What did you all get for Christmas?

[lou33]

Just wondered really. After telling my friend how useless dh is in the romantic department, I ended up with a beautiful white gold and diamond eternity ring, and a black brushed soft leather jacket! Both in the correct size too. I take everything back about dh needing a romance transplant. Also got some Clarins perfume from my sister, and a spending spree at Top Shop complete with personal advisor, complimentary drinks and gift. As long as the girl who helps me isn't 15 years old, trying to squeeze me into micro skirts and trying to make me look like Lesley Joseph on a bad day I'm going to have a ball!

Just jealous, I guess But seriously, what are your lottery numbers? If anyone will win, it'll be you.

I did wonder whether it would be prudent to answer Rhiannon's question.

Alas, to dispell the myth, I am happily married, to a husband who works extremely hard, like I do too. We have two wonderful bright children children who have been taught to value the finer things in life, but also understand how these things are achieved.

Life hasn't always been fair or kind to us, we lost a business due to an unscrupulous business partner. We lost three cars and the lifestyle and holidays that went with it. overnight.

My parents paid our mortgage for 6 months and we picked ourselves up, dusted down, took on the liabilities of the old company and continued to trade. We car booted every week until we earned enough for the next weeks shopping.

We took the kids out of private school, had no holidays for four years, and worked all hours to get back on an even keel. We were in negative equity for five years and sat tight until 6 years ago when we bought ourselves out of the situation. We were lucky and although we couldn't really afford this house we managed it and the kids went back into private school.

Not a day goes by when I think about how it could all go wrong again. We live on a roller coaster, when we're up we enjoy it, when we are down, we pull in our horns and adjust our lifestyle.

We have seen so much value wiped off our investment portfolio in the last year which is why we have started to put it all into property.

Whilst my lifestyle might seem wonderful to some, where we live and my children go to school we are the poor relations!!

My daughter has friends who get cars on their 17th birthdays, go somewhere hot every holiday and live in house where thay have more bathrooms than we have rooms in our house. But the wonderful thing is, the girls are lovely, they accept that not all of them are priviledged, and welcome each other into their homes.

I have to say that the boys are far worse, they see what your parents drive as a measure of your wealth and social standing and if your car is more than a year old you are not in the 'in crowd'

The good life does not come without it's downside, I have suffered depression and have conquered it. One would wonder why, with all I have that I could succumb to depression and infact it was jolly hard to admit that what was wrong with me for a long time.

So whilst I might sound flippant or blase at times, I try not to take life too seriously, and am grateful for what I have.

alibubbles, those boys don't seem to realise how priviledge they are! sad. just goes to show you can pick up questionable values and contacts at a public school as in the state sector. at least the girls seem to show more sense.

how did your children adjust from moving from private to state schools and back again? i'm curious as i've always viewed the move to private education as a one way street (although of course not always as your circumstances show)

btw - got perfume, books, scented candles for christmas - along with a kitchen composting bin from lakeland and a wormery/composter from wigglywigglers - my choices, honest!

Bossykate my eldest has gone from state to private to state with no trouble at all. She is 10 1/2 though so maybe it is easier at that age , rather than trying to fit in at high school .

bossykate, they made the transition very well, so well that we decided to keep them in state school rather than change again at 11 despite getting into 3 private schools, but not being offered a state one. The state one they did get into was competitive entry, 1700 children for 100 places! DD said that was where she wanted to go at the time so we didn't fight the appeal for the local girls school.

DD then fell ill in year 8 and the pastoral support was non existent, she missed 4 months of school and the attitude was 'she's very bright, don't worry about her'. She felt very quickly that nobody cared, the teachers were unhelpful in catching up with work etc, not enough time for her, we have x number of other pupils and so on.
DS hated the school from the outset!

DD asked if she could move schools and luckily there was one place available at the high school. She'd met with an old primary school friend at her confirmation and spent the evening with her and 15 of the girls. DD broke down and said she knew where she was meant to be.

We made DS wait until 13+ rather than move him styraight away as we felt this was a more 'normal move' to the private sector. On hindsight we should have moved DS straightaway.

They have both never been so happy, the teachers all say it is as though they have been their all their lives, the difference between the schools is quite frankly remarkable. DD would have done well where ever she went, but did get 9 a's and 4 a*'s/

Unfortunately the boys attitude that I talked about earlier comes the parents, some of them are really not very nice at all. It's not the kids fault.

Interestingly they are both at single sex after having been in co ed, and they both think it is far better.

Please don't be offended Alibubbles. It's just you can't talk about Burberry & planes to a woman who is still smarting from her inadequate present (and is v embarrassed about her Calpol stained duvet cover) and not expect a certain amount of green-eyed bitterness

aloha. no offence taken. a hint though, I never pay full price for anything, I always shop around and then beat them down!

My best present came from my brother and SIL, a set of Salter scales.... they're fab. Thanks Enid!! My worst, some M+S clothes for the kiddies from my BIL/SIL, which I tried to exchange, only to be told that they were only worth one pound and one penny for all three items (they were at least 1yr old according to the M+S computer). Its not the money as such, its the fact that if you see M+S on the label, you think, great, I can swop these, they were hid after all. The EMBARASSMENT at the Returns desk was not an experience I wish to repeat. Oh well, next year, their children wont be getting £20 each on Playstation games, thats for sure. (ok, fair cop, its a money thing! Call me shallow.... please dont!)

