Frugaleer just jamming.

[Unescorted]

Hoping all your new year wishes come true.

Agree meadow if you’ve found something that works go with it. With ds we had “magic chair” it vibrated. Dh popped a sheepskin in it (which he bought back from nz) and popped ds on it and gave him a wooden spoon to chew on. For some reason ds loved spoon. Wierd kid. But it soothed him. And he dropped off to sleep. Or did a massive poo. Or both.

I swear if we hadn’t had the magic chair I’d have lost my mind Em. It must have really helped move the trapped gas

meadow treat yo self! When mine were tiny I remember feeling like a complete zombie I was soooooo tired. I thought I'd enjoy it more if I wasn't so knackered. It does pass...although that is no comfort when you're being screamed at for hours. Hang on in there.
jam you have a great outlook.
What makes me happy is: walking in the countryside and then snuggling down by an open fire with a big cup of tea and huge cake. I'm pretty easily pleased!

Meadow - I was just musing about me and DH really, I didn't mean to infer anything about your situation, it's just something I notice after many years of marriage! I love a walk in the park, even better with a sleeping baby.

I'm all for a sleeping baby - with or without the park to be honest.😁

Spends today - £150 on a new bed from John Lewis for ds2. Somehow he has managed to burst the base of his divan bed Remembered to use a £50 voucher that dh won last year so actually only £100 real money. No other spends.

I am sure that people think that I am a naturally sunny person IRL as I use humour a lot and like to make people laugh, but I am a natural born pessimist by nature. I expect the worst and then anything else is a bonus. I think it might be because I'm Scottish

I'm all for open fires too grass...crackling logs and glow.

We could turn the vacuum on here and DS would INSTANTLY stop crying. And instantly start again as soon as it went off.....

Interesting chat about different mindsets, I see it a lot in my patients some of whom at very negative in their thinking and slot into patient/victim mode. Then there are other patients in much worse situations who always look on the positive and remain happy even through very tough times. Our thoughts/beliefs are unbelievably important and the world we live in will reflect how we think to a certain degree.

I would say I'm generally an optimistic, happy person but dd has to work harder at it. She will tend to see the negative first but is getting better challenging those thoughts.

Been over to a friends tonight which was nice, day off tomorrow.

£76-ish on grocery delivery.

Meadow if ITNG works then I would have it on constantly. Do whatever you need to do to make things easier.

My frying pans are too shallow. I can't actually stir anything in them as it all goes over the edge so must hunt a better one.

Bizarrely considering I have a long history of depression (first diagnosed at 14) I am actually a really positive person 🤔 I tend to see the best in everyone, and always look for the positive in any situation even when it is shit.

I do suffer quite dramatically from resting bitch face :o but I am for the most part actually a happy person. Weird. :o

(TBF this is one reason I think antidepressants don’t really work for me. I am not sad generally unless at crisis point as I was in November. Anxious as fuck however, yes...)

I had fun cleaning the kitchen with DH this evening. It’s the little things. I get to be houseproud now.

Get a non-stick wok Sneaky. Unless you need a big flat surface (eg for frying eggs) it’s much easier for stirry stuff.

Very good attitude Jam and I didn’t doubt it for a second! As I’ve said before, I’ve always believed there is more than one right answer in life.

NoCuts my comments are not a reflection on early years practitioners or nurseries in general at all. I wouldn’t expect a nursery to diagnose or anything like that, they were just spectacularly useless, to the point of almost being obstructive. The early years team from the LA were appalled at the lack of knowledge and even care that they showed towards my DS. And this is a very large and supposedly high quality (and expensive) provider that dominates my local area. Two examples sum up their crapness fairly well, though I have innumerable others:

1. I had a meeting with their Senco to discuss DS getting 1:1 support (funded by the LA). The Senco spent most of the time telling me that I should be giving him special food supplements as that would cure ASD, in her view (I made a formal complaint about that one, utterly inappropriate )

1. When we were applying for my son’s EHCP, in preparation for him going to reception, they were required to fill in a fairly comprehensive form with observations and insights. As the professionals who should know him best. Their ONLY comment other than standard factual info (personal details, staff particulars etc) was to write: ‘[DS] is a sweet boy who struggles with lots of things’. Seriously. That was the sum total of their comments on his dysfunctional speech, social and physical difficulties, lack of play, overwhelming anxiety, repetitive behaviour, etc etc. After 4 years with them. The LA couldn’t believe their eyes. (Mind you, at least the LA sent in a decent EdPsych after that shocker.)

I truly believe if you can’t manage SEN at least half competently as a nursery you shouldn’t be in business. Not just because of SEN children (though additional needs at some level are very common in early years so it is directly relevant to many) but because it’s a true indicator of a nursery’s knowledge of child development, organisational values, inclusion... things that should matter to everyone.

I’ll get off my soap box now . But definitely not a criticism of nurseries in general.

I need to go to bed but my printer is not cooperating. I think it’s because it’s miles* from the WiFi router.

*not literally, I live in London =Small house after all. But still.

I’d love to see your resting bitch face Cag 😂

Thanks Sea - nonstick wok

I want to make curry from scratch but need something deep to fry chicken in!

I'm glad you said that Christmas. My nursery was really unhelpful with ds too, with zero communication, and just being very hard line about separation.

