Festive Frugaleers gather round the (best value and carefully researched) Christmas Tree for support, advice and chat. All welcome.

[needastrongone]

New thread.

Dh has some emails overnight. In nz apparently grandparents have rights (or one set of grandparents were granted visitation rights one time) And if “SHE doesn’t let me see my grandson” she’s going to “go legal” she’s set out a list of conditions - Skype contact every morning (our time) without me being there, I’m to Facebook pictures of ds to her every day, she wants to see him in person twice a year.

Dh has replied to email telling her not to be so stupid. We’re not Skyping every morning - Ds can’t Skype on his own (he can’t bloody sit up so someone will have to be there) dh works so can’t be late oh and also no.

• I can post what I want on fb. I’ve accepted her as a friend and have actually stopped posting pics of ds there. Dh knows I’m doing this on purpose...
• he’s said that it’s lovely she’ll come here twice a year. He hopes she can afford a hotel as she can’t stay with us.

He’s also said that he wants no more of this nonsense. He feels she’s trying to split our family up so she stops. Now. Otherwise he will “leave”

He’s bloody good.

Riding today £27. Must go to the post office to send parcel to dgrandma. Then getting my hair blow dried for party this evening. Then party. Woohoo.

Then tomorrow I’m going to recover quietly, and sort out money. Next Thursday is my last work payday until May. Eep. I’ll still get my Maternity pay but will have to tighten up a bit.

Argh, I am dying to go to M&S for their caramelised macadamia nuts wrapping paper. I don't think I'm going to get the chance. Are the designs good? They don't show them online.

Thanks for the book info Sunny, I'll try to order it from the library. It does sound as though you had a dreadful time! And lovely to reach this point of the week with all that effort behind you AND A CLEAN HOUSE

Right now I am cuddling DD but am going to get dressed soon. DH is taking DS out to the local forest for a walk, not sure whether DD and I will join them or whether I'll try to get some cleaning /wrapping done definitely not going to M&S, oh no

Go for it Lonely, imagine how accomplished you'll feel when it's fine! And you can gaze smugly at your nice fresh walls all over Christmas.

Poor DD girlie, girls can be horrible. I wouldn't be an adolescent again for anything!

Give How are you getting on with frugality in general? It's a big mindset change at the start & a bit overwhelming.

I need some pigs liver for pate & aldi baked beans. Dh only ever eats half a can so i freeze the other half.

I'm drinking Taylor's single Origin coffee at £4.50 a bag and it's not as good as aldi Italian blend at £1.89. Makes you wonder how they do it really.

Cheek of your MIL Em, she obviously doesn't realise how stupid she sounds

Flipping heck Em, what a lovely thing to wake up to on a Saturday!. She's just crazy.

Can you imagine the lawyer if she went to see one in jersey? They'd be like "kerching, got a live one here".

She's trying to make an innocent baby into a pawn. Good for your Dh standing up for you both like that. That took balls.

Is the m&s sale just today? Their wrapping paper is my other favourite other than Boots. I have no more room in my wrapping paper box though so may have to miss this year!
I also heard they have a Paddington tree decoration...

Em yay DH! Bloody Natchitoches woman.
I left that word in ^ so you can see what my phone autocorrected 'batshit' to.

You could always do a modern twist on Home Alone and set up a cardboard cut out of DS complete with a repeating audio track of him babbling away (his 'heeha' sounds too cute for words BTW! ♥️). Switch on Skype. Happy Granny.

Exciting times here... Cagletini slept IN her Moses basket. For a full 2.5hrs. The basket was actually on the bed next to me. Baby steps

She’s a treat that’s for sure. I’m trying so hard not to badmouth her to dh. At the end of the day she is still his Mum. She crazy. But still his mum.

I’m letting dh do the badmouthing. Much easier.

If she was to “go legal” I think first off she’d need 2 lawyers - one here and one in nz. She’d need to prove we are unfit parents. And prove that we are blocking her from seeing ds (this is what happened in Australia - not nz but I believe their legal systems are similar). Given that dh has Skyped her once a week with ds since he was born (sometimes more) and we’ve sent emails cards etc there’s no way there been any blocking.

I’ve had to think about all of this this morning as she just crazy enough to do the legal thing. It’s sad really as she’s not mentally in a good place. She is jealous of my parents because they see ds so often. Jealous of sils parents because they see dnephew so much. She is obsessed with her new boyfriend which neither dh nor bils can stand. She has cut off most of her family and friends. She’s annoyed her friends here don’t visit - it’s far and expensive! Annoyed dh doesn’t go out every year (see far and expensive) she can’t afford to come back every year but when she does she moans how crap it is here and why does she even bother.... (last time she arrived with two days notice and no one had time to see her). So yeah. She’s a treat.

