SingleWorkingMama

14Oct

Cheap, Awesome and Fun

Money Saving Mama 2 Comments

Last night, I reached out to my facebook friends/fans for some ideas about cheap, quality fun with kids. I got a GREAT response, and some really creative ideas!

Cha-Ching! Hear those savings rack up!

Here was my question: Answer this: What’s the cheapest, most awesome activity you’ve done with your kiddos? C’mon! Give me “bang for the buck!”

Rob said: “Mid summer, indoor snowball fight with lots of balled up paper…lots of paper. Ambushing the first person to come into the house from behind the couch is priceless.”

Totally fun! What a way to help recycle last week’s newspaper, and you can be sure the kids will love it.

Catherine offered: “Mancala or connect 4 tournaments because they turn fast and nobody gets bored….and I have a hard time dealing with Monopoly:) The fire pit is great, but that’s not till winter. Sometimes we just put on iTunes and dance which is probably very entertaining for my neighbors…”

We haven’t broken out Mancala yet, but we just tried Connect 4 and while we’re still in the early stages of learning, it offers GREAT potential and really gets the wheels turnin’. I got mine last Christmas season at Walmart, and I think it was only $5 or so, too! I absolutely love dance-a-thons, and chuckled about her comment regarding the neighbors. I’ve had that very same thought, many times myself!

Mary Kaye suggests (for those in Wisconsin): “An inexpensive summer outing is to head up to Bay Beach in Green Bay. Tickets are 25 cents and most rides are 2 tickets. The park is right on the shores of Lake Michigan. It’s a little gem.”

I’ve not yet been there, but have heard only great things about Bay Beach. Throw in a visit to Lambeau Field, and any Green Bay Packers fan-in-the-making will get their proper introduction to some serious state heritage.

Erin and Amy both offer different spins on scavenger/treasure hunts:

Erin (Tireless mother of four boys!): “For lunch or dinner when I’m home alone with the kids, I make a scavenger hunt for the boys. I hide clues around the house and they have to find them and head on to the next clue. Depending upon what we are having for dinner, they either find part of there dinner at each clue or play money. their food or money and meet at the final resting place… Read More. (If it is money, they then have to use it to buy their food at the “restaurant”. They love picking off the menu. ) At the end, we sit in front of the fireplace for a living room picnic.”

Amy: “I love the scavenger hunt idea too!
never thought about having them collecting anything along the way.
i do treasure hunts, and the girls love them. i have both hand drawn (therefore sad looking) clues on notecards, as well as pictures i took of somethings in the house and in the yard. the last clue usually leads to some special treat – like ice cream cones, or a small prize.
they love both the end result and the journey!”

Seriously, my friends… The above suggestions are all amazing, and times your kiddos will cherish forever.

Join the discussion and meet these fantastic parents on Facebook!

SingleWorkingMama on Facebook

13Oct

One Woman’s “Fat Pants,” Another Woman’s Treasure

I haven’t done a post recently about money saving techniques. Thanks to a very generous coworker, I will do so now.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am lucky to have colleagues who have also become friends.

Some of the ladies I work with and I have started a “goods exchange,” which includes clothing for children, various household odds and ends, shoes and clothing for us.

Yesterday, I was griping to my friend that in addition to hating all of the pants in my current repertoire, that suddenly almost all of them seem faded or damaged in some other way.

Pants! New pants for me! (Still working on those abs.)

Today, I am happier than a baby in a candy store, as that very friend brought me about 20 pairs of VERY gently-worn pants that are too roomy for her.

I have the bottom half of an entirely new wardrobe! (I’m thrilled that she and I share a similar fashion sense, which is key in this kind of arrangement working out, of course…)

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

When my kids grow out of their current sizes, I always love to share with friends. It’s fun and nostalgic to see a pal’s little tyke romping around in something your very own kiddo once wore.

