Whenever you plan for remodelling old kitchens, you need to be sure that the floor is suitable for the day to day activities that it will face.
There are pro’s and con’s to every flooring option so asking the right questions is highly recommended before jumping into a decision simply on style. Luxury vinyl flooring, being a top contender for every area of the home, can answer most.
The reason that the lowest price Amtico flooring is among the preferred products for flooring throughout the UK is down to its manufactured benefits that place it in front of all alternatives. LVT is no longer considered flimsy and poor, instead opting for a more PVC-free, environmentally-friendly design that perfectly replicates real wood and stone flooring.
The upfront benefit is that homeowners can reduce costs on professional fitting by undertaking the task themselves. Clicking together planks and or gluing down tiles is a simple enough process. A glue-down method may require additional help from a pro if you are unsure about adhesive use.
Reinforcement
Developers of vinyl flooring have focused on safeguards to protect against the most common problems flooring typically face, making it a trusted product for heavy foot traffic that a kitchen takes. Its wear layer protects against scratches and falling items which would leave an imprint on other floorings.
With all kitchens, water, and moisture from washing up dishes to spilt drinks will always be a constant – some requiring more than a quick wipe up. Amtico’s moisture resistance provides added assurance that those spillages will not leak through planks or tiles to the subfloor, meaning you get a much longer lifespan from your floor.
Modern living room with parquet flooring and stylish furniture
Comfort
Many people now have become accustomed to underfloor heating in the home and look for flooring that can handle not just rises in temperature but also be a great insulator. Luxury vinyl flooring is manufactured to be warm and comfortable underfoot as well as be a perfect partner to underfloor heating.
To focus on the positives that allow the vinyl options to march much further than other flooring brands you have to also focus on the warnings. One of which is to not soak the floor when cleaning it, but to rather use a mop that is fully wrung out. Although vinyl is fully waterproof, it can still be affected by large amounts of water left unattended on the surface and weaken the adhesive.
But if given care after installing and following a few simple guidelines, your kitchen will be the maximum amount of safety with a vinyl flooring option. When it comes to maximum protection and satisfaction in the kitchen, vinyl flooring is a leader for satisfaction.
I can’t quite believe I have a three year old. Doesn’t every parent say that on their child’s birthday though? Just three years ago we were on our way to hospital which would eventually lead to c-section number two for me, but with the support of Adam and my Doula Sophie and the obsetrician team at Basingstoke hospital Felix came into the world angry and purple. When we had him three years ago we didn’t expect to have to parent the way we have especially over the last 18 months of the c19 pandemic which is half his life. It’s a long time for a little person and it’s been really hard not being able to spend as much time with friends and family in his early years as we normally would have. To celebrate we brought our families together for a windy, and slightly, wet day out at the Hawk Conservancy Trust which was really nice. We had a lot of fun watching the birds flying around and spending time together.
Felix has also just moved up a group class at nursery which he started back in June. It’s been tough as he didn’t have a very consistent few months and was constantly having to take time off because of covid restrictions. However, for the last six weeks he’s settled in really well and has been having a great time at nursery. It’s been nice reading about how he’s doing even though its not been every week. One of the things we worried about most was the fact that he hadn’t had the chance to interact with many other children and we wanted to provide a way for him to do that, make friends and have some seperation from us. It’s been really good for all of us I think and has helped create a bit more of a weekly routine.
I have especially noticed a huge jump in his speech over the last month or so where he is saying words, phrases and sentances and having more of a conversation with us. Things like “Oh let me see” “Let me have a try” and “I go in the lift” are just a few that comes to mind. He fills his sentances with a lot of baby jargon and will give his toys voices and characters when playing which is really lovely to watch. He also loves to draw and colour, mostly on Procreate on my iPad but we’ve also got him his own box of colouring pencils and crayons now for him to be artistic. He doesn’t really enjoy certain textures or messy play with his hands so I’m starting to notice some sensory reluctance for him. He seems to love things like kinetic sand and playdoh but does not like sticky/slimy textures. He loves being in the water and his confidence when swimming has really improved. I want to take him much more.
We are thinking as well now he’s three to look at a physical activity he can get involved in regularly like tumble tots, gymnastics or dance classes. I wish I had found something for Evie early on like this as it would have been great for her but co-parenting with someone 100 miles away made it quite difficult with stuff on the weekends as it wouldn’t have been consistent. I don’t have that issue with Felix so it’s something I want to seriously consider looking into over the next month or so and enroll him in before we are allocated extra hours for nusery. My hope is it will give him a little more structure and routine during the week and increase his confidence, expression and find a love of movement.
