Snowy or Rainy Day Activities for Tweens and Teens

Picture this. It’s a blustery, rainy day with nothing to do, or a snowy winter one where the kids are home from school (and you’re home, too!). You’re trying to think of some interesting snowy or rainy day activities geared to your tween or teen so that you can spend an enjoyable day together. Meanwhile, your tween or teen may be thrilled because to them it means a day of lazily hanging out on the couch, mindlessly watching tv or a movie while munching chips, or the opportunity to spend the day online or texting with friends incessantly. If you have other plans for them and would like to take advantage of this togetherness to spend some quality time with your tween or teen, then you need to come up with some interesting snowy or rainy day activities that they think will be fun and that won’t make them want to roll their eyes at you. Although they may love the opportunity to “plug-in” on a lazy day like this, you can connect with them if you offer up some fun activities that will engage your tween or teen and will get them to want to hang out with you instead. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll even get in a decent conversation or two in the process! [Read more]

An Inexpensive Way to Decorate for the Holidays in Your Own Backyard

The holidays are fast approaching and with that many people begin to think about ways to decorate for the holidays without breaking the bank.  With the current state of the economy, many people are considering scaling back on their exterior holiday décor, unless they already have an inventory of holiday decorations.  Another consideration in many people’s minds is how to focus more on how they can enjoy the spirit of the holiday among their own family and friends, rather than simply putting up elaborate displays for the neighborhood to see.

One way to really make your home festive for the holidays is to make your own holiday display in your backyard, rather than your front yard.  While you may still consider stringing up holiday lights along the front of your house or through the trees in your front yard, adding a bit of festive cheer to your backyard space can be a welcome addition to the season.

You can achieve your private holiday paradise without spending a lot of additional money, or any for that matter.  Simply take a few strands of your outdoor Christmas lights and string them around a small space on your deck or patio.  Add a wreath or a few exterior decorations that you may have to that space and voila! – You have your own personal holiday inspired retreat.  The nice thing about setting up this festive spot in your backyard is that you can look out your windows and really enjoy the display, or on a nice night you can spend some time outside with your family or friends enjoying the holiday themed atmosphere.  If you have some LED landscape lighting and can shine some light on your decorated areas, the effect is even more enjoyble.

When decorating your backyard space, you do not need to go overboard in terms of size or decorations.  Just take a small area that you can see from the interior of your home or where you can comfortably sit if you want to spend some time outdoors and add a few decorations.  If you already have an evergreen tree outside in the space, string some lights and extra ornaments that are not being used indoors on the tree and you have an instant Christmas tree right outside your window.

Once you have created your own personal holiday space, you now have the perfect retreat to sit back and relax with your family and friends to unwind from the stresses of the holiday season.  Spend a warm winter night sitting among your decorations or singing songs.  If you have a fire pit, light a fire and make some hot chocolate and enjoy the cool, crisp winter air.  You can even make some smores!

Putting some focus on how to make the holidays more enjoyable for you and your family, rather than trying to impress the neighbors with elaborate holiday light displays will help you better enjoy the spirit of the holidays without breaking the bank.  When it comes to lawn care advice, some of the best advice you can heed is to learn how to adapt your lawn and backyard space for some wintertime enjoyment. Happy holidays!

Surviving Family Road Trips

Family road trips can be a source of great pleasure, or misery, depending on how prepared you are for the experience.  If your kids are the type that ask “are we there yet?” just moments after pulling out of the driveway, then arm yourself with some fun ways to pass the time on the road and you’ll soon be enjoying each other’s company as the miles pass you by.

Of course, in this great age of technological advancement, there are always gadgets to keep your kids busy and entertained when on family road trips, such as portable DVD players, IPODs, game boys and PSP players.  But if you can limit the amount of time they’re “plugged in” in the car, you can use the time spent in such close quarters to really have fun as a family, to laugh and to talk.  Car time can be a great source of togetherness and quality time, since all outside distractions are absent.

I have put together a list of some of the best classic travel games to entertain the whole family in the car, as well as a few other helpful hints to make your next family road trip run smoothly.  Most games can be adapted for kids of any age and some are games that you can either play as an entire family or you can just leave the kids to entertain themselves in the back seat while you enjoy a little peace and quiet with your spouse in the front. [Read more]

100 Text and IM Shortcuts So You Can Communicate With Your Kids

Being the mom of a teen and tween, I’ve certainly discovered that I am no longer the expert on everything.  I have officially reached the point in my parenting life where my kids can teach me as much as I teach them.  Some of what I learn from them leaves me baffled or shaking my head, but some of it I can embrace as a way to bridge the generation gap between us. 

That is certainly the case when it comes to texting and instant messaging.  When the kids first started IMing on the computer and then texting with their cell phones, I had a few lessons to teach them.  Don’t write anything you wouldn’t otherwise say to someone.  Remember that anything you write can be easily shared and can spread as quick as a wild fire so make sure it’s something that does not offend, embarrass or comprise yourself or anyone else.  And most importantly, when you have something important to say to someone, learn to say it to them face to face and don’t take the impersonal route of hiding behind a quick text or IM message. [Read more]

5 “No Brainer” Fundraising Ideas

So, you’ve just been asked to help fundraise for your daughter’s school, your son’s baseball team, your church or synagogue, a cancer fundraising walk or the local playground, and you’re cringing because you know what’s in store for you - lots of frustration and lots of work to come up with the needed money.  Add to that the likelihood that most of your friends and neighbors may avoid you for the duration of your fundraising campaign, and it doesn’t exactly leave you excited to get started!

Well, like many other things in life, fundraising is clearly one of those efforts where there are ways to work hard or ways to work smart, and I always choose the latter.  Having been involved in many projects over the years to raise money for numerous organizations, teams, schools and such, I have found that there are ways to fundraise that don’t necessarily require a lot of work or the chance that your best friend may never talk to you again!  [Read more]

How to Be a Travel Sports Mom - A Crash Course

So after many years on the sidelines, watching my kids play baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis and softball, I have now turned into the one thing I dreaded most…a travel sports mom.  I managed to make it through 14 years as a mom without acquiring that title, but lo and behold, I couldn’t evade it anymore.

My very determined and driven 11 year old daughter has developed a love of softball.  Give her a few minutes and she’ll run to put her mitt on and throw a few balls with you.  It’s definitely become the thing she most wants to do.  So we let her try out for our local travel softball team and she made the cut.  We’re thrilled for her because that little round ball has become her passion, but now my husband and I must learn to adapt to our lives as ‘travel team parents’. 

Already we see it is a new way of life.  Softball has just by default become THE most important thing on our calendar.  As we learn the ropes of this new role we must play, we have begun to ask other parents that have found themselves in this situation before a few questions about what we can expect over the next year as travel team parents.  This is some of the advice we have received.  We don’t know if this makes us excited or terrified of what lies ahead, but above all else, we just want our daughter to be happy. [Read more]