ELEVENSES HERE *****************************************************************************************

[MaryAnnSingleton]

think we've been deleted,so shall we put ourselves here in other subjects ?
Sleepless night fretting about T and loos and lunches at big school - how neurotic am I ?!

Won't think of M's dd. She is one of O's girlfriends though, and I am very fond of her. She is an extremely quiet, intelligent, bespectacled little thing and seems one step removed from teh world somehow. And I like her because of it

Right, will stop fretting, will put away voodoo doll of littlemissstroppyknickers, adn will give things a week or so to settle down. Then, depending on how O feels about the whole thing I may have to actually do something...

Better go and do some chores. Argh, did a cleanathon yesterday and now have no motivation to carry on where I left off...
How are the lizards coming along?

good for you hippi ! chin up and don't fret - things always work out in the end but it's so tough - you are doing the right thing,so don't be hard on yourself. Hope you don't think I was being snippy about things, but I'd be inclined to take a step back and let the teacher,who as you say is phenomenal, deal with it..she will be aware of frictions if she is any good...when T was being troubled in yr 5 his teacher knew exactly who I meant when I voiced my anxieties,without my even naming the child !
Lizards etc beckon now so I must go upstairs and tackle them... lots of love xxxx

No no no MAS, I need to see this from all sides. If you all agreed with me I would just carry on fretting about it. It is good to have it put into perspective. And O is a tough cookie really, he won't get too stressed I hope.

Enjoy the lizards, I have finished my second cup of coffee so must get off here now adn carry on de-cluttering adn dusting. Bleurgh!

MAS is quite right but it is hard to step back a little. Feel free to offload here - you never know things may turn out better than you could imagine

I've been in B's room this morning unpacking a load of hand me downs from a friend of a friend. I needed to do it while B wasn't here, as she would have liked some of the more unsuitable stuff that is going straight to charity I am a mean mummy

I'm not feeling great at the moment. I'm not sleeping well and can feel myself beginning to drag along rather than with energy. I think I'll try to squeeze in a rest this afternoon, although we've got a parents meeting with B's new teachers at 2.45, so must set the alarm!

oh dear, T didn't have any lunch today as there was no time - apparently they had a fire drill and between putting his PE kit away in his locker and doing the drill he didn't get to the canteen (dafty didn't even eat the apple and little snack thing I'd packed in his bag) This is the difference between primary and big school - in primary the dinner ladies would know who had come to lunch or not and seek the child out !! still, he has to learn I guess - have just made him hot chocolate, cheese and oatcakes,apricots and a plum and apple to tide him over until supper

Oh poor T. I suppose he was so flustered by the alarm he forgot all about his snack...
It is a massive step up to secondary isn't it?

O came out of school all smiley and happy. Apparently he had not spoken to the nice teacher as the girl was not too bad today. There was no footstamping nor any chairhooking, only answers of 'no I don't like you' whenever O asked her something. But it appaers he is not too fussed.
He did say he will talk to the 'scary' teacher tomorrow as he feels more comfortable with her (guess she is not so scary after all then )
I have told O I will now step back from this, but made him promise me that if things get worse adn he is unhappy he tells me and then I will help him sort it out.

So, feel a lot happier.

E came out of school happy too. She is lunchtable monitor for the week. Apparently this means she gets to wear a special monitor badge during lunchtimes
And she was full of something called RM Maths which they did on the computer today

that's good news about O and glad that E had a lovely day.
T is happy enough and not upset, so I should chill really

hotcross I hope B had a nice day too
I know what you mean about the hand-me-downs, most of the time they are fabulous, and I do love hand-me-down as money is getting ever tighter, but I draw the line at cowboyboots with 2" heels and denim jackets studded with multicoloured fake gems. [shudder] E would no doubt love these though

Oh poor T. It is a baptism of fire isn't it? I wonder if any secondary schools offer mentor services, which would help the new ones learn how things work? Seems a good idea to me.... I bet he was starving when he got home!

Good news about O and E. O sounds like a star - he seems to be handling things amazingly well. Maybe the girl will give up... You are lucky that E will tell you things. I'm relying on one of the other mums with a son who shares info to tell me abit about what's happening.