Anyway, a very happy third birthday to my little man. I’m so thrilled to celebrate you.
I recently read an article about how Britain is facing a ‘Baby Shortage’ which is predicted to lead to ‘economic stagnation’ due to the fact there will be an increase in the amount of people retired vs the amount of people in work. An aging population, a decline in the amount of births, I suppose, means less products for the machine to keep the economy going. You can read the whole article via The Guardian and the reports from Social Market Foundation Thinktank who are trying to think of ways to encourage people to have children. It’s comparing data since the 1960’s post war baby boom to today and predicting by 2050, a quarter of Britons will be 65+ and either working less or retired (if, by that point, we can actually afford to stop working). Suggestions include improving childcare as it can be very unaffordable, and creating a cross government taskfosk to improve pronatalist policies to improve the amount of children per woman back to 2.1 which helps keep the economy at a ‘stable level’ apparently. So what should they do? What would encourage you to have more children or start a family? What puts you off?
Raising a family is a personal choice and should never be forced or women made responsible for expanding the population
What the government should NOT do under any circumstance
Do Not Ban Abortions
I am fully supportive of women that want or need to have safe abortions for whatever reason they choose. I do not believe in banning abortions under any circumstance. This would be an awful suggestion following in the footsteps of the US which has seen more and more states increase abortion bans. This is a violation of womens rights and bodily autonomy. It is a possibly I am sure many ministers would approve but I would hope that the majority of MP’s would oppose such a horrific proposal. Everyone deserves the option to seek safe medical care and that includes the allowance of abortions. Having children is a lifechanging decision and the reasons women have abortions are varied, can be complex and, quite frankly are no one else’s business. This will not help improve things but instead it will see more children in care, more children in foster homes and, more peri and post natal mental health issues.
Continue raising taxes and national insurance for low income workers
The recent tax and national insurance hike will dramatically affect a couple’s want to start a family. Now there is the two children limit on benefits, bedroom tax and minimum wage not near enough a genuine living wage having children is more expensive than ever. I’ll touch on childcare later on in this post but childcare provisions for low income workers in receipt of Universal Credit doesn’t start until the child is two years three months, yet statutory maternity pay ends at 9 months. Wages aren’t going up fast enough but the cost of living is rising expotentially. Many women make a tough choice about returning to work before their child is one and the money earned to childcare ratio is simply not good enough and with employers not willing to consider part time, job share and flexi working its a real problem. And it’s not just childcare either, it’s the donations to nurseries and schools, the uniform, the bags, the shoes, the food…it all costs money. Some people can’t afford to have children, some don’t want to have children until their in a much more stable place financially, and that’s often older. Some people just don’t want children at all, and some parents are just happy to have the one because that completes their family or, they may have had to access fertility treatment and can’t afford or can’t go through the process again. The same way many women choose to have abortions, many couples and women choose not to have children and this needs to be respected. However, it can’t be ignored that lack of financial stability is a factor when deciding to start a family.
What things would genuinely help to improve couples wanting to expand and increase their families?
Childcare Provision
The think tank was not wrong suggesting better childcare would help improve the birthrate. Childcare is expensive and as I said above there is a shortfall of help from the end of maternity leave to the start of government funded hours. I believe tax free childcare might help some parents if the workplace is signed on to the scheme but personally I have never found that to be particularly competitive when working a full time job as it does not even nearly cover the amount of hours needed to enroll a child in full time nursery. Potentially it could help cover costs if you have grandparents help but it works out at every £8 you pay for childcare, the government would pay £2. Childcare is around £55-60 per day in my local area, that’s approx £1,300 per month. A tax free £500 every three months might help but it certainly isn’t good enough. For those on benefits the assistance with childcare and claim up to 85% of your childcare costs depending on income. So in retrospect for lower income workers there is help out there but there is also a lot of shame and stigma around claiming benefits and there are a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get the amount entitled to.
I think funded hours should be brought in for working parents much earlier than two years three months (low income) and three years three months (everyone else) to make it more affordable, rather than the tax free childcare scheme which on paper doesn’t really look very helpful.
