I've changed!

Yes I have gone through the change and come out the other side still trying to work out what I have done!!

I have moved my blog to http://www.muminmeltdown.co.uk/ 

Don't be too harsh the new site is still in it's basic form and will change as I begin to work out how to do stuff ( says the complete technophobe!)

So any helpful comments or ideas, like how to get text onto my header picture ( which will also be changing) or how I can import the rest of my Blogger posts that decided not to transfer!!!

So come along and take a look and hopefully follow like you did here.

A nervous day!

Yes, it's a very nervous day in my household today. It's the day my youngest son's 11+ results arrive on our doorstep!!

As the day has drawn closer I have noticed him getting more and more concerned about it. He is hoping to pass but we have tried to warn him that it doesn't always go to plan and not to be too disappointed if he doesn't get through.

However, what makes it worse is that he is a bright boy, he has the potential to pass, he has done some work towards it..................but there is never any guarantee.

Going on his work at home, if he finished the practise papers on time he then didn't do very well. But if he concentrated and didn't finish the paper on time ( quality rather than quantity) then he tended to get a good score!!!
On both of the test days he came out saying that he had finished the papers..............not a great sign!!


But you just never know. We are not holding our breath as parents however, we are trying to prepare for the meltdown that will be if he doesn't 'pass' the test. I know he will feel a failure, I know he will feel resentment against his brother ( who did pass a few years ago and attends the school my youngest really wants to go to) and I know tomorrow going into school will be hellish for him!!

You see most people have the opinion that he will pass, I'm afraid that they mistake his confidence (which he has in abundance) for ability! I think he feels under pressure because of this!

These are children who are only 10 or 11 years old. They are too young to have this much pressure. I know of many parents who openly talk about it all in front of them and therefore, the pressure of not being a 'failure' is all too apparent.

My post does not arrive until lunchtime.........................my nerves may not stand it!

Little does he know that I will be steaming that letter open to find out the result before he opens it on his return from school!! I need to be prepared in order to deal with any of his disappointment straight away!!

On the other hand he may pass and be overjoyed.................................who knows what the day holds.

Either way we will be treating him to dinner out to at least celebrate the fact it will all be over!!!!

I'm going through a change...........

Yes Mum in Meltdown is going to be changing soon! I have decided that I love this blogging malarkey and reading all of yours too. But now I want to move from my beginners Blogger account to a properly owned site..............wish me luck I am a complete technophobe. This could all go horribly wrong! But I'm hoping it's not going to be as bad as I'm expecting.

This has all come about after getting a bit of a kick up the backside after joining the Become a Mumpreneur course run by the lovely@erica and @antoniachitty .  I have been off work through illness now for over 2 years and I am desperate to get back on my feet and hopefully start earning something- however small!

The first monetary challenge was to earn £20 for the month. So along with my eldest son we cleared out some old toys/books etc and decided to do a car boot sale!!

So yesterday morning we headed of to set up and hopefully turn some of our items into hard cash!!

We didn't have a massive amount to sell but we were hoping to break the £20 goal. the day went well and we sold around £48 worth of stuff!! We were very impressed as we didn't really stay there long and the boot sale itself wasn't that big. So taking off our entry fee of £12 we cleared £35.80!!!

So my eldest was pleased as he cleared his debt's ( a lost Ipod touch that was only 8 weeks old!!) and I was chuffed as when he gave the money to me I had exceeded my £20 monthly challenge.

So this has got me thinking towards next months challenge. I have always loved to make handmade gifts at Christmas, (hot chocolate cones, hampers, cookies etc) so with that in mind I have decided to have a table at the school Christmas fair ( hopefully) to sell some of these items(again hopefully!).

My £35 will go towards stuff I need initially to make the items ( which I will take pics of and probably post on here). At the moment I am feeling confident that the items are sell able.................however when I am standing in that sale I'm sure my confidence will disappear!!

Wish me luck..............................................both for the new look blog ( please come and follow me when I change) and for next month's sale!!!

Get me off this speeding train.....................................called life!!

This week has passed with the blink of an eye!! Really I feel as though I stepped on a speeding train and forgot to get off. Lets face it life has been a bit of a whirlwind since the kids have gone back to school.

It started with Friday 23rd being my youngest sons 11th birthday. bless him he had done the 11+ test that week and was so glad to get it all over that he really couldn't wait for his big day!

Yes shock of all shocks he had to go to school on his birthday! Life is so hard.

Now for some reason he though we might let him have the day off........but we are bad parents and made him go to school anyway! But he had a great day there and had some lovely pressies from his good friends. That night he was going to milk it for all he was worth so we had present opening....

Followed by dinner out..............TGI's being his choice...............

