Boredom vs Budget - Week 5

Wait a minute... Week 5?... already??! Only another week and a bit and school starts back. (And actually as I write this we're half way through Week 6, where does the time go?!) Our first experience of the 'big' school holidays, unlike my vision of them stretching endlessly on and on, have in fact raced by. I'm almost sorry to see the end of them in sight. *sigh*

But I'm not wishing them away just yet.

Week 5 began with some morning sunshine on Monday, so we went for a walk/scoot round to the library to take some books back as part of the StoryLab Kids summer reading challenge. We were thwarted in our libary visit, however, as I'd forgotten that it doesn't open until lunchtime on a monday, but a stop at the swingpark on the way home was a happy substitute.

I had set myself a mini-challenge at the start of the holidays, to only go to a softplay once all summer - there's so much else to do, and cheaper, sometimes it seems like a lazy option. Today was our first softplay visit of the holidays, and it was reasonably quiet, so the thought of too much noise combined with hyper children and overpriced coffees didn't materialise (the coffees weren't too bad either)

Money spent: softplays are never a cheap option, but we'd had lunch already so only needed a bit of juice and a snack.

Energy used up: the usual sweat lashing off his neck and the red face was evidence of a funpacked, energy-filled trip.

Tuesday and with the sun out, we headed to Edinburgh Castle to put our recently bought Historic Scotland membership to good use. I must have been to the castle as a child, but have no memory of it and certainly haven't been as an adult, so it was a whole new experience for both B and I.

I'll not try and do a visitor's guide to Edinburgh Castle, if you want that you can go here. Instead, B and I's best bits were:

Mons Meg - over 550 years old, one of the world's oldest  and biggest canon guns

image credit: www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk

The very loud One O'clock Gun

Smoke from the just-fired One O'Clock Gun

The ramparts and the views across Edinburgh

We were there for about 4 and a half hours, and could have easily spent the day there (if B was at all interested in actually reading any of the information on display...) Will definitely go back even if it's to fill an hour or so. Might wait until it's not Edinburgh Festival time however, as it was just a teensy bit busy...

Money spent: as I've said before, the Historic Scotland membership came into its own today, with normal prices costing us £25 for the 2 of us to get in, we're paying £4 a month. So it's worth at least 6 months worth of membership alone. And you can queue-jump to get in!

Top tip: be prepared for lots and lots of people, in festival time. Having said that, there's lots of open spaces and places to explore within the castle grounds, so even when heaving there's space to move around.

Wednesday was a quiet-ish day. B was heading to his gran's again in the afternoon, so we spent the morning on bits and pieces, cutting out and making an Ironman mask and having a picnic-in-the-house lunch.

I braced myself for the inevitable surge of emotions once he'd gone, luckily I seemed to manage them a bit better than the previous week so work on the thursday was managable without a self-inflicted sore head to contend with!

Money spent: none. woohoo!

No. of 'i'm bored's: none. double woohoo!

Week 5 in brief:
Money spent: reasonable. thumbs up for the Historic Scotland membership!
Energy used: plenty of fresh air and activities to use up 5year old energy tanks.
Boredometer: minimal, close to the red zone on wednesday but Ironman pulled us back from the brink.

Boredom vs Budget: Week 4

A watery week this week, in more ways than one. Monday it rained and rained and rained... *yawn*... so we decided to go swimming. B is not the most confident of swimmers clings to me like a limpet in the pool. Actually, he's limpet-like when we get in, but after a few minutes he's not too bad. He can't swim yet, and is not too keen on getting his face wet/jumping in etc. I blame myself for that in part, as I can never be bothered going swimming so don't take him as often as I should. But anyway, we had a good time, and he even felt brave enough to go down the gentle slide at the side of the pool (with me at his back, but still this was a big step for him!). Swimming always makes me want to sleep, so the afternoon was a fairly quiet one.

Money spent: minimal, yeah!

Energy used: lots, swimming kinda does that. Especially for mummies.

Craigmillar Castle

It was dry on Tuesday but I didn't want to stray too far from home, so we headed to Craigmillar Castle, an impressive castle to the south of Edinburgh, run by Historic Scotland,  where Mary, Queen of Scots resided for a period. We live so close to this, but had only been once before. It was an amazing find then, so we had to go back. With winding staircases, underground prison cells, big grassy areas, turrets and towers, what more could you want from a castle?!

Money spent: I decided to take out a Historic Scotland membership, which will be £4 a month. Given this means we can now get in to Edinburgh Castle with this (which costs £25 for one adult + one child!!) I think this will be well worth it.

