 and the mixture of kids and abilities mean she is mostly just surviving rather than thriving. She is quite shy but they haven't really done much to help her with that. She has also made some unwise friendships, which we have a few concerns about. We've found a lovely, nearby school in 100 acres of land with lots of marvellous facilities – a swimming pool, tennis courts and small class sizes – but when we signed our daughter up earlier this year, I thought my husband was going to speak to his parents about having some sort of financial backing. My mother- and father-in-law are in good health, live in a large old rectory and own several other properties. I think it would be much more worthwhile for them to provide some sort of financial support now than holding on to their assets for years to come. It's now tha){kind=link}
It would be much more worthwhile for them to provide financial support now than holding on for years to come
This September our eight-year-old daughter starts at a new school – a private one – and I am already worrying about how we’re going to cover the fees. We have two older children, both boys, who managed to get into our local grammar school with a bit of tuition, but I’m not sure whether our daughter would pass the 11-plus, nor how well she would manage in such a competitive environment.
The new school is, however, going to put our already stretched finances under more pressure but my husband, who is the proverbial breadwinner, refuses to ask his parents for any financial help. My father and stepmother aren’t really in a position to help us, but if they were I would certainly ask.
We have, like many other families, felt the squeeze of inflation in recent months, from our weekly shop to petrol and, most of all, our mortgage, which has gone up by almost £500 a month. My husband gets very stressed about money and we have been trying to cut back on other day-to-day things, but it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference.
The school our daughter is currently at, a small village primary, is reasonably OK but the large class sizes (there are 28 in her current one) and the mixture of kids and abilities mean she is mostly just surviving rather than thriving. She is quite shy but they haven’t really done much to help her with that. She has also made some unwise friendships, which we have a few concerns about.