I encourage anyone who isn’t too proud to trade pants with their friends to do so. Even the cheapest clearance items are more expensive than free!

12Oct

My Little Matchmaker, With a Motive

Kids, Single Mama Life 7 Comments

Recently, I’ve been wowed, impressed, and most of all thrown off of my parenting game by the logic and persistence of my seven year old.

While her interests seem to come (and go) in waves, her most recent request for a baby sister is hanging around much longer than I’d like.

It’s really funny. First, I try to explain that in order for me to have a baby, I should be married. (It’s the way I roll.)

“But,” she reasoned, “you have Brett and me, and you aren’t married.”

Sigh. This is the time I realize that gone are the days of pacifying my kiddos with a simple answer to any question they pose, and when I have to remind her that when they were born, I was married; that I didn’t enter the realm of the Single Mama until I got a divorce.

“Well,” she said (wheels turning) “I think I know a really nice guy for you. My PRINCIPAL!” She’s also commented on people we run into out and about, and once decided that because a man winked at me at the gas station that he thought I was beautiful and wanted to marry me.

Not good. Now she’s on the hunt to find not my soul mate, but the papa for her dream baby sister.

When I first got divorced, I was getting clobbered from every angle by friends, colleagues, neighbors and even vague acquaintances trying to set me up with “so-and-so,” who was always “really great,” and “blah, blah, blah.” I never imagined that one of these forces would be my own offspring!

I’m trying to prove to my kids that I don’t need some nameless, faceless entity to make my life whole. So how do I do this?

So far, my approach has included the following:

I laugh with her when she tries to set me up, and agree with her when we see a “cute one.”
I tell them constantly that I don’t need to be in a relationship to be happy!
I remind them that happy families come in all shapes and sizes; that they are my focus, and that when the time is right, maybe I will get involved again.

At the end of the day, I stand by my conviction. I really hope that my theory that they’ll get a stronger sense of themselves holds true, and that they learn much earlier than I did about what it really takes to have an awesome relationship.

C’mon. Who else out there has gone through this? Who else has dealt with similar efforts and requests by well-meaning children? I want to hear from you!

07Oct

Guest Appearance on Brent Dodge’s W.E.D.nesday Show – Disney Tips!

Disney No Comments

You’ve heard me talk about the SuperManny before. Something I haven’t talked much about is the fact that he, Brent Dodge, is a Disney expert and author of an upcoming Disney Guide book!

As a result, I was well-informed about what to see, what to do, and what to avoid at Disney World when we took our trip there a few weeks ago.

That's us in the first two rows!

Tonight, Brent will be interviewing me on his weekly show! Hopefully, I will be able to help offer some tips and tricks for traveling to Disney with small children.

I hope you tune in! The show starts at 8:30 Central, and I will be making my appearance around 9.

29Sep

The Homeless American Girl Doll

Product Reviews 2 Comments

By now, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about the new, Homeless American Girl Doll, Gwen. (If not, read about it here.)

Gwens mother does a pretty good job of getting her dressed for school. Shes more coordinated than my kids on any given day.

Gwen's mother does a pretty good job of getting her dressed for school in that car. She's more coordinated than my kids on any given day.

I have a couple of thoughts about this new addition to the American Girl (now clearly dysfunctional – ha!) family:

First, did they do any market research on this? Does this homeless doll fill a quiet void among children of parents who are able to spend $95 on a doll?

I’d also like to know which charity provided the Gymboree-quality, fully coordinated outfit of this lil’ sweetheart. Yes, I can tell that her seersucker dress doesn’t require ironing, which is a good thing. Obviously, her mother can’t very well iron in the car. And, Gwen’s mother is quite the artist. She’s dressed much better than my kids do on the average school day!

I think that introducing dolls of different backgrounds is a spectacular idea. Sure, it would make sense that in this day and age, there would be a doll from a single parent household. I think they jumped the shark a bit with the whole “homeless” bit, but then again, the singer Jewel lived in a car with her mother for quite some time as a young girl. Perhaps this was the American Girl attempt at showing hope.

