Naptime Blog

I know just about everyone is trying to save money right now, but we are really on a tight budget.

We have medical bills due to my son’s occupational and physical therapy and have one salary. I try to be creative and buy store brands, use coupons and shop when there are sales. Clearance racks are my friend. The thing is, I am not that great at couponing. I have tried and had some success, but don’t have the time or energy to dig through dumpsters to clip coupons out of discarded Sunday papers. Do you have any tips? I’d love more ideas. I know some people are great at this.

As you know, I do love Ebay and hand me downs. I have awesome friends that pass down used clothing and toys. I would just love to save more on food. My youngest son is an eater. They both love bananas so much that I should buy stock in a banana company. I have heard of things like Angel Food Ministries, where you can get food and pay less than you would at a grocery store. Has anyone tried that?

Basically, the reason for this post is to get ideas, so please leave me some in the comments below. Thanks and have a good day!

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

Much like his mother, Shaughn loves bubbles. There can be so many just floating around him and he seems mesmerized by them. Once he snaps out of the bubble’s hypnosis, he goes into destruction mode. Yes, that means every bubble must come down. He pokes at them, swats them, hits them to the ground and smears the soapy bubble all over the ground, all while laughing. I certainly hope that bubble beatings are not a sign of violence, lol.

Even when he is in the bathtub, he goes crazy over his bubble bath and then covers his face in bubbles and laughs. It’s not funny when he tries to eat them, though. Alright, maybe it is funny but I can’t show him that because then he will think it’s okay to eat things like that. One of our pool excursions while my mother in law was in town included bubble blowing, because it was $1.99 for a big bottle at Walgreens with two wands. I accidentally dropped it on the concrete in the pool area breaking the dipping tray, so I had to squeeze it together to make sure it wouldn’t leak. Shaughn was already in the pool with his daddy just kicking and splashing away.

You can never get this kid out of the pool or bathtub, he loves being in water. That is, until we started blowing bubbles. He had to get out of the pool and be right there with me and Brent’s mom watching us blow the bubbles, and watching them float away. He observed us for a good minute and decided he was ready to try. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, he put his heart and soul into the next one and made it. In the picture I took, you can see his dedication along with his bubble floating away from the want. I was so proud of him and he was too! We all clapped for him and said our “Yay”s and “Good Job’s”. That was the end of the pool for that day, he left daddy stranded alone to go blow his bubbles.

- Krystal

The news headlines recently covered that two main networks refused to air a Lane Bryant commercial during prime time.  The commercial depicted a “fuller” figured woman in receiving a text from her boyfriend while in sexy undergarments.  The woman throws on her raincoat (with nothing other than the undergarments) and heads out the door.  As a mom of four young children, I am always trying to distract my kids if a “risqué”- themed commercial comes on the screen; however, there is so much of it that it becomes nearly impossible.  As a matter of fact, living in NYC, sometimes walking or driving through Times Square with the billboard ads can be a bit challenging with young children.  I recently remember seeing a photo of a jeans ad on the cover of our local paper with a threesome.  I believe the ad was rejected by Times Square BUT the paper chose to feature it on its cover… for my eight year old to see!  I guess, after a while, a parent just learns how to address it with their children, because these are the times we live in.

I saw an online article comparing the Lane Bryant ad with a Victoria’s Secret ad, the latter being aired on the same networks during prime time that the former was rejected on.  The Victoria Secret ad was just as risqué, and also depicted similar sentiments as the woman who leaves to have sex with nothing but her bra and panties.  So why did the networks ban one and not the other?  The buzz is that the Lane Bryant ad was rejected because Lane Bryant was advertising a full figured woman.  And this is what truly upsets me.

First of all, the model is beautiful.  She is bustier than most of today’s models, but her dress size cannot be more than an 8 or a 10.  But major networks and the whole pop-culture society has created this female body image “perfection” standard to be more of a size 0-2.  Yes, obesity is an issue.  It is a very serious issue.  But society has created these “perfection” goals for young girls which is pushing more and more teens (and younger!) into eating disorders and habits which is just as unhealthy as an obese teen’s eating disorders and habits. 

I am not a skinny woman.  I have always fought with my weight, and having four kids pushed me over the top.  A twin pregnancy followed by another baby only fourteen months later proved to be detrimental to my body size, and I am struggling to get back into a healthier and sexier pair of jeans.  I come from a family of women who have also struggled with their weight.  I try my best to be on top of my eight year old daughter, so that she does not grow up with the same struggles.  I do not want her to be overweight.  I want her to be healthy.  I also want her to be happy and confident in her body.  But when society makes the perfect body image so ridiculously unreal and unfair, this becomes more and more difficult.  Lane Bryant’s blog stated:

It appears that ABC and Fox have made the decision to define beauty for you by denying our new, groundbreaking Cacique commercial from airing freely on their networks.

