A Family Movie Trip

The cinema for me is like a safe haven.

I get to sit there in the dark, enjoying a good movie (well mostly good) and be around people without the pressure of having to talk to anybody which for me is always a good thing. It used to be that I would happily go to the cinema alone and would see several movies a week, that was before the anxiety took over and I stopped leaving the house alone, so now I look forward to going with Ant whilst J goes to his Grandma's.

I want the cinema to be something J can enjoy too, but a movie can be hard for any child to sit through in full, without adding in Autism, ADHD and sensory issues, which can take the formerly safe haven cinema trip to a stressful trip. Trying to hush him, trying to keep him in his seat, hoping he doesn't interrupt the movie for everybody else and spoil it for them or have them telling us to be quiet and feeling like we have to leave - my worst nightmare.

Then a few nights ago my friend messaged me reminding me I had some codes for cinema tickets to claim and that they had to be claimed that day but could be used any Sunday for the next 3 weekends. So I had a look at the cinema listings for a Sunday, and there it was in big bold letters

AUTISM FRIENDLY SCREENING - the lights are kept on low rather than fully off, the volume is adjusted, and it's much more relaxed allowing for movement and noise from the audience.

I mentioned to Ant that they were showing Smallfoot and he was willing to give it a go so I booked it.

The Autism Friendly Screenings are general admission which means you can't choose your seats at the online booking stage, which I will admit sent me into a mild panic as I like to know exactly where I am sitting and know that I won't have to sit next to anybody else (apart from Ant or J) I was also worried that it could be super full and we wouldn't find seats or be able to sit together so we set off a bit early - one so we could get there on time as the Abbey Dash was on and there were a lot of road closures near us, and secondly to make sure we got seats.

The Cineworld at White Rose Centre Leeds is a fairly new addition to the shopping centre but it's fast becoming our favourite cinema despite there being a Vue only a mile from our house.

As we entered the cinema foyer they had a Grinch Snowglobe set up which J and Ant both had a quick turn in although the picture didn't come out brilliantly. Then we showed the digital ticket on my phone and were shown to our screen. We were the only ones in there for several minutes which gave J a chance to decide where we should sit (with much guidance from Mama) before approximately 10 other families came in in dribs and drabs.

The good thing about Autism Friendly Screenings is there are no adverts or trailers. You are straight into the film.

Smallfoot was a fantastically funny film that me and the boys really enjoyed. Lots of laugh out loud moments and speculation between me and Ant as we tried to deduce which actors voiced which character. After about one hour a lot of the children became restless - a few audible noises, moving in their seats, one little one walking about - but it was all ok. There was no trying to shush the children or tell them to sit down, keep still, be quiet. It was relaxed and meant we didn't need to worry when J started his rocking in his seat and we could still enjoy the film.

Overall it was a great experience and has made me really happy that I get to share my love of the cinema with J. We can't wait to go see the new Grinch movie in a couple of weeks time.

When coming out of the cinema to head back to the car we spotted one of the White Rose Centre's Christmas Displays - a giant Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. J likes to tell everybody Pluto is a dog, not a planet, so we stopped for a quick photo opportunity and a play on the park before heading home.

October - A Month Of Treats!

I love October.

It's the month I became a mummy. Which automatically makes it awesome and we always do something fun for J's birthday.

It's also when the clocks go back and the nights get dark and you get cosy and snuggle up on a night and I have an excuse to wear the funkiest slipper socks ever!

The other great thing about October is Halloween. I've only been carving pumpkins for 3 years but I love trying to come up with ideas for creative competitions as well as seeing what everyone else creates too. Some of the Halloween comps don't finish till early November so I'm hoping to have one or two Halloween wins to list on next months win list.

On to October's wins.

My first win of the month was a Bebeto Sweets hamper on twitter. Someone messaged me being a little bit negative as they'd won before with them and not got very much so I wasn't sure what to expect but it would either get eaten or given to trick or treaters. It was actually a really decent prize though with lots of yummy sweets inside.

I had a mystery book arrive through the post that I haven't got a clue where it came from called A Sky Painted Gold.

My third win was a True Crime magazine from their twitter page. I love reading about real crimes especially famous murder cases so this was perfect for a few moments peace.

@CherryGoodJuice on twitter run lots of weekly competitions and I won £25 Waterstones vouchers from them. I want to get J the new Oi! book as he loves that series so that's a great prize.

Leeds Recycles on twitter ran a competition for Recycling Week where they wanted people to retweet their tweets and one person would win £25. It didn't get as many entries as not every tweet mentioned the competition so I set up a column on Tweetdeck and made sure to retweet everything and was very pleased to win £25 of Love2Shop vouchers.

My third £25 win in 3 days was from That's Life magazine. They put a post up on Facebook asking for peoples Halloween pictures and they published a picture of J as a baby and paid me £25 for doing so! I've bought the magazine and saved it!

Grandparents Day saw a few comps and John Adams ran one asking what your grandparents had taught you. There were a lot of very soppy comments but I won a fantastic family games bundle by saying my Grandad taught me how to make a mean Meat and Taty Pie.

Our first kids mag win this month was a Maped Helix set of pens, pencils and a sharpener. J has really taken an interest in drawing and mark making now so they came at a great time!

Having tried for months to win on the Dairylea comp and finally managing to win on it last month I was super surprised to win again! This time a onesie!

The Book People turned 30 this year and they ran lots of daily competitions. I was over the moon to be notified I had won the Enid Blyton prize.

