Remind Me Not To Do This Again!

A couple of years ago, my girls wanted to go to Kidzania, as we often go as a group of home educators altogether.  Someone else was meant to be organising the trip, but when I queried about a month beforehand (so I could buy my train tickets) they said they weren't organising it after all.

Being a bit of a natural organiser, and with experience, I know after the 'general interest' stage, not to accept bookings without payment.  So, I organised a trip for last March for around 30 home educators.  Of course, last winter was known for the Beast from the East, particularly the return of the mini-beast mid-March... the same time we were meant to be going to Kidzania.  On the day, everybody who was planning to drive cancelled, and though 5 or 6 families (including us) bravely got to the train station, all the trains were cancelled.  It was a bit of a nightmare.  Thankfully Kidzania were really understanding, and allowed us to postpone our booking until the May (the next date that we could all attend that was not during school holidays).  The trip took place, and everyone had a good time.

Meanwhile, lots of DD1's dance friends were going on various residential courses with their schools.  As my girls are home educated, I didn't want them to miss out of the experience, not least because I remember all the fun I had when I was on residentials at that age.  So, when they asked if they could go on such a course, I stepped up to organise it.

Simultaneously, I contacted loads of activity centres within a 2-3hr radius of where I live to ask them a myriad of questions, whilst also started a FB group of people who were interested in joining us, if I organised a trip.  Within days we had over 100 members who were interested, and wanted a say in the type of thing being done.  

It is often said that the only thing home educators have in common is that they don't use schools, and that is very true!  I had parents who would only allow their children to come if they didn't have to; and others who would only allow their children to come if they could attend too.  Interested parents had children with a range of physical and learning difficulties, as well as a range of allergies.  Some parents only wanted their children to attend during the day, not overnight (it's a residential!!).  Some parents wanted all accompanying adults to have full DBS checks (if you arrange and pay for it, I'll gladly be DBS checked, but in the meantime, it ain't happening!). Some people would only attend if I arranged transport too (nope).  And yet others wanted a say in everything, but had no intention to come.

Eventually, between all the venues that replied to me, and all the parents with their own conditions and questions that they desperately wanted me to ask, it got narrowed down to one activity centre that does everything we want it to: Parents can attend if they want to, or they can leave their children alone.  There is a choice of 4 night (M-F) or 2 night (W-F) trips.  They can cater for all physical and learning disabilities, and have even allowed some free Carer places for adults who have to accompany their children.  They will accept DLA as part of the booking.  "Supervisors" do not have to be DBS checked; but all their instructors are DBS checked and have first aid certificates etc.  They can cater for all eating requirements and allergies as long as they know about them in advance.  And  we can put in our preferences for the activities we do (though they can't be guaranteed, as there will be other groups on site at the same time).  All in all, it looked really good.  The only requirement is that we need a minimum of 8 children on each trip (4 night or 2 night) in order for them to go ahead. Phew!

The system they use is that after booking, an initial deposit is required after 4 weeks; an interim deposit is required after a further 6 weeks; and the final balance is required 3 months before the trip.  

Despite having over 100 adults in the FB group, when it actually came to asking for money, a lot of people decided that they were no longer interested.  That was to be expected, and why I always ask for money upfront, as I can't afford to fund any shortfall!  We had around 30 children sign up, over the two trips, so a nice amount.  

As time went on, some people had to drop out of the trip.  Initially it was younger siblings, or parents who felt they no longer needed to attend.  For some people their circumstances changed, so they are no longer available. And for a couple of people, they had to pull out due to allergies.  For each change, we were charged a cancellation fee equal to the individual deposits paid so far.

Meanwhile (again), last year Beat the Street came to my town.  As I had asked the question whether other people wanted to join us, it was defaulted to me to set up the team.  Actually, it was a lot of good fun.  Because all members of the family could join in, we had over 100 participants on our team, and we actually won the section for 'Community Groups'!  Our prize was £300 of Decathlon Vouchers, and was up to me to organise getting the prize.  Some people wanted the prize to be split by the number of points won per person, others wanted an even split by family, others still thought it should all go towards the children, and some people didn't want a prize at all, and wanted to nominate their winnings to a charity.  In the end, I made the executive decision to divide the prize by the number of participants, and allocate the vouchers accordingly.  So for example, in my family there are 4 of us, so we had ~£12 to spend.  Because the vouchers were an email code, I could not physically divide the vouchers, but had to buy what everybody asked me for.  Once it was sorted, it was actually quite easy; everybody got what they wanted (eg trophies or bags, or sports equipment) and we managed to get 42 sets of hats, neckwarmers and gloves for a homeless charity in my town.  This was before Christmas, and we're now in March, and hopefully tomorrow, the last of the prizes will finally be collected!

