Right ... Where did that time go?

Hello again!  Sorry we have been missing in action.  We have been so busy.  Today we are going to fill you in with what we have been up to.  It's very exciting.  It's 30 mins long so stick with it.  We have lots to tell you.

Any questions please do not hesitate to contact us - hello@family-corner.org.uk

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Right. How are you? Yeah, how are you? Where did that time go? Wow. I bet you've missed us. I'm sure you have. Absolutely. I'm sure you have. And if they've not, I'm gonna cry. I am too. But we're here, we're back. Woohoo! You'll be sorry. And we're back with a fully functioning microphone. I bet you heard that. Watch it not work now. Probably. Never mind. We we are we're here. We're here. That's all that matters. That's all that matters. We've been so busy. Well, first of all, I'm gonna I'm just gonna apologize that we've still not got a jingle, but Barnaby's let us down. Come on, Barnaby. Come on, Barnaby. We know you've used now. We are in control of the whole of our lives. So what an absolute lie. No, I don't tell lies, so that is a lie. We should edit this now, really, because we've just lied. Very good. We're missing girls. Girls, very good. Christian girls. But we don't lie, but I I did lie then because I am not in control of my life. And if you are, can you ring me up and tell me how you are? And then me. And then J. Or I'll pass it on. Yeah. No, you'll forgot bittime. Well, yeah. That's another thing that we do a lot of is forgetting. Yeah. But we've just come up with the colour. But something that we're going to talk about actually says about that, doesn't it? Later on. Wheeling is very statistical. Is that a word? Well, yeah, I don't know. We'll make it up. But we have been so busy. And everybody says, Oh, I'm busy and baby bit, but we have. And that is that's the truth. It is. But I think not a lie. We were getting to the point of being too busy because being busy does some people know some people where it is a badge of honour, don't they? Yeah, well, that is not a good idea. We are we as this is called real talk, we are realistic people, and we do have lives beyond this, believe it or not. Um not sure what we do, but uh we get yeah, we do. Go on anyway. Carry on, Wavs. It's just we just wanted to catch up. We've not got anything like incredible to say to you today. Well, we probably have to say it's incredible. Don't put us down. We've got to build ourselves up, haven't we? Yeah. But hey, do you know what? We are doing it. Oh god. Right, she's showing off because for weeks now, whenever we eat anything, she eats healthy, and she, Steph, feeds me cake. How very rude. That's my hobby. I I've always done it, so I'll continue to do it. It's not very good, but stone now. Woo! And I put two pounds on today. Oh wow. But I got my half stone last week. You did, but I decided to put another two pounds on because we went out for Curtis's birthday tea, so we had a nice big fat Chinese. But you enjoyed it, and that's what life's about. And a full fat latte. Hopefully, that's what we're going to talk about today. It's about balancing your life and doing things for yourself. And our little Slim in World visit is oh, it's the biggest Tommy. It's a comedy show, it's run by the most fantastic person, and she's so motivating. In fact, we've made promise plans today. Yeah. Which we want you all to make some promise plans. And this is what this is what started us. Sorry about that. Come on, let's do a let's do a podcast and show how we're feeling that we are overwhelmed, just like you. That yeah, everything in life is overwhelming, but we can control it because we are in control of our destiny, is that right? Who's like that? Sounded like you're gonna burst into song, like we are in control. Like she's just done. I wouldn't ever do that to you. That would put you off. We'd have no listeners then. We would. You've got a lovely singing voice. That's a lie. She has two lies today. But yeah, we've missed you and we've missed chatting on here because we love it. Um and we promise we're gonna do more regular, aren't we? Yeah, we are because we're gonna be more organised. We are organised, yeah. It's just it's just a busy, but we've we've had things dying in from different directions. We're on a diarise. It sounds like diarrhea, but it does diarrise is that how you lost your storm. Oh my goodness. No, no, don't say that because then I'll put it all back on next week. No, just say it's good if it doesn't work. Let's we're waffling again now. Oh, we're saying something right good then. Oh you're that busy, you've lost your concentration. No, I know what it was. We're on a path, we are on a really good path. Yeah, and everybody talks about a journey, and it's all like everybody goes on about it. But no, no, we are, we're on a path. But from that path, there's been side streets and things coming out of them side streets colliding with us that we know are good. I was just gonna say they've all been good things. It's not a collision that is destroying us, it's a collision that's making us better. Yeah, and we're gonna share a little bit, are we? Uh yeah, can do. Yeah, look a bit about it. Just a little squid little just like a teaser, just a teeny weenie. We'll give you a bit of a teaser, yeah. Because we want to launch it properly, really, when we know what we're doing. But we have these when we do road trips. Well, let's start. I'll let you chat now. I'm at the very beginning. Go on, very good. Please start. What am I talking about? I've just been doodling and not listening to you. Very naughty people. I want you go