It contains:
The Adventure Series Collection
The Famous Five Collection
Friendly Folk Collection
The Secret Seven Collection
Magic Faraway Tree Audio Collection
Malory Towers Collection
The Find Outers Collection
Noddy Collection

and has an RRP of just over £650! I loved Enid Blyton as a child and look forward to revisiting them both alone and with J. They are timeless classics that my grandparents and parents loved before me and I am so pleased with this win.

Our second children's mag win was from Kraze and was a Voltron Lion Changer toy. (One for the Christmas box)

I have made a bit of an effort to try get back into Instagram this month after a lovely comping friend helped me clear all the dead wood from my account (Over 450 inactive accounts!!!)

My first Instagram win of the month was a cute Unicorn pencil case from Fringoo

I won 4 Odeon tickets through Pringles! (We are loving going to the cinema at the moment)

I won a box of Beefy Seabrook crisps in their Facebook freebie Friday competition.

Two fab Facebook wins for the Christmas box (or just before in one prizes case) of an Air and Space Origami Kit and a LEGO StarWars Advent Calendar.

J received a LWE to advise him that he had won with one of the Puzzler Children's magazine competitions. A PS4 1TB Console with FIFA 19, Little Big Planet and LEGO Superheroes!!!

I managed to win £57 on the Heinz promotion. It's worth buying a can and entering. I won on a Sunday afternoon and I think it was about 6 minutes past 12 when I entered although I don't believe there is a pattern!

My 2nd Instagram win is something which I have wanted for ages. I get their catalogue through the post and always flick through and wish I could justify a purchase. I won from Win Green. I won one of their Large Garage Playhouse's which are around £235 to buy. They are made from lovely thick fabric with beautiful stitched on detail and it will make a great den for J in his room.

After my earlier win with True Crime Library on twitter I was lucky enough to win from one of their newsletter competitions too and received a copy of Nowhere Girl.

The Range do regular Facebook competitions where they ask you to just comment with the blushing emoji three times - nothing else. I won some Snazaroo face paints from one of them which arrived in time for Halloween.

Along with the facepaints from the Range I also received some Halloween Goodies from Vodafone in their TuesdayTreats giveaway. There were light up pumpkin LED lights, fangs, sweets, cobwebs and a pumpkin carving kit.

On twitter Okido ran a competition for a Learning Resources Beaker Creature Liquid Reactor Super Lab which I won and have put away for Christmas along with a Pocket Microscope won from Kiddycharts on Instagram.

Our final childrens magazine win of the month is a Greedy Granny game, which, you've guessed it - is going away for Christmas.

End of the month consisted with not only loads of comps due to end of the month but also had Halloween and Win it Wednesday! So there was lots to keep me busy! I was really lucky though and finished the month on 4 wins in one day:
£100 Amazon voucher for my pumpkin picture
Sweets and Chocolates for my pumpkin
2 silver peas in a pod necklaces from Instagram
A hooded mask from a Facebook live chat.

So I've had a fantastic month. Lots of Christmas presents and lovely things won. I'm really focussing on Christmas now although I think J might have quite enough stuff so need to look at the rest of the family!

Happy one month till advents.

Danielle


Prize Breakdown:
Total Number of Prizes: 29
Total Prize RRP: £1950


 

September is done, look out October here we come!

Hello!

September was a real mixed bag for me in both comping and real life. While most people were looking forward to their kids going back to or starting school and gaining some extra time in their day, the start of my month was spent battling to get J into his new school and into full time education. He's been there 2 weeks now, with the first week being a transition week but he's doing really well. It did mean though that for the first two weeks of September he was only accessing 2 hours of education a day and I was spending a lot of my time making phone calls, emailing people and meeting people and then on his transition week until he went full time on the Thursday I was travelling to his new school with him and then waiting there before coming home so comping really took a back seat as I just didn't have the energy or inclination. I did think when he went full time I'd start really putting the hours in and comping lots but I found it really alien to have time to myself and not just the occasional hour so I did other things around the house, got dragged to garden centres and the vets by relatives who worry that my agoraphobia would take hold again now I have nothing to force me to leave the house like the school run (J gets transport) and then when I did finally feel like comping, my laptop went Pop!

All that aside, I did manage some wins, not my usual quantity but there are quite a few bits I'm really pleased about.

So lets begin.

The first win of the month was a Cadbury Bag from the Match & Win promo. I've not really bothered with it since, I'm not a football fan at all and don't really need a keyring which a lot of people seem to be winning. I also don't need any excuse to eat more chocolate.

I won a pair of Cineworld cinema tickets in a text competition. We haven't used them yet as I didn't want to waste them on any old film and so I'm hoping to save them for date night and go see the new Halloween film when it comes out.

J loves the Hotel Transylvania films and with the new one out there were lots of comps to win goodies. I'd seen a few comps to win a copy of the game and one of the new dolls on twitter so I made sure to enter them all. With every tweet I added a video of J reciting a scene from the second movie. One of his quirks is that he has full films, songs and adverts memorised and can repeat them effortlessly. We were lucky enough to win the Wedding Mavis and game for the Nintendo Switch.

We had two kids mag wins on consecutive days. One was a Tractor Ted floor puzzle and wooden tractor that drives over it and the other is a Power Rangers Steel Morpher. Both Will be going in the Christmas cupboard one for J and one for my nephew.

I won a fantastic childrens book on twitter from Sploshy about Transport. It's a brilliant book with each page dedicated to one type of vehicle which is named and the book asks questions and gets you to sing nursery rhymes too, its lovely.