Followed by cake..................................yum!!

Who doesn't love chocolate caterpillar cake!!

Before all this we had a discussion on what he wanted to do for his birthday. A disco, cinema with some friends, a sleepover, Quasar, all the usual stuff. But although he loves to go to a party and is extremely sociable he wanted a day with the family.................FISHING!!!!

one of his catches!

But the week didn't stop there...........oh no. We had 2 secondary school visits, a doctors appointment, a dreded dentist appointment, all afterschool classes ( scouts, boys football/youth club, dance class, drama class) amongst all the usual shopping, washing, ironing...................yes I know a familiar story to you all!!

Then came a last minute audition for my youngest up at Covent Garden which then re arranged all our plans to meet up with friends to take the kids all swimming ( while we catch up on the gossip!). So OH went one way and me and my youngest went another. Then on to friends for dinner, drinking, gossiping and far too late a night ( which was fab!) and then a hideouslyearly morning to get both boys to Scouts for a day Power Boating activity at Whitstable!!
It was the hottest day of the so called summer! The boys were away. We had the day to ourselves...........so what did we do.....................................FISHING!!!

Now this is where I know I am being mentally affected by the pace of life!! I have the choice of what to do, a day out without kids, a whole day to do what we wanted...............and i chose fishing!!!!

RIGHT, SOMETHING MENTALLY WRONG.................................you agree?

Most people get a misd life crisis, indulge in implants,face lifts, radical hair do's, wearing skirts that are too short or tops that are too low.....................................................Oh no not me..................I go fishing!!!!!

Someone save me from this insanity!!!!!!!
I need to get out more.................or drink more......................or both!!!!

Mums half hour!

Mums Half Hour Episode Five: Join Us Live 

 Love it or hate it almost everyone has an opinion on breastfeeding! Did it work for you or did you feel a failure for either not giving it a go, or trying but being unsuccesful? Do you breastfeed in public?

 With kids comes exhaustion, we have all experienced that. Do you have a child with a sleep pattern from hell?

 Halloween- do you celebrate? Do you think it's over rated? How do you keep your kids entertained over Halloween?

The panel discuss all of these issues on the show on friday 14th Oct @ 13.30

No one understands these issues more than our panel of mums for the next episode of Mums Half Hour. Joining us live and answering your questions, are Penny Jenner, Pamela Hey and Amber Spain. With half term looming, the panel will be discussing breastfeeding from pumps to positioning, how to tackle disruptive sleep patterns and sharing their own personal experiences and tips on what’s worked for them. 

This webTV show will be live and interactive, with the panel taking your questions and thoughts so if you have something to say, they want to hear it!

Our panel join us live online at www.youtube.com/startriteshoes on Friday 14th October at 13.30 to discuss breastfeeding, and dealing with difficult sleeping patterns.

Don't forget you can click on the link and submit your questions in order to be involved with the show

For another chance to win a year’s supply of Start-rite shoes, log onto www.youtube.com/startriteshoes and submit a question along with your contact details

What do Ghoul School, Woolworths and Jeff Brazier have in common?

Simples.............Jeff Brazier has been recruited by Woolworths.co.uk to become the Head Teacher of a Halloween venture called Ghoul School to find the scariest kids in the UK!!

Kids from all over the UK are being asked to don their best Halloween outfits including their 'scariest faces' and 'monster attitudes' for the new online event to find a 'Head boy and girl' through a series of tasks at the Ghoul School. Head Teacher Jeff with be helped by his monster team 'The Woolies' to help him on the day!

So how do I know all this?

Well I had the opportunity to interview Jeff about this venture in conjunction with Woolworths.co.uk.
I have never interviewed anyone before, so to say I was a bit nervous was a huge understatement!! But I thought that I would take note of all the 'self help' style jargon and 'feel the fear and do it anyway'!!

However, I needn't have worried in the slightest as he was an absolute pleasure to chat to. In fact he made the job easy for me as I had finally met someone who could talk as much as me!! he was really down to earth talking about the new venture with Woolworths, how he enjoys celebrating Halloween with his boys, how he tries to 'recycle' some of their sweets they get Trick or Treating and save them from rotting teeth!!


Anyway I thought I would share a few of the questions with you and then I have been brave enough to include the audio of the interview with you!!!

However, there are rules...........................

1. Don't be too critical as it was my first ever interview!!!

2. No laughing at the comedy Irish accent..........that's mine not his!!! ( OK maybe a snigger is allowed)

3. No leaving comments telling me I sound like one of the kids off 'Why Don't You' (those readers of a certain age will remember the programme!!)


Here are a few of the questions I managed to ask..........


Do you dress up and try and scare away the kids Trick or Treating at your door?

