Welcome to my May diary! Puppy play, dodging bullets, free groceries, an abusive soccer coach, updating the WFH space and lots more TeachingBrave articles!
My Personal Update
The highlight of my month was playing with puppies! I have been thinking about getting a puppy as a surprise for Andy for some time now, and so I have been waiting for him to go to school to do my secret research! I have not made any commitments just yet, I am still in the research phase, and looking at different breeds, as well as considering what will be right for us. Since our beautiful staffy died a couple of years ago, Andy has been desperate for another dog and while I didn’t think I would get another dog while living in an apartment, I believe it is time. So these are poodle x cocker spaniel puppies (spoodles), and they were so adorable! I walked away, needing time to think about it, and in the meantime, the puppy I wanted was sold to somebody else, which was disappointing for me, but also made me realise just how much I really want this. This is a huge emotional and financial commitment, and I’m not somebody who makes decisions on a whim. I think very carefully about all decisions I make and so I had to make sure this was the right decision for us. Enjoy the puppy photos!
I was chatting to a guy this month who seemed lovely, he had a son about the same age as Andy, he was funny and seemed charming, and so we decided to meet somewhere. While deciding where to meet, this conversation occurred. I thought I would share it with you, as it just goes to show what is out there. How can someone say they respect your decision on this, and then reject you based on this only? I found it very strange. Ultimately, I’m not upset and I know I dodged a bullet there, but this is why life is easier as a single woman! Haha.. You can read about my other Dating Horror Stories here. That’s right, there were so many, I had to put them in an article!
Money
I got a bunch of free groceries this month – this included fresh produce, soy milk, Oats sachets etc. I’m a member of the Woolworths Bunch program which offers free samples of various items in exchange for an online review, which is such a great program, though there can be a long waiting list to get entry into the program. I also redeemed some FlyBuys points for free groceries, and I grew some herbs, lemons and spinach from my garden too! I’m publishing an article very soon on 10 ways to get free food or free groceries, so keep an eye out for that soon! If you can find ways to get food or groceries for free, or much cheaper, there’s no better time to do it, as grocery prices have risen so much lately! Have you felt the pinch??
It’s almost tax time! That means making sure I have my receipts ready, I have linked my investments to Sharesight, and I quickly go and buy up any office supplies I need and want to claim back very soon!
Since I started investing in shares and ETFs, I was lucky enough to have a friend recommend Sharesight to me. Sharesight is an accounting tool which is FREE to use and keeps track of all your investments in one place, which makes tax time SO EASY!! When it’s time to start tracking dividends as well as performance, you can simply print off a report in Sharesight and hand this to your tax accountant. If you do choose to upgrade in the future, you can get 4 months free when signing up to the premium plan, but you can stay on the FREE plan and still make things so much easier for yourself! You can sign up to Sharesight for FREE with my link HERE.
Other ways I have managed to save or make money this month:
My sister dyed my hair for me. I bought the dye, headed over to her house and we multi-tasked! Played with my niece, cooked lunch, she dyed my hair and we had a good catch-up! This saves me hundreds of dollars at the hairdresser, and I’m usually pretty happy with the job she does! Have you ever asked your friends or family to dye or cut your hair to save money? It only takes her 20 minutes to put the dye in, and then we just wait, and I wash it out! Job done, money saved. In exchange sometimes I take my gel nails kit to her place and do her nails for her to save her money at the nail salon! Win/win.
I worked a long day at the federal election this month! It was a 7am start, 10pm finish. The 8-6 part was actually good – marked people’s names off, handed out ballot papers and took shifts on crowd control. It was the after 6pm counting and sorting of ballot papers that was pretty tedious and exhausting. I did put my hand up to do this and I have done it before, but I guess I forgot how tiring it is! I was keen for a one-off day of pay (just under $500), and I knew I didn’t have Andy that weekend so it was worth it for me. Have you ever worked at an election? How did you find it?
I had some Facebook Marketplace sales this month too. They were small items, but the sales added up to about $70 which helps with groceries. I was able to sell my old desk ($35), some of Andy’s outgrown soccer boots ($15), and a DVD shelf ($20). I have made thousands of dollars selling items online, or flipping items. You can read my best tips to do this in my article on Selling your clutter to make thousands, HERE.
Take a look at my Bamboo portfolio! Bamboo allows you to micro-invest in crypto and precious metals with small amounts of money – I started with just $100. It’s dipping a little bit right now so some might say crypto is on sale! It’s a great time to buy more, or get started if you’re interested in investing small amounts in crypto or precious metals. If you want to get started with $10 FREE Bitcoin, you can sign up using my LINK HERE.