Baker Ross have been doing loads of daily giveaways of little childrens art project kits on both twitter and Instagram. I was lucky enough to win a Dinosaur Fridge Magnet Scratch Art set. Here are some of our dinosaurs.

Aldiss run regular freebie Friday comps and I won a light box from them. I've bought some extra lettering and icons on eBay and it will be used as a Halloween prop.

I also won an overnight stay at a Jury Inn in their Freebie Friday competition.

I finally after trying from the beginning managed to win on the Freddo competition. I was hoping for LEGOLAND but ended up with a small adventure which wasn't suitable for us so I swapped it on the Virgin Experience website for some fancy chocolates.

New York Bagel Company are giving Bagel Tins away on their Bagel Thins. The odds are really good on this one.

I don't know how I came across it but Holland & Barrett did a big giveaway where they gave loads of Dr Organics Snail Gel products away on twitter and I won a face cream. I'm actually terrified of slugs and snails and the thought of using the cream weirds me out but my nan is really looking forward to using it.

I won a competition with Claudi and Fin of a goody bag and some Usborne book learning books which will be perfect for J. The goody bag has arrived and was a tote bag, pen, ruler, note pad, frisbee, rubber etc but unusually no coupon for some of their ice lollies which is a shame.

A couple of years ago during a mad moment one night I drew a poop emoji on my face. A kind of sh*t has hit the fan and I'm still smiling moment. It's been used in a few comps since and this time won me one of KD's new SNOT IT games which looks gross but great fun. I've put it out of the way till J's birthday.

Tesco and Nestle are doing a giveaway with lots of prizes from free sharing bags to TV's. You have to buy a bag of chocolate and put your code in to win, you can only win once but you can keep reusing your code till you do win. We won a £10 Sky movies voucher on it so it will go towards a new DVD or something.

After telling my grandma on the phone I was missing my postie and hadn't seen him for a while and hadn't had a win either I had 4 wins in the space of around half an hour! AMAZING! 

A yummy looking jar of Autumn Chutney is on it's way to me from Cartwright & Butler after I commented on their facebook competition with what my favourite thing about Autumn is.

I won a book for J from Carlton Books about Pirates on Talk Like a Pirate Day.

One of my favourite wins of the month is a No More Worries Kit from the Irish Fairy Door company. Not only did I win one for J but I won one for my friend Rachel whose son also has ASD. Anxiety can be a big thing in children on the spectrum so I'd love to see if it helps them any.

Then I decided to enter the Dairylea Super Cool or Super Cheesy comp which just like Freddo I had been entering with zero luck! You can imagine my shock when it came up saying I'd won! I've won a Polaroid Snap! camera. I can't wait for it to arrive.

I had an email from School Run to say I've won two Thames and Hudson Art books for children.

Then I had a surprise delivery from a kids mag of a Thomas the Tank Engine foam puzzle which is perfect for my nephew for Christmas or his birthday.

With Carabao cash due to end I put my last two codes in and won £5 on both of them.

So there you are. Despite a not very good start to the month, things picked up towards the end, and whilst a lot of the wins were on the smaller side sometimes it's the smaller prizes that keep you going.

I'm now all geared up for October. It's my favourite month of the year. It's J's 6th birthday which I can't wait to celebrate and also Halloween. I love me a Halloween creative comp. I've been working on ideas for me and the boy as well as pumpkins and really hope they work out how I envision them and win us some prizes. We've also got our Disney on Ice trip planned this month.

Here is for a smooth sailing month for everyone and the only frights to end with Halloween Delights.

Danielle.

Month review:

Total Prizes Won: 23

Total RRP of Prizes: £568

 

The Difference a Week Makes.

What a difference a week makes.

Last time I posted I was upset, I was angry and I was frustrated. I was struggling to get answers as to when J would start his new school, I was being promised phone calls and emails and I was hitting a brick wall. I got so much support from so many people. I needed that. It genuinely helped.

Things were still stagnant and getting no further. Even J's Speech and Language Therapist got involved in trying to get answers and usually medical professionals don't get involved with school admissions. He got me a number for the admissions officer who was dealing with J and told me what days she worked. I rang her up and was promised a phone call back. Guess what? It never happened. The Old School had tried chasing, I'd tried chasing, now medical professionals were trying to chase too and still no answers? It wasn't good enough. It would be really easy to get annoyed with the new school but they had no proper knowledge of J or our situation and that's why they couldn't provide answers. Apparently our case worker who dealt with the EHCP and assigning us a school doesn't have the best track history. The SENCO and a learning mentor  from school had had enough and went to the new school. This was on the Wednesday. They wanted to get things sorted and were willing to wait as long as it took. They meant business. They came back with answers.

On Friday we said goodbye to the old school for the second time.

Monday came and I dressed J in the uniform for the new school and my grandad picked us up. As we didn't know how long the journey would take we set off in ample time and were too early. A lot of waiting around didn't help with J's anxiety and he was a little disruptive and I filled with dread. Mrs W his one to one from the Old School came to help with the transition and I left J there for an hour. He had a great time. The next day my grandad again drove us to the new school. I was told this time do collect him up at 11am this time. Again they reported another great day. Wednesday he had lunch there and I collected him at 12:45 and then on Thursday he went full time!

After over a year at being in mainstream and only doing 2 and a bit hours a day he had managed to transition to a SILC and full time in just 4 days! Not only that but now he was full time he was going via transport so was picked up from home at 8am and dropped back home at 4:30pm - a long day for a 5 year old but he took it all in his stride.