on what you want me to do to just explain a little bit about Ducklings Dane. Right. A little bit. So, not sure if we've uh we haven't mentioned this at all, I don't think we have podcasts. Yeah, because we've got to paint. Oh my dears, this is what I have to do. Right, so my French my very good friend. Oh, and she's Brill, yeah, and them two together, it's oh it's tonic for me. I love listening to a pair of them. So, anyway, she owns two nurseries, one in Lee and one in Skelmersdale. So if you follow her podcast, you'll know that we've been over there um to Lee a couple of times doing a podcast. Well, was it last week? A week before the week before last, we went for the first time that you've been into it to SCEM. Love it, and we did a podcast over there, and we they are partnering with us um with this new project. It's still part of Family Corner. It is, it's just an additional service that we offer. So obviously, our original service is um the home support, but we now uh we kind of just launched it on Facebook yesterday. We need to get the word out to. So have a look at us on Facebook, yeah. Family is it Family Corner CIC on Facebook or just Family Corner? Family Corner CIC. It's a good job, somebody knows. It really is, and it's not usually me who adults anyway. So um we have started this additional project. Shut up, dog. Do you want to go for a walk? No, they don't like it at night. Um, and this project, I am not joking, it is going to change the lives of so many children. Not just the children, honestly, but the parents. We believe that with all our hearts. And shall we tell you where it's called? It's called Bedtime Blessings Project. I love Louise. It is so exciting, and we know because of feedback that we've had and people that we've been in touch with about this, it's not just a flash in the pan thing. It is definitely a much needed thing. So, with Bedtime Blessings project, what we do, we provide bedtime bundles for children and families that need it, and it's not just for the children because anyway, well it's for it's for all family members. Oh, there's door bells. Sorry, right? You've gone answer door because then it passes. It could be another parcel because she has Amazon as a corner shop. Anyway, so in these, so families get referred to us, and we provide bundles which include all the bedding that they need. So the duvets, the pillows, the sheets, the pillowcases, duvet covers, teddies and comforters, uh, bedtime story books, night lights, sleep sprays, uh, sleep masks, room thermometers. Because honestly, if you have got a spur five minutes, just look at the statistics for bed poverty in the UK. It is massive. It's it's really sad. It's very sad, and it's continuing to grow. And the northwest, which is where we are based, she's opening her daughter's parcels now. The northwest where we're based, um, is I think is it the second highest in the country? The second highest, which is terrible. Yeah, and it was something like was it almost a third of children experience bed poverty, which means bed poverty basically means that they either don't have access to a bed, or if they do, they have to share it with other people. Mucky mattresses, yeah, dirty mattresses, broken beds, no beds covers on, yeah, or the the sleeping on a floor or a settee or whatever. Um we've seen it first hand as well. Yeah, and we've seen it first hand a couple of times, haven't we? And you know, it these are just And I think this came about because we were having a conversation in the car. When we do road trips, it's very scary. Oh, yeah, that's how you start the project. You mentioned road trips, didn't you? Yeah, and then we just bought it in anyway. Go on. No, no, I didn't button, I asked you to say it, did you? But on our road trips, we have time to not be on our phones, not be answering door, and not listening to dogs. Yeah, and it it a lot of things come out there. And we were talking about I can't even remember if we had funding of a thousand pounds, what would we do with it? And and I said, Do you know something? The one of the most important things in me is sleep, and I love my bed. I love my bedding, I love just going to bed. That's a comfort feeling in it. It is it's that security and and it I know sleep heals, believe me, what I've been through. Um sleep heals and if you've not got that. No. And I've worked in a school, of course, so I see it in children who have had a really bad sleep that night. Uh they're not gonna they're not gonna function in the day, they're not gonna learn. Um so that's where it came from, really. That was that was a bit serious then. We can be serious, yeah. We can be very serious, we can because this is serious, it's so serious. We're passionate about this, and we want a help of so many people. Um and we know we can. We're not we're not shying away from this because we're gonna we are gonna dig deep and we're gonna find people to help. In fact, we walked in yesterday, didn't we? To our we went to a cafe yesterday at my church and we thought, oh, we'll work from there, and you can just pay like a little you can pay a fee, and you're allowed to work there, and you get your food and your drinks. You get your food and you drink. You get released. But as soon as we walked in, it was like a drop-in centre, weren't it? What what's that quest? No, what's it called? Oh, what's that? Where Richard works. Oh, Bolton Guild of Help. Bolton Guild of Help, they have like an open session there. Well, we walked in, it were like we were on apprentice or something because we ended up at every table talking to people about what we were. And this man, this lovely man called Richard, has