Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Crepes, Galettes, Pancakes and Brian the Bucket!

999 replies

MrsSchadenfreude · 18/01/2015 14:20

Here you go...

OP posts:
Rosebag · 26/01/2015 09:00

MI it's early days. Just a whisper in your ear...I made the referral to social services for my parents myself, without their permission. It was the best thing anyone ever did for them. Thanksxxx

hattymattie · 26/01/2015 09:17

MI - don't apologise - that's why we're here - to provide a sounding board and strength (if only virtual). Agree with doing sport as long as we can - I feel we will seize up and fossilise if we don't keep moving ( although I'm slightly worried about arthritic joints).

Also sport clears the head - even if it's a "sullen ladyjog".Wink

Blackduck · 26/01/2015 09:19

MI sorry it's so hard. My mum flatly refuses to countenance any support..... I may end up going down Roses route at some point.

And it is hard, despite the dysfunction they are your family and she is your mother and you are having to deal with what all this means too.....

much strength!

motherinferior · 26/01/2015 09:29

It's the getting an assessment at all! I thought it was in place and yesterday was met with flat denial. She'd be quite happy to have one. And is now quite peremptorily ordering what she exactly wants in terms of a home help. "Nice meals brought upstairs," and so forth.

It's also that when she gets home she needs to be carried upstairs. DP wittered on about "the ambulance" and I explained no she'll just be turfed out and sent home. My dad is supposed to be sourcing someone to carry her - ffs she weighs not much more than DD2, I reckon, seriously (and regular readers will remember that DD2 is clinically underweight for 11) having said "he could help her". I despair. All they have to do is get an able-bodied friend to do it, dammit.

The deafness and the muddledness don't help. Obviously.

Stropperella · 26/01/2015 10:18

Oh gosh, MI, that's so much to cope with. Well done on the jog and keep on looking after yourself. The issue of joined-up care is such a wearing one. No one ever seems to communicate very well, unless you have an amazing GP practice who work to manage these things (some do). Is there any kind of community nurse who would be likely to sort this kind of thing out?

After another tiresome struggle to get dd up and out to school - she's feeling manky because she has to retake 2 mocks this week and only got down to any revision yesterday, so therefore didn't sleep well last night and is now claiming to be ill (she isn't, she's anxious) - I've just been musing on the issues shared by so many of our dds. I know that some of dd's attitude problems are caused by anxiety and an unwillingness to grow up. She doesn't like the look of the big, bad world and she would rather somebody else took responsibility for everything. However, she also doesn't want to be a 'loser' (her words) and is really quite able, wants to travel and not live a small-town life, and is aware that she 'ought' to do well. I can completely relate to all of that, because I was the same.
However, I did desperately want some help when I was a young teen (and later) and that wasn't available back then. Where dd kind of loses me is that the help is freely available these days, but she totally shuns it. She says that counselling is for losers and weirdos (like me, obvs). Because even taking up the offer of help means taking some responsibility... Until the penny drops or she grows up a bit and stops constantly shooting herself in the foot, she is going to continue to struggle with the everyday reality of the amount of effort she needs to put in to get what she wants.
Other musing involved remembering the school reunion of my grammar school contemporaries that I went to a year or so ago. Most people, even or perhaps especially those that had bombed at school, had done perfectly well for themselves. And most of them did not have parents who were on their case all the time. (unlike me)
Re: homework wars - we don't have any. I have always made it plain that it's their responsibility to do it, not mine. Therefore, if they don't do it, they take the consequences, i.e. detention. That has never yet happened. I appreciate that it's different if you have dc that need more support than average. In the past, I have stretched to getting involved with the occasional primary level craft project and I will also help with MFL and English if asked, but essentially they don't ask and just get on with it. My time, energy and money go into supporting them with their out-of-school activities.
Still, at least she did actually finally get out of the door on time this morning, despite all the huffing and puffing.

motherinferior · 26/01/2015 10:43

There is absolutely no community nursing: "we don't have anything like that any more". She does have a good GP. The whole thing is making me want to cry.

lalsy · 26/01/2015 11:17

Oh MI you poor love, that is so much to cope with all at once, the family dynamics hitting you when so many other demands are upon you, and the lack of joined up care so frustrating (for us as a country - vital if we want an NHS that works in years to come I think) and soul-destroying for people facing the grinding daily exhaustion of trying to make sure relatives are cared for. I agree, well done on looking after yourself, that is the most important thing.

Many wise, wise words on daughters. The only thing I can think of to add is that as I said the other day, I think friends and their families have a big influence and that is largely luck. ds and dd have from birth had very different personalities and attitudes to life. They went to the same schools, always lived in the same house. But very different friendship setups - ds usually falling on his feet with lovely friends from lovely families.

bigTillyMint · 26/01/2015 13:03

Lots to catch up on.