So now he's in full time school. His class has 4 or 5 staff members to around 7 or 8 children. They have their own dedicated sensory room and their own rebound room with a swing and trampoline and other physical equipment as well as a private outdoor space. School say he is doing brilliantly for someone who has had no real access to learning as he was never in a classroom they've really surprised him by how well he's doing.

The difference in him in a week at home has been amazing too. I've never made it a secret that he can't read or write, or that we struggle with phonetics or even getting him to commit. Yet on Thursday he went and got a pear and came back in the living room.
''Mama, what letters are in pear? P. E. R - PEAR''
Now I know he missed a letter out and it would be so easy to correct him but I was just so pleased that he had sounded out the word as it's something he'd never done before. He can now spell out his name and the word CAT from memory. He's constantly asking me what letters are in words and is really interested.

He's also shown an interest in the time - digital not analogue and asks to check the time on my phone to tell me what time it is. This again is a massive thing as he's reading the numbers left to right whereas he would read them backwards before.

These may sound like small things but in the grand scale of things it's amazing .

This isn't how September is supposed to be...

J got his EHCP.

It was granted a little bit late - during the summer holidays - but it was granted and finalised and in place.

It named the new school we wanted.

This was everything! A fresh start, new beginnings, my son getting the education he not only wants and needs but deserves. Or so I thought.

August zoomed past us at a rate of knots and I'd heard nothing from the new school. I tried ringing but because it was the summer holidays there was no answer. September approached and I bought J's uniform based only on what I had read on the schools website as nobody had told me what he needed. Then I bought a version for the old school too, and I'm glad I did.

The 3rd September arrived and I dressed J in his new uniform for the old school and I took him back there. It was 8:55am and the play ground was manic. He used to start at 9:15 to avoid the crowds and the noise and the dangers. Groups of people with a child who is a flight risk are not good! School admitted they hadn't expected to see us, but where else was I supposed to take him? Why does no school want to take my son? They had one of his old one-to-ones on hand just in case who I'd happened to bump into in Asda a few weeks before and explained what was happening. I had major anxiety. In my head there were a few possible scenarios:

• I take J and they say no sorry, he's not our responsibility any more take him home
• I take J and they ring me within an hour to say he'd kicked off and could I collect him
• I take J and he has a brilliant time and then I wonder why on earth we are changing schools.

As it goes he had his first melt down by 9:03am, I cried, in fact I sobbed. Someone asked how I was and I broke. I asked at the office what time should I collect him and they didn't know because he shouldn't be there. I arranged to pick him up at 11:30 the time I picked him up last year. 

11:30 came and I arrived at the school and the Head was waiting for me. Uh-Oh! He said that due to the year below having a phased start there were a few safety issues so could we alter J's hours whilst we chase the new school. So now J has gone from a 9:15 - 11:30 day to a 9:15 - 11:15 day. 2 hours a day education. Well I say education except he's not really learning. He's in a class of his peers who are all ahead of him. He just wants to do his thing, he just wants to play, he doesn't want to join in with lessons because he can't read, write or do math and it frustrates him. 

So now we are in the second week of the school year, and this morning I got a phone call from the Old School. The new school is ignoring them. They aren't answering calls or replying to emails. I'm having the same issue. This is not on. They are the named school on my sons EHCP. The magical document that is supposed to make everything easier! ha! So J has gone back to the Old School to do a 2 hour day in a place that doesn't really want him and can't really meet his needs. 

I've fired off an email this morning, which my friend says is too polite, but yet still to the point asking for answers. I've tried to not lose my temper as I worry about repercussions on J but I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated that once again things for my boy who deserves the world and more are not straight-forward and once again I'm having to fight! 

I hope I get a reply. 

I hope I get a start date. 

I hope the new school eventually live up to the expectations and promise. 

I am quite laid back and chilled usually but I will turn into protective Mama Bear for my boy, and I will fight to the ends of the Earth for him. 

I give it a week. I feel that is ample time. Also it means J does a full week at the Old School as I don't want him to be confused doing a few days at Old School then moving the the new one, I want him to start a fresh on the Monday so he can have the weekend to prepare. If no news in that time and still a lack of response to calls or emails my next port of call will be to arrange someone to take me to the new school and I shall sit in the reception area and refuse to move until they sort it out. 

For the second year running September has gone to the dogs. What is supposed to be a happy and exciting time about going to school is stressful and frustrating and my son is once again pushed from pillar to post and his needs forgotten about.  

An Awesome August Recapped

August is the month when school holidays are in full throttle and you've already exhausted all your fun ideas in the last week of July. So with that in mind I was determined to try and win some fun things to do, or if possible win some of the back to school things we need in order to lessen the to do list. It also meant comping time was limited so I did more social media comps and purchase comps this month that were quick and easy to enter although we also spent a bit of time on an effort comp or two but they were ones where my son was involved with helping me or taking part too. 

Anyway on to the wins.... 

The first August win was for J from a kids mag and was a Lost Kitty blind box. J is obsessed with anything 'surprise' he loves watching the opening videos on You Tube so was excited by this. (I however didn't realise they had playdoh in them and had a mad panic when he opened it on my rug ha ha) a small win but a nice one to keep the boy busy for a few minutes. 

I also was lucky enough to win some Kidtropolis tickets which was an accidental win as I tagged a friend to let her know to enter and they took my tag as an entry. My friend is happy to be getting to take her son though so it's all good! 