Sigh. Anyway. The sun is shining. Ds has grinned so much grins he would win gold at the grinning Olympics. He’s the best at making us feel happier.

mammy sorry was not trying to minimise what is happening with your DD .
I just really dislike the" all girls " behave like this -it sets up the idea that bitchiness is a female trait when a minority behave like this.
I was referring to older girls I didnt realise yours was so little.
I would say there was some fallings out/changes in friendship groups in the early years etc but I talked to DD about kindness and how some people just arent kind.
She would make sure noone was left out and her school developed a "friend bench"
Anyone sat on it at playtime would be scooped up to join in

em Dont hate me

IM GOING TO OLYMPIA 😁😁😁

Friend has tickets but has the flu .
Really feel sorry fir them but mega excited !

em your MIL sounds totally unhinged. I can't believe she wanted your DS to call her maman! And is now demanding that you skype her every day. I really don't know what to say. I feel sorry for your DH though. It must be so difficult having such an unreasonable 'D'M. Must be awkward also if he doesn't get on with her boyfriend. She'd be crazy to take a lawsuit and spend all that money when she could (potentially) use it for flights to visit her family in the future. At least you can rant about her here.

north well done to DS. Hopefully that gives his confidence a boost.
What's messy nativity? I'm picturing people flinging hay from the stable everywhere.

Girlie that's really mean the way your DD's 'friends' are treating her .

Should be a NSD but only because I'm sending DH to the shops instead of going myself . Yesterday I managed to get DH a Star Wars Lego set for Christmas - it's the one based on the scenes filmed on Skellig Michael. DH is mad about Star Wars and a bit obsessed with Skellig Michael, so it's the perfect present for him. I also picked up two books for DD in Hodges Figgis. I wanted to get her 'Goodnight Mister Tom' but they didn't have it. I'll check again in a few days.

pink enjoy!!!!

Cag I've just googled Paddington decoration but it's not showing up on their Irish website. Seems to be sold out on the UK one. So I've saved myself a few €. There's always next year though .

Im like a kid em
Need to get everything done in one day so mad house cleaning begins !
Will report back

Free Castillo Brie in sainsburys on checkoutsmart.

Pink you didn't at all
Em there are no words, well there are but they're worse than batshit! Your dh is brilliant

Hair done €60 nails done £2 in primark about 6 weeks ago false eyelashes bought €5 and about to get my makeup done €20 I guess

Your MIL is a piece of work isn't she Em?

Enjoy Olympia Pink. I went a few years ago. It was fab!

Just placemarking

mammy 💙 your nails!!!! Amazing!!! Want.

Mil is a treat. Thing is she’s so batshit she’s the kind of person you’d actually want on your side. Like a dog with a bone. She will not let anything go. Obviously on the wrong side it’s a pain. I am on the wrong side.

Dh has had around a million WhatsApp messages from her today. He’s ignoring.

I’ve been riding. It was sunny and cold but lovely.

Post office £7 something postin parcel and cards. And picked up my bundle of ds’ 3-6 clothes. I paid £21 for this on eBay. There are 100 items. And probably well over £300 worth of stuff most is from next John Lewis boden joules etc. A multi pack of onesies from next is around £20 I think. So I’ve got a good deal on this one. Hoorah. But boooo my little baby is growing up!!!

Off to hairdressers in a bit. Just for a blow dry. Silly question but I’ve never just had a blow dry before. They wash hair too right? If not I’m stuffed as haven’t washed it since Thursday.....

No idea em! I've never had a blow dry either. That's such a bargain for all those clothes and mil is just insane.

Mammy I'm so jealous of your nails!! Mine never grow they just break and are shit.

£72 Tesco also picked up cheese and crackers for next week and gammon.

Dh is at football I need to sort the washing. Will have coffee first.

They wash your hair.

ds wanted to write me a card. So cute.

life We used to have constant illness too and then a pediatrician told us to get ds 10.5mg iron a day and it has been much better since then (touching wood now). I make pancakes from readybrek in the morning which really helps with the iron quota. Would that help your folks?

Em your MIL is hilarious. How glad are you that she is lives in New Zealand?

Christmas thanks, yes it is nice to have all that stuff over, and be tidied up.

We had family over today and ds had a whole new audience to tell about super Mario, so he was pleased.

@WreckTangled they're from primark!

Mine are growing a bit because of dedication using Sally Hansen treatments & other times putting gel nails on too, these falsies are attached to Sally miracle gel so hopefully working both ways !

Yep wash & blow dry! Sometimes if I'm going in a massive hurry I wash first!