Statutory leave for parents is awful, particularly for new dads or partners eligible for paternity leave. It’s a reduction in pay and a lot of pressure for parents to get back to work straight away. I would like to see maternity leave increased from nine months to twelve months and the pay increased to a full wage for the first six months and reduced to 85% (the current stat pay) from six to twelve months. Paternity leave should be extended to a minimum of six weeks and should be paid at full pay for the first two weeks and at 85% for the remaining four weeks. Those initial six weeks at home with your newborn are crucial for bonding, establishing breastfeeding, adjusting to new family life and offering your partner much needed support.
Birth can be beautiful but it can also be traumatic and 25% of first time births happen via c-section ie. major abdominal surgery which takes 12 weeks to fully recover from. At day ten when Adam went back to work I was still struggling to move around, get myself out of the bath and lay comfortably in bed. Recovery time varies but I bet I’d recover a lot better if I hadn’t had to do a 40 minute school run, and try and look after all of us whilst my partner worked nights and attended university. I know our circumstances were unique but I felt a lot of pressure to recover quickly despite having complex surgery, loosing a lot of blood and having a newborn to look after not to mention all the post natal feelings. We talk alot about increasing breast feeding support, something I really struggled with, but perhaps if partners were at home to help for six weeks then mothers could establish breastfeeding and we’d see those statistics raise too because they could just focus on that rather than the home, the school run, and all the other things that are expected of the parent that stays home.
Flexible Working
I understand that new government plans are enabling workers to ask for flexible working from day one, and if anything this pandemic has taught us that parents can work flexibly, from home, around homeschooling, during a time of national crisis. However, I just don’t see all employers allowing it to happen despite the cost effectiveness flexi working can bring both employers and workers. Honestly, it has a really good affect on morale, productivity, helps cut carbon emissions, office costs etc however flexi working does not mean a lack of pay because when you work from home you’re transferring energy costs back to the worker. But Flexible working doesn’t just mean having to work from home. It could be changing the traditional working week, introducing job shares. Pregnant then screwed is a great campaigning website to help parents get fair treatment and rights post starting a family in the workplace particularly if you’ve faced parental or maternity discrimination.
Recent research has suggested that a 4 day working week offers the same amount of productivity, in some cases more, as a five day working week. Adam does a 4 on 4 off shift basis and it has dramatically improved our family life because even though he works nights and the first day off he’s really tired, he has enough time at home to adjust and actually feel like he has some consistent time away from work. I think more research was done to show employees reach peak efficient performance at six hours, so an eight+ hour working day isn’t getting people to be more productive, it probably makes them clockwatch all that bit more. There are plenty of chances to offer flexibility in the work place and I genuinely think if workers weren’t afraid to ask for a flexible work schedule – because employers think flexible = lazy/not productive/inability to manage priorities (I mean, they really couldn’t be more wrong here) – we would have more people wanting to have a family without threat of their jobs being compromised. Oh, and this absolutely HAS to incorporate a realistic living wage, better maternity/paternity benefits and childcare provision.
Inability to access fertility treatments and have the time off employment to do this
For LGTBQTIA+ couples and Cis couples that require fertility treatments there is a bit of inquality here. Fertility appointments can take time and can be invasive and painful requiring time away from the workplace and, for some couples, they can be incredibly expensive. I can’t comment too much here because it’s not an area I am experienced in but this type of access needs to be improved and employers need to be able to discuss this with workers with compassion and sensitivity. Again, a realistic living wage would help with the financial stress particularly if time off is needed.
Saving for a first house deposit vs starting a family
One other thing I think is worth mentioning is the fact that it takes a long time to save for a deposit on a house these days. Not everyone is lucky enough to get financial support from family for their first mortgage or can live with parents enabling them to save the funds. It sort of feels like you either save for a deposit on a house and then plan a family or if you want a family first, you rent. Saving money as you rent and raise children is not easy especially without a realistic living wage. People are choosing to have babies later on in their life and getting their career sorted and buying a home will probably be on many people’s priority list.
Save Our Planet vs starting a family
Another thing I think it’s worth mentioning is it isn’t just the financial cost of raising children that people are considering these days. Those that care about climate change are very seriously concerned about a growing, aging global population. Raising a child also increases your carbon footprint and waste. Being perfectly green is incredibly hard and even more so when having children. A growing population is a real cause for concern as it means more green spaces will be destroyed for housing, more animals killed for food, more waste from nappies, more plastics in use, and so on. The government are not serious enough about the importance of climate change and these are real worries and real concerns that people have when we only have one planet.
