The Mom Crowd

Far too many people miss out on having an excellent Halloween experience merely because they think pulling off a great costume will cost too much in time, money, or effort. Thankfully, this is not at all true. A well-planned costume will not only magnify your Halloween experience but will also be fairly easy to do if you follow these simple steps.

The first trick to a great Halloween costume is to start early. Planning ahead is the number one way of easing yourself into an awesome Halloween. If you can manage it, try to plan at least a year in advance; you’ll never get a better deal when buying a great costume than just after Halloween the previous year. If you wait too long before you begin planning your Halloween costume, you risk not being able to find what you need without paying way too much, or worse: not being able to find what you want at all. Getting started the year before will reduce much of the stress inherent in last minute costume shopping and dramatically reduce the number of problems you’ll encounter throughout the experience.

The next thing you need to do is decide on a theme. While it’s true that singleton costumes can perform well if you get lucky, the best way to ensure that your costume will be a hit is to plan together alongside your friends or family. Consider a costume that pairs well with your spouse, child, or best friend. Not only will it be more fun to go as a couple or group, but it will make your costume stand out that much more at whatever party you attend.

Once you know what it is that you want, it’s time to go shopping. Finding adult women costumes or men costumes is fairly easy to do online, if you know exactly what you want. Pick out the perfect thematic costume and get it well in advance.

Now it’s time to customize. Don’t just wear the standard costume as it comes in a box; make the costume yours. Add jewelry, a cane, umbrella, or any other props that fit in character. Just make sure that everything can be carried with only one hand; costumes that require both hands tend to make for far more uncomfortable parties.

As it gets closer to Halloween, consider doing a test run to make sure everything is how you want it to look. Pick a day a month in advance or so to fully dress up as a group and do an activity at home, like board game night, poker or video games. This way you and your thematic costume group can be fully ready for the big day while not outing the surprise to everyone else who’ll be at the party.

Finally, when Halloween eventually does arrive, be sure to have fun! The whole point of planning in advance is to make your Halloween party experience thoroughly awesome, and that can’t happen unless you commit yourself to having a great time. If anything goes wrong with your costume at the last minute, don’t worry! Just consider it part of the fun.

Last summer, I took one of the most interesting vacation trips I could ever go on. I took an RV trip with the kids from Phoenix to San Francisco. . As a full-time writer, I have the distinct advantage of being able to work from any location. So one day in late May, I called my parents up and asked to borrow one of their two used class B motorhomes. I explained my idea, “Yes, Mom, I plan on taking my two kids on the road for the summer, stopping here and there and getting to know the country.”

At first, they thought I was a little crazy, a single mother with a somewhat limited income, on a road trip in a large RV with two kids. Was I crazy? Well, I admit, at first I was a little scared, after all the biggest vehicle I had ever driven was a van. However, I was determined to spend some quality time with my kids, and do it in an inexpensive way.

The Trip

We started off at about 5 a.m. at the beginning of June. Our destination? The Grand Canyon of course! It was only three hours away, but the kids had only been to Phoenix, so it was a great opportunity to see the Grand Canyon. We stayed at Trailer Village, an RV campground located on the South Rim of the canyon. We had planned to only stay overnight but ended up staying a few days. We spent a day rafting down the river, another walking along the trails in the early morning and evening. Other than that we just spent some time being together, playing in the pool and talking.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas was our next destination. While I knew the kids couldn’t spend time at the casinos, I also knew there were many other things available there. I planned out our trip so that we could stay at the Circus Circus RV park. The kids enjoyed the lights, the action, street vendors and shows. During the day, we toured some of the most fabulous hotels along the strip including, the Venice, the Eiffel Tower hotel, and the Excalibur. I had only planned on spending a night here, but we ended up spending the better part of a week. We took in a cirque du Soleil Show, went to the Ethel M Chocolate factory and to the Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas.

What Trip Would Be Complete Without a Visit to Disneyland?