I've mentioned last month and also on talking to people on Facebook groups etc how I've wound down the amount of Instagram competitions I've been entering. Even though it has previously been where I got a lot of my wins from I found it quite draining so I've only been entering the odd few I come across on competition listing sites rather than searching my own out. However if you need someone to tag feel free to tag me - danigraves87 just please don't be offended if I don't respond. I'm still adding pictures so my account is still active and I may get back into entering a lot again when the boy is back in school. We shall see. After all that I actually had an Instagram win of some fantastic Stem Quest books. They are brilliant and I've actually really enjoyed looking at them myself, they are a bit advanced for J yet but will put them aside for him for when he is ready. 

I then had a second Instagram win of a runner up prize from thegroovyfoodcompany which had a jar of coconut oil in as well as a make up bag and some lovely wee treats like Urban Decay make up. A nice treat for me. 

On the 3rd August I got a WTC to say J had won tickets to CBBC Summer Social Festival in Liverpool, it was happening that weekend so we decided to head over on the Sunday. We had an amazing time, J got to go on rides with his daddy, see favourites such as Mr Tumble and Hey Duggee perform and his absolute favourite CBBC star Andy Day performed with his band the OddSocks. J loves watching Andy and the Dinosaurs and so was amazed to see him up close and personal, this was only made better by the fact we managed a meet and greet with him and J got to give him a high five and tell him how he always watches him on TV when he goes to Grandma's house. He then rang his grandma to tell her he'd met Andy and he was real and it was such a precious moment for him that he is still talking about weeks later. 

On the way back from Liverpool we popped into a services station. Hubby got a can of Carabao and J got a fruit shoot. We won £5 on the Carabao and then there was a text comp attached to the Fruit Shoot and we won a family bowling game. 

One of the effort competitions I mentioned was to do with Disney and their 24 Hour Challenge to encourage children to be more active. You had to sign up to the challenge and try it out and then give your feedback on a post on Mumsnet. Now J is a very active little boy anyway but my mobility issues mean me not so much however we signed up and gave it a go and I left feedback and thought nothing of it. So I was super surprised on the 6th to get an email telling me we had won tickets to Disney on Ice, train tickets and a hotel stay! We've chosen to go to the Manchester show on the 14th October which is the day before J's birthday! The PR who organised it all has been amazing and we have our hotel stay the night before so that we can make the most of a weekend in Manchester. 

I received a tweet from Here Come The Girls to tell me I had won a Baby Jack-Jack plush. I mentioned last month how I had been eager to win goodies for J and had searched lots of comps out, this one was found with a quick twitter search and had only 3 entries!! 

Apparently there is a day for everything now, and August included Yorkshire Day. I was notified on the 9th of August I'd won the Seabrooks Yorkshire Day competition. 48 packets of crisps and a large bouquet of white roses. The crisps were sweet chilli and a bit too much of a kick for me so hubby took them to work and popped them in the staff canteen and was very popular, and I had to borrow a vase from my Grandma as I've never been bought flowers before so didn't have one. 

I received a winning text message from a Freddo competition to let me know I had won a Giant Jenga game. It's a Jacques London one and is fab quality. I never usually have much luck with text comps but I keep trying. The set is fab and although we've not played Jenga with it yet J has been using them as building blocks to make forts for his figures and things! 

J received a parcel of some Peter Rabbit puzzles from a kids mag win. They'd had to switch one of the puzzles out for a more classic Beatrix Potter version rather than the film version so that's been put to one side but J has had great fun doing the larger puzzle and he's getting quicker and quicker. 

I had entered a competition with Nigel Clarke TV for an Incredibles bundle and had an email to say I was a possible winner but there were a few stipulations - I couldn't post on social media, had to reply in a set time, had to agree to post photo's etc. I replied within minutes and agreed to all stipulations but didn't get confirmation we had won until the 9th! It was such a long wait and I was checking every day on Facebook and emails. The toys have arrived and J loves them! 

My next 5 wins were £5's on Carabao. I have seen some people buy excessive amounts to chase a win on this comp and it kind of puts my 2 at a time to shame but I still seem to be doing reasonably well with it so whereas I'm not actively chasing to look for the comps if the supermarket has stock when I am doing a shop or hubby pops to the petrol stations we will grab 1 or 2 cans. 

J had another kids mag win delivered of a little Tonka Tinies playset. 

I won an Access All Awkward book on twitter from TeenBookHoots. 

J then had another kids mag win! This time a LEGO Friends bundle! We love LEGO in our house. 

OUPChildrens publishers on twitter did a comp for a bundle of their new releases which we won and received 4 fab books. We are really enjoying reading Bee Boy Attack of the Zombees. 

Another National Day was National Tell a Joke Day. I recorded Jake telling a joke and posted it on a couple of comps. He has a few favourite jokes but the one we used most was:

''Knock knock.

Who's there?

Narnia

Narnia who 

Narnia Business''

It won us a runners up prize from Brother Max of a Bath and Room Thermometer. 

I had a notification to say I won a picnic hamper from Aunt Bessies on Facebook. Perfect for days out with the boys and J is obsessed with picnics thanks to an episode or Mr Tumble. 

I subscribe to Compers News magazine and was really pleased to spot my name on the in-house winners list this issue. I've won a £30 H&M voucher from completing one of their puzzles. Although I've won competitions on their forum this is the first time I've ever won from the magazine puzzles. It's definitely given me the incentive to keep trying and I really enjoy doing the puzzles. 