MI sympathies about your DM's situation. Very tricky. Rose is probably spot-on about just getting SS involved. Rose, how do you do it?!

Re DD's, I am currently waiting nervously in reception for DD who is in another interview for sixth form. Very oversubscribed school so no pressureSmile

My two are also very different in terms of emotional resilience and self - reliance. DD has always been very eager to do the right thing, people please to a large extent and being liked and what others think is disproportionately important. DS, however is only bothered about whether people are 7 to his high standardsGrin

motherinferior · 26/01/2015 13:08

It's the getting SS on board at all that is the problem. Hospital appears to have no automatic linkup as part of discharge process (which I understood was supposed to happen). I think I've got that linked up now, but it's not the doing it for her that is the problem, it's the getting it done at all.

In other news, I am phoning NI political parties for comments on their policies towards older people as CDiff has suddenly decided this has to happen; and waiting for a brain surgeon to phone me for another feature. You couldn't make it up.

NUFC69 · 26/01/2015 14:13

Many sympathies for those of you suffering from stress from DDs - lots of wisdom spoken. I don't think I would move DD, MrsS - would she then expect you to do the same if she didn't like the new school? I come at this from much further down the line, of course. I think it's much harder to parent these days and it's certainly much more difficult to be a child/teenager. Things used to be so much more relaxed. Not implying this applies to any Crepeys, but generally we do mollycoddle DC more - no playing out, taken to school, etc. - all for what seem to be good reasons. I don't know what the answer is, but something needs to be done.

Your trials and tribulations with DParents almost seem to get worse, MI - what a mess it all is.

I have been very energetic this morning - have done an hour on the exercise bike and half an hour swimming breast stroke at the leisure centre. I am feeling very self righteous. This is all because I am never going to eat much less food so I need to exercise the weight off.

motherinferior · 26/01/2015 16:50

In other news, picking up on the posts above, I've just been asked to do a for/against (for the same supermarket mag Grin) on helping teens with their homework. Real names and small pics but not exactly majorly embarrassing stuff....consider it? Can also used married names, etc.

hattymattie · 26/01/2015 16:52

I am against helping them - and then I help them - bloody useless I amConfused.

bigTillyMint · 26/01/2015 17:08

I help as a teacher wouldWink ie not doing it for them but helping them to see how to do it. Sort of.
DD never really needs help, apart from the odd bit of maths and with preparing for French - speaking CA's
DS needs a boot up the bum and then some! I help with French/English where possible and DH with maths (something must have paid off - he just got 88% in a Maths exam!)

Rosebag · 26/01/2015 17:39

MI if there's a smidgen of progress that's good. We were just lucky that there was a great SS set up on the doorstep and within my DParents (faith) community. But I'm the first to admit that before I got to that point I was under unbearable stress, not sleeping, very weepy and depressed. Both parents were incapacitated and you couldn't see my siblings for dust. In terms of ongoing help though, the services I thought they needed like District nurse, incontinence service etc were worse than useless. After lots of help and advice from the social worker I was more able to broach with my mother that their Rainy Day had arrived and we'd need to use capital for ongoing help. So my DDad now has a male nurse carer three mornings a week. They had to have a live in carer when they were both just out of hospital. DM is relatively well now so she does the rest of the caring.

I am against helping with homework to the extent that we do it for them....but frankly with DD I have come very close, for expediency and a quiet life... Especially when the work is gratuitous and we want to have a tiny bit of weekend to spend time together not shouting....

motherinferior · 26/01/2015 18:03

My cousin has kicked arse in serious manner. I love her. Now they're trying to work out why my mum's left leg isn't working. And oh they've found an old spinal fracture presumably incurred during one of her falls.

This time last year my mum was a rather able and spritely woman of 78.

If anyone can face going on record with homework views for/against do let me know. Grin

Blackduck · 26/01/2015 19:00

MI tell me about it - two years ago my mum was a spritly independent 79 year old .... Now... Well she's still here.

MrsSchadenfreude · 26/01/2015 23:10

MI - could Macmillan help at all? (My opinion of the Macmillan nurses is not entirely positive, although I know some people swear by them.)

I cannot tell you how reassuring it is to me that so many of you have similar DDs. I bear the guilt of moving her, although looking back, it has not been that often - 4-7 in one school, then 7-11 in another, 11-14 in another and now in her (hopefully) final school. I think it would be helpful if she wasn't under such pressure, at her age, to come up with a career ambition. She emailed me a piece of her homework last night, that was really very good, but which she told me her new teacher would "diss".

