The Mom Crowd

When you work as a family to save money, you not only teach your children the value of saving, you also teach them that a family should work together and have good communication.  Teaching the value of money will benefit them long into adulthood.

Most children are not in a position to earn income from an outside source to help with the family’s financial plans; their involvement will largely be in the saving money through making good choices and helping to find deals when shopping. This is still a great way to add value to their skills buy teaching them there are many ways to save money everyday.  The last time my family got together to brainstorm ideas on how to save money, we came up with several relatively painless ways to reduce our expenditures.

Buy and sell consignment items

Some towns and cities have consignment stores where people can take their used (but still in good condition) items to a storefront where they are priced by the store manager and offered for sale at the store. Sometimes consignment stores have special niches. Prices on the items in the consignment store typically are lower than the retail price but if it is a lightly used item, you can still get a good amount of cash back.

Play It Again Sports consignment stores are often the first stop for parents to go when they need to buy sports equipment for their school age children. It is a great way to save money on what kids need and also sell items that they have outgrown.  You can find just about any type of sports equipment lightly used.  This will save you tons of money.

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Feel like your child is growing tired of the toys he sees every day? Looking for ways to change up his play routine but don’t want to spend a bunch of money on toys that he will tire of too quickly?  I have the solution for you! One adult’s trash can be a a toddler’s treasure with a little re-purposing of household items.  The following is a compilation of some of my most successful recycled-item activities.  These things are easy to make and are guaranteed to provide a fun-filled play day with your tot.

• Water bottles and pop cans make wonderful musical instruments! For this activity, I like to use a variety of recycled bottles and cans of different shape and sizes.  Then I add whatever dry food I have on hand, like beans, rice, pasta, peas etc.  With a little duct tape ingenuity you can easily cover the holes in a can or secure a lid on a bottle.  Now you have an array of musical shakers for some music and movement time with your toddler.  Show your child how they work and then have fun, the sillier you are the better!
• We all have a few clothes hanging around that we can’t wear and can’t donate.  These make perfect fabric choices for homemade bean bags! Yes this will require some sewing, but it is worth it when you see your child having a good time tossing them around.  Simply cut a few squares out of the old clothes.  Fold the patch in half, print side in and sew two edges.  Flip the fabric right side out and fill bag with beans.  Sew up the third side and now you have a bean bag! Games with this can be as simple as throwing them in the air and trying to catch them.  You can also cut out shapes from construction paper or newspaper and put them on the floor, then ask you child to help you throw the bag to the different shapes, now we are learning shapes too! You can make as many games as you or your child can imagine.
• This is a super simple way to keep your child entertained and all you need is an old magazine.  Start by clearing your play space of all other toys. Then rip about 20-30 pages and crumple them into balls.  Now you have a ton of house-safe balls to throw all around the room.  Put a box in the center of the room and try to make throw them inside. Throw them all around the room and see how fast your little one can get them all back in the box.  After your child is tired of all that running, they will be happy to sit and shred the paper balls.  They will be happy to crumple, tear, and taste until it is clean up time!

I hope your family finds these activities are as fun as we have!

Have some recycled-fun ideas of your own? Post them here for us to try!

Ever since 9/11, I’ve been reminded how life can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. Too many times we hear the “I should have done this” or “I wish I’d done that”, but we just never got around to it. Time is short; no doubt about it.

The Bucket List was an adorable movie in 2007, where two men diagnosed with terminal cancer, embark on a mission to cross off items on their “to-do” list. Although I’ve been blessed with great health thus far, I created one a few years ago and cannot express the extreme satisfaction of completing an item and visually crossing it off my list! What’s even more interesting, is the fact that my two, young children created their own lists of “to-do’s” with adorable hopes and dreams that I didn’t even realize were lingering in the backs of their minds.

My 10-year-old daughter mentioned foods she hoped to try, places she wished to visit, and of course a handful of Disney and Nickelodeon stars she desired to meet. This had me determined to once again be the #BME! (Twitter hash tag for BEST MOM EVER!). During our most recent cruise, she was able to try escargot (yes, snails) and learned that she actually liked them. Quite a bit even. She and I both haven’t been to New York before and it’s a commonality on our lists, so I’m in the midst of planning a family vacation there within the next 3 years. Finally, I was able to locate fan mail addresses for her top celebrities and send away for signed headshots. I even follow a calendar of events that shares Disney red carpet movie premieres and she’s since collected a handful of photographs and autographs from those stars close to her heart!

