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

 

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.  

Was September Super?

September started and things went a bit (a lot) wrong and it just got a bit too much so I've spent the most of September as a hippopotamus. A great big hippo wallowing in a giant puddle of pity and woe is me, losing sight of my usual positive outlook and so lots of things took a back seat (not just comping) and I lost a lot of motivation for things I usually enjoy doing. Things have now turned a corner I've put my big girl knickers on and manned up and given my head a shake and that leads me on to my post about what I won in September which despite my lack of comping (some days I didn't even bother picking the laptop up) was still pretty super!

My first win of the month was on the 1st September. I received a message on facebook from the Entertainer to tell me I had been chosen as their 3rd place winner in their LEGO competition. My prize was a subscription to National Geographic Kids Magazine and a Jungle Helicopter LEGO set. Now a lot of compers know me through the Childrens Magazine Group I run, and a lot of compers also know I LOVE LEGO so this was a pretty fantastic and perfect prize for us. We haven't received our first issue of the subscription yet but as we've previously bought it I know J will enjoy it. He loved building the LEGO set too.

My second win was again on the 1st and was a Garage Anthems CD which arrived in the post with no notification as to where it was from but I managed to track it down and find it was an email competition with the Star. My partner was convinced I had bought the CD as it was one he'd actually mentioned wanting so it was lovely to have won something for him that he wanted.

Next up was a With Love gift box from a comp on instagram. Subscription boxes seem to be all the rage nowadays and there are so many different types. This one is classed as a 'well-being' box. It had a beautiful sleep mask, oils and a buddha card inside.

I won a rug on instagram at the start of the month too. It's a gorgeous brown rug that matches my decor and actually fits perfect in my living room too! J has loved laying on it as he says it feels so soft.

I won a colouring in book about preparing for birth with lots of zen like calming, yet empowering pictures inside which I'm planning on giving my friend as she is due very soon.

Another baby related prize I won is a board book called 'What Does Baby Want' which is a book about breastfeeding and has caused great delight and giggles from those who have seen the video of me reading the book. It's a bit of a random prize but brilliant none the less.

£50 Pets at Home Voucher this was a low entry facebook competition where you had to post a picture of you pet in their home and I posted a picture of Boycie one of our bearded dragons. The voucher has come in very handy for buying some new decor and lights for the vivariums and some bugs to feed them.

Eyeko Mascara - there were 1000 of these available and I was really pleased to have won one. The tube is well cool it's more like a toothpaste tube than a typical mascara tube, but they RRP at £19 which is nuts!

Boss Baby Blu-ray - this arrived through the post as a surprise, I have no idea where from but J has loved watching it  and it was a film I was actually looking into buying. However J now wants us to get a baby as he thinks people just knock on your door and deliver them.

Another fab LEGO win soon followed, this time with Smyths on facebook in one of their Force Friday competitions. We won a LEGO BB-8 which is amazing! and a Star Wars Path of the Force Lightsaber RRP £49.99!!! The lightsaber has been put away for Christmas.

Next up was a small instagram win of a personalised box frame from Littleunicornwishes. I'm torn between getting a Christmas themed frame or one with a letter J in for the boys room but he does have quite a lot of personalised name plates and things.

You may remember last month I won a Deluxe barbecue, well it came and we decided it was too big for us as there is only the three of us and although I like a BBQ only Ant is the big meat eater. So I did a deal with a friend where she got a bargain and we got a little bit of money to use towards a smaller barbecue. No sooner had I dropped it off and got back in the car I got a notification from Nisa on instagram to say I'd won a Weber Compact barbecue. Just perfect for us.

Bandai ran a competition across their social media pages to win a Power Rangers Star Sword Star Shooter and we were picked as one of the winners. J will love this however I'm not looking forward to the prospect of getting shot!

J won a LEGO Batman DVD from one of the kids mags we buy and enter via entry form. We actually already own this on blu-ray from a previous win so we are sending it to a comping friend for her son to enjoy :)

Another instagram win came from Espa who ran a comp giving about 20 prizes away and said they were sending me a surprise product. I am really pleased as they sent me the Pink Hair and Scalp mud which is £34 a jar and absolutely amazing!!!

MONUSKIN sent me a facial wash through a competition they ran around 3 months ago where you had to follow them on instagram and fill in a form. As it was so long ago I thought I hadn't been successful but it arrived and the reviews sound great.

Another kids mag win for J of a Nickleodeon goodybag which contained a light up fidget spinner which he loves! a tub of Nickelodeon slime which again he loves (but I don't as he got some on his brand new school vest and it had to be binned) and a JoJo Siwa bow which we have given to a comping friend for her daughter.

I won a beautiful corded bracelet with mother of pearl beads from Celestial Design on facebook.

Pip.Milburn ran a competition on instagram to win a Strong Girls Club tshirt, a grey tshirt with a golden pineapple on the front and a gorgeous smelling Relax candle from Soul_Candles. It was a lovely wee pick me up and the candle smells AMAZING!

I won a £50 Amazon voucher from Sytner Seat for answering a picture quiz I'd seen on my timeline. I had intended to use this voucher for LEGO but hubby got in their first and bought himself Forza 7!

CraftsBeautiful on instagram gave away some adult colouring books and i won a beautiful Birds of Paradise one. It has some gorgeous pictures inside one of which I'm considering framing in my room as I love it so much.

On the same day I won the colouring book I also got a message on instagram from Poundstretcher to say I'd won a mug which says 'I'm not bossy I'm the boss!' and is going to be given as part of a Christmas present.