Unfortunately, their definition of beauty may not be the definition of beauty that I want to teach my children.  While health is one of my main concerns, happiness, self-confidence, contentment, inner strength, respect for self and others, determination, and so many other positive qualities is what I wish to instill in my children (both my daughter AND my three sons) as what a BEAUTIFUL person truly is, not the fact that she wears a size 2 pair of jeans.

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (8), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (7 months)
www.nevaland.com

Our oldest son who is in the 4th grade recently experienced his 1st broken heart. He had this little “girlfriend” who he was just crazy about. He bought her a little Valentine and everything. It bothered me a little bit, but I tried to convince myself that it was normal puppy love and a phase that would quickly pass (so I hoped). I knew it was part of growing up so I didn’t make a big deal over it when he would talk about his little friend “girlfriend”.

Well a few weeks ago he came in the house with his head hung down. His little friend “girlfriend” had moved on. She did not like him anymore. He was CRUSHED, I was smiling on the inside (glad it was finally over) but a little sad on the outside because my baby had his heart broken, and I knew that this was just the 1st of many to come in his little life. I can’t protect him from everything, but I will surely try to be there to dust him off.

-Shanta

Okay, so sometimes I draw a blank when trying to think of ways to entertain my two little boys.

We go to the park where they swing and slide and pick up leaves and feed the turtles. They run and play and dig in the mulch. They get dirty and sweaty and come home happy, hungry and exhausted. In their world, that is a fun time and a great way to spend an afternoon. If they’re happy, I’m happy. Of course, I love the park as it is full of fun photo ops.

Another activity we are involved in is growing an herb garden on our porch. They love helping me water it and watching the birds and squirrels fly and scamper across the yard. They like riding their tricycles down the sidewalk and having picnics on the porch. They also enjoy swinging on our porch swing.

It’s starting to get warmer though. I wonder what we’ll do when it’s too hot to spend much time outdoors. Of course, we’ll go to the local swimming pool and spend time in our backyard blowup pool. We’ll also drag out the sprinklers.

All in all, though, I think I’m not all that creative with these things and would love some advice. What are your favorite things to do with toddlers when it’s hot outside and they want to do something new all of the time?

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

We all have it; some manage it far better than others. I am not one of the people who can handle stress very well! I like to try to take control of the situation and hopefully change it, but a lot of times that is simply not possible. My husband tells me not to stress out about the things we cannot control because of just that – I can’t control it so getting upset over it is pointless and frankly, a waste of time.

Is it because I am a woman that I get so worked up over these things? I have been applying to jobs like a crazy woman. Jobs that will work greatly around my school schedule and still allow me to bring in a decent part time income, with having time for my little boy as well. Now it seems harder than ever to find that job. The only positions I see and apply to that do contact me back right away are all sales positions, and I cannot sell something if my life depended on it. I feel that while so many people are suffering with money problems, I am unable to talk them into buying something especially if it is a product or service that isn’t a necessity in life.

There are a lot of scammers out there as well who go around feeding off these people who are hurting. Not to sound like I am bragging, but when I applied to a job 2+ years ago, I was immediately contacted back, and if a personal interview was scheduled, I always got the job, and now it’s like pulling teeth with some employers to even give me a consideration. Who knows if they even read my emails anymore with so many unemployed people looking for work. The search continues, and I pray every day that something will finally come along and give us the break we need.

- Krystal

Have you ever thought about what type of “Mommy Spender” you are?  When it comes to your child/ren, which category do you fall into?

1.  I buy them food, clothes and a toy or two a few times a year. They don’t need anything else.
2. When my kids get out and earn money, they can buy the “extras”
3. I struggle at times. But I try to give my kid/s something special every chance I get
4. Guilty. I overspend on my kid/s…. They are only kids for a short time, why not?

I admit that I am the GUILTY Overspending mom.  My living room on Christmas morning looks like Santa left all of the neighborhood kids gifts here, not just my kids.  For their birthdays, I go overboard with hosting a party, picking a theme, matching décor, favors, cake, chocolates, games and more to the theme.  My children do not get toys whenever we go out, but I am usually picking up something for them, such as a new pair of sneakers because their feet are always growing too fast or a box of animal crackers so they can snack while we shop.  When my daughter comes home with her 99 average report card, she gets to pick out what she wants to have for dinner, and if that includes a dinner out, we go out.  My husband and I have parents and relatives that are always treating my children to something, so my kids do have a lot of toys and clothes. 

I don’t think there is any right or wrong way to spend on your children; it is as personal as how you discipline or reward them.  I would not take my children for a weekend to Sesame Place or Disney if the bills were not paid, but I also don’t put every last penny into the future to save or invest when we could be enjoying the NOW more.