Word of Warning: if you've got dodgy knees (like me), expect them to grumble after you've been up and around all those stairs. ouch.

cheeky wee rascal

Wednesday was my last day with B for the week before he went to his gran's then his dad's, so it had to be a good'un. The sun was forecast to be out and warm all day (huzzah!) so i'd promised B a trip to the beach. We headed down East Lothian to Gullane, which has a great long bay with plenty of room even when busy (like today). One of my favourite beaches in the area, but forever will be know to B as "the beach where papa fell off his chair" (about 2 years ago, he doesn't forget!)

Our first proper trip to the beach this summer, complete with swimmies, sandcastles, and ice-creams, yum. 

Money spent: picnic lunch, and free sandy fun, so apart from petrol and ice-creams, a cheap day.

Boredom factor: with the prospect of going to the beach, no chance!

The rest of the week B was at his gran's, and repeated his week with another trip to the beach (down the west coast to Largs) and to a great leisure swimming pool over in Greenock. Needless to say he slept well all week! 

I, however, struggled with him being away so "suddenly" and spent Wednesday evening eating way too many prawn crackers and drinking wine, and then struggling into work on Thursday.  Same childcare plan for next week so I will have to brace myself for the fallout.

Week 4 in brief:

Money spent: not too bad again, and I guess with B being away for half the week my purse didn't take too much of a battering.

Energy spent: Lots of watery fun to tire him out.

Boredometer: don't think I heard him moan at all this week, even when he had to wait a full half hour *gasps* while i made the picnic for the beach.

Top Tip: Historic Scotland membership. Has already saved me money and a trip to Edinburgh Castle will now actually be possible!

Boredom v's Budget: Week 3

Week 3 of the school holidays was our mid-week trip to York. We went to York last year for the first time, mainly for the railway museum as B is still nuts about trains. It's only 2 1/2 hours away on the train for us, and because there was lots more we didn't do there last year, we decided to go back again.

This time, we also had a couple of friends for both me and B, which just takes the pressure of me a bit to be the only entertainment!

Highlights of our week in pictures:

On the open-top bus. "It's quite windy up here"

At the Railway Museum
"That's the train in one of my story books!"
The fastest steam train in the world... probably.

Where does that go, then?

Watch out! The Highwayman's about!

You betcha.
At York's Chocolate Story

"Eat Chocolate Live Longer?"  I hope so...

Yes that IS the sun shining! With B in his wellies, typical.

At Clifford's Tower

 Money spent: Quite a bit. But we were on holiday so I was expecting it, and with 2 other mummies there, splitting taxi fares and food etc made it a bit cheaper.


Energy used: York is small enough to walk most places, so lots of energy used up but not so that they were too exhausted. All in bed and asleep within 10 minutes each night so all that fresh air obviously did the trick.


Highlight of the week: lots to choose from, but probably the fact that the weather finally took a turn for the better and meant we could just wander about the pretty streets without worrying about getting soaked.


Tip Tip: Always include a snack-stop (for both mummies and kiddies) to refill the energy tanks. Betty's afternoon tea was delish (and a cheeky wee glass of pink fizz for this particular mummy helped to wash it down nicely)!

Mummies agreed a return mummy-only trip to sample the York nightlife was definitely a plan for the future.

Boredom vs Budget: Week 2

Another week gone by and my Weekly holiday update has stalled once again. This time, though, I have a good reason, as B and I have been off on our little holiday this past week with friends to York. More of that next post!

So ever-so-slightly delayed, here's Week 2:

This week was going to be a quiet one, as I hadn't any specific plans in place to entertain the boy. And it was raining again. Limited options.

Monday, and given the continuing rain, it was a quiet, and luckily cheap-ish day. Pottering about the house, out for lunch and a wander at the local garden centre. And a 'game' of tennis in the garden in the afternoon in a break in the rainclouds. 

Money spent: spot of lunch out, no more. 

Energy used: Not too bad, at least we got out for a bit of fresh air in the afternoon.

Tuesday - Another rainy day and I needed to go shopping to get a pair of wellies for both me and B. B is not the keenest shopper, so I had to bribe him with a promise of a visit to the newly opened Smyths toystore next door to the wellies. Wow, he was literally giddy with excitement as we went in! His little face was darting from one shelf to the next, he couldn't take it all in quick enough! With his birthday in a month's time, this was a reccy for his birthday list. By the time we left, the list was pretty lengthy to say the least! And despite all the temptation, I somehow only had to pay out a couple of quid for a Spiderman comic. Bonus!

Money spent: a fair bit, including B's holiday haircut in the afternoon, but mostly necessary.

Boredom Level reached: dangerously close to whining but the toystore brought it back from the brink.

Thor's Hammer.