A lot of compers have been trying to win personalised Onken Yogurts, or Yougurts as they are calling them and whilst I'd had a couple of goes I'd not got lucky (I'm too lazy and lack the motivation to do comps like this daily so tend to just do them when I remember or see them on friends walls etc) my lovely friend Emma posted that she had won one so I decided to copy her ingredients and won one! Yay for Emma haha. It was cherry, rhubarb and mango flavour that I won.

loveyourhome.yorkshire ran a competition across their insta and facebook for some wax melts and snap bars and I was chosen as a lucky winner. One of the items specified was out of stock so she sent me a few alternatives. They smell great and as you can probably tell I love candles and melts so these are a fab win for me!

The biggest win of the month for us has to be a Sphero Ultimate Lightning McQueen which is RRP £299.99 this was an effort comp which was found in the effort section of Compers News. It was run with Tesco and Hallmark you had to buy a card (so I bought myself a birthday card haha) and then print out an entry form and design a race car. Me and J did a picture of a car together and filled in the form about why we thought it would win the race. I sent it off and thought nothing of it as I expected it to get loads of entries and our creation wasn't the best however we received an email telling us J had won and they are coming to present it on the 3rd October. From what I've seen online it looks amazing!!!

Another lovely instagram win came from lisa.bramley who runs Apple of My Eye. I won a gorgeous necklace that is double sided and says 'First my mummy, forever my friend' This was such an apt prize to win. I got notification of the prize on the afternoon but in the morning on the walk to school I'd been trying to coax J in by saying 'you are going to have so much fun at school today, you are going to make some lovely friends and get to play with them' and he replied 'but mummy you're my friend can't I just stay home and play with you?' which melted my heart and so it was perfect timing for the necklace.

Anatomicals did another instagram comp where the first x amount of people to comment and send a picture received 2 facemasks. I'm going to use one myself and put the other in a Christmas hamper.

I won a magnetised energy bracelet from dream_goddess_sweden and good_balance on instagram. I'm not sure if I've noticed an improvement on my energy levels or how I'm sleeping but it's pretty and I like it so will keep wearing it.

J had another mag win! This time from Kraze mag for asking why old men had hairy nostrils haha. He originally asked why his grandad had hairy nostrils but when I filled the form in I thought it might be a bit personal so changed it to old men. The mag answered his question and he will love the goodies as since winning the blu-ray earlier in the month he's really enjoying the film.

We finally had a twitter win towards the end of the month and won a Mini Hornit. These are a light which you can fasten on to childrens bikes or scooters. They have a solid light as well as the chance to have flashing lights in either white or green and they have 25 sounds from a bell ringing to a dog barking which can be activated by a button that sticks on the handle bars. J has had great fun changing the sound and setting it off while riding around on his bike.

Another childrens mag win of a Shopkins Swapkins bundle! It had 24 blindbags inside! J loves blind bags and surprise eggs so took great delight in opening them however I think we only ended up with 5 different ones as we had a lot of dupes.

Another 'surprise' egg type of prize came from Tubz Brandz Ltd on twitter. They sent us 6 of the new Sqwishland suprise balls, some marshmallows and a chocolate egg. J tried to make an unboxing video on my phone for this bless him but the lighting and quality wasn't brilliant so we couldn't upload it. I need to get him back in my room where we have a better back drop and lighting for videos rather than just in the living room.

Novicemama_char on instagram did a competition for a cute heart plaque and some headbands which I won. I've chosen a lovely Robin design which I think will be perfect for Christmas. We've never really done the decorations, we had a tree once for about 3 days, so I'm looking for little bits and pieces that will help the home feel more festive.

Carabao have been running a competition on their cans of energy drink to win football tickets. I'm not a fan of football but Ant brought me some ringpulls home from work so I went on the Lucky Learners facebook group I'm in to see how to enter. Whilst reading the comments I noticed a comper saying they really wanted to win Man City tickets so when I got the Congratulations screen pop up I sent them a facebook message asking if they'd like them and they said yes! I hope they have a great time.

Emoji lunch bag from the cheesestring daily, I have won 3 of these now and as great as they are I'd love some of the other emoji items like stickers.

Youngblood ran a competition across their social media pages giving away Colour Lip Crayon kits. I was an instagram winner and chose the Angeleno shade. I just really love the little lip shaped pouch that thee products came in. I think it's very quirky.

Another small win was a bottle of Cloudberry Bubble Bath for J from goodbubbleuk on instagram.

Since updating the apps on his phone hubby keeps getting twitter notifications when people he follows tweet about certain subjects, one of the notifications he got was about the hashtag #PowerRangers and was because UKMumsTv were having a twitter frenzy. He asked me what he had to do and I said just retweet the competition posts they put up and he won a Power Ranger jigsaw for J which is fab!

I received an email on Thursday afternoon from our local radio station advising I'd won 4 tickets to go see the new LEGO Ninjago movie which we've been to see today and J loved it. Previous readers will know that cinema trips are usually a big no no for the boy but we actually managed a full movie! It was fab we also got a free LEGO keyring each which is super cool and we followed the movie up with a meal at a local All You Can Eat place that I won back in April in an Easter Competition.

My last two wins of the month were both on instagram.

I won a brooch making kit and glitterlips and stardust from Glitterlips. The brooch kit is right up my street as I love crafting and I'm sending the stardust to my friend as her daughter is a dancer so it will be perfect for her.

The last win is one that I won for me and a friend. We both get a back to school pack with an Art and Stationery set, Rainbow pencils and a Colouring Activity Pack and those were won from irishfairydoor on instagram. I love comps where I win something for me and a friend. It gives me more of a buzz getting to do something lovely for them and giving them a treat.

So there you have it, if it wasn't for social media and the support of some fab people I would be well and truly buggered. I'd like to think I'm proof that you don't have to enter EVERYTHING all the time to be a winner.