Back to the residential, and people are still dropping out; even after they've paid the final balance! 

We are now down to 9 children on the 2 night trip and 8 on the 4 night trip.  I really hope nobody else pulls out between now and May (when we're going) because we're now at minimum numbers.
Also, though the activity centre has been really accommodating for all our random needs, the first set of invoices that I was sent through, in January, were incorrect - not least because they hadn't removed the two sets of deposits that I paid last year.  We have already past the 3month deadline for paying the final balance, and the invoices have still not been corrected.  I'm in this awkward situation where I don't want to pay them any more money until I know it's right, but I also don't want to forfeit out booking that as been many months in the waiting (or 'making' - I can't remember the right word).  But, things are looking good, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to pay the final amount this coming week.  And, we've managed to sort out various mementos and souvenirs for those attending who wanted them.

So last year, I organised a day trip in this country, that had problems.

This year, we're going to a 4 night residential in this country, and I've had problems.

Please, please, please remind me not to up the ante again, and attempt to organise a residential either for longer time or in a different country.  Nope.  I don't want to do it.

Weekly Update No10

I've been a bit quiet this week.  Life has been a bit overwhelming (for no obvious reason) so I've been in hibernation, and scoffing all the wrong things.  I've woken up brighter today, so hopefully I've turned a bit of a corner (though in the bad side, I've run out of my meds;  I ordered them last week, thinking I had another week left, but I don't.  I'm hoping this doesn't set me back).  Sunlight definitely helps, and I managed to do some washing and put it on the line. My cleaner also helps, especially on days where I can't face the world.

So, I've not lost any weight (put less than half a kilo on).  I'm going to try and cook better, because when I cook, even if it's the "wrong" things or reheating stuff in the oven, it is still much better for me than takeaways and eating out.

Pringles Ring Engineering Challenge

I saw the Pringles Ring Challenge on Facebook, and I thought that is one I have to try with my girls.  So, this week I bought 3 packets of pringles and we gave it a go.

Obviously, the first thing to do when given a packet of pringles is to empty them everywhere...
though I can attest to the fact that this step doesn't have to be done, as I didn't.

A sneaky peak of DD2
in the background.

The trick is to build the bottom layer thick enough to carry the weight of the pringles that are building up the sides.  Layer them, as if you are building a wall, so they overlap and hold firm.  (Though firm is relative in this case, as all three of us have experiences the pringles toppling sideways.)

DD2 has a gentler touch than DD1, and is well known in our family for balancing things, or building tall towers from bricks, even when she was pretty young.  DD1, otoh, was getting frustrated, until she use her brain and was able to make a pringles ring very easily.

Not sure that was was was expected from the challenge, but is a pringles ring nonetheless!

DD2 and I continued.  It looked like everything was going well for me, until I noticed that the two sides of my ring were unequal heights.


After a bit of readjustment, I managed to fix and complete my ring.

It only had one pringle on the top, so I wanted to make it a bit thicker.  This cockiness caused it all to collapse, but at least I have photographic evidence that I did succeed!

At this point, DD1 and DD2 were turning the table into a campsite by building tents out of pringles.

Eventually, though, DD2 had another go, mixing two different flavours of pringles, and managed to make a heart.  The camera angle doesn't do it justice, so you may need to use your imagination a bit.

Women of Courage: 31 Daily Bible Readings by Jennifer Carter

Women of Courage feels a short book because every chapter is only a few pages long.

Each starts with a short passage about a woman from the Bible, and then expands to how we can put the lessons into practice in our lives.

The blurb says:

Women of Courage explores the lives of inspiring women from the Bible, through thirty-one daily bible readings. In a quest to understand what a Godly woman looks like, Jennifer examines the often untold stories of thirty-one women in the Bible. Each of these remarkable women has much to teach us. They led busy lives and experienced challenges, disappointments and triumphs. Yet each found fruitfulness, purpose and contentment. Their stories can inspire us to be more courageous and help us find our place in God's plans and purposes. Understand more of why God has created you to be exactly the way you are and enjoy the special gifts that He has given you. Discover and embrace the unique plan and purpose for your life, and be set free to experience God’s gift of fullness of life. Find inspiration and hope in the stories of these ordinary, yet courageous, women.

I really liked this book, and it helped me understand more about the women mentioned in the Bible, especially when they are not given a starring role in that context. I particularly liked the thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter, as they made me think for a while after I’d finished reading.

Weekly Update No9

I started the week well, bought plenty of fruit and enjoyed delicious fruit salads. I only cooked one meal for dinners, and the girls actually ate some of them! DD2 helped making the spaghetti bolognese, and enjoyed eating it too. She also ate the lasagne. DD1 was less keen, but at least tried everything.

