D'y ever wonder when it is going to stop snowing??

[Chopstheduck]

Morning girls xx

School is on thank goodness, but not til 10, and dh is wfh

god he really is a twat isn't he? Like you say, he really has no idea. Even if you were able to look for paid employment, who would look after your parents then! And you DO work, you spend hours looking after your family. He needs a great big kick up the arse. He sounds like a nasty piece of work, and you need to keep strong and not let it get to you.

It will be good to speak to the nurse thought and sort out what you and your parents are entitled to. I get carer's allowance for Jack. I've always seen it as a kind of compensation for not being able to seek paid employment, and it helps with the extra expenses of looking after someone with a disability. It also means we get premiums on other benefits so things like housing benefit and tax credits actually go up rather than down because I am a carer.

Your brother is a loon who has been reading too much Tory propaganda - most people do NOT claim benefits through choice. I was actually going to retrain as a nurse, had a college place and everything. But I couldn't find a childminder that would take Jack. Because of his disabilities, he wouldn't settle. Who the fuck wants to be scrimping all the time!

In October our benefits will drop by £64 per week - when they changed over the names of the benefits they gave us a 1 year transitional payment that maintained our previous money. So from October we will get £100 per week plus our DLA that has been awarded to my hubby indefinitly. Oh yes and my £20 per week family allowance. I am going to go to the benefits office today to see if we can appeal the loss of this money BUT I already know the answer. Feel like giving up today - very unlike me I cant stop bloody crying. Its all a bit too much and when your own family share the opinions of the 'masses' it makes me think that we are lazy and workshy.

Oh sorry my friends....Morning girls xx

You are not workshy or lazy, shabs! You work your butt off for your family. I wish I could come and give you a big hug xx

Just been to the shop with Lew. In the middle of the shop he loudly announced....'Oh Andma, you know Pop (my Dad, his great grandad) well he is really, really poorly and I just remembered he is your Daddy. He is going to die soon you know....will you be sad? I will be sad - I remember loads of good stuff about him AND he gave me ten whole pounds when I saw him a bit ago. You are going to be sad so when I am all growed up, I will get a good job and a car and come to see you every day and I can pretend to be your Daddy! What do you reckon to that then?'

I looked around and half of the people were almost in tears and half were smiling at a 4 year olds wisdom.

If we could only look at life through a childs eyes.

Then he said 'what have you got a sad face for? You better smile now.....cause when you smile you get 'crinkles' on your face and I can see hairs in your moustache

Lol, and awww. Nothing like a four year old to put a smile on your face!

(((((((Shabs)))))))), Your brother can join mine in the contest for the "who can be the biggest prick" award, but, at the moment, yours will win I t seems to me that your Lew is far more intelligent and compassionate than his great uncle.

Trips- I hope your friend gets home safely.

J very reluctant to go to school today, managed to persuade him to go. He is having particular problems with one boy in his form (T), who we have had problems with since yr3, one moment they are best matres, the next they hate each other, but this last 3 months they have settled into almost a venomous dislike of each other. We told the school not to put them together, but they ignored us
Most of Js problems seem to come from his clashs with this boy, I think its 6 of one, half dozen the other, but the backlash of this problem is causing the divided loyalties of not only M, who gets on well with this T, and also some of their other friends, who have sided with T rather than our J, because of the way J has behaved since going to High School.
R and I are going to ask tomorrow if J can change form group, and, preferably change to Ms half of the year group to to avoid this constant clash with this boy as they are continually thrown together. I don't, however, want him in the same form as M.

Just back from the Benefits Advisor. He said the letters are very badly worded and dont give enough information. Also said that we will carry on getting the same amount because DH has paid tax on his benefits for years. The 'top up' money will come from a different benefit. So we will not be losing any money. I thought that was what would happen BUT I was too scared to accept my own explanation. So, for now, stuff will not change

Bubby - I hope you manage to sort out things at school. Its heartbreaking when your child/children are unhappy - I know because thats how Tom was for at least year 7 & 8. Good luck I hope you get it sorted xxx

Life seems to be one big challenge girls doesnt it? Its money, its health its just trying to get through each day, we all seem to have so much stress. I look back to when I was a child, Dad worked shifts down the pit, Mum always working at home to look after 5 kids. No spare money, no car, no holidays. But dy what? We were happy, there was not the level of stress we all feel today.So whats it telling us? Do we all expect too much, want more? I moan every time I pick up the basket of washing waiting to be done, but what do I do? Bung it in the machine who does the job for me. I remember so well every Mon and Frid Mum in our downstairs bathroom, boiler going, mangle, steam everywhere, lines and lines of washing blowing on the line. I moaned this morning because my stuff in the tumble dryer was still abit damp!! Do we make our own stress? Illness is different, something we dont have control over, illness hurts not only financially but emotionally. At the end of the day its down to us to change things that we can.........................I just wish I would learn to do that! Here endeth the lesson :o

I agree Trips, i know my parents had stress, but life was simpler and we all seemed happier,, it was even more so for my grandparents who lived in a cottage in norfolk with an extension which consisted of a converted railway carriage, their idea of a good time was going down the beach, catching cockles and cooking them there and then on a camp fire along with samphire gathered along the mudflat edges. We all enjoyed the days just playing on the beach right up to and including our teens, If my two go to the beach now, all they want is money to go on the amusements

Sassy - twins are very nearly 12 months (bloody hell!). Jennifer has 2 teeth and one which looks ready to pop on top. Joshua has none. Absolutely zip. But he's getting brave and trying to stand alone. So he's going for movement and 'big strong boy things'. Jennifer is my delicate flower. Although determined when she wants to be.

