Candyfloss & Dreams

Category: Lifestyle

lifestyle blog posts focusing on home, lifestyle, parenting, pregnancy, family life and home and style. Home decor and working at home, working at home as a self employed freelancer and blogger. Family lifestyle blog posts including family reviews, family products and saving money as a family. Being a more eco friendly family.

  • How To Change Junior School Mid Year

    This is how to change junior schools mid year when your child is unhappy at their current place of education. Evangeline started Junior School in September 2018 and nothing has made her more miserable. It was a tough start to the school year with me being heavily pregnant, having Felix and then recovering from a more complicated c-section than everyone expected.

    I thought Junior School would be a little more challenging than Infant School but I was not prepared for an incredibly insensitive teacher, harder behaviour from Evangeline herself and the ridiculous amount of homework she was coming home with. Nor was I prepared for the anxiety and fear of school that she developed, the tears at apparently having no friends, the constant fear of being reprimanded and losing out on play time. It was time to move schools and I am so pleased to say that for the last two weeks she has been settling into a new environment really well.

    How to Change Junior School Mid Year

    I first contacted the school I wanted her to go to to see what the process of transfer was to be told they were full and that she would have to go on the waiting list. So that is what I did. Continue reading to find out how to change junior school mid year.

    How Do You Add Your Child To A Junior School Waiting List?

    I recommend calling the school to find out there process. I also recommend speaking with the current school to see if the situation could be met in partnership. I met with the deputy head but nothing changed. I spoke to fellow parents who had had a negative experience with this particular teacher and after talking with Evie we felt it was the best decision to change.

    I then applied through our county council school application process clicking through to the Change School Mid Year application rather than a new Junior school place. In hindsight I wish I had put her new school down as our first choice as she may have started Junior School where she is now but I thought we’ve put up with it this long and hoped for the best when she was in Year 2.

    About a week later I received a letter from the new school saying that unfortunately the school was at capacity for Year 3 and Evangeline would be placed on the waiting list. What I didn’t know was that her new school only has two classes per year group so is much smaller and only has 64 children per year. Her old school had 96 children over three classes so was quite a lot bigger. She was also already in her catchment school which was an hour round walk at 8am and 2.45pm every day. Her new school is much closer but we are right on the border for catchment which is why she didn’t get in originally when I applied for Reception.

    I applied in November and we were thankfully offered a place in the middle of January so the process of moving up the waiting list happened very quickly which really surprised me. I was seriously contemplating removing her from her old school and homeschooling until she had a new place. Thankfully it didn’t come to that.

    What Happens When You Are Offered A New School Place?

    When we were offered a place at the new Junior School we were offered a chance for Evangeline to come and have a look around and to ask any questions. We met with one of the assistant head teachers who talked passionately about the school’s curriculum, how they are using current funding to really drive forward a child’s learning and the extra activities the school offers. Not that I care that much about Ofsted but the new Junior School was rated Outstanding opposed to her old school which was lower and do you know what you could really tell why.

    Once we had a look around we were handed some paperwork and had ten days to respond to the offer letter. I accepted verbally over the phone and brought in the paperwork the next day, alongside a birth certificate for Evie and two forms for proof of address. This was on the Friday were Evie got a chance to meet her new year three teacher after another hard day at her old school. She was very ready to leave after meeting her new teacher so we actually started a week ahead of schedule and she started on Monday. The process can go really very quickly if you’re prepared for it to.

    Evangeline started her new school on 28th January 2019 and the change has been dramatic. We are starting to see the best of her again.

  • Seperating From Your Child During School Holidays

    One thing I think a lot of parents feel awkward after deciding to end the relationship is the split for the school holidays. On one hand if you are confidently co-paring and in partnership with your ex partner they can be managed really well, particularly if you’re both working parents as neither one should have to take all of their holiday or foot the bill for holiday childcare (in theory). You may have an agreement more similar to mine though where you’re not really co-parenting for many reasons due to the nature of the previous relationship or distance. For me, it’s both.

    I moved back to my home town with Evangeline when I became a single parent which is around 100 miles away from her dad. So when it comes to the day to day it’s down to me to do everything, with the help of Adam of course, but before Felix came along I was clearly the parent and Adam the partner. Evie would dance off to her dads with glee at all the presents she would be given, all the sweets and sugar and fun days out. I am, as my friend Jade at The Parenting Jungle said the everyday mummy.

