Free Babysitting

I'm a big fan of date nights but between dinner and a movie and then paying a babysitter, they can be a killer on the budget. Not to mention, how many times can you really hit up your mom to watch the kids...Here's the solution. Free babysitting or really a babysitting co-op.

When our oldest was all new and snugly, we set up a system with a group of our friends who were in the same boat. We traded babysitting and to keep it fair we
Here's how to set up your own group...


1. Find like minded friends who are also looking for babysitting. You can include as many families as you'd like to but you really only need 2 families to pull it off.

2. Set up the payment plan. We decided that 1 Popsicle stick was good for 1 child per hour. That way if you have 2 kids and your friends have 4, it's still fair. So, for an example, if a family with 3 kids needs babysitting for 4 hours, they owe 12 sticks.

3. Make the sticks (i just used a permanent marker on craft sticks) and start out with an equal amount. We passed out 6 sticks per family to start.

4. Use them. The system fails when only one family is really using the sticks. Make sure that you call your friends for free babysitting and when you're getting low on sticks that you invite friends to take advantage of your babysitting. Also, if you and your spouse are already babysitting for one family why not call and ask another to join in on the fun and earn more sticks!

Of course, you can still use a driving babysitter for those late night dates but this is a great way to pad the calendar with dates!

Juicy Idea

Really. I don't let my kids have juice all of the time. I have to admit though, it's awfully convenient to tuck a few juice boxes in the car, the beach bag, and even my purse when we're on the go.

One of my pet peeves is when the box leak's juice from being held by chubby toddler hands. The kids and I were having a play date with some friends when the mom brought out the juice boxes like this......isn't it cute?! Next time you hand off juice boxes to the kids, pull up the little side flap. Kids can old onto these flaps with ease and you won't have juice to mop up! Simple and handy!

Everyday I'm Away Surprise Bags

The last few days I've been running around trying to tie up all the loose ends before I leave for a week. Okay, really I'm trying to get caught up on laundry before my mother-in-law comes to stay with the fam. I'm absolutly thrilled to go and at the same time, dreading being away from my kids and husband.

One of my favorite things to do for the kids anytime I'm gone is to leave them with a daily surprise. This workds well for little ones who can visually see how many surprise bags they have left until mommy and/or daddy get home.

I genrally just use brown paper bags and write numbers in decending order on them. Then I fill them with a little candy treat or activity. This trip, I'm stuffing them with bubbles, pop-its (those fireworkds you throw on the ground), fun-dip, new office supplies (yeah, my kids are nerds in the making), and horns for their bikes. Each bag also has a love note in it too, of course.

The gifts can be little or big...it doesn't really matter. Instead, it's more about having something for the kids to look forward too, and helping them understand how long you will be gone.

This post is a part of Works For Me Wednesday. Be sure to visit We Are That Family for other great ideas.

Traveling With Kids Tip

I was talking with some teenagers last weekend and they were going on about a road trip. They're new to driving and were planning discovering the back roads to the beach. I mentally traveled back in time and remembered the carefree road trips I used to take with my best friend from high school. Somehow, road trips don't have the appeal anymore with 2 kids in tow. Hmmm....trapped in a car with 2 kids singing at the top of their lungs, arguing about who's touching whom, and always needing to pee at the worst times. No thanks.

Time in the car is unavoidable with summer in full swing and family vacations booked. Here's a great tip (that I origianlly heard from my friend Angel over at Salty and Sweet)for keeping your sanity and paying your kids for good behavior! When you're all loaded and ready to hit the road, give your kids a roll or quarters. Most likely, you'll be buying them a treat or souvenir anyway. Might I suggest putting the roll in a Ziploc plastic bag with their name on it...we don't want to start any new fights. Warn your kids that anytime they argue, act rudly, or behave inappropriately during the trip in the car, they will be paying you a quarter. Then let them know that they may save or spend any quarters that they have left over at your final destination.

Yep, it's bribery. But it's fabulous! Happy trails friends!

Be sure to enter the Powder Pouch GEVEAWAY....here!

For other helpful ideas visit We Are That Family!

How Long is Summer?

