Every sympathy for people with children

[Shining]

Sounds like a great day out and the little ones I'm sure will be looking forward to it and have a super time x

[Skippy]

I don't have children, but to be honest I think it doesn't hurt to say no to them. They will grow up appreciating things more, unlike the spoilt children who are given everything when they want it.

[kazzafunk]

kaza - we went to Drayton a couple of years ago and they loved it. I agree Tesco vouchers are wonderful. I got mine last wednesday and we spent some of them on cooking ingredients for a day of cake baking. Kept them quiet so I sneaked away with my book!!
I do agree with you skippy in a way but when all their friends are doing things it's very hard to say no. Think everyone should go back to basics not just us in IVA's. I bought loads of activity kits half price earlier in the year and they loved sitting down doing them with the radio blaring out pop tunes. A whole days fun for £6.00.

[Shining]

I often have my granddaughter and she's 7 and we do a lot of things that cost very little. She loves baking and my eldest will do that with her. They're making a papier mache model at the minute so it's fairly cheap to do too.

[kazzafunk]

I suppose it's all about forward planning and buying things through the year when they sell off the seasons leftovers. Glad I only have pets to fund!!

[Louise.bb]

fancy swapping one of them kazzafunk??

[Broke of London]

My sister and i were always happiest with a paddling pool in the garden. They're pretty cheap in Tesco!! My mum also used to let us camp in the garden in a teepee made out of bamboo canes and bedlinen!! Puzzles also helped my mum fill the time up...they're good for half an hour a day for most of the holiday and we loved them. In fact, my parents struggled to get us out the house!!!!

[Imhotep]

I don't have children, but to be honest I think it doesn't hurt to say no to them. They will grow up appreciating things more, unlike the spoilt children who are given everything when they want it.

Good point. I'm quite proud of our kids, they appreciate the value of money (especially the eldest). This year all the youngest wants is some sugar dummies from the seaside

Mind, I hope the day never comes when they have to worry about money as much as we do. They are only kids, I want them to enjoy childhood. There is plenty of time for worry when they grow up.

[MrsKnight]

I am having massive problems with my two at the mo. Yesterday afternoon my eldest was browsing games online & showing me them. Well it set off a 6 hour battle (& I'm not joking!) of them asking for a game each
Trying to get back on top of things from the car completely wiping us out, and our repayments increased to cover the missed payments till November, things are really tight.
It can honestly bring u down to your knees & feel totally guilty when u can't treat your kids now n then. Yes we go to parks, and lucky enough to have the beach down the road, they have the garden & their bikes etc. But 6 weeks is a long time & when their friends are out at football schools, horse riding, swimming, cinema etc. It can become difficult to explain why we can't afford it.
Mine turn 9 & 7 this year & my eldest goes swimming with school, but he does not know how to swim, because I cant afford the lessons. I did send him for one set of 10 but as he has a fear of water on his face, he just walked up
n down the shallow end. He still has a fear of water on his face now & he is worried about going with school.
My other son has no fear & is desperate to start swimming lessons as his friends are doing it, the guilt really gets to me sometimes.
This morning on waking, they both started again with the Argos book & showing me a game they want each. I was still worn down n feeling horrendous after the battle I had with them yesterday. They even wrote me letters & left them for me at bed time asking for a game each. What drives me potty is they have games & some are barely played or completed. And I've done the trade em in n get another one n end up in the same situation I am today.
I got them a game a few weeks ago for the xbox (sale price) which they had been asking for since xmas, now they are stuck on a level n don't like it! So even if I had spare pennies the answer would be NO!

The guilt that over takes me on days & situation like yesterday & this morning, really can wear me down to tears.

[kaza]

Oh Mrs Knight I have every sympanthy for u!!!

Its so hard isnt it........My son "needs" a JD Bug scooter thats all I have had for weeks/months. I have told him he would have to wait until xmas but he dosent stop.....I feel for them as its our fault we are in this mess. He wont go to the skate ramps with all his mates as hes the only one with a cheap scooter and all his friends have the JD Bug it breaks my heart but so yet again thats another free activity he wont do because he hasnt got a stunt scooter to do it! I am lucky re the swimming here my daughter has had 2 weeks free swimming lessons. I am a qulified swimming instructor so im have taught me two my 9 year old can swim very well and my 4 year is nearly there I have just moved her up into the big pool and she swam a full 25m length yesterday at her free lesson. But it still costs me £6 a week to take the pair of them swimming......thats with me teaching them, for lessons its £4.50 each per week. Swimming lessons should be free at the end of the day its a life skill!!

Only 4 more weeks to go!!!!!!

[footiemad]

Oh dear Lyns I know it is so hard when they ask for things and you know damn well you are going to have to say no. My eldest 2 14 & 16 have birthdays this month and this will be a real shock for them when they receive their much smaller gifts. I have explained about the recession and cutbacks etc but they know nothing about the IVA. I started a new job recently at center parcs and although it is a hard slog, tomorrow I am taking 2 of the kids, with a friend each, to enjoy the freebies on offer and next week I will take my 3rd child and a friend so maybe the new job will be worth it. The activities on offer are really fun x

[andrea1968]

kaza, my lad wanted a JDbug scooter, they start at around 70 quid and upwards, I have bought him one for a tenner out of argos and there were a few moans and groans until he got on it and zoomed of to the skate park with his mate!!!!!
They wreck things like scooters so fast that I cant see the point in shelling out big bucks !!!!

[andrea1968]

Mind you - my lads only 9 so hasnt learned the art of arguing for weeks yet!!!!

[Rosepetal]

mrsknight,big hug x what a pair of little tinkers! kid's know how to get to us don't they?

thankfully ours are both grown up now but i understand how hard it must be.

when i was a child we didn't get gifts in between xmas & birthdays,Dad just didn't have it to give us.as a teenager if i wanted new clothes i had to have them as birthday or xmas gifts,bought with a set budget(Dad got us school uniform,shoes underwear etc)but wanting things in fashion came out of the xmas/b.day pot i was given.
having my set "allowance" really made me think before i bought anything. maybe an idea to help you at xmas etc?
the ear ache off kid's can be relentless but they can learn big lessons at this time too.

hope today's better x

[MrsKnight]

Hi all, thank u. Goodness I felt worn down by them both today! Luckily a neighbor whom they play with, their mum has been a star & took them with her to see her horses. So I escaped to morrisons child free!

When I was growing up, u got nothing till Christmas, and with a birthday 2 weeks before Christmas, it seemed like a life time to get anything! Never ever had fashionable clothes, parents could just not afford them. I remember hating my clothes & shoes because we lived in a posh area, I got bullied for how I dressed.
I'm so glad my boys are not into the fashion stage yet! But they are into their football teams & always want the latest shirts n boots. They are good boys most of the time, my eldest has a lovely nature & it's tough for him watching his mates get alot more than what he does. My youngest can still be distracted & fobbed off!
They always have fab birthdays n Xmas & I do my best to get them what they have been wanting the most within reason mind! Eldest keeps on asking for a laptop,I don't even have a laptop! But alot of his friends do.

I feel like such a rubbish parent sometimes! Thanks for reading my rant, I really thought I was going to go mad!