offered to look into funding for us. We were amazing, it was incredible, and you know, we I mean, we've got a faith, and we you know, you might think it's coincidence, that's fine. But it was a god incidence that was absolutely open. Because we were debating about where to win from, weren't we? Which which one to go to, but it it was it was so good and so exciting. In fact, I got too excited, and I had to go outside and have a walk. Because she's a right drama queen. I am I am a drama queen. She's not really, she's lovely. You can't breathe, I couldn't breathe. It were overwhelming because it makes me cry that it's going to happen. Because sometimes you can have these ideas, can't you? We all do, as parents, as people, we have these ideas, and you think, yeah, right, and it'll last a week. A bit like when I'm trying to lose weight, really. But it feels so real. And and this project, which is where Jean was talking about then, her friend Sarah, who runs these nurseries, she's got on board with us. Yeah, she's she's gonna she's supporting us already. She's even through her company now paying for us a lock up to store the bedding. Well, what's what's that about? That's a blessing beyond what we're doing. And of extracting through the Skelmersdale nursery, we're also getting gonna be putting uh links in with people, a lady from the well-being hub, so we can replicate what we're doing in Bolton over in Skelmersdale. Wow, with the home support and the bedtime blessings, and we'll hopefully be able to do that in Wigan because we have got an amazing meeting on the 20th of May. We're not telling you who with. Oh my word. Um, but it's it's uh let's say a celebrity's it's like he won't be there. I don't you never know. He might think, hey up, I'm going looking at them too, go and checking them out. Uh but it's with his team in his PA or something, yeah. And it's it's somebody. I I say celebrities. Oh, I shouldn't say that should. Yeah, he is a celebrity, yeah. And his day. Absolutely will begin his day. And people used watch him in the morning. Yeah, yeah, with his lyra. Oh, they know whether it is now. No, they don't, no, they don't. No, they don't. Well, he might be anywhere to this, anyway. Yeah, yeah. It's very exciting, and and that will bring in that link with Wigan, yes, won't it? Absolutely, because we now expanded from uh Bolton. Yeah, we're not northwest, yeah, we're now northwest. But we had to look it up. Yeah, and now whether the northwest is going to be. So if we've got a meeting in Cumbria, we might ask to have an overnight stay. I think so in a spa.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Don't say that. People think we're spending all organizations' money, don't we? We don't have any. Oh, so yeah, so it's really exciting. Um it is just watch this space for bedtime where we've been missing in action. Yeah, because we're being busy, being busy can have negative and positive effects on you. Now it's important because we know probably the listeners who are listening, and maybe a few of our friends who just think we're nuts anyway. But we're hoping that most of our audience are parents who just want a bit of time out, a bit of relation with what we're talking about. And busyness can cause problems. Yeah, busyness can create joy. It can, yeah. And I think it's very easy to purposely as well put yourself into a busy time, yeah. Like when I know when my husband died, it's like you don't want quiet time because you don't want to think until today. And you make yourself be busy, but actually, you just really it's like burying your head in sand, isn't it? And it's not good because you can't maintain it. No, you can't get to burnout. So I agree with that, and I'm the same. I can't have quiet nights. No, it it's too much, and being busy with this, I mean, this has been life for me. And it it's busy, but it's enjoyable busy because we just laugh. It's not like we were kicking. We should have seen us yesterday in that cafe. Oh, it were a good job, really. We're on the mezzanine because people might have thought we were a bit strange. And we had a lot of snow. Oh, we were when we were looking at them things, weren't we? Oh and a poor couple, I think they're on a date, weren't they? I can imagine if it was the first date. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We've really might not go very far, that relationship. Anyway, we're going off topic again. Right, so bring it back, bring it back. Bring what to work. I don't know what we're saying. Uh busy. Yeah, and it we're talking about the the the concepts of busy. And busy can be negative, it it can cause problems. And as parents, as as people, you've got to think about what the effect it has on others. Yeah. If you if you're neglecting something that needs to be done, then it's it's negative. But I know I'm neg I'm neglecting my house. Yeah, I'm neglecting my house. I'm neglecting my house, and I'm neglecting I'm not neglecting myself actually. I'm I'm I'm doing a lot of skincare and I'm looking after myself, which is helping. Yeah, but I know that I just need to do a bit of a big reset in my stuff because I've got bits of stuff everywhere. I keep losing things, that's not good. And being busy, that can create that. Yeah, where we forget. Can I just tell you a fact? So this was um this is a statistic. I can't even say it, statistic from research paper from last January. January, yeah. Um, on a study about obviously being busy, and a third, almost a third, 29% of parents were experiencing stress through being busy because they were working. I think the study was more on parents who were working, but equally, parents who aren't working, they're busy at home with the kids and the house and everything, anyway. So I I think England's probably the worst place, but your your own workplace put demands on you that are higher than ever.