When my son finished preschool he was so sad to find out that he had to wait a whole summer until he could begin kindergarten. This year, he wasn't as naive but he still had a hard time grasping how long summer vacation would be.

My solution...a paper chain. My kids love having a green and red paper chain count down until Christmas and my thought was...why not for summer too?

We stretched out the days of summer in front of us...



Wow! That's a long summer. We have some plans for this summer that the kids are really jazzed about. It's what, week 2 or 3 of summer vacation and I'm already tired of explaining to them how long until our family vacation. That's why I went all color code crazy on the chain. Each color stands for a special event or vacation. The kids can easily see how long until each event and even count out the chains. Ahhhh...no more pestering mommy!



So, for us...
blue = nothing planned (I love seeing all that blue)
yellow = baseball
Red = mommy's out of town
orange = vacation Bible school
green = family vacation
red, white, & blue = 4th of July....what else?!

It's a great rainy day project and all it required was a scissor, stapler, and colored construction paper. Happy chaining!

This post is a part of Things I Love Thursday

Make a Haul

I hate lugging in the groceries. By the time I get the kids to the store, wrangle our 3 year old into the cart, argue about why we are not buying Oreos, unload the cart onto the conveyor belt, pay, load the cart back up with the bags, put 2 kids on the penny pony ride...I'm done! It's exhausting and the last step of putting the groceries away can seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Here's my favorite tip to get the groceries from the trunk into the kitchen...in one trip, which should sound like the hallelujah chorus to those of you who are not blessed with an attached garage.

Use a dowel or a broom handle to thread your bag handles onto. Put mommy in the back and a kid or two at the front and viola....one trip!


For more great tips visit We Are That Family

Summer Bucket List

It's week 1 of summer and it's official...we're bored! Now, I've always believed that only boring people get bored. I don't think I'm boring so I'm going to have to adjust that saying into, only boring people stay bored. I have a plan to get us out of this state of boredom...the summer bucket list. I'm not sure where I heard about it 1st but it's not mine originally

Tomorrow, we're going to take one of our countless sand buckets and brainstorm a list of things we want to do this summer. The pail turns into the cruise director and gives us something fun to do each day.

To keep control of this little project, I plan on using a few shades of paper. Before one of my kids get to pick from the bucket list, I can tell them which color they may choose. BIG ideas that will take up the entire day, lots of mommy energy, and money are going to go on blue paper. A blue paper day might be going to the beach or zoo, or even going camping (backyard or otherwise), or having a friend sleepover. Smaller ideas will go on yellow paper. These are the little things we want to include like making homemade ice cream or popsicles, blowing bubbles, going to the library, building a fort out of sheets, going to the park, or setting up the slip and slide.

I like this plan...it helps keep a little element of surprise in our lives and it makes me feel like we're going to get the most out of our summer.

I'd love to hear what you would include on the bucket list! Leave a comment with ideas that I can stack our bucket with.

$$$$$ Talks

I hear Neil Diamond in my head....

Money talks.
but it don't sing and dance and it don't walk.
And long as I can have you here with me

I'd much rather be
forever in blue jeans.

It's in your head now too, isn't it? I'll spare the non-Neilers and not have the song play when you visit my blog but I'll hook the rest of you up.

I'm thinking about $$$ today and the great task of teaching it to my kids. In our household, we like to tell our kids that money is to save, spend, and share. We teach our kids and remind ourselves that all things, including money, are from our heavenly Father, God, making money a gift and a responsibility. Recently, we had an opportunity to teach a little $ sense to our 6 year old.

We live by the cutest little ice cream shop. It has a darling awning strung along it's quaint storefront. It offers adirondack seating and picnic tables. It's located just across the street from a wonderful park complete with a sprinkler pad. It's perfect except for it's prices. It's not that we can't afford (I never say that phrase to my kids by the way...even if it's true)the ice cream but it pains me and my husband to pay between $10 and $15 to take our family out for ice cream. I recently took my 2 kids there. We sat and enjoyed ice cream with my brother, his wife, and their 2 kids. My 6 year old understood that it was a special treat. He knew that while we can afford such ice cream prices, that mommy and daddy don't choose it often. He understood because when the shop first opened it's doors for summer, my husband and I took the time to literally show him the price of ice cream.