Whatever the case, starting a family, raising children is expensive. It’s also an incredibly personal decision and not something that should ever be forced on people. The cost of living is rising, and the cost of raising a child raising with it. If the government want more workers in work in the future then they need to provide potential parents with fair working regulations and financial security. Rent needs to be affordable for bigger homes, because buying a home is becoming increasingly difficult as finding £20,000+ is not easy whilst you’re having to pay out for rent and bills. Comparing data from the 60’s to today seems a little weird to me because society is completely different. The 40 hour working week that has become the norm today was designed so that one person could stay home to raise the children. Now, financial commitments mean that, on average, one wage is not enough money to live and raise a family on.
It is that time of year again; my favourite time of year. I used to feel Spring was my favourite season but actually I love the cosy sink into Winter that September and October bring. It’s the time of year I feel I have the most to celebrate having two Autumnal babies, I feel the most productive and feel just generally really good. The last two years my blog has taken a bit of a backseat because of the global pandemic – I can’t pretend it hasn’t affected me both negatively and positively but I have felt a distinct lack of motivation and actually, that’s made me feel really sad. I’ve always loved writing so I am hoping I am able to tune into my potential ADHD hyperfocus and get lots of posts written and generally be productive – make this blog actually look like it’s as active as it used to be. If you’re stuck on ideas of things to do you might want to check out Experience Days who have a great range of fun family activities in Hampshire.
Why do people make bucket lists?
I think it’s a way to focus and be in the moment. I know that seems a little bit contradictory by making a list and scheduling in things you want to do but there is an ASMR worthy satisfaction at ticking something off a to do list. Also, things have been really shit for me healthwise – both mentally, and physically thanks to my dodgy eye and having had a Brain MRI which really scared me. I feel compelled to schedule that time in with my family, to do things together to make some memories, take some photos and actually enjoy part of my favourite season. I also think like I need to push myself a bit and get out of my own comfort zone. Awaiting for an ADHD assesment is going to be a long process and I’m trying to put lots of positive steps in place at the moment to help me and trying to get things scheduled in to make changes but I find it very hard. On the other hand I find this really, really frustrating because I feel like I’m getting in my own way of doing things I want to do but physically finding it so exhausting and overwhelming. This is a lot of babble, but it does help. I’ve always said getting the words out of my brain and onto paper – or onto this blog – helps me to deal with life overwhelm.
There is something so calming and peaceful about walking through the woods on an autumn day
So I wanted to make a bucket list of things I want to do during my favourite season which will be opportunities to multiask as I can create blog content, vlogs, and take lots of photos to stick in our family photo album and scrapbook. I wanted a list of things I could tick off whilst I am in waiting mode for health care appointments and therapy. I wanted to give myself something to look forward to and give us all a little reduction in screen time. And focus on my blog and get new posts written. It’s a whole thing and actually I’m really excited at having a few little day trips, photo sessions and moments of creativity to look forward to.
Our Family Autumn Bucket List
Walks and photos in our local woods and forests collecting pinecones, conkers and autumn leaves
Pumpkin Picking at our local Pick Your Own farm
Celebrate Felix’s 3rd birthday with a day at the Hawk Conservancy Trust
Doing a spooky photoshoot with Felix in the woods
Making some food with the pumpkins we pick: I want to do stuffed mini pumpkins, pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin food, I love pumpkin spice (yes, I’ve had my seasonal PSL from Starbucks too)
Carve a pumpkin for Halloween
Getting Evie and Felix a Halloween costume
Take some cosy autumanl bookish flatlays and photos for Instagram
Take Felix to his first fireworks display (if there are any on) for Bonfire night
Felix spotted a bat sculpture on one of our forest walks
We have a couple of lovely local woodlands in Hampshire and surrounding counties so there will be plenty for us to do, the kids will get some much needed time to run around and have fun and I am sure I can get plenty of lovely photos of them. Some of it is work related but something that I can get creative with. I have wanted to do pick your own pumpkins for a while now and I think that will probably be a bit muddy but def a bit of fun. I think, picking a pumpkin, and making something with it might also encourage my very fussy toddler to eat something. I can’t quite believe we will be celebrating Felix’s third birthday either.