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Um, like goals and expectations, the high, aren't they? So you you you're stressed out already at work, and then you come home and there's no tea ready, you've not got shopping in, and like your washing's not working, your washing's not done, and and it is that it you never get a break from it. It's not a realistic way of living, is it? No, but that's what I've put that in big letters on my notes for today is be realistic and just chip away, chip away at one thing together and and communicate and work together. Um, and we've done that, even I mean, we're not a couple, but but we've done that in our own work and say, right, what are we doing this week? Let's plan our week out. Um, and then when we've been realistic and got to the bottom and say, we've not even touched that, well, just put it on next week, then it's prioritising, isn't it? What is important? Does it matter if you've got if your kids have like you know left three colouring boots out and there's a bit of play do on your cart and there's cushions on floor, it's not in the grand scheme of life, it doesn't matter, does it? Because it's some of the some of the facts that we were looking up, it was well, it really spoke to us, didn't it? And of the of the effects that it has on children when we are so busy as as adults and we all know it, we know it's true, and we've got to be honest with ourselves is that shh are we giving Low quality interaction with our children. Do we sit at the table and have our tea together and just talk? And that 10 minutes, quarter of an hour that you're giving is quality time. Yeah, they're better off with 10 minutes quality than an hour of nonsense nothing. And you know, they brought up this in within this report, this phrase that I I just thought that encapsulates it all. Are your children technology orphans that hits home big? Because you hear about it all the time now, don't you? About them being stuck on devices and stuff. Maybe question question what what you what does your evening look like when you get home? Are your kids in the bedrooms on the phones all night? And you know that oh well it's alright, they're talking to the friends, they're happy and dirty duh, and you can get on with what you're doing. And but let's if we all just sort of took. Yeah. And how do you know they're talking to the friends online? That's a sad thing. But let's just we can't change the world. Well, we try now. Yeah, that's what we're trying to do. Little old us. We'll try and change the world, and we we we will eventually, yeah. But just let's if we all work together, and and I think we're working, you know, you as friends, hopefully, you've got networks of friends um who you can chat to and say, Why don't you get your kids to do this? And then it's like, Oh, your dog's just licked me foot. Oh, get away. Kiss. Oh no, you were kissed, go and dyne a con.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Well, because he's my oh, this is what our day is like, and what about this statistic as well, either? So, oh, this is us, yeah. Well, it's not left for the edge. I thought you said you were gonna be honest on the promised plant. Right. Uh did it again. Yeah, so that one that's you've done that. That's that's where I said 29% of parents. 80% of those parents reported difficulty concentrating at work or on work. So whether you're doing stuff at home or whether you're doing stuff in the workplace, 80% of those parents were struggling to concentrate on things. And that's what we I said that is, isn't it? It is because it's brain overload. Yeah, because you know that when we sit down with our our pads, well, we've got about 80 pads, 80 notebooks, and then we've got all our bits and bobs and our everything, and then we sit there and we're like, what we do, yeah. But it's like that concentration is is really hard. And and if you are putting yourselves in situations that are stressful, and that get it, we're we're not here to preach that you should not be stressed because we do it, because we do it. What we're saying is let's start recognising things that are stressing us out, yeah, and how can we how can we combat? And it's starting off with that just five minutes to yourself. Have TV Oh, I can't do that when I've got kids. Yes, you can. Yeah, you can. There will be some point in the day where you can have just a couple of minutes to yourself. I'm not saying like go and watch three movies on the trot, just it literally your child out for a walk, yeah. I I did that the oh, this it was funny. Um I can tell you this. I I'd got the children of McDonald's, because there's nothing against the law getting that. So I'd got my grandson and my grandchild uh daughter, um, and it were that lovely sunny week, and I'd got them this Mackeys on the way home because I'm on a diet, and I thought, oh because that's what Slimming Wheels is should. I didn't have any, I didn't have one chip. I'll let you off then. Yes. But I got this lovely little um lovely little meal for them, and I got home and I'd I'd rung my granddaughter and I said, put the leads on the dogs, we're gonna go for a little walk because at the top of my street there's a field. So we put the leads on, I put all the dinner in a carrier bag, and we walked to the top. And I was gonna it were like gonna be like magic faraway tree or a little house on the prairie with this lunch, and they were having this little picnic. All my