    So in these last almost seven years the split of the school holidays has been both hard and a relief. It’s been hard because it’s more than the every other weekend which has provided me with a chance to shop in peace or go out without the need for a babysitter with Adam. It’s been hard knowing that my daughter is having fun without me and doing things that I can not provide her with as frequently. It’s knowing that every six weeks or so she has an extended break from me, from everyday mummy, from routine which means when she is home there’s another adjustment period. It’s been a relief because it’s been a bit of respite for me, it’s been a chance for me to have private time with Adam which has helped our relationship grow into the loving and strong partnership it is today. It’s given us time to get to know each other as individuals not parents. It’s given me the break that mums want from time to time to catch their breathe whilst knowing their child is being well looked after.

    Things feel different now that we have another child in the home. Evangeline and Felix are really developing a bond and whilst of course I don’t want her to miss out on time with her Dad and his family, I also don’t want her to feel like she’s missing out on the things we will be doing here as a family too now that our cinema dates are going to be swapped for baby bedtime routines and soft play once again.

    Our plan over the term time holidays is quite simple really. For one week half terms Evangeline is away for four nights and five days. When it comes to Christmas Evangeline either goes the day she finishes school until Boxing Day or Boxing Day until New Years Day. For the Easter break she has six nights with her dad and then amongst her weekends away over the summer holiday she also spends two weeks of the six weeks with him. In comparison, especially over the summer holidays, she is still with us the majority of the time which can be quite tough as like most parents we can’t afford to do something fun and exciting every day. We have a summer holiday booked and I’m sure we will make a few day trips but mostly Adam we will still be working, doing the usual trips to the park, seeing family and having PJ Days.

    Being the ordinary parent, the basic parent, the one that meets the day to day needs, the school runs, the constant battle to tidy her room, take your plate out please, put your rubbish in the bin kind of mum I don’t really know if Evangeline enjoys her break time with me. It certainly feels like she prefers her time with her dad which is more exciting as it’s not the ordinary, the routine and the mundane. It makes seperating from her during the holidays harder because amongst missing her I feel jealous that I can’t give her more. I just hope that as she gets older she appreciates that we are doing the best we can to give her a fun, enjoyable and balanced childhood.

  • Lost Boy By Christina Henry 3/52

    A few years ago I read a book by author Christina Henry called Alice. It was brilliant. Lost Boy is another such book, an interesting interpretation of the original story of Captain Hook. I really enjoyed reading it and managed to finish it in about two days. It’s the sort of book I would recommend to those that enjoy fantasy books, particularly twisted tale style books and that don’t mind a bit of gore. The books are firmly for adults with some of the language used and content described despite being about a group of children.

    I like Henry’s writing style. It’s really easy to read, interesting and makes you think a lot about these fairytale worlds we’ve been transported into and made into fluffy adaptations by Disney. It’s really fun to read a different type of tale from what we know, or think we know, with classic fairy tales and stories from our childhood. The speed in which I read the book speaks volumes I think as I couldn’t be distracted from it, except for my kids, and did not want to put it down.

    Lost Boy is told from the perspective of Jamie, one of the original Lost Boys and what Peter Pan is really like. It’s full of fights with pirates, the threat of the Many Eyed and what happens when the dynamic of a group changes completely. It’s quite surprising in places actually and Jamie is a really likeable character. It’s always very strange reading the original hero as a type of villian actually and that’s why I really like her books. They just change and alter that perspective and make you think “what if” a little bit more. I always like reading books that challenge our original thoughts and ideas of what we think we know.

    Lost Boy is available to buy on Amazon (Affiliate Link Below)

    One of my goals for 2020 is to read 52 books or around one a week. Some might be new, some are ones I’ve had for a while or been meaning to read, some I haven’t quite finished yet and some will be recommendations from others. You can see all the books I’ve read so far on my Good Reads 2020 Reading Challenge.

  • I Can’t Help Feeling Disappointed with Kingdom Hearts 3

    Kingdom Hearts was a game I loved during my teenage years. It was a fun mix of Final Fantasy favourites and Disney characters which was something I personally hadn’t seen before. The first two games were available on the Playstation 2 and there have since been prequels, mid-games and extras to fill out the story line into something that’s actually quite complex to get around if you haven’t played them all. Kingdom Hearts 3 has been a long anticipated game in the making and now I’ve finished the main story line I can’t help but feel disappointed.

    What’s Good?

