The fledglings try something new for June

[DarkEvilMoon]

Hello, welcome back and jump on board for June.

As the thread title say we are mixing things up a bit this month, it might work. Then again it might not. It is still a long running thread and newbies will always be welcome. Usual disclaimer still applies "Don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey, we really aren’t! Some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, intermittent returnees, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome"

But here is where this thread is mixing it up. No more daily links. The Big link you will need is the launch pad from here you can get the daily reminders/missions/zones etc...

The first link for the babysteps is the particularly waffly introduction to and first babystep here, through it you can get to all of the other links

Not sure this will work or the lack of daily posts will be a problem. So fingers crossed for a month of nattering and flying success...

I am trying to get my cv sorted and get back into work. Home ed isn't really practical, plus there is the catchment school issued as he would be year 6, but I am still considering the issue of reporting to ofsted. So it is a huge mixed complicated bag and I don't like being a grown up and having to make these decisions.

DS1 has been awake since 4am. He woke me up, but I went back to bed again later. Managed to sleep awkwardly and have woken up with a painful crick in my neck. Frustrating. He's gone off to school again, but refused breakfast because he was too anxious (suspect he may have eaten some biscuits in the early hours, though).

DEM - good luck at finding a solution. It's such a difficult decision.

Home ed with DS2 this morning, then have to take DS1 to the docs for a blood test to check his vitamin levels.

I'm also struggling this morning, as DD1's blood sugar was quite high when she went to bed so I stayed up later than usual to check if it was coming down - it wasn't, so I gave her some insulin and then got up at 3am to check on her again.

DEM Good luck with your CV and the school issues; no advice I'm afraid, but coffee always available here considers a third cup.

WhoKnows Yes, I remembered to check that Calpol was ok for DD1, but it was only after I'd given her a Strepsil that I thought to check the packaging and discovered that I really needed to check with a doctor before giving it to her. (But I'm sure just the one won't have done her any harm; she won't be having any more as she said it made it worse.) Her blood sugar has been all over the place since she came back from the residential; I think it must be a combination of her being ill and needing more insulin again now that she's getting far less exercise.
Am very glad I don't have ballet hairstyles to contend with any more; I miss the shows (we never had photoshoots), but not trying to tame the DDs' hair in a usually failed attempt to get it to look neat and presentable.
I also had to laugh at your chicken-eating cats; sorry!

swan Sorry your trip to York didn't go as well as you hoped. I've given up trying to gossip with the DC around; they're either constantly interruping and/or listening quietly and taking it all in (when they shouldn't be).

Toffee Hope DS's blood test goes OK; I took the DC last year and they were all low in vitamin C. I've stopped giving the supplement for now, however, as I'm sure they must be exposed to enough sunshine in the summer.
The train tickets would have been more like 60-70 pounds if I hadn't had the vouchers, so not an absolute bargain but still not bad for two long-ish journeys. I paid three times that for our journey up to Edinburgh last summer, but thankfully our train was delayed so not only did we get a complete refund, we also got to sit in first class for a few hours (never realised how much food and drink is provided free of charge in first class; it's better than on a [non-budget airline] plane!).

Done:
Quick food shop (no time, but running out of staples)
Job no. 1
Two cups of coffee

To do:
Finish job no. 2
Meeting with pump company representative (she's coming to the house, so need to tidy up)
More tidying in preparation for cleaner's visit

Ah, I would love to travel first class, Linzer. Sorry you were up in the night too. You must have constant background (if not foreground) worry about your DD's condition.

We only found out that DS1 had low vitamin levels because of an unexpected trip to the dr last year, when he came out in a rash. We never found out what the rash was, but the tests showed low levels of iron and Vitamin D. The latter isn't surprising as he was living in his bedroom at the time. Do your DC have regular blood tests for vitamins?

Have booked an osteopath appointment for tomorrow as my neck is so painful and last time I had this I waited a week for it to resolve itself and then had to go to the osteopath anyway.

Good idea to make the osteopath appointment asap Toffee; it sounds really painful, so I hope the osteopath will be able to sort it out quickly.

Adults are entitled to annual medical check-ups here so I've been going every year for a while, but decided last year it would be a good idea for the DC to get checked out too (they're rolling out the scheme to include children as well, but it hasn't reached our area yet so I had to pay a small amount). The doctor recommended I take them every two years, so I gave it a miss this year - DD1's diabetes might have been picked up slightly earlier otherwise.

I am now spoiled for second-class train travel! Unfortunately travelling first class is an experience I'm unlikely to repeat; I remember seeing when I booked the tickets that it would have cost over 600 pounds. It was nice while it lasted, though!