Getting a degree as a mature student and full time working parent has been a challenge, but has it been worth it? Adam first returned to University back in 2017 where he studied an Access course at our local college. The course was one years intensive study where he was in lessons around four days a week. He had to do an independent personal project and learn new skills that he hadn’t done before including referencing, research and data collection. It was a completely new experience for him after over ten years outside of education. I think there were many moments of hardship and stress where Adam asked himself is getting a degree worth it?
The Cost of Getting A Degree
It’s expensive. There’s no way around it. Getting a university education is not cheap. However, student finance is an option and I believe you get four full time years student finance available to you. This can be used with a traditional university, a college offering foundation degrees and other institutes of Higher Education such as The Open University. In the UK the first place to apply is through the student finance website and repayment of student loans happens once you’ve finished your degree and are in paid work above a certain threshold. In other countries this works differently and some people choose to refinance their student loans. If this is applicable to you, you can discover more here.
Why Do Mature Students Return to Education
I think there are many reasons why people return to education. For Adam, he had been working in his job for a good few years and was just going nowhere. There was no room for progression and he was so desperately unhappy and feeling unfufilled. He felt he wasn’t living up to his own potential and wanted a career for himself. We wanted to expand our family and move home eventually and it just was feeling like it was impossible. I feel like I’m finally doing something I love being able to work from home and write for a living and Adam wanted something for himself. I remember our conversation about studying and we got an Open University prospectus as Adam knew he would have to continue working through any form of study.
However, after seeing a friend finish an access course and get a place at University, we talked about him actually going to a place of study. It all happened pretty quickly after that as he applied in the July and was accepted to start in September. His chosen study path was Social Sciences and he had to redo his Maths GCSE alongside college. He applied for the course fee through student finance and reduced his hours at work slightly so they wouldn’t interfere with college. It was a pretty hard year financially as during college we didn’t get any financial help, aside from the fees paid, and he had a paycut from work.
I think wanting to change career paths or enable some form of career progression is probably one of the main driving forces when deciding to return to education but sometimes it can just be something to do, having a passion for a subject and wanting to learn more or potentially something for the CV after a career break, or starting a family. For Adam, it was very much about having the qualifications to build a successful, interesting and exciting career, although he didn’t know what he wanted to do, or even full study at University.
Doing an Access to HE course is an excellent pathway for Students that enjoy Classroom Based Learning
Adam felt going into a classroom would be much easier for him rather than completely independent study as it offered some routine and structure. He had a really successful and enjoyable year on his Access to HE course in Social Sciences anr originally applied for a degree in Criminology to five Universities. A couple were local and some were a little further affield. He got conditional offers from each University and eventually decided to study at Winchester as it was the shortest, and easiest, commute via public transport.
Being a Mature Student Might not be the ‘Typical’ University Experience
Adam isn’t a big drinker, partygoer and is pretty introverted as a person so he wasn’t really interested in the social experience University can offer younger students flying the nest and striking out on their own for, probably, the first time. Adam was in his mid-twenties, worked full time, was learning to drive and became a dad during his first semester of University. His plan was to study, come home, sleep when he could and do it all again. The extra financial help really helped us top up his wages but Adam felt a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. Finally passing his driving test in his first year really made a difference for the rest of his University experience, as did when our Son slept through the night in his bed eventually. Despite all of this Adam had a positive experience whilst studying his undergraduate degree. He doesn’t feel like he missed out on anything living off campus and away from busy student social occassions. However, he wouldnt particularly recommend starting a family, starting University and changing jobs all in one month to be the way forward as it was a lot.
Has Getting a Degree Been Worth It?
Personally, I think yes. Adam achieved second class honours: upper division (a 2:1 BA degree) despite a lot of obstacles including studying through homeschooling and a global pandemic. It has not been easy but despite everything he did really, really well. Right now, it’s hard to say in terms of a career because he has decided to stay on at his current place of work whilst finishing his Masters post graduate degree. His degree in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics has built an excellent foundation for his chosen Masters programme in Reconcilliation and Peacebuilding. His hope is that this will allow for an exciting graduate career, a chance to relocate as a family and just build something to be proud of; giving us the opportunity to have a happy and fufilling family life. I know that realistically we are looking at a good few years of him building a career, working long hours but hopefully, the time we can spend together as a family, holidays we can have will make it all worth it. I think, as well, having a personal sense of achievement, especially after not doing so well at school, really helps make it all feel worth it in the long run.