Then again, it could be one more way to make actual homeless children feel inadequate, with their less-polished attire and hairstyles.

It’s a good thing Gwen is out of my price range. If my daughter wants a homeless doll for Christmas, I will take one of the forgotten, neglected Generican Girl dolls laying around my house and re-gift it to her.

22Sep

Disney World Trip, Volume 1: The Magical Express

Disney No Comments

We flew into Orlando and grabbed our luggage with ease. (Well, not with ease, necessarily. My sister nicknamed my bag “Big Bertha,” as it could easily accommodate at least one full-grown adult, and possibly a small child.)

At any rate, we breezed through the baggage claim and hopped in line for the Magical Express.

We were the first group to get on the next bus, and the kids charged on board and took the coveted first row. They were SO excited! My sister and I took the row across from them, seated directly behind the driver’s seat.

Our driver got on the shuttle. He was heavily winded, which wasn’t surprising since he had to haul most of the luggage under the bus. However, I started to become concerned as continued to pant heavily.

He started to drive, and took the microphone. “Welcome (pant pant pant) to Walt Disney World. (pant pant pant) My name is (We’ll just call him “Johnny,” as I’m not going to reveal his true identity) and I must apologize…” (Long, dramatic pant sequence) “But I am getting older (pant pant pant,) and I cannot (pant) breathe.”

Some passengers seemed oblivious, and I exchanged bug-eyed glances with a few others.

Thankfully, this is *not* the last known photo of the kids.

By now, we were about 7 minutes into our 30 minute drive. It suddenly occurred to me that these highly sought after front row seats were not ideal if the driver should succumb to some sort of medical episode.

He mopped his face with a paper towel, and I tapped him on the shoulder. “Sir, are you okay?” He insisted he was, and that was that. Meanwhile, I studied the path from my seat to the wheel in the event he should suddenly slump over.

We made it. By the end of the drive, he seemed to have recovered. We gave him a big tip for his heavy haulin’. I didn’t quite kiss the ground when we got off the shuttle, but I was very thankful.

Later, my sister said “Yeah – I came up with a plan to grab the wheel and pull his leg off the gas if necessary.”

I’m happy we didn’t make the news. Magical indeed!

21Sep

Home is Where the Heart Is

Kids No Comments

We’re fresh home from Disney World.

One night, in the hotel, Drue told me: “I’m a little bit homesick. I miss our house.”

I told her I understood, but reminded her that “Home is where the heart is, remember?”

She looked at me with a tired, serious face and nodded slowly.

To confirm she understood, I said “Okay, so then where’s the heart?”

She said “At home. You just said so.”

15Sep

The Missing Gallon of Milk

Kids 1 Comment

Tonight, when I came home and opened the fridge to scavenge for dinner, I was met with a fright: The gallon of milk I poured into the morning cereal today was gone.

“Damn,” I thought, “I left it out.”

I pivoted around to look in the usual places, and the milk was nowhere to be found.

Freaked out, I did a slow grid search (Ha ha! My kitchen isn’t THAT big!) and determined it was nowhere, including the garbage.

I pictured a carton of milk with a gallon of milk featured on the back: “Have you seen me?”

Have You Seen Me?

Suddenly, it occurred to me that the kids are getting old enough to, at the very least, remove it from the fridge. I circled their usual hangout areas thinking I might find it.

I did not.

Not worried that someone broke into my house and stole merely what was left of a gallon of milk, I checked less conspicuous areas, such as my bathroom and in the corners of all bedrooms. I envisioned coming home from Disney to find yellow crime tape circling my house, as neighbors had called in “offensive odors” coming from the place. (If you’re new to this blog, I’ve previously disclosed my runaway imagination.)

No milk.

