Done-Todo

[ailbhe]

Done:

• Found a dentist and made an appointment.
• Rearranged furniture in the main bedroom to increase floorspace and make it possible to get a cot in there.
• Lots of laundry.
• Some washing up.
• Firmed up schedule for the foreseeable future; I have no free time.
• Considered money-borrowing options for getting gas heaters repaired and loft converted pre-April. We probably have options available. Certainly people keep sending us "Borrow Money Now" stuff, and some of it is from reputable banks.

Todo:

• Get to Council offices and apply for (a) Passport to Leisure, and (b) visitors' parking permits.
• Call someone to repair the two broken gas heaters.
• Call the lovely roofer, if he ever answers his phone, to see about getting a skylight installed and maybe a hanging chimney removed.
• Go 'round the local charity shops looking for baby stuff; I may, if I'm careful, be able to get all the clothes we need there.
• Do another set of those daily exercises.
• Draw up a budget for all the DIY and paying other people to DI stuff that has to be done, and see how it fits with our household budget.
• Chase neighbour about gas smell. Having the windows closed all the time can't be healthy.

Comments

[lovingboth]

I may, if I'm careful, be able to get all the clothes we need there

Entirely possible. Baby clothes last much longer than they fit the baby! I think we've bought about two items new, and those were with gift vouchers.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't rush, you have months to go. Kate is 19 months old & I v rarely buy her anything new or full price (maybe once or twice a year & then from Primark etc)

I buy her clothes at charity shops from 25p upwards, jumble sales (5 or 10p) ebay in bulk (say £5 for a massive pile) sales in shops such as Baby Gap, Adams, Asda etc (you can sell good quality clothes & anything with tv characters on ebay, sometimes for more than you paid for them in the sale)

I also get bin bags of clothes from friends with girls older than Kate & born in the same season, so the clothes are the right season for her size. (no point being given a gorgeous winter coat to fit her in the middle of the summer *G*)

I pass on bin bags of clothes to friends & sell some of it on ebay myself when I am feeling poor & can be bothered with the faff of doing it all.

I buy decent toys in charity shops too (best time is December when other parents are having a clear out for the new influx)

Don't be afraid to specify exactly what you'd like or ask for money if you're asked about presents. Kate gets about £100 in cheques for Christmas & birthday & I have a brilliant time spending it for her :)

When I was pregnant & buying & being given clothes, I wrote out a list of what I all ready had & what I wanted so people could keep an eye out for me & I didn't end up with too much of some things & not enough of others.

I was in hospital visiting my friends baby last week & they must have had about 10 newborn size babygros just in hospital (let alone what they had at home) I had 4 for Kate & did a wash every day & dried the baby clothes on an airer next to the radiator. It's whatever you feel comfortable with though, previous to being a parent, I did 2 loads every Saturday, now I do 1 or 2 most days.

I am rambling now ...

[megabitch.livejournal.com]

we do a minimum of one load of laundry a day. more on a weekend. I hate laundry.

[ailbhe]

I'm holding tight to the idea that my mother had 5 of us and only did laundry once a week, except when she had tiny tiny babies. Mind you, I'm doing more laundry than that now, because I refuse to buy more than 3 in-between-sizes bras, because bras are so expensive. But once a week is the goal, even if I'm not going to achieve it.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

I enjoy hanging it on the line, putting it away is a bore & I have to do it immediately or it stagnates for days in the basket.

[lovingboth]

Yep to all that, I think, including the frequency of the washing!

If you buy lots of clothes, you can get away with washing less often, but a) your storage requirements will greatly increase, paticularly in the laundary basket, b) you will still have to wash some things more frequently than once a week because they have poo on them and c) you'll get even less use out of each item.

Oh, when you do sock shopping in Primark, get at least two identical pairs of each design. So when one gets lost, you've got a pair and a spare rather than a single odd sock.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

Katie has piles of clothes as we get given so many, the downside is the fact she has a full size wardrobe, a full size chest of drawers & a small set of drawers to fit it all in.

Yup, I only put clothes in the laudry basket that are "clean" or just have dirt on them. Anything with yucky stains goes straight into the washing machine to be washed that day.

When they are newborns, you don't want a pile of washing as it stinks of milk & poo. You will also need at least 3 changes of outfits yourself a day to be burped up on, leaked on etc & a burp cloth for each feed & more than 1 set of bedding if you have a leak while they're asleep.