Wednesday. Another flooding 'Armadeddon' forecast, so it was going to be an indoors day. But not in the house, a trip to the flicks to see Ice Age 4. As we drove there, the rain was falling hard, and I wondered if the underground carpark at the cinema would be flooded by the time we came out... as it was, there was no flood. In fact, there wasn't even any rain! Not that I'm complaining, but we'd all been worked up into a flood frenzy, it was almost disappointing! In the afternoon, I'd promised B we'd make a Thor's hammer. Yes, you heard. He hasn't seen the film (Avengers Assemble) but he is obsessed with all things superhero just now. And I needed a bit of creativity! So, a Thor's hammer we did make! 

Money spent: cinema, never cheap. But free creativity in the afternoon!

Energy spent: enough.

On Thursday the rain was having a well-deserved respite for a few hours so we hopped on the bus down to the Meadows for a runaround and a play in the playpark. It was so good to be outside for a while. The sun didn't actually come out, but with such previously terrible weather, your expectations diminish a little. After lunch, we headed into town to meet B's dad as he was taking him for an extra night.

Money spent: very little, hurrah!

Energy used up: finally a whole load for both of us. Felt much better!

Friday - a day to myself... so went to work. *snore*

Week 2 Roundup:

Money spent: again, wasn't too bad, but  but bracing myself for holiday next week

Energy used up: a fair bit

Boredom Level: higher than last week, but still no "I'm bored"'s. I'm on a roll.

Top Tip: a cardboard box, sellotape and some kitchen foil!

Next Week: Our Trip to York

Boredom vs Budget: Week 1

If you didn't read my previous post, I'm doing a weekly post on B's first Big Summer Holidays: Boredom vs Budget.

WEEK ONE : Managing Expectations

If my plan was to manage B’s expectations from the get-go - about having some busy, further afield days out, but also having ‘lazy’, stay-at-home days which can be just as fun -  then I failed miserably, as he had a non-stop, full week!

A day for wellies and waterproofs

Monday we had arranged to meet up with a good friend and her two kids, aged 6 and 3, with whom B gets on really well. Despite the rain forecast to fall all day, we wanted to get out rather than being cooped up indoors. Train journeys are always a hit, and with Scotrail’s Kids Go Free scheme, no need to pay for the over 5’s, yay! We opted for a trip over the impressive Forth Rail Bridge into Fife, which was greeted with big smiles and lots of ‘whoops’, even if it is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it view from the bridge! Little tummies were beginning to rumble by the time we set off, so the well-stocked picnic was devoured on the train. Despite a walk up a steep hill to get to local park – prompting a café-stop for a drink and snack - we got to the park, wet and soggy, but with welly boots and waterproofs, the kids were raring to go. Unsurprisingly, we had the rain-soaked park all to ourselves, too...

Forth Rail Bridge on a brighter day.

A return trip back across the rail bridge, and a very wet wait for the bus home, and as we stepped off the bus, guess what, the rain finally stopped. Sod's Law.

Money spent: home-made picnic and no kids train fares, so not too bad for Day 1.

Energy spent: Lots! Jumping in big puddles is hard work!

Top Tip to remember: Kids Go Free on off-peak, 
day-return rail journeys.

I had decided to put B in holiday club for the next couple of days, partly to let me go to work (yes, I mustn’t forget I do need to go to work!) and also to give him a taster of holiday club which I’m sure I may need to use more of in the years to come. 

This week was a jungle/safari theme. Tuesday was jungle-themed games in the gym hall, making animal prints, and ‘Jungle Book’ film if wet outside “(if”?!!). I picked him up at the end of his first day, eager to hear how he got on. I was met with a large bruise and scrape on his forehead and an accident report form for me to sign. Apparently he’d only been in the door literally ten minutes and he’d fallen off a climbing log outside and conked his head on the ground. He was fine, thankfully, a bit of calpol needed that night for his sore head, but luckily no lasting damage!

Image credit: Blairdrummond.com

Wednesday was trip day, and this week was a visit to Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirlingshire,. Once again, the rain fell, but they all had a good time, on the boat trip round monkey island, seeing the seal show, playing on the pirate ship playpark. They were due back about 5.30pm, but by 5pm as they were on their return journey home, Edinburgh and the surrounding areas were being deluged by torrential rain and flash-flooding. So their 90 minutes homeward trip turned into 2 1/2 hours as the motorway came to a virtual standstill in the downpours. Poor souls, they were tired, hungry and bored. I was glad that I'd arranged that B's dad would pick him up to deal with tea/bath/bed, as I was having a rare mid-week dinner out with friends.

Money spent: cost of holiday club for a couple of days, but no extras for day trip so good value. (Although wet socks indicated that a new pair of wellies are urgently required.)

Energy spent: Oodles on his part, none on mine, and I got a few adult-friendly hours with old friends, bonus!
No. of times "I'm bored" uttered: none! (that i heard, anyway)

Amazing tree sculpture in the park

Thursday, and no let up in the activities, we were meeting up with friend and his mum from B’s nursery days. The weather was dry (yes, it's true!) but thick haar (sea fog) was blanketing the area as it often does in these parts, and as we left the house the sun was not winning the battle in burning it off.