Must go and get lunch ready now; pump lady is due at 1pm (in less than an hour) and am not sure how long she'll be staying, so will make sure that DD1 has something to eat beforehand.

Toffee and Linzer what exhausting nights
re: cricked necks - strangely ds2 is a "healer" he has a magical massage technique (just when I get very bad tempered and stressed by his behaviour)

Aga service is done. I threw everything out of the cupboard under the stairs into the playroom so he could reach the gas pipe. Unbelievable the amount of stuff in there... One of cats then climbed triumphantly to the top of the clutter mountain and made himself a little nest

Ds2 is now watching Parliament in session on tv. We have done some history - interestingly on Elizabethan welfare payments and sheep

housework

ds sent for a run
ds history
ds did a bit of housework
I load of washing on
I bed stripped
table wiped
worktops wiped
recycling
dustbins
swept path
swept floor
dh unloaded dw
dh sent dd to school

feeling as usual very tired now and not in the least like being sociable but I have go to the meetup or ds2 will be a bit disappointed (not to say unruly)

Ds1 back from fieldtrip (3 days) later this afternoon so need to try a bit to make house welcoming and some food for supper...gosh it wasn't long was it his absence...I am beginning to wonder How people whose children went to boarding school occupied themselves (possibly making enough money to pay the exhorbitant fees)

zzzzzz. jumps up. Extracts ds from parliament. finds car keys. In trance...

Hope all goes well with the pump lady, Linzer.

Wish you could send your DS2 round here with his healing hands, Swan. My DC just keep laughing at me (apparently I am walking around like a Thunderbird puppet ).

Love the image of the cat curled up in his 'nest' on top of the clutter mountain .

Struggled through a maths session with DS2 this morning. Goodness, I will be glad to hand that responsibility back to a school come September. His new tutor is coming round tomorrow afternoon, so might give myself a day off maths for once.

Collected a very jolly DS1 from school at half twelve and took him for his blood test. He had really enjoyed his lessons again, especially maths . He was also very amused that he'd earned an achievement certificate for 'settling in so well'.

Went for a walk in the local park with both boys, then home for lunch.

Am tackling the DLA form this afternoon. Have given myself the day off housework because moving around is so uncomfortable with this stiff neck.

Hi
Still no flying here, just putting the 'dying' into 'studying', as my Bitstrips cartoon so aptly says! I SO want this to be over. I miss joining in here!

ooh Toffee I am loving the Maths with ds2 (am crap at it but it makes me stretch my eyes with wonder when I work it out ) but I know what you mean about the rigour not quite being there when you are on the sofa (or at the kitchen table) ahem

Brilliant about ds1 loving his lessons and loving knowledge!

done
welcomed ds1 back from Bournemouth with steak dinner
drove ds2 to meetup and he enjoyed it and I had nice chat with various people

hmm otherwise nothing much.I moved 4 books from one room to another.

I handed ds2 some sheets to put on his bed. I mentioned to neighbour that his fountain was broken and making an awful death rattle noise. I made apt for OT for ds2.

and I threw away some old food. Not all of it though - there are some "nasties" at the back of the big fridge in utility that need to be tackled. Can I face it?

Probably not.

Meeting with pump rep went well, but was very long (from 1 to 3) so I didn't have lunch until 3.30pm. DD1 attempted to put a steel catheter in her tummy (as a test) but found it too painful, so woman put it into her bottom instead (more fat so should be less painful), but it still hurt so she's going to try a teflon one instead. Pump very user-friendly but has a frightening amount of functions.

Finally got the doctor's appointment through for DD1 wrt her extra child benefit. She has to go to see a paediatrician in a nearby town with various bits of paper, documents, her medication packaging, etc.; obviously the word of her consultant at the hospital is not enough and an extra level of bureaucracy is needed. The appointment is, of course, for the very week that she'll be in hospital. Had to phone to rearrange and left rambling message on doctor's voicemail (normally like to delegate that kind of thing to DH, but he's helpfully out of the country) but he phoned back offering us an appointment for the following week (and I felt quite a sense of achievement at having survived the phone call).

And our normal child benefit is now about two weeks' late, probably because we were required to provide proof last month that all three children are still at school here (we have to renew our application for child benefit every five years - not sure what happens if you home school) and, despite the fact that we did so within a few days, it obviously takes a while for it to enter their system. Ah, the joys of bureaucracy.

swan Glad you and DS2 enjoyed meetup. I often have to force myself to go out when I'm not feeling sociable (almost always the case in the evenings) but usually enjoy it once I'm actually there.