OP posts:
QueenQueenie · 26/01/2015 23:40

That sounds encouraging Mrs S - she definitely wants your interest and support which wouldn't be true if she didn't care about doing well etc. School shouldn't be pressurising her to come up with some grand plan for the rest of her life. Some 16 year olds (ds1) have a clear and certain goal - most of them don't - ds2 for instance. He has to choose A levels in a weeks time and is finding it very hard. I've just told him to rule out the ones he really doesn't want to do, think hard about whether he's ready to give up on science / maths / engineering etc as degree choices and to go with the subjects he really likes and which engage his interest. That's all you can ask of them. Not many degrees lead to jobs directly... there's plenty of time for careers...

MollyAir · 26/01/2015 23:59

QQ, such great advice. MrsS, absolute sympathy. They drive you nuts.

Agree with MrsS about a MacMillan nurse, MI, although my experience was both excellent and appalling, with a superbly competent one and a supremely inert one.

Stropps, fab link upthread, thanks.

Blackduck · 27/01/2015 05:58

MrsS I'd say that's a fairly static education! As someone who did 4 primaries and 2 secondaries. I suspect the issues are more to do with her than the moves. Agree with QQ - very sensible advice!

hattymattie · 27/01/2015 06:02

Mr S - if you think the homework is good and the teacher doesn't, I'd want a teacher meeting just to understand differences in expectations.

bigTillyMint · 27/01/2015 07:02

MrsS, that is only one more school than my DC and most others! DD was in Primary 4-11, Secondary 11-16 and hopefully sixth-form 15-18, so it's not a big deal that your DD1 moved at 7 (many children change Primary school for a variety of reasons) So don't let that be a source of guilt!
And very good advice from QQ.

DD doesn't know what she wants to do either, but we have told her not to worry about that as frankly, she has enough to worry about with the GCSE's coming up!

Is she drama-ing the homework thing up in the usual teen-girl fashion that I am very familiar with? Or would the teacher really take it apart? I agree with Hatty if the latter is true.

addle · 27/01/2015 07:32

MI, I found that it wasn't until my dad had fallen several times that any sort of social care kicked in and I don't really know why - I'd spoken to his GP and rung the adult social services where he lived. They then appeared to be great though. Just fyi and hugs. It's wearing and sad and never leaves your mind, so very draining, I think.

Mrs S, I went to 9 schools - it's not that, though like everyone I think you're quite right not to move her. And I ended up saying to my similar DD, in the end it's up to you, there's only so much teachers and your parents can do... didn't seem to have any impact at the time but things gradually unknotted themselves. And completely agree about career ambition. ffs.

MrsSchadenfreude · 27/01/2015 07:59

BTM - I don't know. I am not entirely happy with the school at the moment. This has not been a good year. DD1's maths teacher went off sick right at the beginning of term, and she had a succession of supply teachers, who seemed to vary from disinterested to downright useless (the school acknowledged this, and said that DD1's class would not receive a grade for the first term, until they had sorted out the teaching). They finally found a permanent replacement, who is excellent, and DD1 is doing well.

Then her lovely English teacher left suddenly (her DH is terminally ill) and the replacement (who is apparently only there for a couple of months) doesn't seem to be very pleasant - this is not only DD1's view, her friends are also complaining. Apparently he doesn't give any grade higher than a C (which he deems "perfectly adequate"), so DD1 says that no matter what she does, she is never going to succeed. She needs a B or more to get on the Honor Roll (yes, I shudder too), which she has been achieving so far in English. I have said, rather lamely, that someone will notice soon that grades have dropped drastically for her set and do something about it. But she is not convinced (and to be frank, neither am I).

Thank you QQ - that is spot on. And DD1 is doing the IB, which should give her more options re degree, as it is much less specialised than A levels. I am just hoping that it will all come together in the next two years (she is VERY young for her age, although oddly very mature in other wayys) and she will knuckle down and fulfil her potential.

OP posts:
motherinferior · 27/01/2015 08:08

I do think all schools have glitches and duff teachers (though interestingly one of DD1's appallingly boring ones pulled her socks up and improved dramatically). It does sound as if you need her just to grit her teeth and get through it...

MacMillan doesn't operate in Norfolk: there is an equivalent charity which has been v useful in terms of personal support but whose advice is very much "no, that's not routine, you need to go and insist to the ward"- and that was when I'd clarified the whole issue. Really, we have tried all routes. Arse-kicking cousin has now apprised hospital social services liaison. And arranged home visit from organisation that can offer some help. I will contact her GP. I do actually have a job to do...