At the moment we have a poorly Jenny wren. She's not keeping anything down . Has resulted in overflowing wash baskets, constant running washer and dryer and the carpet/sofa/mummy being covered in ick - although thankfully the latter was just milk, which came up as soon as it went down.

I know exactly what you mean about the washing machine and tumble dryer. Well, dryer. My mum didn't have one until we were in our teens and she was working out of the house again. I still love getting clothes on my washing line. Whilst it can seem like a chore, especially with the kids bright clothes I like to see it as a rainbow. It brightens the day. Food for thought maybe?

Hope everyone has a better weekend. :-)
Xx

We had some good news!!!

A couple of weeks ago my DH found a lump at the side of his chest - went to GP and he said he didn't know what it was. Sent him to hospital and then did a biopsy. They removed a lymph gland and stitched him back up. Because my Dad is so poorly he decided not to tell anyone at all because they had enough worry.

He went for his results today. Wanted to go on his own. He came back and I could see he had been crying. The lump has been removed and was benign. We are celebrating tonight - some good news at last xxx

Hooray hooray................I had a feeling all was going to be well :) Very happy news, very happy indeed:)

Ta Trips xxxx

Happy, happy Birthday Trips xxxx Hope you have a lovely day. xxx

Morning girls xx

Morning girls x

Happy birthday trips!!

So glad to see some good news at last for you shabs!

I can't say I envy my parents. I don't quite remember mangles, but my mum had a twin tub and I remember the washing being an all day job.I had one too in my first flat since there was no plumbing for a proper washing machine. Food was expensive and I remember her baking for the lunchboxes all day once a month. My mum seemed to be constantly on the go juggling work, kids, housework, my dad was barely home working looong shifts, I think their lives were definitely more stressful. She found us very stressful, we used to get packed off to church run holiday camps in the holidays. I do actually sometimes wonder tbh why she struggled so much with 'only' two, and we weren't particularly bad kids!

I def dont remember my mum ever being particularly happy or stress free. I do wish she was! I don't know if it is just my mum, but I suspect that maybe others might have been better at hiding their worries. After all, it never was the done thing to share worries with children.

I remember my Mum used to say (when I had my children) 'childhood should be magical, never tell your children about money worries or anything else that is bothering you.'

I only remembered the sacrifices she made when I became a Mum. She used to make 'Tater Hash' with 2 ounces of mince!! I remember clearly going to the shop and that was written down on the list. Just before it was cooked she used to get a tiny saucer and put a couple of spoons on it. I asked her what she was doing and she said 'just checking the spuds are cooked love.' I know now that those couple of spoons of food was her evening meal. She never, ever had new clothes and never wore make up. Always had hand me downs from the one 'well off' Auntie!!! My Mam was/is an amazing woman.

My Dad worked all hours of the day - he was a painter decorator and we hardly saw him. BUT every Saturday that Man City were playing at home he would take me. God alone knows how he got the money xx

xx

H?A?P?P?Y B?I?R?T?H?D?A?Y TRIPS
Fantastic to have good news at last Shabs
hi Ruby

The meeting went fairly well, SW was nearly an hour late , so we went ahead without her. Counselling for J due to start the week they go back after Easter, They will investigate the incidents between T and J, and they will look into the possibility of him moving forms. They said that at school he has settled down well academically, its just his social interactions which raise some concerns, but these seem better now than 6 weeks ago.

Hello...........well the day got off to a lovely start, lovely cards and pressies. Walked into town and had coffee with 9 of my family. Dh turned up later looking awful in pain again around the hernia. He left me and went to Sains where he had to find a chair, got him home and he went to bed and now has just been sick! Its ridiculous, 6 weeks since he saw the surgeon who said it was urgent!! So just cancelled our meal for tonight, we were actually going out!!! Thank you for your good wishes, Bubbs how did you do that clever sign?

Trips - if the pain gets worse, or he is sick again, please phone for either a Drs visit or , if they are dlow, take him to A+E, his hernia could well be herniating, and that's an emergency.
As for the sign, I have an extra symbols spp on my pad, and I used some of those ??

Phew what a day! Dh is feeling alot better, came down at 7pm and said the pain had gone, this cant go on though he needs to get it done. I am going to phone up on Mon!! Also had an email from London re my brother. They are now saying as its 3 years since they have seen him we have to get a referral from his gp! Gp will drag his heels I am sure............but hell be dealing with me! Girlfriend popped in this evening and she has invited us round for supper tomorrow, really looking forward to that:)Feeling very very tired tonight.......must be my age!! xx

Morning girls xx

It has now snowed for 36 hours....about 5 inches on the ground but because it is so windy it has drifted into quite impressive piles of snow.

Hope you soon get H sorted Trips. xx

Goodmorning Shabs...........you have it much worse than us, woken up to wet windy sleet. Its been a very long winter, just want to see some sun. Forecast the same all next week!