B seems to be happy still. She's finding it tiring, but is pleased to be there. We had our meeting with the classteacher this afternoon, so at least I now know PE days etc. She seems nice, very sweet on the surface, but I would bet with a steel backbone Apparently there will only be reading and phonics sent home. No 'spelling' lists as such, so I don't need to worry about 'forcing' B to do homework! Hooray

he'll survive ! is doing his geography homework now having eaten his snacks ! Glad all ok with school meeting and that B is happy. I think there are LSAs there at T';s school who keep an eye - T mentioned one who had written in his planner that his goal was to either leave the classrooms before or after his peers - the junior school must have briefed them on T's difficulties with crowds..his major thing is organising himself, packing and unpacking, managing his time and getting his lunch

Morning

Am just on here whilst munching my breakfast (peach segments, plain yoghurt adn crunchy musli yum)

I found out from a friend this morning that the whole of Y5 were kept in yesterday because of 'silly behaviour on the stairs'.
They are really stepping up the discipline in Y5. So far we have had one class detention, two of my friends dcs have been given individual detentions and not a day goes by when O says the teachers have been shouting a lot....
Apparently if they make a lot of noise on the stairs again the Y5 trip will be cancelled...

But O went into school happy, so that is okay.
And he is going to his friend's house after school, one of his 'girlfriends' who is one of a set of lovely twin girls. The other twin is also inviting a friend (a girl) so there will be O and 3 girls - he will be in his element )

Hope you are both ok.

Back later

Morning

Just waiting for a couple of friends coming for coffee. One has a nearly 2 year old, so have been hunting out B's old toys. Some are a bit grubby Oh well, the children don't notice, it's the parents and her mum already know I'm a slacker

Sounds like they're getting the children to knuckle down for a tough couple of years. I wonder if SATs will be banned by the time O gets there???

B went in happily again, but one of her friends is finding it tough going. I think (hope) B will like the work aspect, she is quite conscientious, whereas her friend is very much a physical, running round sort of child. B's only complaint is not enough time to eat her snack and drink her milk. May end up giving up milk if she doesn't drink it

breakfast sounds yum and healthy hippi !
Don't think T's yrs 5 or 6 got any class detentions - individuals probabl;y did or at least some punishment as there were some very naughty boys. Today T has history with a very shouty teacher which a friend told me about - apparently he'd made a little boy cry by shouting at him last week (T's friend's friend who has balance probs and is v sensitive) - have warned T to be aware and to have all his stuff out ready for the lesson..hope it'll be ok as T loves history and don't want him to not enjoy it.
Roughs finished and in the post - think I've given them too many drawings which I can't help, but means more work...hopefully this was the hardest part,thinking of the ideas...now have to draw the finished drawings once approved.
Roof men coming to look at midday.

Enjoy the coffee morning hotcross

Glad to hear lizards are in the post MAS, that must be a great feeling!

Hope T is okay today, I am so impressed with how well he is doing. I hope O will be the same in a few years.

I have no idea what is going in in Y5. They are not known to be a difficult year. There are a few characters, as no doubt there are in every year group. But on the whole they are a nice enough bunch. The story goes that one person was really stomping up the stairs when the yeargroup went up 'their' stairs after morning break yesterday. Each class was asked who the 'stomper' was, and no one admitted to it. So the whole yeargroup was kept in.

I have so far done a bit of tidying and done the weekly grocery shop. Am trying to stick to a tight budget but still ended up going £7.95 over. Grr, and that was with putting things back and picking up the 'value' brand whereever possible.
Oh well, I console myself with the fact that coffee adn one type of cereal were on 'two for' offers, so those I won't need to buy next week...
It is hard really trying to cut back...

yes, am glad my work is half done !
Well done for your budget shopping - it is very difficult though..I'm doing Sainsb. tomorrow and I really dread the check out bit.
Roof man has just been - he took photos to show me where there is crumbly concrete joining the roof to wall which needs repairing,ideally with lead flashing and a gully where the mortar has crumbled and gathered causing the very heavy rain to build up and force it's way through... he'll send a quote and it can be done in about a day - probably have to wait until dry weather (!!) - so at least there is something specific - was thinking it'd be better than his not actually seeing some cause and it can be fixed. Hope and pray that we don't have any torrential rain like last week again.

Good news about the roof - sounds like it will be easily fixable

I go round Sainsbury's with a self-scanner, and it is scary how quicky things add up!!