Another Facebook win from Swizzels Love Hearts. You had to fill in the blanks of a song lyric they posted using only emojis. I wasn't sure what I would receive but got lots of sweets, a tea towel, lip balm, trolley token, coaster, and a tin of sweets. It's a really nice prize. 

I take part in the Disney Junior tea party every week if I can. They have a lot of different prizes based around themes or new shows. They were doing a back to school one. I won a Tangled Lunch bag set which I am going to give to my friend for her daughter. 

Speaking of lunch bags I really wanted one for J. We aren't sure how he will manage school dinners as he always used to finish school before lunch time and come home and he's such a fusspot with foods only eating certain things that I wanted to have a lunch box/bag ready just in case so when Di Coke posted about the Anchor Dairy purchase competition and that you could keep entering I made sure to buy a tub and enter and after a few days I received an email letting me know I had won one. 

Another thing I wanted for back to school was a car seat or a booster seat. We have one in our car and my grandparents have one in theirs but J will be going to a school nearly 9 miles away and although he will get transport (hopefully) there may be times when I have to taxi it to get him there or get him home so having something I can use in those instances was really important to me. So I was really pleased to receive a message from Muddy Puddles on Facebook to let me know I had won a Mi-Fold portable booster seat. This was won from a competition where you had to give a back to school tip and I posted a picture of a chest of drawers we use that are labelled Mon - Fri and have a full days uniform in each one. 

I received an email from another kids mag to say J had won another set of Peter Rabbit puzzles. The picture in the mag shows the same as what we should have won from the earlier set but which were substituted so we will have to wait and see if the same happens again. If we get the same puzzles they will go in the Christmas/Birthday cupboard. 

Cully and Sully Soup are running a competition for Souper Ambassador's and they said the more creative and fun the entry the better so I really pushed my boundaries to enter. I don't like pictures of myself much less video's as I get worried about what people will say about me or think of me and it causes me massive anxiety. However I decided to be brave and try something I had in my head. I rewrote a version of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air's theme and made it all about Cully and Sully soup. I set a tripod up in my living room and I did my recording. I had to do a few takes - crap memory (mine not the device I was recording on), J being loud during it, him blasting bubbles into my face and me nearly choking on a bubble, the usual. However I got an edit I was happy with and posted it on to the competition post and was really pleased to be notified a few days later that I had won a Fitbit Charge 2. 

I won a pint of Lager on the Carling football comp. I'm not a drinker but hubby enjoyed a cheeky beer while we were out for my birthday. 

I had 5 more carabao wins spread over a week and a half totalling £30 

A text comp win for cinema tickets came in at just the right time on the 28th as it was my birthday on the 31st and we always go to the cinema for my birthday so these combined with free drinks thanks to the leftovers on a cineworld voucher i won months ago meant we got to go see The Meg for free and my birthday night out cost nothing but petrol to get there and back. 

I had a fab email from Encore to say I've won 2 Merlins Magic Passes meaning me and Ant can go to London for a few days in November and have tickets to the London Eye, London dungeons, Sealife Centre, Shrek Adventure and Madame Tussaud's. We are going to try fit in a Harry Potter trip if possible.

I had an email from the Acorn books blog to say I've won a collection of Dinosaur Adventure books for J. You had to comment saying what your favourite dinosaur was. 

Jackson Reece do a regularly freebie Friday competition on Facebook. I won for the 3rd time this month and won their toiletry range which looks fab. We love their nose nuzzlers.

We closed the month on a couple of small wins. 

A delivery from a kids mag for J of some activity books. They both look really good having flicked through and will give us something to do on an evening. 

A crate of 12 bottles of Mango drink from Pago on twitter. 

Finally a Bikybiky vest on Facebook which I'm super pleased about as we are trying to teach J to ride his bike. 

Overall a pretty awesome and amazing month! I'm looking forward to September but at the same time I'm apprehensive as J will be moving schools and it's a big deal for him so it won't be just a case of back to school, feet up and comping, plus I'm hoping to sign up a learning course of my own to learn BSL. 

Monthly recap: 

Total prizes won: 45

Prize RRP: £1790

I hope everyone has had a fantastic summer.

Danielle x

 

July - the month where we all melted

As I mentioned in my previous post July was a bit of a battering ram on the whole head and body for me, added into it the heat which wiped me out and saw me permanently sat next to a tower fan I'm really pleased with how July turned out for me in terms of wins. 

My first win was for J of some MLP Top Trumps cards from a kids mag, these have gone in the birthday box to be used as birthday presents when/if he gets invited to parties. 

Hallmark ran a competition for people to nominate their children's teachers as superheroes. I nominated Jake's one-to-one Mr Smallwood for everything he has done for and with Jake. He really went above and beyond and it was because of him and Mrs Winestein that Jake actually started to enjoy going to school. So I was delighted to be contacted and told that we had won and Mr Smallwood would be receiving a Superman Itty Biggy toy and a card to thank him. Alongside this they asked how many children were in Jake's class and sent them an Itty Bitty each. This was a wonderful prize for us because Jake has now left that school and will be attending a specialist school in September so it was lovely to give the friends he will be leaving behind a little gift each. I did go out and get Mrs Winestein a Wonder Woman Itty Bitty as well so that she knew how grateful we all are. 

I won a Salcura bath milk on a Facebook competition and they sent a big box full of samples as well so we can try their other products. 