Often the victim of hysterical blindness, I decided to abandon the search for an hour or so. During the time off of my search, I remembered my hunger. I opened the fridge to scavenge again, and found the milk low in the fridge door.

Duh! No wonder I couldn’t find it!

Suddenly, it occurred to me that my little, helpless children are capable of refilling their cereal bowls and putting the milk away… Just not in the spot I’m used to.

15Sep

Getting Ready for Disney

Money Saving Mama No Comments

I’m two days away from going on a dream trip to Disney with my kids, Mom, Dad, Sis, Bro, and Sis-in-Law.

Welcome to the height of anxiety for me.

This trip has been planned for months and months, and it seemed pretty unreal until last week, when Drue got a mysterious fever and pains in her abdomen. As the possibilities emerged (mono, strep, appendicitis!) the trip became very real, and I am so very happy that she mended over the weekend. Now, as long as Boo doesn’t get it for the trip, we’re good.

I had a vivid dream the other night that my Dad called, waking me up, and said “Hi! We’ll see you at the airport in an hour!” and hung up. I realized I hadn’t even started packing, and that the kids were asleep, and that it would take about an hour just to get to the airport. It brought me out of my slumber and into a cold sweat awfully fast, that dream did!

When I was at Wal-Mart on Saturday trying to tie up some loose ends (Neosporin, Band-Aids, etc.) the thought crossed my mind: “Hey – don’t they carry Disney stuff here?”

Sure enough, I found two t-shirts for me (Cool, distressed-looking Mickey and Tink shirts) and a Tinkerbell hat and shirt for the redhead. Little Boo was not so lucky, as they seemed to specialize in such characters as Spiderman and Transformers. I grabbed him a $1 clearance Spongebob hat for consolation, and he loves it.

Yeah, baby! We're going to Disney!!!

So, for $18, I got each one of us something to wear on the plane. I already told the kids that I bought the Disney stuff here to save money. We’ll see where that gets me.

11Sep

Remembering September 11

Uncategorized No Comments

Eight years later, as I watch the news coverage and memorials of September 11, 2001, it seems like that very day.

For much of my life, I’d had nightmares about planes flying into buildings, and when my friend Amy and I were traveling to Illinois for a consulting assignment one summer, I’d always talk about it when we’d go by O’Hare.

I was sleeping when I got the call from Amy. “Heidi! Your nightmare came true! A plane hit the World Trade Center!” I sat up, stunned, and turned on the television. That was before anyone really realized we were under attack.

I remember the feeling of helplessness that day. The fear of the unknown as one by one, three additional planes went down, and as the towers fell.

I remember the news reporters, doing their best to cover the unimaginable.

I remember people in business attire, covered with soot, stammering through New York in shock.

I remember seeing the look on the president’s face when Andy Card whispered into his ear “America is under attack,” as he read to small children.

I remember that my Dad was in St. Louis and I just wanted him back at home.

I remember hearing that people were leaping out of the buildings, and I remember the first time I saw photos of that, and thinking how horrible it had to be to choose that fate.

I remember my friends Alan and Cornelia, who lived in Washington D.C. at the time, and trying desperately to reach them. I remember the feeling of relief when I learned they were okay.

I remember learning that one of the victims in the WTC was the daughter of my very first boss (The owner of Peter Piper’s Pancake House), Gordy Habermann. Andrea was on her very first business trip that day.

I remember feeling hopeful, as here and there a survivor would be pulled from the wreckage, and the day it was apparent no more survivors would be found.

Sadness, confusion and anger followed, as I started to understand the impossible concept that other human beings would want to kill us. For as long as I’ve understood the concept of terrorism, I wasn’t prepared to have it so close to home.

I’ll never forget Tony Snow, who at the time was a Fox News anchor. He wrote a tribute that he read on the air, and he broke down in tears. I remember sort of realizing that news anchors are people too.

So, today I remember it all, and thank the heroes who helped that day, after that day, and still today by protecting our freedom.