I wrote an article recently on age gaps and one of the moms who sent me a quote mentioned that she found the jump from one child to two was a lot harder than she expected. I am feeling the same way now – the jump from three to four has been hard. I think Jack and I are the only ones really feeling it but we are both feeling it hard.
But I shall not bore you with my rather shaky emotional state right now because I have had my “curl up in a ball in a corner and rock” moment and now I am back up doing what needs to be done. That’s what we do isn’t it?
We had a great weekend away with great friends. The kids got some much needed tv/iPad free time and they actually played like kids should. They made up a game called Judge – basically they re-enacted the Oscar trial. It was a little sad and a little amusing. They played hide-and-seek. They rode their bikes, went for walks to the dam, played catches. It was just what they needed. I wish it was possible to do it more often – just get away from reality for a few days. I was a little unsure how Emma would cope with the change in scenery but she did so well and slept like a dream both nights.
This year was the first year we cut down the kids Easter Egg stash drastically. Because we were away on Easter Sunday we decided to get each kid a bunny, 2 white eggs and a box of marshmallows between them. We did a small hunt and that’s all they got. Neither of my kids asked for more, neither of them moaned about it. None of them actually finished everything they found. David finished the white eggs and we still have a few marshmallow ones lying around! Spending huge amounts of money on a million eggs certainly makes for a longer hunt but it is almost a waste of money. Kids can only eat so much chocolate and they need only so much sugar! I think sometimes, it is our fault that our kids expect so much – we set the expectations too high.
On a related note – Marcia posted on a post that she spends R3200 on groceries for her family (2 adults and 2 5 year olds). I mentioned this to another friend of mine because I don’t know how Marcia does it but she said that last month she spent R3500 for her family (2 adults, 4 kids – from 8-4 years old). So this month I am determined to see how close I can get to that because it is clearly possible!!
Did you have a good weekend?
12 Responses
Weekend was ok, we spent it recuperating!!
Your weekend away sounds divine, I love hearing of kids playing as we did in the good old days. I am glad Emma was a trouper. I am sure it was been hilarious (and sad of course) to watch the kids re-enacting the trial (maybe you have lawyers in the making )
I have never bought Easter eggs and I doubt I would be buying them – 6 hollow eggs for R32!!! Really, I just can’t justify the cost. I can get 18 real eggs for R25 at my local fruit and veg!!!!
Grocery shopping, I have to confess I really don’t know how much we spend in a month because I have a habit of buying things in bulk when they are on promotion, which means sometimes I dont need to buy certain stuff for months on end!
errrr everyone will think I’m rude but what is your friend and her family eating? seriously, it can’t be good food. I told my mom and she doesn’t know how it’s possible.
A big part of enjoying life, for me, is eating well. Why save money eating bread and polony or something, I guess it’s different for everyone, and ya it sucks if you’re on such a tight budget :/ if she reads this I mean no offense, but it’s mind boggling they can spend so little.
My mom spends at least 12 grand a month on groceries, thats for 3 adults and one dog.
Chantal – I know both families and they eat well. Both eat a lot more fruit than what we do actually.
Glad to hear you had a good break away. I also cut back on the easter egg collection this year (although with the family we still ended up with a houseful)but we will be going away this weekend so can take them away and share with the other families we are going with. With regard to grocery bill i can tell you how much is spent I also buy some things in bulk when they are on special and do the weekly shop for bread,milk and fresh veggies (those prices fluctuate depending on what time of month it is)
I complain about the Easter Eggs every single year. I only buy one per child – there’s really no need for each kid to have 12 or whatever. My family didn’t overdo it with the kids this year (thankfully) but I did tell them that next year I would like ONE egg per kid as well as a small practical gift to go with it eg a t-shirt or a pair of socks or a beanie or something similar. They liked that idea so I think they’ll be going for it. I must just remind them. My groceries are a bit more of late but I do need to tweak again. Also, it would be even less if I wasn’t having to shop for MIL. Ugh.
My emotional state is shaky too. I tried to blog just now and the words are not flowing. Maybe I’ll just try again tomorrow. Hope tomorrow will be a better day for you than today. xx
Thanks, Laura.
Yip, C, we eat very healthy. TONS of fruit and veg, not a lot of red meat but also chicken and fish.
I will have to blog 🙂
Hi Marcia 🙂
Glad you took my comment the right way *grin* clicked on your name-link to your blog, going through posts now, YAY I have a new blog to follow 🙂 I hardly comment but I do read it all.
Fish is so expensive now….so….? curious what fish you’re eating, I’d be so interested if you blogged about your daily meals, lol maybe that’s boring for some people but I’m intrigued now! 🙂
Oh, we only bought a box of marshmallows and a small packet of eggs with caramel inside. The kids each got two big bunnies at their school easter egg hunt and two marshmallows so they’re QUITE sorted.
They’ll be eating on that stash for weeks on end…..
I think it’s a little bit sad that the kids were re-enacting the Oscar trial but it’s also hugely funny!!!!
I can’t WAIT for our holiday next week. Can’t WAIT!
As far as I know, N has no clue about the Oscar trial…but she is a bit younger and the pre-schoolers don’t overly concern themselves with current affairs.
When we stop at any traffic light and there’s a beggar she is convinced that they’re there because Jacob Zuma stole their money though. 😉 We sometimes hand out a sandwich or two.
Maybe Emma was more relaxed because you were more relaxed? Happy mom = happy baby?
It’s amazing how far you can make your budget stretch when you have to. We always have apples, bananas and some other seasonal fruit in our house and the kids can eat as much of the fruit as they like. Since cutting out gluten, we also have quite a few evening meals without any carbs – just meat and veg. We eat very little red meat anymore, not only because it’s expensive but also because it’s healthier not to. That said, good fish is super pricey! But we also generally manage on around R3500.00 for the month.
We also didn’t go wild with the Easter eggs and the kids were more than happy with what they got.
We didn’t go anywhere and did a lot of work over the long weekend. In the big scheme of things, I guess it was necessary and we’ll be glad when it pays off. But oh, gosh! I could do with a few days off!
Ha ha ha ha ha! Seems N is convinced JZ steals. SMART GIRL
I went way overboard with the Easter eggs this year cos it was the first year that Kade could do a hunt (last year he was immobile. I am so keen to find out how the hell M and others shop for a family of 4 to the value of R3200!! I spend way more than that on just two adults and 1 nearly 3 year old.
xxx