Preloved ran a competition on twitter about recycling so I sent them a picture of Jake and an alien he'd made out of a toilet roll tube and won a copy of book called Rag Doll Lost. 

I think I've previously mentioned J's love of glasses so he was really pleased with a win of some Real 3D Dinosaur glasses from the new Jurassic World movie. 

I haven't really been entering many Instagram competitions this month so I was really pleased to win some beautiful byri earrings and a coconut cream Muri candle in a colab they did. 

I follow quite a few sensory toy pages on Facebook and Sensory Treasures did a giveaway for a bath turtle where the last person to comment won, I kept the post open in a tab on my browser and just popped back to comment every now and then and won. 

I'd seen a couple of my friends win the weekly competition with ThePyjamaFactory on Instagram and I'd spotted they did Incredibles pyjamas and I really wanted them for Jake so I set it so I would get a notification every time they posted and I made sure to comment and like every post and I won yay! So Jake got his new pj's which he loves!!! 

Cheeky Chomper did a colab with TotsBots to win a swim kit which is super handy as we've started going swimming regularly and the wet bag and mat will be super useful! 

I won a 'goody bag' of Screwfix goodies on Instagram from GetHerTrade. I use the term goody loosely, I will be honest I only entered as I wanted a drill shaped stress ball as shown in the original picture. I didn't get one. The hard hat key-ring is cute though and the post it notes have come in useful. but yeah - beware of random goody bags! 

When I was at the cinema seeing Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom one of the promo's was from Oasis for a double ended bottle which looks like a fun way to get soaked or no drink but I won one from a Facebook comment competition and I'm looking forward to seeing who gets drenched most. 

How It Works do regular competitions on twitter and I won a Dinosaur Bookazine from them. 

Another twitter win was a selection of Posca pen goodies from Uni-ball. I'm looking forward to attempting to do rock painting with J which is a big craze at the moment. 

Aldi are another company who do regular comps and I always enter them and I finally won with them. The prize was a £20 voucher and it came during a skint week so was super useful! 

I took Jake to see the new Incredibles 2 movie and he absolutely loved it so I set myself a challenge of winning him some Incredibles Goodies! As well as the earlier pj's I did quite well. I managed: 

• a baby Jack Jack plush from @Supermommy83 on twitter
• a baby Jack Jack plush from Dear Bear and Beany blog 
• a Personalised Incredibles 2 book from Pukka Gifts on twitter
• An Incredibles2 Bundle from our local cinema on Facebook 

All were found just by doing a simple keyword search every day. 

I had a sudden influx of prizes for Jake

Two Fireman Sam puzzles from a Kids Mag 

A Dino Wars book from twitter

A SlimeBlaster and zimpli kids slime bundle from a Kids Mag 

Computing for Kids Books from Miles Kelly on Instagram

Animal Ark book from Toppsta 

Then it was back to my turn to win again. 

I won a beautiful silver peony necklace from Kate HH Studio on Facebook 

A super heavy solid wood chopping board from Worktop Express on twitter. They run a competition every week. I've been using mine as a lap tray in the living room rather than a chopping board though. 

In my mag group a lovely lady ran a draw for a prize she was no longer able to use - a family ticket to Madame Tussauds in Blackpool. I was really happy to win and I'm looking forward to taking Jake at the end of the month. 

I actually won with B&M on twitter. They run a lot of comps but they always have loads of entries so I was really pleased to get the message telling me I had won a bundle of Silverline tools and £50 of vouchers. Something for both the hubster and me and Jake! 

Jake had another kids mag win of a Sea Monkeys Zoo. I always wanted one of these as a kid but my parents said no so I am super excited about them and just hope they hatch and work haha. 

A quick comment on Facebook saw Jake receive a pen-pal letter from India. This is actually really cute and came from Our Little Globe the letter is full of interesting facts about India and comes with some cute fact sheets, recipes, a packet of spice and some stickers. 

Two more book wins of How To Be a Lion and Pirate Baby - both from twitter comps. 

I managed to win the Popcorn Shed ShedSharingSunday competition - they asked what you couldn't live without and I replied ''Sleep. I don't get much as it is but if I got any less I'd be intolerable, although my hubby says I already am!'' I can't wait for it to arrive! 

My last wins for the month are from the current Carabao cash promo. I've so far managed to win 10 prizes of £5 on that comp! The money has already hit my bank balance too which is awesome! 

Month recap:

Total Prizes: 42

Total Prize RRP £922

 

Hope everyone has an awesome August. 

Danielle xx

Where's Your Head At?

This post has taken the best part of a month to write. I wrote bits, I deleted bits, I spilled every little thought that was in my head when I felt I couldn't say them out loud and then I wiped the slate clean because I didn't think anybody would want to listen to me, or would understand.

I was asked earlier this month 'Where's your head at?' and ever since all I've had stuck in my head is the music video from Basement Jaxx with the monkeys in the science lab. I wasn't able to answer the question at the time because I just couldn't find the words.

July has been a little bit turbulent and a little bit stressful.

It started with a Next Steps meeting with the school and SENSAP. SENSAP stands for Special Educational Needs Statutory Assessment and Provision team.