Parenting and Co-parenting
Attending one of Andy’s soccer games recently, his team managed to play extremely well and won the game with a score of 12-0. The coach on the opposing team however, was less than supportive and encouraging to the boys on his team and these were the comments I heard him yelling out throughout the match (pictured). I felt so bad for the boys and kind of wanted them to score at least once to bring their morale up a bit! I mean, how do these comments make you feel? Do these comments make you want to try harder? Are they encouraging and inspiring? As he yelled these comments out, the boys seemed to lose interest, they seemed like they didn’t want to be there, and they certainly weren’t improving their game. Some boys even became aggressive, swearing and yelling at our team.
Yes, team coaches and managers are volunteers, they are parents themselves and they have put their hand up to do this job, but these comments made ME feel bad and I was just a spectator.
If a child, or a team needs guidance, needs coaching, needs teaching, isn’t it better to point out what they’re doing RIGHT and build on that?! Remind them of the skills they displayed previously and encourage them. Build them up! Inspire them!
They’re just kids. They’re trying. They will feel bad enough about the game result, but also, the result doesn’t matter so much, as how each of them played, and their actual teamwork.
Do you have kids in sport and how do they feel about their coaches? Do their coaches build them up or tear them down?
Andy also came home this month and told me he has a girlfriend! He’s only 11! I think it’s cute though. He likes this girl, they hang out at school and they like to have little chats at recess and lunch. I told Andy I didn’t have a boyfriend until I was 19 years old! It’s definitely time to remind Andy of some important concepts, that’s for sure! I was very open with Andy about sex and everything that comes with the sex talk, from when he was 10. He THINKS he knows it all now.. haha.. little does he know..
If you want to take a look at how I had the sex talk with Andy and what was covered, you can check out my article on Birds and The Bees; How to Have the Sex Talk with Kids, HERE.
Teaching Brave Update
Time to update the home office! I have a sit-stand desk which was gifted to me by a friend and so I needed a bigger desk to place this on. My sister gave me a new desk for my birthday and so Andy helped me to put it together. I just need a more comfortable chair and my home office will be much improved!
I’ve had some mums from some of the Facebook groups interested in the Kids First Aid course too which is wonderful! I’m a huge advocate for having current, up-to-date First Aid knowledge as it saves lives. For those that don’t need to have an official First Aid qualification but who need to build their First Aid knowledge, this course is perfect. It’s only 2 hours, all online and delivered by paramedics. It covers the 10 most common emergencies involving children and signing up gives you lifetime access. You can read my full review of the Kids First Aid course here. If you’re interested to get started right away, you can sign up HERE. Don’t forget to use my promo code TEACHINGBRAVE for a $10 discount.
In May I published the following articles:
Subsidy For Childcare; Everything You Need To Know – There were some changes to the Child Care Subsidy in early 2022, including higher rates of subsidy for families with more than one child under the age of 5 attending childcare. So I updated my article to reflect recent changes, to assist any families who have any questions regarding the Child Care Subsidy.
What Is Homebirth Like? An Interview With Aja From MilkieBra – What a treat to interview Aja from Milkie Bra! We connected through Instagram and I was fascinated by her Homebirth story so I asked her if she wouldn’t mind sharing her story with me so I could create an article about Homebirth. Aja was very open and frank regarding her Homebirth experience and so I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed putting the article/interview together!
Best Behaviour Management Strategies In Early Childhood – Behaviour management is something that regularly comes up in early childhood settings as a challenge, and as an area where educators feel they need to learn more, and build up their toolkit of strategies, as well as learn more about why children behave the way they do. I wanted to detail the best behaviour management strategies I have used in my 20year + career as an early childhood teacher, as well as a template of my behaviour management plan.
Balcony Vegetable Garden: Small Space, Large Savings – There really isn’t any reason to feel limited by a small space, when it comes to growing your own food. I live in an apartment and I have a small balcony where I grow many different herbs, veggies and fruit. Growing your own food can save you heaps of money if you’re growing what you consume regularly. Take a look at what I grow and how much it saves me on fresh groceries.
Why A Matchbox Car Makes Me Cry… An Anecdote… A Memory – This was a bit of a different post for me – it’s a memory of my son, Andy at 4 years old. I wanted to put my memory into a short story to share with my readers, as it’s something precious to me and it really shows me the kind of person he is growing to be. Let me know what you think..
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Liz. : )
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