Undeterred, we headed off to a country park just 20 minutes away, with lots of open space, two playparks, a forest walk for exploring, and a café for re-filling the energy tanks. Thankfully, the fog did lift enough, and occasionally the sun peeked out, teasing us with its fleeting warmth. We had a great day, one of those unexpectedly successful days you wish they could all be like, with little effort or pennies spent but lots of fun had by the boys and a really good natter for the mummies. 

Money spent: Not too much, picnic made up for the boys, only toasties and cuppa bought for the grown-ups.
Energy spent: A load once again, lots of fresh air and for once without the rain, yay!

Note to self: you can never pack enough food for hungry boys.

Friday was a quiet day in comparison to the rest of the week, as B was heading to his Dad’s in the afternoon as is the routine. We did some painting in the morning, something we've not done together for ages (mostly because of the thought of clearing up...) - big pictures of police cars and fire stations (apparently).

Money spent: minimal. Lunch at home of tomato soup, tuna wraps and cucumber sticks. yum.

Energy spent: A little bit, helped by an impromptu painting-break involving indoor football and tennis in the hall (Wimbledon was underway and Andy Murray was doing well…)

Weekly Round-up:
Money Spent: could have been worse.
Energy spent: A shedload - not that it got him to sleep any earlier...
No. of times "I'm bored" heard: None! Long may that continue.
Did B have a good week?: "certainly, Mummy" Oh, bless.
Top Tip: Home-made lunches - cheaper, and picnics much more fun. And you then don't begrudge paying out for an ice-cream later.

School Holidays: Boredom v's Budget

School Holidays have finally arrived!
I can't quite believe a whole academic year has passed since this:

Setting off for Day 1

I feel almost as emotional about him finishing P1 as I did before he started. But I'll leave that for another post...

It’s the second week of the school holidays for us, in fact. Six and a half weeks of entertaining a 5 (nearly 6) year old. *slow, deep breaths* A daunting prospect for all parents of school-aged children, of course. I can’t quite decide if it’s worse for ‘first-timers’ like me because I don’t have the experience or learned tips for dealing with the sprawling summer holidays… or if  more seasoned parents would say I’ve got it good precisely because I don’t know what’s in store! I’ll revisit that in a year’s time once I’ve got through this year!

So, to get the blogging/writing juices flowing again, and to record the goings on this summer, I’m thought I’d do a weekly post on what we’ve been up to, the highlights and the struggles, and not just with the B word (that’s Boredom, people) but also with managing the next month and a half’s demands on a limited budget.

Look out for a slightly belated Week One coming (very) soon...

Great Expectations

Five-year olds are very demanding, are they not?

On Saturday, B spent his usual friday night and saturday with his dad, during which time he had a jam-packed day at the local farm park going on tractor rides, train rides, big bouncy trampolines, oversized sandpits, picnic, etc, etc. He had a great time, and so when I picked him up at the train station at 4pm I knew he'd be ready for his tea and a rest. I know very little, obviously.

We hadn't even left the station when it began:
B: Mummy, what are we doing now?
Me: We're going home.
B: Noooo (in his best whiny voice), I don't want to go home.
Me: It'll be tea-time by the time we get home, so we're going home.
B: No, I want to do something else outside the house.
Me: But you've had a long day, and now it's tea-time.
B: Noooo (perfecting the whine), I want to do something else before we go home.
...and so on. Eventually I managed to distract him when our bus arrived.

So, we get a seat on the bus and he starts again:
B: Mummy, what are we doing tomorrow?
Me: I don't know yet. (thinking, he's been busy today, so we'll just take it easy tomorrow, a quiet day in the house)
B: I want to do something tomorrow. I want to go somewhere.
Me: We'll see. Depends on the weather.
B: But what are we going to do? I don't want to stay in the house, we can go somewhere else inside if it's raining ... etc etc

Oh, give me a break! Why is it when they have a really busy day, they're not satisfied with a quiet day. They want the busy day again and again.

This doesn't bode well for the summer holidays. 6 1/2 weeks of "what are we doing today? I want to do something today". Of course, this is an oh-so-familiar, age-old problem, I know. But come the 29th June, it'll be the first time we've had to deal with it. Before school, B was at private nursery so no lengthy summer holidays to contend with.

So I've started sowing the seeds now. Letting him know that we won't be having far-flung (expensive) days out every single day of the holidays. That some days will be 'lazy' days, but lazy days can be as fun as expensive days. Collecting ideas for where we can go, which will not send me even quicker to financial ruin. That's my homework for the next few weeks.

If only I thought it would stifle the expectations of a 5 year-old.