Our next destination was Los Angeles. We stayed at several locations in this wonderful city. There is just so much to see. Our first stop was Hollywood Blvd. and then Universal Studios, but we also visited Venice beach, Santa Monica and Long Beach before heading over to Anaheim, Disneyland and then down to the San Diego Zoo.

Along the California Coast

Our trip continued up the California coastline driving along scenic highway 1. When we saw something that interested us; we would stop, play, eat out or fix something in our temporary home and enjoy our time together. We saw interesting state parks, theme parks, towns and communities. We met other RV’ers, just out having a good time like us, some actually adopting the lifestyle full time, then we made our final destination of San Francisco.

San Francisco Area

While in San Francisco, we visited family and stayed in the California Delta, an area full of waterways; meaning there were lots of RV parks, camping, skiing, rafting and boating. San Francisco is only about an hour from the Delta, so we made several day trips to the city by taking the Bart train. Needless to say, the rest of our vacation was spent languishing about, relaxing in our RV and enjoying ourselves. It was truly the best family vacation we have ever been on (inexpensive too).

In the modern world it is believed women can have it all – the gorgeous husband, the beautiful children, the big house and the high powered job. But this belief doesn’t stop many new mothers feeling guilty about returning to work and leaving their child with family or a babysitter. Not only is there a nagging guilt that their child will miss them and miss bonding with them but also the fear they will miss their child’s important miles stones, their first steps, their first words, the instances parents want to be there for.

It might lessen the guilt somewhat to discover in a recent study in Australia of 4,500 preschoolers it was found children whose mums work part time were healthier than those whose mums work from home or work full time. The children spent less time in front of the TV and ate less junk food. The two year study also found part time mums went to greater lengths to spend time with their children and the time they did spend with them was of a higher quality and more interactive which as any mum will know means their child is more able to interact with others and be seen as society as a ‘well rounded individual’.

This study was playfully named ‘Do working mothers raise couch potatoes?’ and also reported some negative impacts for working mums. It found if a mum worked more than 34 hours a week there was a struggle to find time to engage in family activities as well as keep the house hold running with cooking, cleaning and washing, though this is a fact many single people who work full time can attest to.

However, having a little extra income is always welcome and gaining it through a job that offers flexible hours is even better. And if you are a mum who requires a little extra time on your hands yet still wishes to advance in their skills, then part time work is inevitably the answer! A part time job won’t take over your life, or prevent you from spending precious time with your kids, whereas a high-flying 9 til 5 career will take up a good part of it.

There are a great number of pros and cons to working mum’s and everyone has their own opinions, however this study and a number like it have shown there is unlikely to be any harm psychologically or physically to a child of a working mum and this should go some way to lessen the guilt they feel about having to leave their children be it for a few hours a week or longer.

Your divorce papers have been signed and everything has been finalized. The chapter of your life that included your husband is over and now you want to move on with your life. You are ready to rebuild the family that you have and you are ready to get back out on the dating scene. But your children are resistant to the thought of you dating. How do you cope with this?

Fear of Further Loss

The age your child or children are when you get a divorce makes a difference to how they will react to it. A child has not lived long enough to have any solid life experience and as a result fears that the absolute worst thing possible will happen. When their mother meets a new man their fear is that they will not be loved as much by their mother and that she will have less time for them as a result. This often works the same when their father meets a new woman as well. To comfort and reassure your child that none of these things will happen it is important for you to talk with your child often and to listen to what he or she has to say. Encourage your kids to talk about their feelings and show love, support and understanding. Do not tell your child that what he or she is feeling is wrong because this will cause your child to emotionally withdraw from you.

Love and Attention

Your kids need as much love and attention as you can possibly give them. They also need to be reassured that you are there for them and that they are a top priority for you. Many parents make the assumption that their children understand that they need to have a life outside of being a mommy but this is not the case. Whether you have a young child or a teenager they are not likely to understand this because they think your life revolves around them. It takes quite some time for most children to understand that their mothers need other people as well.