days, it was far from that. Alfie knocked his over into a puddle, or not a puddle, a big like bush thing. He kicked it off, then he walked on barbed wire. My granddaughter was sat there freezing and said, Why are we doing this when we've got a perfectly lovely warm home? The dogs were going nuts at every dog that walked past. And I just sat there and I thought, why have I done that? But you know what? Not one of us were on a phone technology. The scenery was incredible. And you know, after it, they bought when we came home, they chatted and chatted away, and it it it made it. It breaks that cycle. Yes, even if it is only just for that five minutes, it's got them off whatever screen or whatever thing. Selfie's really tired when he comes home from his his nursery, his little lamb, and uh he just won't sit and watch telly. And I thought, oh no, come on, let's just it's literally five minutes up. It's not even five minutes, it's not even five minutes. No, but why is it so hard for them to break away from that? It's because they're so used to it, yeah. Anyway, I've waffled on about that. But it's right though, it is, and it it it's just little things, isn't it, that we can do, yeah. But it is so easy for us as parents when you're busy, or when you've got you know, when you've got something to do, just give them a tablet or a phone or put something on telly or give them an Xbox or whatever, something to occupy them, which obviously we want kids to have things to occupy. We do, we want to watch our programs. But it's I think it's and we we need to stop scrolling again. That is one of my promises less scrolling, yeah. Um I forgot my train of thought, aren't I? Anyway, but yeah, it's just easy for us as parents, isn't it, when we're busy to give it home. But then they become so reliant on it, don't they? And they just want it all the time. It's not good. And I don't think we're being honest if we say, Oh, my child doesn't do that. No, because I don't know any child that doesn't do it. It's not you know so come on, let's change the world, let's let's see what we can do, what results we can get, and one little simple change can make the difference. So, for us being busy and not really knowing what we were going to talk about today, well we did, we'd planned a bit, didn't we? But we've spoken for 30 minutes now. You're choking and your ears off. Right, next time we do one of these, we are doing it no longer than 20 minutes. Okay, you know it is all right, even if we have to write it down and read it. Oh my dears. Could you imagine that? I wonder if some people would do that. I bet they do, you know. Oh well, we definitely don't, and we definitely don't edit as you can tell. No, so we've no jingle, thanks for lingling long ling-ding-ling-ling ling-ling a long ling-long loom. Please, please, please tell your friends about us. Yeah, get listening, keep listening again. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and you've done a TikTok. Well, have you? Yeah. Well, I think I did. Right. And on TikTok. Yeah, maybe TikTok, but I'm gonna look at that, I promise, this weekend. So follow us. So follow us, get involved, get get looking. We have got a go fund us. Go go fund you. You can't even say it, can you? We've we've set up a go fund you, page. We both don't go up, go fund you. Go fund me, page. Oh, go fund me. Go and fund that even I can't say it now. Forgotten you say it anyway. It's but I don't like asking for that. No, I don't know. It's it's not for us, is it? It's for us, children and families, it's not ours. And it's just about getting involved, being part of it, and yeah, supporting us because together we can change the world. We absolutely can and you change your world. That's it, because it was if everybody changed their own little world, the whole big wide world would be changed. It would. It would across the whole wide world. I'm not political. I I'm I I I'm the worst. Yeah, do you know keep quiet? But I'm not political. And I know what happened in the country yesterday is quite profound. Um we need to be working together, we need to be working together for the good, for the good of our future generation, and we're the ones who can do it. We are not, I don't mean me and you because we're a bit busy, but everybody together can. And and honestly, we really mean this. If you want to talk, if things have triggered today for you, and you want to talk, if you need home help, home help. No, I'm not making you taste. It's like support in the home. Yeah, you know what? Get in touch, yeah, because that's what we're here for. If you have any desire to be part of our bedtime blessings project, get in touch. Um, the link is on our podcast, so you can get in touch with us there. You can email us, you can write to us on the wall of our Instagram and Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

But don't be alone. Don't don't struggle on your own either. In any way, for shape, or form, we can help. And if we can, we will find somebody who can, we'll sign post people. Because yesterday, my goodness me, the help that we were offered was incredible. And that help that is offered to us to help us will help others. Yeah. Um, if that makes sense. So thanks for listening to the end. If you have, and if you've not, we can call you because you can't hear us. We're just we're we're we're passionate about this. We're passionate about this platform that we can get our our thing out here. So pass it round to your friends, like, share, everything. Yeah. And remember, you're not on your own. That's all Jean is strap line. Yeah. So have a great weekend, lovely jubbling, and we shall speak soon. Tatty bye.