When I went to a HV myself for help, she threatened me and said I had to wean ds immediately or there would be "consequences". I had to call the chief HV of the county, who was the bf advocate to get the first HV off my back. The GP, who was new, also said I had to wean or else "consequences", purely because he didn't know either the HV or me and decided to trust her. It was bonkers as bf was the only thing that got ds to sleep, and he had a sleep disorder. Shortly after that, all my wheels fell off from the stress and I've never quite got them back on.

I changed surgery eventually and found a good GP, thank goodness. There aren't words in the world to tell my nice GP how much I appreciate his kindness, when I go to see him.

Morning all.

I mentioned in conversation yesterday at nursery that fils gf thinks ds has adhd (essentially because they usually spend an hour tops with him but on Christmas it was much longer and he just didn’t stop) nursery worker yesterday said how he’s just on the go all the time. So I mentioned this comment.

She said no. No way. (Not that it’s a bad thing mind I was just a bit shocked at the gf’s suggestion). Ds is 15 months. He’s a new walker. He’s excited by everything. Everything is new. He’s exploring. And he has a ton of energy. Gf has suggested we get him “tested” she does love a label though...

Nsd planned today.

Hi everyone, can I join you , I’ve lurked and dipped in to the thread before. I am beginning the year with a new job and a slightly healthier bank balance, due to massive scrimping for the last 2 years. No debts or overdraft, we do still have massive outgoings though so going to look into reducing those and am going to start a proper budget and stick to it. I think if I meal plan and shop better I will save loads and I’ve been advised by a friend to try a gluten free diet so will need to plan more carefully anyway. My aim is to save enough this year so that next year we can have a big family holiday.

Welcome Frazzled

Happy frugal Wednesday everyone. Need to post a parcel today and draw out some money to put in nephew’s card

Also need to claim work expenses if the system has decided to work today

Hey frazzled, welcome.

I struggle with positivity. And also have a shite poker Face e when something narks me. On the inside I'm a crumbling, insecure wreck.
You post away meadow and YY to itng. New research says the screen time thoughts about stunting development are not true. Obvs there is research for everything. Mine watched it and loved it, me however......

I love a walk in the sun. And a nice cuppa.
£34 Sainsbury's on packup / run out stuff

Actually girlie when it comes to medical issues I'm always optimistic. I could easily spend my life feeling sorry for myself but I don't I get out and do things and don't use it as a (very valid) excuse even though I find things difficult sometimes.

Cag I have resting bitch faces too

Em what a ridiculous thing for her to say! Have you got your scan date yet? I had a dream I was pregnant. Nightmare because we're going on holiday in 8 months

Welcome frazzled

Will be lsd today. We need bread and yoghurt. I've got a whole morning of safeguarding luckily it's next to a Tesco...

Welcome frazzled. We eat gluten free too. Doing it cheaply can be quite challenging so I'd be really glad to hear your thoughts on doing it.

Will your whole family be gf or just you? I think that it makes a difference if you are cooking gf for everyone rather than doing several different diets at every meal.

Life I love your honest about positivity. I'm not sure about what I am but I go around smiling enthusiastically even when something awful is happening and then get indigestion from bottling up all the angst. LOL!

Another one who won't miss nappies here Em. Hopefully we'll be done with them at some point this year but of course you'll be starting over! We spend about £9 a week on nappies currently so it'll be a good saving when they go.

Just about to order some bicarb on Amazon for cleaning. Can't find the larger boxes anywhere else, only the little pots for baking and we'd use one up in one go for cleaning. Our stainless steel sink is looking a bit really stained so we need to do it. Also going to clean microwave today. Hob is revolting since dh cooked on Monday but I'm waiting for him to do that. I sometimes feel like the only person who can see crumbs and spillages.

@frazzled welcome to the thread, great start as no debts or overdraft, on what grounds does your friend think you should go gf? It's actually
not a good idea unless you're diagnosed as it's unnecessary.

em you as parents would notice if ds needed additional help with something not fil gf, you won't be nappy free for long, you might even overlap because boys are meant to train later than girls, this wasn't the case with my ds but it's the norm apparently

Today we need cat food, word has got around that our house is the place to be if you're a cat I don't mind we're rodent free and cat food isn't expensive, I only give dry food. It's more expensive in Centra than in Aldi so I'll need to stock up when I'm next in Aldi rather than buying it mid week like I am now. Supermarkets are in the big town so not worth driving in for cat food.

Last night I did the TOMM trick of putting dishwasher tablets into washing machine to clean it, as washing machine is in the shed I never saw how much gunk was in the water so not sure if it was effective or not. Going to try the dishwasher tablet to clean oven door at the weekend by taking door off the oven. Need to get house on an even keel before I introduce the 30 mins daily routine.

I am also the only wiper upper in my family Snuggly.

I’d be happy to get DS (6) out of night time nappies, never mind dd! We’re going to try again in the next couple of weeks. I imagine it will be very disruptive. I’ve had almost no sleep because DS woke up at 3am and had a mrltdown because he couldn’t find his Mr Grumpy book (he has the full set of mr men laid out on his bedroom floor, and evidently he audits them in the night 🙄). Neither of us went back to sleep. So off to work on 90 mins of sleep