Money Mess

I can’t hide from this anymore. We’re very, very broke.

In a nutshell: I’ve had a major setback on my childminding business. The house is ready, I have heaps of toys and resources, and I sent off my application form last week. Unfortunately-and I admit this is my error- I didn’t realise it can take up to 12 weeks to process.

12 weeks!

When I found this out I burst into tears. I thought it would be less than a month. We’ve already got a loan from the bank and borrowed £2000 from my mum and dad to keep us going since my maternity pay stopped. Mike is going to ring his mum & dad today to see if we can borrow £600 to keep us going through June. It’s embarassing having to borrow money but needs must.

I’ve thought of taking an evening job or something at the weekend. But the problem is, I need £1000 a month just to cover my basic outgoings: rent, loan payments, etc. Delivering pizzas is not going to reap that kind of money.

I NEED TO GET WORKING. Like, now.

I don’t know what we’ll do in July to cover my outgoings. Maybe I’ll be working as a childminder then. Perhaps I could sell something! What could I sell on ebay that someone would pay £1000 for?! All suggestions welcome!

Ugh. I don’t want to think about this anymore. Perhaps that’s half the problem. I love denial.

In other news, William is now weighing in at a chunky 19lb 9oz!! His 2 front top teeth are nearly through and he’s a real monkey at the mo, throwing mini-tantrums if I take something off him that he wants, e.g my mobile phone. He’s constantly trying to grab/ eat the laptop wires or our house phone. He can crawl on his tummy from one end of the room to the other in seconds so I end up having to carry him around with me everywhere-even to the bathroom!

I’m still trying to get him to take a cup and it’s just a disaster! He HATES it! At least I’ve cracked the water thing-he’ll have at least 7oz of water a day now. I’m reluctant to try juice in a cup. Any tips on this?!

Gotta go. William will be waking up any second now. He now has just three 30 minute naps a day. Not enough for me.

love Cookie xxxxxxxxxx

JanuaryR

May 9, 2007

*hugs* First of all, don’t panic. Although they say up to 12 weeks, they said at the information meetings I went to that it can be a lot less. Apparently the average is 2-4 weeks and it can even be sooner than that. Once Ofsted visit, I think the only delay after that is waiting for the CRB check which can take a while but maybe you could talk to Ofsted and see if you could start working

before it comes back since you’ve already got your CRB from teaching? Just an idea, I don’t know if they’d let you but apparently they can be flexible and make exceptions in certain circumstances for maximum number of kids etc so it might be worth a try. About being broke, I completely understand. Way more than you realise. We re-mortgaged and got £5000 worth of equity out of our flat to cover

the months I haven’t been working and top up the crap statutory maternity pay I did get. We’re struggling though because it’s all gone and I probably won’t start childminding until around September. Maybe you could look into doing SATs exam marking? It might be too late to apply (the website is http://www.examinerrecruitment.org) but it’s not bad money apparently.

I don’t know what it is about babies and mobile phones! Angelo loves them! And the house phone, and the TV remote controls. Very odd!! No tips for you on the cup because we’re having the same problem. No milk, no water from it. I even gave in and tried juice because I thought at least he might drink it then but he won’t! Argh. *hugs*

Maybe you could try selling a bunch of small things on eBay–you’ll probably be surprised how quickly it would add up. Tony and I keep meaning to get into selling stuff on eBay but we never have time to sit down and do it. We’re struggling financially too, and it’s so frustrating. I hate living paycheck to paycheck and not being able to save any money. *Hugs*

little me.

Wish I knew hun, im having the same problems 🙁 Good luck xxxxxxxxxx

salty*dog

Breathe in….breathe out….They say 12 weeks but quite often everything’s sorted long before then. I KNOW money is a worry and a hassle but it will work out fine. Hang in there. Don’t worry too much about the cup, William will take it when he’s ready. When Sam started to have water with his food, I only offered it in the sippy and he eventually figured it out fine. Can’t help wiht the juice thing as Sam only has milk and water! He likes water well enough and eats a ton of fruit so what he hasn’t had a chance to miss….;-)

Soulslulluby

Things will work out. They have a funny way of doing that.

*Pixie*

Breathe! They only say 12 weeks so that you don’t start bitching at them when it’s not done in 2. That way, when it is done quicker they look like the best things ever and have you cooing “oh, well, that was fast, thank you” blah blah blah. Hopefully that 600 you’ve borrowed will tide you over until it all gets sorted. It’s no fun begging from the parents (believe me, we’ve been there, we usedto take it in turns “right, who did we ask last time… oh so it’s your turn to ask *insert appropriate parent/grandparent here*”). I’m sure they’ll do everything they can to help you out. As for the cup I would just offer it at mealtimes next to his plate. With water so he doesn’t get too accustomed to the juice if you don’t want him to have it all the time. If he doesn’t drink it, no biggie, just give it to him in its regular form after the meal. He’ll learn to associate mealtimes with the cup and work it out for himself and then you’ll be able to introduce it elsewhere after a while. Don’t let him break you at mealtimes by panicking he’s going to dehydrate – they’ll never let themselves go thirsty, he’ll just tot himself up later if he doesn’t drink then. Perserverance is the key!!<

inquiring_minds

wow, good luck with the child care business. thats such a bummer. Do you have a playpen (pack and play) you can put william in while you go to the bathroom? goodness, i bet its hard having a mobile child. lol

oh hun. im so sorry to hear about the waiting period but it could also turn around and be only a 3 week waiting period. most times it gets sorted before then! and as far as william with the cup, give it time. I agree with Pixie, he will soon start associating it with meals and and once he gets the hang of it at meal times he’ll use it all the time. just breathe babe!