Bl***y CSA!

Happy 18th Birthday to rubyson [cake]. Hope you both enjoy the day after all the stress getting it sorted rubylady

Hope your son has a great birthday rubylady (think you said it was today but may be wrong) you have worked so hard making it special for him your a strong lady!

Typical government department.

You are a SUPERMUM.

Hope he has a lovely day xx

Good, at last, some money paid in. I'm off then shopping. Tired, would rather be going to bed, but hey ho. My son rubyson love that, is flat out asleep on the settee!

I know janerowena. Another worry is that the month after my DD turned 18, payments stopped. He must have thought that all responsibility had ceased. So I do hope that he doesn't stop paying in next week. I suppose I will just have to see.

But I am now looking forward to my late shop.

I'm glad you took all that effort, and I'm sure he will be too, even if he doesn't show it all that much. I know what they can be like... But he will remember.

I remember having a similar panic about payments, between marriages, it's awful. I can remember dumping my daughter on a neighbour and running all the way into town to try to sort it before the offices closed, and being devastated, it felt like the end of the world.

No, it's fine, I will just go to the all night Tesco later.

I have bought all things that he has gone through in his life, "It's a Boy" rice paper wafer, Thomas the Tank, Minecraft, Playstation, XBox, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemaon, to guitars which he does now. So all these are to go on his cake. That is why it is important, because a lot of thought and preparation has gone into it. (Either rice paper pics or tiny models.)

Plus he only has a couple of things to open as his present is membership to a gym nearby for a few months.

The CSA have just phoned back and they have now sorted the payment and put it through as urgent. It won't get to me for the morning but never mind. I was just upset that they had said they had sorted it last week when they hadn't. Never mind, it will be something to look back on, a midnight dash.

Poor you.
I think that it is a big deal in your case.

If the worse comes to the worse, is there someone who could lend you some of those things?

I do have some money coming in after midnight, it will just have to be a very late shop. Thank goodness for 24 hour shopping.

But if I had been paid by the CSA I would have gone by now.

I know, and in itself it doesn't seem a big deal. The problem is that my son has always been ignored by everyone else in the family, even his sister won't be bothering tomorrow. When it was her 18th she had all the bells and whistles, party, go-karting, sapphire and diamond ring, lovely birthday breakfast, helium balloons, all the lot. So if I just get up, when he already feels like people don't care, and he hasn't had some fuss off me, then it would be disappointing for him. And it is his 18th.

I will sort it somehow, it's what us mum's do.

does he live at home with you ruby? hopefully he will understand about the cake, or could you make him one, even a small one?He has presents and you can tell him you love him, worth more than cake.

Will your son really be bothered about not having balloons or a birthday cake? At that age they're only interested in the presents, in my experience!

Try not to let the incompetence of bureaucracy get to you, I'm sure tomorrow will be a lovely day anyway.