Toffee Your cricked neck must be awful, but I did have to laugh at your DC's description of you as a Thunderbird puppet.
I also did some maths with DS today - testing him on his times tables, which is about as far as my comfort zone stretches! Glad DS1 is enjoying his lessons; the achievement certificate is a good idea - it's surprising how motivational that kind of thing can be (or perhaps not all that surprising).

Still need to finish preparing tomorrow's English lesson and am running out of steam, but no time to do anything tomorrow morning as the lesson starts at 8. Also need to tidy up, so really must get off computer. Yet another early night fail.

I have just told a runner that running is pointless

Today has not gone to plan in a lot of ways. Tomo is going to have to be a do not do anything kinda day. Flying urm yes well nope?

Can't sleep because of painful neck .

DEM - bet that went down well . Actually, an osteopath told me that running was very bad for your body and swimming or walking was much better exercise. Put me off taking up running not that I needed much persuasion.

Linzer - so sorry that the pump hurt DD. Poor thing - sounds like she's being very brave. I hope the Teflon one works out better.

Very impressive that you are teaching at 8am .

Swan - weirdly (because I hated maths at school), I quite enjoy the maths myself - it's DS2 who hates it. We were going over Times Tables yesterday and he was just so bored by it. I was bored by learning them as a child too, which is why I never learnt them, so I sympathise with him a bit. It is irritating when he won't even try though.

Very impressed that you moved four books from one room to another .

Hopefully you will be finished soon and can join us for proper chat.

Not sure what to do now. I probably should continue work on the DLA form, but am veering towards just browsing online and drinking tea. Think the latter wins, actually, as I'm quite sleepy but daren't attempt to lie down (too painful). I'm really relieved I made an appointment with the osteo now.

Toffee look at the times tables section on mymaths. They do it table by table. PM me if you want more details about how to introduce it.

Have taught my final English lesson of the academic year and sent off two jobs, so am feeling quite productive. Now need a cup of coffee before I tackle the third.

A boy came up to me in school just before the lesson to ask whether DS could come to his party. It turns out that DS has had the invitation in his bag for a few days and the party is tomorrow! Will have to make a very apologetic phone call later and go out and get a present at some point.

Toffee I keep reading about DLA forms in the FB diabetes groups I'm in; they sound like quite a nightmare. Good luck with it, anyway! It sounds similar to what we've just applied for, apart from the fact that the money is added to DD1's child benefit, which stops when she turns 18 (well, the child benefit doesn't necessarily if she's still in FT education, but the disability bit does ).
Really hope the osteopath can help with your neck today

I have to admit that teaching at 8 was my choice, as at least I get it out of the way then and can settle down to work for the rest of the morning. I used to go in at 11am (for the last lesson) and it made the morning feel far too short, particularly as work usually tended to arrive at 10.45am.

DEM Don't know about pointless (when I was running, I found it really improved my mood and made me feel a lot better about myself), but Toffee is right that it isn't the best of sports for your joints etc. I miss it, but don't think it was doing my knee any favours.

Shaking with anger at a rude client this morning so I'm going to go swimming and see if I can get it out of my system before anything else. Zumba involves leaping around madly for an hour but doesn't stress my knees nearly as much as running either. Hmm.

Thread kicked off a bit toffee got a bit ranty. Definitely not the outcome that the op intended.

Hope you managed a little sleep and your appointment to fix it is sooner rather than later.

I have burn out. Pretty bad burnout. today is a rest day. but with the following to do list:
dye hair
drive ds to activity and back again
make lunch box.

And for the rest of it the plan is to rest.

Hope swimming helps blue

Linzer the main point I was trying to make that forcing people to run and run distance when they find it depressing and soul destroying is pointless and will drive people away from long term exercise rather than to it. And unless you like running it is pointless. I can understand that some people enjoy it. But sport is not a one size fits all kinda thing. Like I said tempers got a bit fried.

DEM Oh yes, completely agree that doing any sport you don't enjoy is pointless. And long-distance running really isn't good for you either. My comment was just wrt running being pointless per se. I didn't realise it was on here, I thought it was something you said to a runner in RL.

Blue Grr at rude client; is it the one who was being rather awkward previously? The customer's behaviour makes such a difference and they benefit by being nice too, as it means I'm prepared to go the extra mile for them.

I miss running, but am convinced that is what cause my prolapse problem a couple of years ago. I wince when people post that they are back out running 4 weeks after having a baby or whatever, but on the odd occasion I have tried to gently warn people I have been rudely rebuffed. Unfortunately I see a lot of posts about exercise which directly conflict with protecting your pelvic floor (heavy weightlifting is another one) but you just can't seem to tell people without being accused of being a killjoy.

