually turn up to an clap politely as they watch little Horatio murder a violin in cold blood. Plus all the lovely coffee dates- oh and you know, the actual job that I do... that I barely have time for.

The thing is, her lovely prep has encouraged DD to pursue these avenues having 'discovered' her talents- along with a million other things that if she had gone to the local primary, I'm pretty sure I would have been too smugly lazy to even think about. That is no reflection on state school mummies- I know some super-tiger ones.... but I would probably been awful and not even let her join recorder club because- well, who the fuck wants to listen to the fucking recorder.

So this is my life now, and I barely have time to think, let alone spend time polishing my turd enough to look acceptable in public.

I love the lovely prep.... but I think about how ridiculous it is now, and in a few years time I will have three actively participating in all of this shit. No doubt they will stumble upon some glorious talent that DS1 has that will involve me traversing the country, burning £50 notes and chucking them out of the car window as I go.

So, would it be unreasonable to just shout FUCK IT ALL, pull them out, stick them in the lovely, but not as lovely as lovely prep, primary and spend my evenings and weekends drinking very very cold wine and talking to my chickens?

Anybody else just feel like, as much as they love their DC's and their wonderful talents, they wish that they'd just never fucking encouraged them in the first place?

Had something along those lines happen when one of our local prep schools closed, and a diaspora of marvellously talented and skilled poppets hit the local primaries. Only two find out that there were others more skilled and more talented than themselves. Most adjusted remarkably well to the chill of the open seas, some lasted less than a term before finding a small private pond.
I suggest you employ a governess and a chauffeur to meet the needs of your growing superstars and enjoy your wine and chickens.
Or send them to boarding preps as my own dear parents did. Then others will do the raising whilst you reap the crop.

surely a wind-up.

I'm loving this post "burning £50 notes & chucking them out the car window" 😂

It sounds exhausting. Give your husband a kick up the arse and give yourself some time off to polish... whatever you want!

Mine in state primary and I worry about all the sodding activities and the mounting costs: oh you must give little Tarquin the chance to find out if he's any good at ....xyz.

Why must I? Can't I rely on a bike and football? Do I really need to buy him a golf membership, lessons etc?

No I bloody don't. He'll be fine.
More wine, anyone?

ha i don't have the answer but you sound exactly like the kind of mum I hope to meet at the school gate one day

I will join you with the wine but I'm not overly fussed about talking to chickens... too squwarky

Don't really know what the problem is. You allow your children to participate in as many or as few of the activities that you can afford or can conveniently take them to or arrange with others to take turns. This might mean one a week per child or the sky's the limit.

Are you the lady whose husband demands that you entertain all his rugby friends and associates as well? i remember a thread about a lady whose dh just expected her to do everything whilst he was out with his hobby all weekend, as well as all the child activities, housework etc etc, as well as throwing parties/ dinner parties too? i would agree with star above, maybe start to restrict one or two of the activities? you may also find it hard to get your children into a local state school just now as well. things do change over time and even state schools are sought after in some areas!

I think it's a fair point. Many state school parents are run ragged by ECA as you know, but I suspect what you're saying is in a less pressurised environment you as a parent won't feel so pressurised to keep up.

But tbh, your children are wonderfully privileged. It would be hard to take it away wouldn't it?

"That is no reflection on state school mummies- I know some super-tiger ones...."

I mean, really. Who talks like this.

Well, you'd all be happier if you did that.

If your daughter's 10, why can't she get public transport or cycle?

My parents refused to be taxi drivers, hence the only hobbies I had were ones I could get to myself! And Runescape...

So you really believe children in state schools don't do activities such as drama, singing, hockey etc
What a very odd post and very odd attitude you have.
If your children are doing too many activities to manage ask them to choose which ones they wish to continue and which they need to drop. Just like us mere state school parents do.

This reminds me of that refugee crisis in Rohingya. Oh hang on, no it doesn't, because that's an actual problem.

My children are talented and go to lots of clubs, I didn't have to pay to have the talent discovered. I think if you re read your post you will realise that your attitude to state schools is a bit misinformed

It's just the snowball effect of it all. It's all so accessible that you start doing one thing, then that somehow ends up being part of something else... and then it just goes on and on.
I just know that I probably wouldn't feel the need to encourage the DC's in so many Extra-curricular things at the local school as it isn't so damned competitive! Totally my fault for getting sucked into it, but now I feel that as I've done it for DD, I must do it for DS's and I barely have the time to do anything at all.
I'm literally only writing this now as My grandmother passed away last night and I have the day off, and I realised that it was the first time I'd stopped and thought about anything other than where the fuck I have to be next, for the first time in bloody ever.
Lovely prep is lovely, but sooooooo many competitive parents that you feel that you are somehow letting your child down if they are not reciting Shakespeare whilst cross-country running and simultaneously re-tuning their oboe by the age of seven.

Other issues aside, DH needs to do some parenting. If you do Saturdays so he can go to rugby then he needs to do Sundays. If he's too tired to parent he needs to drop the hobby - the family is more important.

Otherwise you're going to burn out and your kids will be starting 'but we sent you to lovely prep..' threads in 15 years about how their 'D'F was never home and their 'D'M loves the chickens more than them.

"Extra travel for all of the lovely things that they do that nice mummies actually turn up to an clap politely as they watch little Horatio murder a violin in cold blood. "

I'd rather listen to Horatio than your miserable ramblings to be honest.

What?

You'd be better off getting your dh to get up off his arse. Also it's not like you could expect your daughter to suddenly move school and give up all her hobbies - does she ENJOY them?? You don't say.

Fwiw I think prep schools are, in general, a laughable waste of money BUT my kids in state school do also do out of school acitivities - I know it's hard to imagine but somehow I drag myself off the couch in the garden, put down the fags for a minute and turn off Jeremy Kyle. Who knew? So basically we have a lot of running round to do too but I do it because the kids love the clubs they're in and things like brownies and scouts are very very good for them and sports clubs help their fitness etc. I don't have to do them of course...

DH = DickHead.

Her husband demands she entertains all his rugby friends and associates
All of them? Not at once I hope.
How the wealthy live, I'm not surprised the poor thing is shattered.

My dd does rugby, horse riding, judo, gymnastics, dancing. She does an activity 6 days out of 7. It used to be 7 but we dropped swimming lessons. She's 9 and at state primary. Dh takes her to rugby twice a week. I don't think it makes a jot of difference if your child is active and you are prepared to be a taxi driver.

Maybe slip your feet out of those diamond shoes if they're feeling a bit tight, OP?

This is fucking gold 😂😂😂😂😂

Smuggings

Do you realise just how patronising you sound?
Talk about being a Precious Mummy Darling 🙄