but don’t have the time #678
1. It was very lovely to have my parents, brother and Lovely Bloke’s parents with us on Christmas Day.
2. That we did buy too many Christmas presents for the boys for Christmas.
When was the last time you walked the walk of shame …?
I’ve done it again. I’ve sloped down the stairs wearing a pair of undies and a hooded top. I’ve got the little person playing games on my phone and I’ve been surfing the net. I’ve not cleaned my teeth. I’ve not unstacked the dishwasher. I’m not doing anything productive at all. It’s shameful. Though I have been filmed by the BBC this week, sounding relatively articulate and being strident on the child benefit debacle.
I should be bouncing out of bed, thrilled to see my twinkies after a busy week at work. But no, when my lovely 4 year old asked – or rather – grabbed me by both cheeks (of my face, I hasten to add) and said “What would you like for Christmas Mummy?”, I said “sleep, lots and lots of sleep”. That completely confused the poor soul who said “I don’t think I can buy that in Waitrose, but I could get you a pink power rangers girl story book”.
In my defence, he was in our bed by 1am, and Daddy had given up and moved on to another bed – I don’t know where, by 1.15am. He is a little wriggle bum. And just after 5am he woke me to starting discussing the intricacies of how advent calendars work and who it was that made the rule that you can only have your chocolate after your breakfast and that you have to find the numbers by yourself.
I held on, until 6.24am. We didn’t come downstairs until then. But still, it’s a walk of shame, because I’d much rather surf mumsnet and Facebook than do anything that’s productive and would help the house, our family, or even myself – shouldn’t I be doing some face mask, or preening myself to face the weekend ahead?
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but for some reason, it coming down the stairs this morning, the best explanation I can come up with is that it felt like a walk of shame … for me, as a mum.
Do you ever feel like this?
PS. It’s advent. Yippeeeeee
PPS. I would like a Liz Earle advent calendar. Only £110. How are you fixed?
PPPS. If you’d like to hold my hand via the medium of twitter, I’m @TheLizWeston
Disclaimer: Just in case you weren’t aware, this is my personal blog. It’s not being written with SEO and all that in mind, so I get to write my titles exactly as I like to, like I have done today. It’s not how I’d write them if they were for work stuff….I don’t want you to think I’m not title aware ;)
Here are two best friends. They are also known as a Daddy and soon to be 4 year old son. Or Lovely Bloke and W. But there’s a problem looming. All too soon, they are going to be separated for hours at a time, when W starts big school, in September. He goes to pre school nearly every day, but that’s not the same in our minds. It’s optional, not obligatory. Lovely Bloke and W get to do stuff together, like going to Waitrose on a Friday morning, doing the shopping and having a milk and cake together in the cafe. I hear that it’s all very civilised, until W decides he’s bored of it and says “right, lets go”…
And even before big school happens, E 0r BIG E, as I’m referring to him, will be home from school for the summer. This will be great in itself – lots of adventures and opportunities for playing for all three of them. But right now, he’s at school 9am – 3pm ish and it means that lovely as E finishing school will be, it’s also going to mean that Lovely Bloke and W will have even less time together, for their pootling around, doing jobs, getting into trouble and having fun when they think no one is looking.
So right now they are on countdown, and I don’t think either of them have realised it yet. I don’t like how sad they will be when they do realise. So for now, I’ll treasure these photos of them sticking “bugs” on each other’s noses, boobs, bums and arms. Which ones do you think W did?
When we were gearing up for E going to big school, it was exciting, an adventure. Now it’s time for W to make the transition, I just want to cry. I’m sad. It’s the end of an era. I know it’s a good thing – we are raising two bright, enquiring, relatively polite, funny, good to be with boys who are thriving at school and pre school. We love the smug parenting moments when we are told about something good, kind or smart that they have done. But the other bit of me, just wants to snuggle under the duvet with them. They are growing so fast. Sometimes, I just want time to stand still.
x
This is not a sponsored post per se, but it is a post that I’ve gotten through one of our clients at Weston Communications. So I’ve got a vested interest in this working ;) But at the same time, I’m putting it on my blog because I want to share money saving offers with people who are pregnant, new mums or have friends who are…
Please go and sign up to Mum and Baby Online – a one stop shop – a place where you can sign up to information, coupons, vouchers, money saving deals and all sorts of great stuff from Pampers, Huggies, Hipp and Argos and more whose names I can’t remember, to get their newsletters and offers all sent to you, without having to sing up for them individually.