When You Meet Someone New

Once you have met a new man get to know him well yourself before you introduce him to any of your children. You need to figure out if the relationship has the potential to become serious before you get your children involved. A man who is worth your time and your heart will understand this.

The last thing you want is to introduce your kids to new men all of the time who come and go. This can cause them to be confused and insecure and also sad if they happened to really like the man. Teenagers often become protective of their mothers when it comes to who they date and you do not want to cause them any more worry than you need to. After all they have been put through enough already!

Keep the new man away from your home when your children are at home until you are sure that he is a keeper. If you decide to get sexual then either go to his house or bring him back to your place if your kids are not at home (such as if they are staying with grandparents or their father for the weekend).

If your children do not want you to date they will often show this by becoming clingy or by whining a lot or throwing temper tantrums. It is important to talk with your children about how it is time for you to start dating again. Be gentle and kind with their feelings.

To make the transition as easy as possible for all concerned keep these ideas in mind:

-Make your children aware that your dating is very much like the time they spend with their friends.

-When you decide to introduce your children to a new man, prepare them beforehand.

-Some children might assume you are dating because you do not enjoy spending time with them. Assure them that you enjoy being with them but you also need to spend time with other adults whom you share things in common with.

-Start slowly. Spend a minimal of time with your new beau and work up to more time in order to assure your children that they are not losing you.

-Set aside time with your children before and after your dates. Mommy and children time matters too.

Whether you have a dog at present or whether you plan to get one for your household in the near future it is important that you teach your children what they need to do in order to avoid getting bitten. Even if you have no pets your children will be in contact with dogs at some point in time and need to be taught how to properly behave around them.

Dogs do not bite for any reason. Most often it happens because they are provoked in some manner and feel the need to defend themselves. This is natural instinct kicking in. When they do bite it is most often because they are fearful of being harmed.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that almost five million people are bitten annually by dogs in the United States. Children are three times more likely than adults to suffer a serious dog bite. The good news is that dog bites are largely preventable. It is necessary to educate your kids to avoid the possibility that a dog will bite them.

How do you do this?

Tell your children to ask for an owner’s permission to pet their dog before they go ahead and just do it

If the owner says it is okay then make it clear to your child that he or she should approach the dog in a quiet and calm manner and should take slow steps when getting close to the animal. Let the dog sniff you before you touch him. This will let you know if he is being responsive to you. If he is then pet his head, back or sides in a manner that is friendly, gentle and non-threatening.

When a dog is eating, sleeping or playing with a toy leave him alone

When he is occupied with an activity or is resting this is not the time to bother him. Teach your children that. Dogs tend to be very protective of their food as well as their toys. If they think someone is trying to take something that is theirs away from them they may bite. The same can be said if they are startled or frightened. Explain to your child that just as he or she does not like to be bothered or disturbed during meal times, play or while asleep, the same can be said for a dog.

Educate your child about the territorial nature of dogs.

Instruct your son or daughter to not try to pet a dog that is in a yard or behind a fence or one that is in a motor vehicle with the window down. Dogs are protective of what is theirs and will do everything in their power to protect their personal space. It is important to heed this warning to prevent getting bit.

Other Important Points

To prevent your child from suffering from a dog bite tell him or her that it is never a good idea to walk up to a dog that he/she does not know on the street and try to pet it. Children should stay away from stray dogs. Often these dogs are hungry or lost and are not likely to be in a congenial type of mood. If the dog approaches the child then he or she should remain calm and still. A sudden move or too much exuberance may scare the dog and can cause the child to be bitten.

It is a commonly held belief that a wagging tail means that a dog is friendly and receptive to attention. While this is sometimes the case, it is not a diehard rule.

When meeting a new dog at a friend or neighbor’s home you should never rush at the animal for any reason. Instead let the dog come to you and sniff you before you reach out your hand to touch him or her.  It is through smell that a dog starts to become acquainted with a stranger. Your scent is one of the factors a dog uses to determine if they want to come closer to you or not.