A quick recap and some terms:
Earlier in the school year we applied for an EHCP for J (Education Health and Care Plan) which would provide a plan that would set out what help and support J needs whilst in education. Due to miscommunication on SENSAP's behalf we were declined an assessment. I contacted Sendiass (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Services) who assigned us a case worker who knows all the policies and is able to offer me advice. The lovely Imogen came out and we looked at our options which were - appeal, mediation or reapply. We decided due to it being a miscommunication that we would reapply. This time Lydia the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator) from school added as much info as possible to our application and me and Imogen got together and wrote a statement about what Jake wants and needs. This time our application (which was about an inch and a half thick and very very thorough) was sent to MAP (Multi Agency Panel) and myself, Lydia and the Headteacher met with the panel made up of Educational Psychologists, Social Workers and caseworkers from SENSAP to argue our case - and it was a bit of an argument as I wasn't leaving that room with a no. The MAP eventually agreed that they thought J may need more support and they would look at reports as well as assess him and decide if he needed an EHCP and that would be determined at the Next Steps meeting.

Fast Forward to now and we get to the Next Steps meeting and I am told they have done their assessments and J definitely needs an EHCP - Hooray! We read through the draft plan which has been put together by a caseworker from SENSAP and make some suggestions on edits as I have 15 days to confirm the plan and then we get to the elephant in the room:

 The School Setting. 

It has been very apparent to us for a while that KSS wasn't a suitable school for J and that he would need to change to a different school. Which isn't an issue apart from the caseworker was going on holiday in 7 days and schools broke up for the summer holidays in 10 days. Time was of the essence. 

One big thing that worried me was that I didn't think it would be a good idea for J to go back to KSS in September and transition to Year 1 to then be pulled out and have to transition to another school, yet the SENSAP case-worker said he thought J would be there till December! A school already noted as not being suitable for him! Both myself and the Head objected and said this wasn't acceptable. Without being harsh the Head said he didn't want J back and that we needed a new school ready for September. As devastated as I was to hear that because I love KSS I had to agree. 

Me and Ant visited a local SILC school which is a Specialist Unit attached to a mainstream school, a couple of days before the Next Steps meeting and we were really really impressed and so I mentioned this and was told it was full so not really a possibility. Crap. They mentioned several other schools but they were all specialist only provisions and I will admit I was put off. J hasn't got a formal diagnosis yet and because he's not been able to be in a classroom setting none of us really know his full academic potential so I was a little worried a Specialist only Provision would be putting a ceiling on him and stopping him from reaching his full potential. I will be honest now this is purely due to my own preconceptions based on a unit I worked in when younger which dealt with extremely disabled children and they didn't do academic learning which is something I still want J to access. 

I agreed to consider them though but in the meantime I rang the school we had visited and asked if I could take J up to look as if he liked it we could name it and ask the LA to make adjustments to accomodate him there. This was where things kind of went a bit wrong. Just a few days earlier me and Ant were convinced this was THE ONE and then I took J there and he hated it. I can't really explain what was wrong with it, I've even said I'm not sure if they were trying to dissuade me due to being full but something just didn't feel right.

 J was very vocal about the fact he wouldn't be going there and so I relayed this to the SENCO who mentioned another school that had received a preliminary copy of the EHCP and said they had a space and could meet J's needs. They are a Specialist Provision and sounded fantastic on paper, the only issue being they are 8.5 miles away and as I don't drive and rely on help from family to help me get J to and from school or a mix of walking/taxi's that was going to mean we will need to apply for transport from the LA. I also worry that if he is there and something happens I won't be able to get there as quickly as I could KSS. I kept an open mind though and I agreed to go have a look.

A learning mentor from KSS went with me to look at the school and we sat in the entrance waiting with two other parents who were looking at sending their children there. I was nervous and still doubting, especially as I now knew this was my only choice. Then, Sam appeared. Sam is the Primary Manager at the new school and just his introduction to us to say hello changed the mood in the room. He was lively, bubbly, passionate, warm. He showed us round the school and you could see how much all the staff enjoyed their jobs and what they did. I loved that they had rebound rooms and sensory spaces and wildlife gardens. I met children who went to the school and they made me smile with the things they were doing and saying and I had such a great feeling about things that I was sure this was it. But, I'd felt that way before and so I needed to make sure Ant and J felt the same way.

Ant is very much in denial about J and how he is, and so is my granddad. They both dismiss any talk of autism and just say he's a bit hyperactive. I'm not sure if it's because it dents their male ego's but Ant was very much anti-specialist school and wanted to send J to another mainstream school and so I needed to get him on board. I arranged for Ant and J to go view the school and so we met up on Ant's lunch break and Sam showed us all around, and I saw Ant melt the same way I had earlier in the week, I saw him warm to the school and by the end of our visit all three of us were in agreement that this was the one.

I quickly emailed the SENSAP case worker confirming this was our choice and hoped I was in time but I had no reply and it was a waiting game. Imogen has checked the online system and says that the new school has been notified of our choices but I'm still waiting for any formal notification. I hope it comes through soon.

The whole process has really taken it's toll on me both physically and mentally. With my health issues having a week where I was having several meetings a day with different professionals, rehashing through all the negatives about J really exhausted me and it even got to the point I was having nosebleeds from being so run down. Mentally well, what can I say, I suffer with depression and anxiety and I was on high alert for most of the month, constantly questioning myself about my choices and actions, worrying I was a bad mum, worrying I was failing J, crying, feeling numb, having panic attack upon panic attack and having nobody I could talk to because I felt like such a bad person. I felt broken and sad and I struggled to do normal things, although I'm still having dark days the start of the school holidays has really helped.

Summer is long, and it's hard keeping J active and occupied but the pressure of no meetings, and no school, and no having to make choices that massively impact my sons future is nice.

So that's where my head is at. Muddled but clearing.