Instead of telling our son "no" and the 1st of what will be a million requests to go out for ice cream....we gave him $15. We told him that $15 is about how much it costs our family to get whatever we want from the ice cream shop. Then, we loaded the fam into the car and hit the grocery store where we let him and his sister pick out the works. They picked up a box of cone bowls, their favorite flavor of ice cream, whip cream, and chocolate sauce. We sent him through the check out line where his grand total was $8. We saw the light go on when the cashier handed him back his change. We made our way home and dished up 4 ice cream bowls and tucked the surplus of supplies away for another day. Our son was so excited to see that we still had enough to have ice cream on another day and see that we still had money left over. We were so excited to see it click with him that we let him keep the change...a reward for a lesson well learned.

Here's the best benefit. The ice cream shop is on our main route to well, everywhere and I don't hear begging and pleading anymore. We plan to visit the ice cream shop a few times this summer...but its' extra special now for everyone.

Tickets Please: Rewarding Your Kids

Tickets are our family's currency. We use them to pay our kids for doing the extra jobs that go beyond their normal chores and we use them to reinforce good behavior. Our kids get to use their tickets to earn prizes and pay for their screen time. Teachers would call it classroom management so I guess it would be fair to call the system household management....whatever you call it, it works. Here's how you can set it up at your house...

1. Buy carnival tickets. They come in an assortment of colors so you can buy one roll per child or use one color for your family and write your kid's name on each ticket. Our tickets live on our refrigerator but a paper towel holder works too.

2. Explain the system to your kids. Use clear and simple language. If your kids are young, make it tangible by having some toys that they can earn priced and out on display. You could even consider taking your kids shopping so that they can help pick out their prizes. I never force my kids to earn tickets. The prizes should be motivation enough. Here's the great part...you get to decide what the prizes are. Right now, my son is working towards earning 100 tickets so that he can buy a new fishing pole and tackle box. We've also sold trips to Chuck E Cheese, family trips to the movie theatre, and screen time(screen time is any time that your kids spend in front of a t.v., computer, DVD, or video game...yes, my kids PAY for it!).

3. Make your expectations clear. You can list extra jobs out on a poster board with the tickets stapled next to the job. I'm not organized enough to post jobs. I simply state that there is a "ticket" job and ask if there are any volunteers. I also tell my kids when a job is not done to our standards and let them know what needs to be done to earn the ticket.

4. Use tickets as positive reinforcement. I like to splurge on my kids and say things like, "Wow! You behaved so well at the dentist that I'm going to give you a ticket!". I don't always pay for good behavior but sometimes I reward it. See the difference? I also don't take tickets away. Now, you could argue with me on this one. At our house we have negative consequences set in place so tickets are strictly for earning not losing.

5. Get creative and customize the idea. Give tickets as birthday and Christmas presents and hide them in the Easter eggs. Our kids go nuts over ticket presents and guess what...they're pretty much free. Tell the kids that they can earn tickets for going to bed for the babysitter. Give out tickets when you feel especially proud of an accomplishment. You are the keeper of the tickets...go crazy!

Do you need a reward? A new ($40 CSN) giveaway starts tomorrow!

Keep it Clean

I like to clean. It's okay, we can still be friends. Here's the disclaimer: this doesn't mean that my house IS clean it just means that I like to clean it. There's a difference!

I clean to put myself into a good mood and I clean when I'm in a good mood. I love to clean on Fridays so that I can fully enjoy the weekend and I especially feel the need to clean right before we leave for vacation so that I can come home to a clean house.

Cleaning is like feeding me comfort food. I actually have fond memories of cleaning with my mom and sisters. Now, my mom will be the first to tell you that I also snuck off to go read Nancy Drew when I should have been helping. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I have fond memories of them cleaning. My mom would let us listen to Paul Simon's Graceland while we cleaned. I can still hear his voice singing "diamonds on the soles of her shoes..." and smell of Pledge and Murphy's Oil soap. It's comforting.