Ooh Hunnybunny, that's cheap of your BIL/SIL! I must admit that I used the Boots 'buy two, get one free' offer for a lot of my Xmas presents this year. HOWEVER, for people who are lovely, I used the saving to get an extra present. For my two ungrateful nieces who never say 'thank you' for any presents, I must admit that I gave one of them a present worth £17, which only actually cost £11, and the other got two sport tops from the sale in JJB, which cost a total of £16. I still think that the presents were lovely, and that I spent a decent amount on them.

My mum bought loads of sale items in Gap for the new baby of a young couple she knew. She wanted to spend £10, and managed to get about 5 things for that sum. She could have been really tight and still only bought one thing for £2, and they would never have known unless they tried to take it back. However, they were really chuffed with the things, and she was chuffed to have managed to only spend £10.

Alibubbles, LOL, knew you'd come up trumps with definitely the most exciting gifts! Glad to hear all's well and you had a fab. holiday too.

Enjoy your 'Christmas' today.

Went to the Burberry shop yesterday, but as eveyone is having handbag parties and buying identical fakes for £50, I couldn't bring myself to buy one. Also the one I bought in Orlando 18 months ago for £100 is still in the Burberry shop for £195!

P.S Already have a diamond studded Rolex (but I bet you're on your second one!)

Happy New Year! - A

Dear All. this links with the thread on saving money if any of you have seen it. A friend of mine who has just had her third child and is pretty strapped exchanged home-made tokens with her dp. She was offered 7 days of not cooking the evening meal and he received 7 hours drum practice. I think her pressie is priceless! What kind of tokens would you like?

i'd love a token ask the guy who parks his car in our road with the dodgy car alarm to park somewhere else. 3 times at night this week, its one of those ones that reset so after 2 minutes it shuts off, no good if its woke you ds up.

Joben, I gave dp a book of tokens for Christmas too. They were things like: get out of the washing up even if it's your turn, be allowed to go straight to bed when you get in from work even if we're here (he finishes at 4.30pm but would love to sleep then and usually isn't allowed), go out even if it's a night when I don't really want you to, that kind of thing. If I could have a token for anything it would be one to not have to work, giving me more time.

a hangover

A beautiful gold coloured Gucci watch with a mother of peal face. It was going to be for my 30th birthday in February but Dh decided to get it early. Mind you it meant that I let him get his pressie (a watch as well) early too and his birthday isn't 'till July!!!

Apparantly he is currently planning another surprise for my birthday now! No idea what it is but his brother has been involved in planning it - only about 5 weeks to wait!!!

Rhiannon, had a great 'christmas day' yesterday! My best present was a set of screwdrivers in a leather case from my parents, seriously, it's just what I wanted (plus the sterling silver frames from every member of the family, they new I wanted to change all my frames and sorted out all the sizes between them)

I love Sobernow's My monopoly, I think that is the coolest pressie ever, told my family about it and they think its wicked. DD says we have to start working on a version for our family!

re shopping around, went to buy my mum her favourite perfume in John "never knowingly undersold" Lewis to be told it cost £53.00 by v, snooty assistant. Got EXCATLY the same perfume in Superdrug for £35.00. I heart Superdrug!

I had a pair of pretty flipp flopp things of my MIL, unfortunately they were a 4 and I'm a 6.
However, I think she muddled the presents up, she gave DH's ex a glizzy gold top, about 3 sizes too big ( not her kind of thing at all),she was a bit confused as well!!!
I have asked DH to enquire about, the possibility of swapping, as the flipp flopps are her size, and I'm more into the glizzy stuff.

Message withdrawn

Bring it round to me sb34 - I can wash it up and dry it with my tea towels (I know I'm repeating myself but I was so flabbergasted!)

i am lucky now my nan doesn't have time to knit, but for christmas she always knitted these horrible jumpers, the arms were too long and the neck was to small and you felt as though you were being strangled, and it was always that itchy wool, didn't stop me wearing it next time i saw her though.

Prufrock, that reminds me of when I was engaged in my youth to someone other than dh. We stayed with his parents for Christmas, although his mum didn't want me to, even though we lived together. I knew she wasn't v keen on me (never knew why though) and spent ages trying to find a nice present for her. On Christmas morning everyone opened their presents to much oohing and aahing, then she handed me mine. I unwrapped it to find it was a luggage tag with the oxfam price sticker still on it!

Just read that back and have to add I am not saying your mil hates you btw!

breeze - shame she doesn't still knit. There are some fabulous things around now. My mum hasn't knitted me anything for 6 years but knits for herself my SIL and my sis all the time. I think it's cos I can't make up my mind, not because she doesn't want to!

Anyway, about two days before Xmas I asked her if she ever had time, could she knit me one of the big wool beanies from the Rowan catalogue but no urgency.

Of course, you can guess what turned up in my stocking - bless her!

DH and I have standing pressie from my mum of a Swarowski Christmas star each year. His mum started it as it was a reasonably priced pressie (£35-ish) she could buy in NZ and post to the UK. If kept in mint condition they are a great investment for the future. We've only got 5 or 6 so far so haven't displayed them but live with the dream of having a tree decorated entirely with them.

My kids (who right now could do with a pre-school Buddhist retreat to unlearn their fixation with material possessions)were impressed when I announced that my best Christmas present was dd agreeing to use the potty. I was not lying. World peace would have been only marginally preferable. Dd came close after ds and I have been changing nappies non-stop since May 1998, with an amusing period in early 2000 when I didn't really do anything else.