4 mushrooms (just normal medium sized button mushrooms) cost 38p 2 tomatoes (small ones) cost 20p, that is 10p per tomato!!
Most cereals are now near £2 for a 500g box, it was just a bit scary really....

Hi! Friend has gone, other friend with little one didn't come as her boiler has packed up. Was lovely to have a chat with C. She is so kind and gentle, such a good listener. I always feel relaxed after spending time with her Didn't need to clean quite so thoroughly though - she doesn't care! It was the other friend I was worrying about!

Great news about the roof MAS. Hopefully it won't cost too much to fix - it sounds pretty straightforward, doesn't it?

The weekly shop is definitely getting stressful. How can 4 mushrooms cost nearly 40p??? Madness. I sort of feel because I'm not working, I can contribute by spending as little as possible. It's getting much much harder though. I've actually been using our local shops more and am finding I use up what's in the cupboard, and don't end up buying more than I need. Sometimes I look in the fridge though and it's pretty bare

Have been organised to day and have bolognese cooking in the slow cooker. B has ballet, so it makes a quick tea. Only thing is, I always find it hard to get proper flavour into stuff cooked that way...

hotcross, I am the same. Because I am not working I feel soo guilty spending money.

My wages from invigilating only covered teh cost of my bike.
Dh pays for all our living costs, all our bills, food, clothing, everything. Because his work is unpredictable and he has to be on call every other week it is not possible for me to get a job outside school hours.
And there just are no jobs inside school hours. Well there are, but whenever I find out about one it has gone by the time I ask about it... Argh...

Hey ho, at least the invigilating is better than nothing, and if I earn aroud £400 again this season I can pay for most of our family holiday this summer (the children want to go to Germany for a week)
Unless things are really getting too tight and then there will be no holiday... But will worry about that next year.

How much do each of you spend per month on groceries?

I can understand this not working bit as really my contribution to the household monies is nil - poor dh pays for mortgage,bills,food,everything really - I pay for my clothes and stuff and some clothes/things for T and any extra bits of grocery shopping during the week - I use my money which is really what I've earned from past jobs,so it's trickling away..it's supplemented by child benefit of course and was helped by my money earned taking P's dd to school/minding them after school - this is only 1 drop off a week now with odd days when she does supply teaching..so peanuts really ! I have some savings which I hold back for tax/accountant and emergencies. Our food shop is usually between £90-£100 a week,which is waaay too much but includes stuff like loo paper,kitchenroll,cleaningstuff.. gah !
I don't know how people manage really.

Phew, I am glad you said that about your food bill.
We used to spend, for four of us, and two pets, including all toiletries / cleaning materials etc, £150 per week.
Shocking really. So my aim is to get it down to £75 per week.

O came out of school happy. I asked him if he had spoken to Mrs R adn he said No, he did not think he had to as today the girl was her usual surly self but there was no nastiness. So he seems happy to stay there. Which is fine by me Hopefully he will concentrate on his work!
He has gone straight onto N's house, I briefly met him outside the gates to give him a change of clothes adn his Nintendo. (apparently the other 3 also have nintendos adn you can communicate and share games so that is waht they want to do this afternoon. It is raining, so fine by me

Hope T and B have had a good day too - I'm off to play with E.

T back, chicken and veg stir fry for lunch but had to rush to eat it..probably didn't finish it ! My friend S's dd is in yr 11 and didn't get any lunch yesterday either ! They make such a big thing about hewalthy eating and the importance of nutrition yet they don't give them time to eat !!
T went to wrong changing room for PE, put his shin pads on wrong way round when he didn't need to in first place - but seems ok. Tired I think. Doing English homework. Hope hotcross and hippi dcs are happy this afternoon !
btw hippi - one of my drawings for poetry book is a hippopotamus

btw hippi - what are you doing tomorrow ?!

Tomorrow dh is home, so he is going to take O and E to school. Then we are going to Croydon to drop my birthday present off. Dh bought a lovely old Victorian fireplace for our dining room for my birthday (it was what I wanted as currently there is a ghastly 1960's brick fireplace there). In Croydon there is a man with a little workshop and he restores Victorian fireplaces and radiators. He has done two fireplaces and one radiator for us over the years already.

Don't know what else we will do, hopefully pop into a nice pub for lunch

fireplace sounds lovely - what a nice present. Have a lovely day anyway