I also liked living in a clean house. I'm sure I didn't understand that not every kid had a safe and clean house to live in. Looking back now as a parent, I see that a clean house was an act of love that my parents gave to me. And now, I want to give my kids a clean house to play in. I want to teach my kids to take care of their toys and clothes. I want to teach them the pride of ownership that was taught to me. And that's why I have my kids clean with me. It might be easier or faster to clean by myself, but that's not the point.

I feel the need to mention that while my kids help, they are not responsible for cleaning my house. Clearly! Kids are kids and they should be allowed to be messy, and dirty, and play. That's their prime job!

Here are a few simple ways to get your kids involved:

1. Have little one's squirt the spray bottles. My 2 year old loves the job of spraying the glass cleaner. Of course, you need to be right there with them on this one! I tell her how many squirts per surface area and she counts them out. I finish up the job by wiping it down with the paper towel.

2. Three are a million mini- me type products out there. We have a couple that actually work and are fun for little people. Pick up a child sized broom and mop and let them work with you.

3. Dust busters are a 2 year old's best toy! Don't bother buying a toy vacuum. Get one that actually works! My mom picked up a dust buster at a thrift store for $2 and it's worth it's weight in gold. My kids both love to use it. When they make a mess, they can actually clean it up and they also love to vacuum with it along side of me.

4. When I take the time to wipe down the wood furniture with Murphy's oil soap, I give them a little bucket (a sand bucket is the perfect size) and a rag or wet wipe. I tend to go behind them on this one because it can get a little wet.

5. Give them a few simple jobs for their room and DON'T re-do it! Ask them to make their own bed. Sure, the comforter will be crooked but don't fix it! Fixing it tells them not to bother. Fixing it tells them that they're too little. Fixing it tells them that their best is not good enough.

6. Give them tasks that are in their reach. Give them a wet wipe and have them wipe down the trim along the floor. It's on their level and it requires no chemicals or fancy tools. You will be amazed at how much dust collects there.

7. Have them do a toy round up before you vacuum. We play a game where my kids run around "saving" the toys from the vacuum. They feel like heroes and I can vacuum with out the fear of sucking up a G.I. Joe. I also label their toy bins with pictures so that they know where to put them.

8. Have a few jobs that are above and beyond their call of duty. There are some jobs at our house that they do because they are a part of the family. Then there are those jobs that we call "pay jobs". I pay in cash and I pay in tickets (which should be a whole different post). For example, taking out the trash is a paying job at our house. While I don't believe in paying kids for everything, I do think that going above the call of duty should be rewarded well.

I'd love to hear other tips! Leave them as a comment! I'm always looking for more ways to get my kids involved.

The Tub Takeover

Am I the only one who gets attached to my kids clothes? A year ago, I had tubs and tubs of clothes stacked around our basement. I just couldn't part with them. It's ridiculous really.

Every once in a while, I'd feel this need to cut down the number of tubs so I'd pull up a stool and start sorting through bins. About a 1/2 hour into it, I'd realize that I was much too far down memory lane to call this a productive use of my time. I'd pull out an outfit and compare it to my kids current size. I'd mentally recall up what they looked like at that age... in the cute outfits. After a while, I'd pack it all up thinking that "someday" I'd thin the herd of tubs.

I'm proud to say that the day finally came. I released the clothes. My basement does not look like a Rubbermaid warehouse anymore. It's the ultimate spring clean! Here's what got me through the job...tag, you're it!

1. Have a sale. You have money sitting in your basement! Sell the clothes and gear before it goes out of style. Use the money to reward yourself for a job well done or buy some new cute outfits and gear that you need!

2. If you don't want to deal with the headache and work of a sale, give it away. We all have a friend or neighbor who could use some hand-me-downs. A few tips...ask if they want it first and have an understanding on what they are to do with it when their kids out grow it.

3. Remind yourself that you can buy new clothes and gear if you need it. I think one of the big excuses we use is the thought that we might just have one more kid. So, we NEED all this stuff. In truth, keep the 0-3 mo. unisex stuff. You can buy new or gently used items later if you really do need it.

4. If the task seems overwhelming, start by sorting out the stained and damaged items. You are not going to put another child in a shirt with spit up stains. Turn it into rags or pitch it already.

5. Dream about what you could do with the space you gain. Creating more space in your house should be huge motivation!


Leave a comment...what have you done to keep your tubs in check?