#CountryKids Camping at Callow Top with Single With Kids

This weekend we finally got back around to going camping again after 2 years! Last year with moving house and poor weather we hadn't managed to go. So we dug out the kit, borrowed some of my parents' camping gear and headed off to Callow Top near Ashbourne for a Single With Kids camping weekend. An easy drive down meant that by 8 PM we had the tent and gazebo all set up (with a little help from some other campers) and ready for the weekend:

Eagle eyed readers will spot what it is that is missing from the above shot? I had to do a mad dash to the camp shop and plead with them not to lock up so I could by a regulator! A very helpful man used the photograph so that I could buy the right one and cook our tea (hot dogs in buns).

My son had been playing with some of the other children and my daughter had been off exploring when we were invited to the party tent to sit around the fire and the children were given marshmallows to toast:

At about 11 my son and I decided we were too tired to stay up and retired to our tent. My daughter stayed up a bit longer with some of the older children. The next morning I was up rather early as the sound of birds and sheep seemed really loud! It all looked very peaceful in our part of the camp:

Single with Kids in Broad Haven

I got back last night from co-ordinating a Single With Kids in Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire. Having been on a variety of their trips to hotels and camping it was exciting to be left in charge for a week! We were staying at the Youth Hostel and had exclusive use of it for 6 nights.

It took me back to have to make my own bed in the room! We were in a 7 bunk room with just the 3 of us an en suite wet room/toilet. The hostel was really close to the beach:

We had so much fun including a sunset walk on the beach:

Top Tips for a Single Parent Christmas Day from OneSpace.org.uk

Make Christmas Yours

1. First and foremost, DO NOT believe that everyone else in the world is enjoying a cosy family Christmas around a log fire. They aren’t.
2. This is the year to create new family traditions with your children. Get them to make or choose new decorations and then have fun decking the tree as a family.
3. Go out with the children and get holly and ivy and frame your photos or doorframes. Make the house look magical for your children.
4. On Christmas morning have a small treat just for you, next to your bed to wake up to.
5. Open the stockings all together snuggled on your bed.
6. Put on Christmas music and dance around the bedroom in your pyjamas just celebrating the day.
7. Treat yourself to your favourite breakfast – bacon & eggs, salmon & cream cheese bagels, pancakes
8. You might consider going to your local church for the morning service. Sing along to all your favourite hymns.
9. Consider inviting other single parent friends over for lunch. A family is what you make it.
10. Remember you’re not alone. If you need a bit of support or a boost on the day then chat to the other single mothers in the forums at onespace.org.uk, they’re a very friendly lot!

Can you add any more?

Tips from other single parents from our forums:

“I am going to eat chocolate on Christmas morning with my girls and then put the Mamma Mia CD on very loudly and dance around the Christmas tree”

“Every year I allow C to open one present Christmas Eve, we play board games too, all over the Christmas period. Even though there's just the two of us, I peel the vegs the night before, so I don't miss anything with him Christmas morning.”

“We camp out in the living room”

“What we like to do on Christmas Day is wear our favourite clothes that we don't usually wear - you know, the little black dress that you love but never get the chance to wear, or the really hideous top that is at the back of the wardrobe, but you can't bear to throw away because, well just because!!”

“Christmas Eve they get new pjs to open, we watch Xmas films have some nice treats to eat, leave carrots for rudolf we make 'Santa dust' To sprinkle before they go to bed its glitter, sugar whatever iv got it helps Santa find hos way to us, they each have a stocking they hang that at the end of their bed”

“each year we buy or make a new tree decoration to add to it” 

“Food shopping I cover by saving all my clubcard points from Tesco and Sainsbury and using them towards that cost”.

For more advice and support go to OneSpace.org.uk

The Dilemma of the Single Working Parent

I was very relieved earlier this to get a term time only part time job. It was great no longer being almost fully reliant on the state. Not receiving maintenance from my ex for the children had meant that we had very little money. The income from my blog was negligible as its mostly in form of review items and days out. I also hadn't reestablished my Usborne book business after moving north.

The job is only 20 hours a week and even though I have to put my children in after school club it is well worth doing both financially and mentally! It left me a couple of hours each morning to get all the chores done and carry on blogging.

Back in September I was offered extra work at another school on a temporary basis to cover staff absence. This seemed like a great idea as it would mean more money. It did mean that I lost 3 mornings in which everything else got done.

Now I'm not sure it's a good thing to be doing. It doesn't really equate to more much more money as of course I'm quite rightly entitled to smaller benefit payments. Unfortunately the way they work these out is confusing and I don't really know what's happening with them. Because my payments from the extra work vary my benefit is different every month and I have to keep visiting the benefits office to prove every change!

The rest of my life seems to be always on the rush. Things aren't getting done and I know that right now my kids need more time with me rather than me getting stressed and being busy. Because the difference in pay isn't really enough to make a huge difference to our lives I am debating axing the extra work. I don't want to be a burden to tax payers but something is going to give if I carry on this way and its probably my sanity!

With my children being my responsibility 7 days a week I do have to put them first.

Gingerbread: make it work for single parents campaign

The make it work task list

We know that single parents want the opportunity to take up work that fits alongside their caring responsibilities, gives them enough money to support their children and allows them to progress. Now is the time for government, with employers, to employ a different attitude to single parents and work, and make that happen. Decisive action in four key areas would transform the working (and the home) lives of hundreds of thousands of Britain’s poorest families, and, at last, make it work for single parents. The workforce is waiting. We need the government to: Make work a guaranteed route out of poverty for single parents Get 250,000 more single parents into work by 2020 Employ a different attitude to work and school hours Unlock single parents’ skills and potential Add your voice to the make it workforce today. Already done it? Then find out what else you can do to get our campaign rolling…