We aren’t promised tomorrow, so we should live each day with no regrets. Better yet, start doing the things you never dreamt you could. Stop procrastinating! Make a list individually or as a family, and get moving! It even makes for great scrapbook memories to write down, check off when they happen, and note with a date, time, souvenir, and photograph.

As women, it seems rather easy to exhibit moments of self-control, self-indulgence, self-motivation, or self-loathing. Yet, how often do we focus on achieving self-love?

If you were a young girl who grew up with an absent father, either physically or emotionally, chances are that helped shape your overall self-concept of yourself. Many teenage girls and young adults go through stages of promiscuity or falling for men who are emotionally unavailable, in search of the “father figure” they’re trying to replace. Sadly, most will never suppress those desires unless they mend the pain they experienced as young girls. So how exactly do they go about doing that?

Positive affirmations can truly begin to create change in how you view yourself. They are basic statements that you repeat over and over again, preferably while standing in front of the mirror. If you indeed suffer from low self-esteem, they won’t be easy. Some women get increasingly emotional and find it difficult to do. Perhaps that’s because for every negative thing that’s been said to us and taken in, requires three times as many positive ones just to balance out.

Below are a list of statements you can use in the beginning.

∙ I am healthy and happy.

∙ I have a lot of energy.

∙ I am surrounded by love.

∙ I am getting wealthier every day.

Just by saying what you want in life, you then begin to see and feel it, thus attracting it into your life. Words are powerful!

While positive affirmations are a great and healthy start, there are two books I’d highly recommend for further self-discovery. Both are by Charles L. Whitfield, M.D. The titles are Healing the Child Within: Discovery and Recovery for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families and its companion A Gift to Myself: A Personal Workbook and Guide to “Healing the Child Within”. Both are in paperback and available through Amazon.com.

The tools above helped me come a long way in my personal journey of self-love. Not being dependent on others for happiness, reassurance, approval, acceptance, and more, allows me to value what I have to offer in others. That only comes from valuing and loving me.

Youth is a time of exploring passions and figuring out what you want to do with the rest of your life. This leads young people down a variety of roads before they truly find their calling and passion in life.  As parents, we want to support them  not squander their curiosity. This often means learning how to support your child’s passion even when you know nothing about it.

I’m not a golfer, but my oldest son adores it.  It’s been a challenge but slowly I am learning the game and why he loves it so much.  It does require a lot of patience on my part, and so on his part as we both try and figure out what he needs to be successful.

Figuring Out What they Need vs. What they Want

If they need supplies, that’s one thing, most of the time you will need buy them. If they need equipment, make sure they have the right equipment for their age. As a parent, you’re the breadwinner for your kids. However with so many cool gadgets, you’ll want to insure that you spend money where it is going to be best spent.  This also does not mean you have to break the bank to get gear.

For example, if they’re learning how to play hockey you’ll want to invest in good protective equipment.  You can find cheap deals on hockey equipment locally and online and still get great gear. The most important is that they are the right equipment or tools for the area that you teen is trying to pursue.  Whether it’s hockey or painting, passions need certain materials. Do what you can to get it for your child.

Be There for Them 

It’s not enough to just make sure they have everything they need, you need to find ways to be there for them as well. If they love painting, then you are going to need to be open to visiting art shows and museums. If your kid loves soccer then grab your lawn chair and head to the field.  You may not know what’s going on, but you can still be there to cheer and although they may not say it, they will love having someone there for them. It means the world to a child when he knows he has his parents there supporting him on the sidelines.

Encourage the Passion

Sometimes kids explore passions simply out of rebellion. If you’re worried about this aspect of their lives, simply continue to support them. If it truly is a rebellious streak, then your support will make it completely uninteresting to continue. In other instances, children truly are just exploring their options. You need to know how to encourage them to move forward in it even when you don’t understand it.

When you effectively learn how to support their passion, they will find their way. Children do not need you to force their path. They need to figure out much of it on their own. You can guide them and even respectfully express your opinion, but at the end of the day you must support them through it all. If you want your children to respect you during this time, you must respect them as well. Showing your support is the best way to do that.