As the week progressed, however, especially Friday, Saturday and Sunday my eating went downhill a bit… DD1 made Welsh cakes as it was St David’s Day (my husband is Welsh), Saturday was taken up with the usual dancing, and we ended up snacking and eating sweets in the evening whilst watching a film. And yesterday, I went to church, ate breakfast for lunch, and we went out for dinner. On the good side, I’ve discovered that Pizza Hut’s flatbread pizza’s are delicious, and plenty filling. At home we often make ‘wrap pizza’, so it’s good to be able to have a lighter option when eating out. 

But, despite that, I have lost half a kilo (a pound) over this week, so that’s a good result.  And I'm going to plan some healthy and easy meals for this week too.

Children and Naturism

There's a lot in the media at the moment about children in naturism, and overall I have been pleased with what I've seen.  Much of it has been about the Sandcastle Waterpark event that is currently on in Blackpool, and is advertised as a naturist swim for all the family.  We've actually been to this one, when DD1 was 2yo, and I was pregnant with DD2.  It was good fun, and DD1 enjoyed herself, but it was too far away from where we live to attend every year.  These days, we tend to either go to the Splash Waterworld events in Stoke-on-Trent or The Alton Towers Weekend in Splash Landings Hotel - a full weekend of nudity from 6pm on Friday until Midday on Sunday.  All these events and more can be found on the BN Events Webpage.

This clip from ITV's Good Morning Britain shows a discussion about whether or not it is safe for children to be at these events.  It's a shame that the naturist, Kate Smurthwaite, doesn't have children herself, but I can understand the reticence of parents not wanting to be outspoken on this, not least because I'm fairly anonymous on this blog myself. However, she does make some good points.  The other person, Lottie Daley, didn't imo (though I acknowledge I am biased on this topic).  Her first comment says that body positivity comes from being a good parent - stigmatising parents whose children suffer from body dysmorphia, anorexia, bulimia and what have you.  Then she makes the comment "you're lucky if someone doesn't get aroused in front of your children" - as if a pair of speedos or swimming trunks will really hide an erection! Really?!  As I said in my previous post that BN has strong child protection policies, other naturists are generally very protective of children, and should there be any untoward behaviour, the police are on side.  Now, admittedly, this isn't my area of expertise, but I would imagine a paedophile would want to get his jollies off in such a way that he wouldn't get caught, rather than naked in front of a load of other people... If anything, I'd've thought there would be more kids at a 'normal' Saturday swim, than at a naturist one, and it's not like swimsuits don't show exactly what's underneath on the kids, either.

There was another article this week, on BBC News, about going to a family naturist swim, whilst also advertising the Sandcastle event.  This time it highlighted a petition from a whopping(!) 50 people who think the event should be 18s only.  As a naturist, and a parent, I much prefer events that are open to the whole family.  Partly because it means we can all attend - for example, there are many swims around the country, some of which are open to all and some of which are not.  In my town there is a fortnightly naturist swim, but it's 18+ which means my husband and I can never attend together, because we have children - but also because some establishments misuse the word "naturist".  For example, there are some "naturist spas" in London that are not so much naturist, as naked swinging...  Fine if that's what you're into, but not for me, thank you very much!  By knowing that children can attend if they wish, I know that the event is truly naturist - non-sexual social nudity.

If you are interested in finding a naturist swim where you live, have a look here or here.

DD1's going to school!

We received the email this morning that DD1 got into the school of her choice!

The type of school I like

As I explained in my All Change post, my girls have been home educated up until now, so it was a bit of a shock when DD1 said she wanted to go to secondary school.  We looked around 5 or so different schools and had different opinions about many of them.  There was one I particularly liked, not least because it reminded me of my school (and I liked school) but that it also specialises in Performing Arts, but DD1 didn't want to go there.  Others I was expecting to like, because
of their reputation, I actually didn't.  And one I expected to dislike, I didn't actually mind - so we put that as DD1's second choice. 

The type of school DD1 likes

Her first choice was a school that we both liked, and that is where she got in.  It's a new school, so there is no proven track record of exams or anything, but it will grow with DD1 and I think she'll really like it there.  She was really excited this morning to find out she got in!

DD2 was less pleased, as she likes her sister, and thinks she will miss her when she is in school, which she undoubtedly will.  But I pointed out that DD2 and I have never had time alone together (whereas I did with DD1 in the 3 years before DD2 was born, and even when DD2 was a baby and didn't do much), and she liked the sound of that.

It will be a shock for the family.  I will need to get organised, and I don't know how DD1 will fit in homework and dancing, but it'll be an adventure together and new experiences for the family.