I feel childhood is too short and my kids deserve to enjoy it…  We are living in a really poor economy, and everyone is struggling, my family included.  But why should my little kids know that we live in a bad economy?  They have the rest of their lives to deal with adult issues, why now too?  I am also lucky that my children are good at sharing, polite and well-behaved.  So although they are certainly “spoiled”, I wouldn’t consider them “spoiled rotten”.

Yes, my husband works hours and hours of overtime, I work a full time job from home and two freelance jobs as well.  We also have a small party business that we work occasionally.  We both work basically round the clock to ensure that my children don’t do without… and then some.  The only negative to this is that the flip side is TIME…  some weeks, we work so hard, we don’t have much time to spend playing and reading as much as I would like.  We try to make up for it on weekends and any chance we get… BUT, I don’t blame it on spending for my kids.  We probably would be working just as hard even if we didn’t spend so much on our kids… just spending it elsewhere.

I always shake my head in disbelief when I hear about a mom that will ONLY take her kids to see a movie or to a show or buy a specific toy if she gets the tickets or toy for free (either as a gift or as a prize), or unless there is a serious sale going on.  Don’t misunderstand me, I use coupons and shop sales as much as possible, why not?  And yes, I have to limit myself many times, and I have to prioritize.  But whenever we have “extra”, it goes to our children.  I wish I could save more for a rainy day, but life is too short, and I want to enjoy my kids while we can.

What type of “Mommy Spender” are you?

Jennifer
Wife to Paul, Mom to Juliana (8), Anthony and Louis (1) and Joseph (7 months)
www.nevaland.com

How many of you have tried the “mommy & me” swimming lessons given by the YMCA? Recently on our spring break vacation we took our boys to the pool. Our oldest son Jeromy has always loved the water. We didn’t start him in lessons until he was around 5 or 6. He still has a ways to go before I would consider him a fluent swimmer.

Surprisingly, when we put Jayce (15mo) in the water he appeared to have this natural calmness of the water. He was very as ease and was pretty much floating independently. I am really considering starting him in some lessons a little earlier.

I found an interesting site that summarized the benefits, take a look.

http://www.babyswimming.com/benefits.htm

-Shanta

In my last blog post, I told you about how big my boys are getting. Well, my 3-year-old is now in preschool. He has been going for three days (as I type this) and, so far, loves it. This is a program for kids, like him, that need extra help.

For those that don’t know, he is developmentally delayed and goes to occupational and physical therapy to help him out. The preschool he is going to at the local elementary school is very language based and will help him in that area. It should also help him to catch up a bit to his peers.

He gets to dress up and take his backpack to school. He has circle time and plays with toys. He makes art projects and takes speech classes. He is in a small class with six other little ones. The best part (in his opinion) is riding the big bus. He gets to ride the big school bus every day. He gets super excited about that.

Here is a video from this morning to show you how excited he gets…

I think he enjoys getting ready each morning and spending time with me while he eats breakfast outside on his picnic table on the porch. He also likes waiting (with much happiness and anticipation) for that big yellow, child carrying vehicle to round the curb.

After watching the video, what do you think?

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/

As you may know, I often shop at Wal-mart and talk about their prices and how much they have helped me and my family when it comes to purchasing items as “store brand.” Today, instead of Great Value, I will talk about Equate. This seems to be the generic name of their medical supplies; vitamins, feminine needs, over-the-counter products, etc.

I am still working on losing weight, which we’re so far doing really good on, and wanted something that I could have quick – maybe take on the run – while feeling good and not shaky or having jitters from lack of food or nutrients. I thought “Slim Fast shakes!” I went over to the section where they normally have them, in front of the pharmacy, and checked out their selection. While they had slim-fast shakes there, they also had the Equate regular shakes, and some called the Ultra. When looking at the ultra, I saw that it had even less calories than the Slim Fast shakes, which really threw me off. I got a couple of cases of Equate, chocolate and vanilla (they had others, I am just very simple with that) and put them in the fridge. I have to say, they tasted really good and I felt good.

Anything in my stomach would feel good when I was used to leaving the house on an empty stomach and would fight on till the afternoon. Now I have 2 shakes, one in the morning on the way to class, and one after school around 1:30pm, while snacking in between on granola bars, 100 calorie packs, yogurt, fruits, veggies, etc. and then have a nice 500 calorie or less dinner. I feel pretty good and hopeful so we’ll see how it works!

I also take the Equate version of the Women’s One A Day Weight Smart vitamins in the morning, and enjoy this lifestyle. Of course, it will take some time to get used to it, but it’s all about positivity!!….right??

- Krystal