    I tried to avoid spoilers on Kingdom Hearts 3 for a long time so that I could enjoy more of the game and so there were a few things I was pleasantly surprised with. Firstly I really like the addition of The Bistro which features Remy the Rat from Ratatouille. You can make stat boosting meals which is a fun little mini game, earn stars for The Bistro with the more recipes you make and it gives you an edge during game play for around 30 minutes. It’s similar to the cooking skill in Final Fantasy 15 which was really helpful.

    The controls are simple and most of the attacks are button mashing so it’s quite simple for younger players to play. The characters are all quite lovely, maybe a bit too much, so the language is very fluffy, again, catering to a younger audience. In particular, fans of Frozen will probably really enjoy the game as it has a whole sequence featuring Let It Go in all it’s glory.

    At first I liked the addition of the special attack Attractions in Kingdom Hearts 3 which mimic popular games at the Disney theme parks. They’re again easy to control and make fighting easier. Levelling up happens pretty quickly, you can access a shortcut menu and you can circle through three keyblade weapons at a time which helps to vary the combat a little bit.

    In Kingdom Hearts 3 we see the return of the Gummi Ship for navigating the space between worlds which I quite enjoyed. It was a bit more open and there were treasures to seek and mini battles. You are however a bit more limited in building your own ship for quite a while.

    What I Didn’t Like

    Pretty much everything else. Kingdom Hearts 3 has been long anticipated and has been in development for a really, really long time but it still felt incredibly rushed. The cut scenes were frequent and lengthy which often made it feel more of an interactive movie than a video game and from about a third of the way through I began skipping them as I just didn’t want to sit through another ten minutes of cinematic.

    I genuinely like cut scenes in games but this just had so many with the Kingdom Hearts 3 characters going on and on and on about hearts – which is the main point of the game, I know – but it felt repetitive. As I haven’t fully played the other games I didn’t really know much about the other characters and had to watch a plot line explainer video to catch me up to speed.

    Kingdom Hearts 3 main story line is too short, I mean the cut scenes drag it out a lot but the actual game play feels minimal in comparison. I think that’s what I was really disappointed with to be honest. I’m used to these games clocking up a good 45-50 hours of my time to get through the main story but on standard mode it was cut to about 30 hours. I actually think if I didn’t have kids and didn’t have to keep pressing pause and skipped all the cut scenes I could easily complete the game in a day, especially on beginner mode, probably on standard mode and maybe a little longer on the harder difficulty. For a £50 game on the day of release (£55 on the PSN store which I majorly regret purchasing as I now can’t sell it on) it almost feels like a bit of a waste of money.

    The treasures and collectables in Kingdom Hearts 3 aren’t interesting enough. The maps are so big, hard to navigate without an expanding map and actually makes for quite frustrating game play. The addition of the camera is fine to hunt for the hidden Mickey lucky emblems but again I just felt it was something they took from Final Fantasy 15. Speaking of which, there are no Final Fantasy characters throughout the game that I’ve found which is what drew me to the series in the first place. I also haven’t found the usual arena competitions if there are any.

    Overall the game just feels rushed, over too quickly and disappointing which is a real shame as I was so looking forward to playing it.

  • Valentines Day As Parents

    How are you spending Valentines Day this year? Do you celebrate it? It’s much less a thing when you’ve been with someone for a fair few years and have children at home. This is our first Valentines Day as new and equal parents but really would we be doing anything different if Felix wasn’t here yet? No, probably not!

    In fact this year Valentines Day will mostly be spent with us apart. Adam finishes his pattern of night shifts Thursday morning and then has two lectures at University in the afternoon. I imagine by the time he gets home around 6.30pm he will be exhausted from almost 24 hours awake. Felix and I will be spending the day together, doing the school run and repeating sleep, change, eat, play every three hours from 5am until 8pm when I will probably crash out myself. I think we will be lucky if we even have dinner together – probably something I’ll pop in the slow cooker early in the morning to save time.

    We may choose to be a little bit more together Friday evening after another early start for us all and Adam again at University. Perhaps we will finally have the lamb wellingtons in the freezer with a glass of wine of which I’ll probably only manage half. Valentines Day as parents is not particularly glamorous but it is and will be still full of love. Love for each other, for our children and the family life we have. Although I am getting him some beer and I think he’s giving me some makeup money because any excuse for presents really. We are going to London in a couple of weeks time for The Baby Show actually which I’m pretty excited about. With Felix reaching more milestones it’s going to be a great chance to meet brands more suitable for his age, find a decent high chair for him and get lots of information on weaning.