No, I dress up and go out with the kids and everyone knows that it's me where I live, if you get what I mean, and my door is probably busier than most. So I think they assume that because I work on television that I've got a shed load of sweets and a shed load of money, and neither of those statements are actually true. But no I really do need to stock up and I know where I will be going to get the sweets as well.

For the kids who want to get involved with the event what exactly do they have to do?

Ok, so what it is, is a one off event actually run by Woolworths.co.uk the Ghoul School is their creation and we've basically found a wonderful manor house, a Tudor mansion up in Liverpool called Speke hall, and we would like 10 finalists to join us where on the day we'll play lots of challenges, play games and basically try our very best to find our Head Boy and Head Girl.
Kids have until Sunday to get their entries in. What they need to do to prove that they are the scariest kid in the UK, they need to dress up and get their face paint on, and they need to be as scary looking as possible and parents need to send their picture by email to Woolworths@thebrooklandsbrotherspr.com with 140 words explaining why the kids think they are the scariest in the UK.

Are you going to be a 'wicked' Head Teacher or are you going to try and be nice to the children?

No, I'm going to get rid of Jeff Brazier for the day. I'm going to be the Head Teacher of the Ghoul School, I've yet to think of a name, my alias. I'm going to make it my personal mission in life to scare them all the time and really put them to the test!

But to hear the interview in full just click on the link below to download and listen. He talks about all things Halloween, his kids and sweets!!!!


http://files.markettiers4dc.com/28af3236a5b9c01c21640fc91c046d71053b139c

Jeff is currently working with Woolworths.co.uk to find the nation’s scariest children to attend the world’s first ever Ghoul School which Jeff is head teacher of. Ghoul School will be held at Speke Hall, Liverpool on 8^th October 2011 where Jeff will help Woolworths.co.uk name a Head Boy and Head Girl of Ghoul School.

 

Visit Woolworths.co.uk for further details and to meet The Woolies.

 

**REMEMBER CHILDREN ONLY HAVE UNTIL SUNDAY TO ENTER**

11+ nerves

It's 11+ tests tomorrow and I don't know who's more nervous.......mum and dad or the son who's taking it!!!

We have a 13 yr old who has already gone through this who comfortably passed his and attends a really nice grammar school close by. This school is perfect for him as it is mixed and because he is a sensitive soul we thought it would be better for him. He loves it there ( as much as any boy 'loves' school!) and has made a great set of friends that from the beginning of year 7 to today in year 9 have all stuck by each other.

However, I think this makes it more difficult for the second child. He also wants to go to the same school as his brother, he has already had a look around and loves the drama department there ( as some of you may remember he is a budding 'actor'!!). He is also a very capable child and has been in top sets for maths and literacy in junior school. But there is no guarantee that he will get through on the test!

He has worked hard towards it with his dad ( which we did with our older son) however, we have tried not to put too much pressure on him about it. Rightly or wrongly we never sent either of our boys to a tutor in order for them to pass. Any work they have undertaken over the summer has been worked through by my OH who seems to have the patience of a saint when it comes to school work!! We live on the border of Kent so the children can also apply to do the Kent 11+ too and I know some of the kids from his year have taken that on Saturday. He decided (just like my eldest) that he didn't want to take this test as it would possibly mean that he would end up in a school out of our borough that he would have to travel to, and therefore lots of his friends would not be living close to him. So in the end we didn't register him for that test as there would be no point sending him to a school he didn't want to go to.

So now all his hopes are on the test tomorrow and Wednesday. He seems confident and we have confidence in him. But is it wrong to try and prepare him in case he doesn't get through? That is what we have been doing. Trying to tell him it isn't the end of the world if he doesn't pass. It doesn't make him any less capable than his brother. There is a lot of competition between them over the silliest of things so this really would cause a major upset!!

We certainly don't want him to feel any sort of failure. We don't want to be seen as treating him any different from his brother if he doesn't get through.

So the next 3 weeks waiting for the results just won't go quick enough!!! Talk about wishing your life away. As with his older brother we have told him that the letter will arrive and we will not open it as this will be his job when he gets home from school.
( What we won't tell him is that we will have steamed the letter open at lunchtime when it arrives so we know the outcome before he gets his grubby mits on the thing!!)

And then the drama will start!! The next day at the school playground.............kids and adults alike all eager to hear if your child has passed or not!! Whispers behind peoples backs about the shock passes and 'fails' ( although no child at the age of 10 and 11 should be seen as a failure!!!) But that's what it all comes down to with a lot of parents these days.

So on that note......

A HUGE GOOD LUCK TO MY SON AND ALL THE CHILDREN TAKING THE 11+ IN THE NEXT 2 DAYS