I really need to step away from that other thread. it has totally got off track now. and it is making me very grumpy. Do not read if you are feeling grumpy linzer it is an odd one and perhaps i have to much of a vested interest

Didn't go swimming because I couldn't find where I'd tidied my swimsuit too. Oops!

Did do grocery shopping and take a couple of bags to a charity shop. Linzer, it might be, I couldn't possibly comment. ;)

Honu - thanks for the tip. DS2 can still get onto that website with his old school password, so we'll have a look.

I am really excited by the methods the tutor is teaching him. Today he was taught a trick to work out the nine times table: you multiply by ten instead, then deduct the other number, eg. 9 x 9 becomes 9 x 10 = 90. Deduct 9 and you get 81 . Or 5 x 9 becomes 5 x 10 = 50. Deduct 5 and you get 45. Isn't that the neatest trick? Wish I'd learnt these things at school. I just used to doodle 987654321 on one side, followed by 12345 etc on the other and that got me the 9 x table, but took longer than the above method. (Like DS, I couldn't actually be bothered to learn it off by heart ).

If I'd been shown methods like that - things that make maths seem like an interesting puzzle instead of a bore - I might actually have worked at it a bit harder at school.

Linzer - glad to hear you're getting some financial support with the diabetes. It must bring up all sorts of extra costs.

Blue - sorry about the rude client. I hope it didn't spoil your day too much. Re: losing the swimming costume - I have done the same thing. Actually, I lost all our swimming kit - towels, costumes, the lot - because I'd stuffed the ready-packed bag into the understairs' cupboard.

DEM - sympathies on the burnout. I am having a day off life today too, thanks to cricked neck and lack of sleep. I may have dropped off to sleep on DS2's bed this afternoon...

WhoKnows - that's awful about the running causing your prolapse . You must have thought you were doing such a healthy thing, getting fit again after childbirth, as most of us would.

Cooking dinner shortly, then going to the osteopath. Am hoping she will work miracles.

Good luck at the osteopath's, Toffee. That's really interesting about the 9 times table; the way I learned it (or maybe I just worked it out) was that you subtract 1 from the number you're multiplying by and then add (not mathematically, just put next to it IYSWIM!) another number to total 9, e.g. if you're multiplying 9x6, take 1 from 6 which gives 5, and then you need 4 to make 9, which gives 54. That's probably the least clear explanation ever.

I must admit I was quite surprised when I first discovered we'd be entitled to extra financial help as I couldn't imagine we'd have much in the way of costs other than prescriptions (diabetics have to pay for prescriptions here, but it's not a huge expense). Little did I know! Even just the petrol for the journey to the hospital every day and back really added up, not to mention the hospital car park. And we're spending far more on food too (nuts are her favourite snack now, but they're so expensive).

Blue I did wonder whether it was wise to ask! I would love to be able to complain about certain jobs on here, but you can't be too careful - however unlikely it seems that a customer would stumble across me on MN. And I also know that I would be immediately identifiable on here to anyone who knows me in RL, which is why I normally post about fairly banal things.

DEM Have found the thread but only read the first page so far; can see it could well cause emotions to run high, though.

WhoKnows Did you ever do the Shred that was quite popular on our running thread? I'd been running without any problems beforehand but am sure that was what set my knee off, and running made it worse. Like I said, I do miss it but having read about how many problems it can cause (and hearing about friends' running-related injuries) I'm not sure I'd really want to go back to it now.

Just back from coffee and a long chat with our neighbour, which was really nice as we hadn't seen each other properly for ages. The DC are still over there watching a DVD, so I should really make the most of the unexpected child-free time to get on with some work.

Linzer - I did do the Shred, which is why I can't be sure it was the running that set off the prolapses, the other highly likely candidate was the Shred and all those planks in the second level. I have been doing a pilates class weekly for a couple of years now which has really strengthened my core and pelvic floor.

I've always used that 9 x trick! Thought it was a cheater's method (I am really bad at my tables but found anything with 10 or 5 easy of course) Trying to get my head round sequencing and functions at the moment. One minute I understand it and then whoosh it looks incomprehensible again. Function machines sound distinctly dystopian to me...

Walking is just so much more interesting than running. You can free your mind when you run but on the other hand you don't get to notice anything as you are too busy surviving (and breathing your last gasp) It does give the most amazing buzz though when you've finished I can see the endorphin connection and why people get hooked. Tbh the people I know who do it have really very stressful lives and they seem to use running to relax but then they feel miserable when they don't run...so... I don't know really... Ds2 seems to thrive on it though. He's quite slow but it just seems to suit him. Perhaps it just something that is for the younger physique (ahem] Ds1 has always been terrible at running (except when very little when he was happy to run around) but a very good walker (will walk miles and miles)