Margali's Griffin Wood Ranch

We are a one income family and budget is tight. Last year we did fancy hair color for summer break. I got supplies Saturday to do it again. The kids understand or I thought they did. We regulary talk about the fun money vs food money, etc.

Pick the kids up from hanging out with cousins. Barely in the car and it starts. "Why don't we go on vacations" "When are we getting a pool" "I want to go on a fishing trip too!". Just a outpouring of GREED and ENVY.

I'm seriously considering returning the hair stuff. I don't want to celebrate father's day or hangout with my husband's family right now...
 
They have to learn that they have less than others and they have more than others.
Don’t punish them for what amounts to basic human nature. Make it a teaching moment. Have the fun hair color, make them earn it. Then do a special day and have fun. Make cupcakes, have a picnic. Too bad Bruno is black or you could invite him to the party. Buuuut……… Snickers is white!
 
Margali said:
Pick the kids up from hanging out with cousins. Barely in the car and it starts. "Why don't we go on vacations" "When are we getting a pool" "I want to go on a fishing trip too!". Just a outpouring of GREED and ENVY.
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Your children are young. They don't understand how expensive it is for vacations, etc. Not necessarily greed, and envy is natural for us all.
Like Baymule says, set up some fun stuff for them to do. Make it a summertime hair color party and invite the cousins. Coloring on the white sheep is perfect. (Unless you are showing that one any time soon.) I bet the in-laws will get tired of hearing about how you are the cool mom/aunt that colors their cousins' hair to celebrate summer vacation. LOL If the cousins live fairly close and have a pool, plan more trips to cousins for kids to enjoy THEIR pool. No upkeep for you!

We are/were a one income famiy too. I grew vegetables and fruit and canned everything we ate except beef and pork. We ate rabbit (homegrown) instead of chicken and raised our own eggs. Made all our food from scratch. We never went out to dinner or took any vacations. Bought used cars, used furniture, clothed the kids in used clothes donated to us by wealthy church friends. Washed diapers and hung them on the clothesline - paper diapers were too expensive. The kids loved opening the bags to see what we got! Some of their favorite outfits were out of the bags. This was before moving to our present home where we hoed extra acreage would allow larger gardens and orchard. NO! The soil has a Ph of 9, and won't allow anything to grow. After 35 years of putting all the rabbit, goat, & horse manure into the soil, the ground squirrels take it all! LOL But we had ponies and 4-H livestock. They never went to the mall, their friends were jealous of their "farm", they swam in the Doughboy, and I never enrolled them in any summer activities except one week of sleepover 4-H camp, which they paid for by applying for grants and earning the fee.

Your kids are NOT greedy and envious. They are just kids. Just keep saying "No" and explaining you can't afford it right now. They will accept it. You are good parents and they will enjoy their lives on your farm. Having a mom that is home is worth more than fancy vacations and pools.

And look into those Imtex pools. You and DH could be floating in a blowup chair sipping a cold beverage while the kids do the chores. :lol: :lol: :gig:gig

Nothing wrong with talking to your kids about saving for a pool, or waterpark trips, etc. They will understand if they are saving their own money to use on stuff. Our kids had ponies and livestock, so Christmas gifts were often "need to be replaced" tack and show equipment with one or two fun toys. Our pool was an 18'x32' Doughboy which we brought with us from our previous house and had set up at the new one. The kids learned to swim in it and had just as much fun until they were teens. Then they joined the public pool swim teams which also led into jobs as locker attendants, etc.

We plan to put up an Imtex portable pool in Yantis. We saw them in Texas for $800 - 15' x 25' x 5' deep. DS3 bought one to put up for his kids last summer. Easier to put up than Doughboys. He took it down and stored it over the winter and said it was easy to do and well worth the price. With the Doughboy types you can replace the liners when they spring a leak. They usually last several years, but when they need replacing our liner was $1000+ and we had to pay $500 extra to have it installed due to size and weight. Doughboys are semi-permanent and stay up all year which means a massive cleaning job in the spring. You have to leave it filled or the liner will shrink. Covering it is cumbersome and our heavy winds ripped the cover off. The Imtex pool probably has to be replaced every 4-5 years if you can't repair the liner (the liner kits work well for smaller leaks) but it should hold up for several years. Ask the kids what they are willing to give up for a pool and set up a savings jar for it. You might find them on closeout sale at the end of summer, and buy it as a family Christmas gift for installation in the spring.
 
@Ridgetop I've explained and explained but kids are little. It doesn't help that my husbands family will drop $50 plus on whim at anytime and expect everyone to match. For example at 11:38 when Father's Day dinner is set for 2pm:
"So it's already hot AF outside I jokingly told mom we should all bring our own pools for today and she said yes!!! My best thought is the plastic kiddie pools so you can then take your pool home and not have to blow it up or down. I think they are $15 at Walmart. I know not everyone has a truck so I'm getting dressed then headed to Walmart. If anyone wants to meet me there or cash app me I'll get pools. Both my kids will have one and maybe me."

So my choice is spend the food budget on crap or have kids singled out as only ones without pools. They do this kind of stuff all the time. I'm staying home instead of going to Father's Day because I don't want to deal with them.

I'm just tired and frustrated. I work ~50hr per week day job, do all the farm chores, all the bills, most of the laundry, most of the cleaning, and some of the cooking. That apparently isn't enough for them.
 
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I had a calm, solitary afternoon doing chores while indulging in a bunch of English gardening shows. It was 76F inside because AC can't keep up.

I spent about an hour starting at dusk working on the sheep shed. The sheep were perturbed. The space between posts is roughly 7' 6" for each bay. I am eliminating the aisle up the middle. Instead the middle bay will have a chute entry next to either post. The rest of the space will be inset V of a pair of people gates that meet at divider fence. This will help sheep go thru chute.

The divider fence outside will be replaced by a covered hay hut. I will make it so I can put 2 haybales in on rolling edge. There will be a bottom to keep hay out of the muck but low enough ramp of trailer will have decent angle. When sheep aren't supposed to have hay, I will fasten solid tarp around sides. That way I can store the hay in correct spot for winter when everything is dry.
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Glad you had a calm afternoon and made progress in the sheep barn.
It’s not going to get any better with the AC. It’s rated for the square footage of your home, but doesn’t take into consideration that it is sitting out in the heat. Mobile homes are like ovens, soaking up all the heat. Our double wide in Lindale was a heat sink and so is this one I have now.

My daughter and son in law put window film on 3 of 4 big windows on the back side of this house, where the afternoon sun bakes it. The film is helping. You might want to put film on your windows to help deflect heat.
 
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