I have vivid memories, funny, hilarious and emotional memories of my time as a new mummy, with Mrs R, with us both with a little plastic bag – you know the one you get your pennies in from the bank – with voucher codes in them, planning our activities around them as new mums. It was a mission for us, to see what we could save in the course of a day by optimising our voucher efficiency. I am so happy just thinking back to that point. It’s makes me feel mushy inside. So if nothing else, sign up to Mum and Baby Online, get your free offers, codes, discounts, coupons and money saving freebies and have fun with other women like I did with Mrs R and our babies x
And on another matter altogether, what’s the best deal that you’ve seen for pregnancy or new families recently? It’s good to share!
So, at the start of this activity, I weighed 14 st 3lb. That’s the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life and it made me cry. I got down to 14st which was good then onto the Slimming World band wagon and by last Sunday, the 27 November, was 13st 8lb. Excellent me thinks, especially as it had just been the time of the month and I’d had a grotty week. I decided to absent mindedly weigh myself last night and I was 13st 12lb. That’s not possible surely, in less than 48 hours, to gain 4lb in weight?? !!! ?? Surely not. I was in the rudey nudey. It was the same place, but the end of the day instead of the start, but surely that can’t make 4lb of difference?
Anyway, I’m annoyed. And wanting to eat all sorts of stuff because I’m annoyed. But I’m not. So instead, I’m munching my way through grapes, diet coke and cherries. When all I want is chips and gravy. It’s a bit pants to be honest, so I’d stay out of my way, because when I’m deprived of my chips and gravy with a buttered barm, I’m a bird with a short fuse.
Here’s hoping for the weigh in on Sunday eh? Perhaps I’ll go running to see if it has an impact on it? Or maybe swimming?
Hmmmmm
Does your weight go up and down like this? How does it make you feel? What do you do?
It’s no surprise really is it, that the rising cost of childcare is having a huge impact on families, working parents and how family life is working. I’m just about to go on the air with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to talk about it, as it’s a huge issue for so many people that I know. The survey says that the soaring cost of childcare is pushing the poorest out of work and children into poverty. Research from Save the Children and the Daycare Trust has revealed families on low-incomes across the UK are having to turn down jobs or are considering leaving work because they can’t afford to pay for childcare, according to new . The survey also found that parents, regardless of income, say they can’t afford not to work, but struggle to pay for childcare. And despite many parents cutting back their spending, almost a quarter have got into debt because of childcare costs. Parents in Britain spend almost a third of their incomes on childcare – more than anywhere else in the world. Of those families in severe poverty, nearly half have cut back on food to afford childcare and 58% said they were or would be no better off working once childcare is paid for.
The cut to the working tax credit has also dealt a massive blow to hard working families struggling in severe poverty with four in ten of those affected considering giving up work because they will no longer earn enough to cover the childcare bill. The cut has added on average £500 per year onto the childcare bill for half a million families.
Now I’m not saying for a moment that our family is in poverty in any way shape or form. But the problem is clear when I list the maths around returning to my old job. I was on around £38,000 a year gross, as a full time salary. This translates to £28,500 a year after tax, when working 5 days a week. So if I’d gone back 3 days a week, as I’d planned to, I would have generated £17,100 ish of take home – net pay, per year.
Liz net earnings for 3 days a week = £17,100 ish, per year
Cost of private nursery for 3 days a week for 2 boys = £52 a day, per child. This is £16,244 per year.
Cost of petrol to get to work for 3 days a week, for a year = £1,560
Cost of sandwiches for 3 days a week, for a year = £312
This is a total of = £16,244 + £1,560 + £312 = £18,116
Liz earnings (£17,100) – Cost for Liz to go to work (£18,116) = Total cost to go to work for 3 days a week of £1,016
It just doesn’t add up, does it. Thankfully we are living a very different life to the one detailed above but so many people I know are relying on family members for childcare but I don’t think that’s fair either, as for a start, it would be my inlaws who did it as my parents are 3 hours away in the car and it’s not up to them to bail us out when they should be in their retirement having looked after other people for so many years themselves!
It’s nuts. I have no solution. I don’t know what the solution should be. I just think it’s rubbish that so many people are in this situation.
Shall I get off my soapbox now?
*Image courtesy of topnews.net.nz
Update at 6pm on Wednesday 7 September:
1. If you are someone who is trying to work out how you can contribute to your family’s finances but aren’t sure how to do it, check out www.businessandbabyshow.com which happens on Saturday 1 October and is a great way to find out about all the business opportunities available to you which will work with your family life.
2. There’s a good link on the Guardian, with an article on this very topic…