Clothing a large family.

As I now have 6 children, I am always on the lookout for bargain clothing. I am very fussy with how I dress the children, and am not fond of anything too frilly, slogans etc. I also like to pass down clothing where possible. Some items are n their 3rd or fourth child. Older Next clothing seems to wear well, as does Boden. I often trawl charity shops to find little gems of Boden or retro kids clothing. However the majority of the children's clothing comes from a supermarket. Sainsburys, to be exact. I discovered their clothing range a few years when a new store opened locally. Some of the girls clothing is not my thing, same for boys, but I now I can generally get a whole seasons of clothes there to suit. It washes well, retains shape and fits well. No butts hanging out of jeans like one cheap brand. Nothing too low cut or cut too wide at the edges. And they regurly run 25% off their clothing, which makes reasonable priced clothing an utter bargain. Marks and spencer is also a good place to hide out in the sales. Especially their children shoes if the fit is right for your child. Daughter #4 had 4 pairs of good shoes from there from the sales for the grand price of £16. Their school shoes also survived a whole school year with the shoe wreaker daughter #2. This is the children who destroyed a pair of kickers in weeks. Having a large family may be hard on the purse at times, but with some careful shopping, clothing them isn't a hardship. The hard times comes when they all need shoes at the same time. If your child width fitting generally stays the same then you can buy ahead in sales, though the sales advisor will advise otherwise. www.pinching-pennies.com

So...

I'm back.

The children are no longer in school. Why? Many reasons. The eldest was attacked, I was fed up of fighting for daughter 2 to be given harder work, number three was driving me insane, and number 4 wasn't settling in nursery after 2 terms. I hated the 'routine', I disliked how my eldest were growing apart from the little ones, and I didn't know them anymore. I hated walking up to 2 hours a day to and from schools/nursery. Most of all, I hated how it was affecting the whole family. Eldest was leaving the house at 7.30am, not home till 4, stuck in her room doing homework, tired, and withdrawn.

Its been three months. I am loving having the children at home. They are more relaxed, eldest is great and I am getting to know her again. She is getting to know her siblings again.

They all have their sparkles back, they are back to being children again.

I think we did the right thing.

All Change

Well, we are now longer the power of five. we havent been for quite a while to be honest. In April, Little Miss made a super speedy entry into the world and turned our lives upside down. So now we are The Magical Six The Six Terrors The Mad House Hmmm i need to rethink the title of this lol. We have also had some education upheaval, but in a good way, we are now home educating the children, and so far its very positive. I will ponder on the change of blog header, picture etc, and fill in the gaps over the coming weeks. But for now, We're back, and i will get blogging again.

Slings

Sorry for my silence over the last week or so. I have been unwell and physically drained. its only today that i have finally been awake the whole day without falling asleep midway through.

I thought I would write about something that I find invaluable as a parent of 5. The wrap sling, or simple piece of cloth.

I have been carrying my children in slings since Nina arrived. I used a sling back then for the reason that hubby was in a wheelchair a lot due to his failing heart, and i needed a way of moving him and a baby. So I had a stretchy wrap, and i used it on and off till she was 12 months old.

Then along came Sophie. The baby who wouldnt let me put her down from day one. Many a time, I ended up carrying her home in my aching arms and pushing an empty pram home. I bought a mei tai style sling, which was lovely, but I wanted a wrap. A lovely soft long bit of fabric to secure her to me and make her feel secure. So I bought one. And loved it. I loved feeling her close to me, the way she would snuggle down to sleep and give little sighs of contentment. Even now, at almost 3 years old, I know that wrapping her in a sling is almost guarenteed to get her down for a nap quicker than any other way. She cannot resist the sleepy cuddles.

I have been carrying steven in a sling since the day after her was born. On the day we came home from the hospital his 'first' wrap arrived. The gorgeous Didymos Negev Geckos. Beautiful shimmery fabric, which was so festive for the time of year he was born.

I wrapped him recently again in the geckos, and still love them as much now as i did when he was a newborn. They are his geckos through and through, and although I am not a sentimental fool really, I know this wrap is never leaving. The memories of my boy being carried in this wrap are almost woven in. They are so soft and cuddly. Like my boy is.

Save Lennox

I have been following the fate of this dog for a while now.

Lennox is a 6 year old american bull dog labrador cross. In 2010 he was seized from his home, and taken to the pound, based on his looks. The dog warden deemed him to be a 'pit bull type' based on looks and measurements.

lennox family have done everything right. yet their beloved family pet, and their daugters best friend, has a death sentence.

His family were in court on friday to hear their boy's fate. Court has been adjourned to the 23rd Sept.



save lennox



petition


This dog should not die based on his looks alone.

In search of stability

I fonally managed to get to see a GP today.

I booked an appointment 2 weeks ago to sort out my anti-depressents, and see whats happening inside my head.

Except i got there this morning, and the appointment wasnt booked. I checked to see if i had the day wrong, and i didnt have any appointments booked in.

At which point i broke down in tears. I had been building upto this point for weeks and was hoping to get things sorted a bit more.

They booked me in for an emergency appointment this afternoon, and hopefully now, in a few weeks, my mind will be more stable and i can start to find the small things enjoyable again.

Depression sucks. It sucks the life ut of you, sucks enjoyment from everything, and makes the world grey.

I am waiting for some rainbows.

The organasation of an 11 year old (or not as the case may be)

I have an 11 year old. She recently started secondry school, and now walks 45mins to get to school by herself. Today she took her bike, which she left at her friends house.

Except she forgot one vital thing. Something she has carried everywhere since she was 2 years old.

Her inhaler.

So, as i dont have a car, and still had 2 other children to get to school, I had to call on a dear friend to come to the rescue and drop Nics inhaler off at school.

The inhaler which is meant to be in her school bag at all times.

The girl is lucky we have such good friends who will drop things and come to our rescue, time and again (we obviously do the same for them as well).

If it comes to it, I will be making another lanyard type thing for Nic and putting her inhaler round her neck each morning, like a small child.

Phew.