Summer Fun (without breaking the bank)

"Summertime is finally here
That old ballpark, man, is back in gear
Out on 49
Man I can see the lights

School's out and the nights roll in
Man, just like a long lost friend
You ain't seen in a while
And can't help but smile..." - Summertime, Kenny Chesney

In my last post, I asked readers to provide me with some suggestions on what to write about next.  While the requests didn't exactly come flooding in (I got all of one, haha!), the request I did get is well in my list of interests that I didn't waste any time getting to it.

The requested topic is <drum roll> (pause for dramatic emphasis) </drum roll>:

Free or cost effective activities to do with your kids during the summer.

With my kiddo (who will be referred to as Mini Moo from here on out) starting summer vacation soon, and my family currently in grey mode* I'm all about having a fun, skint season.  Mini Moo has a 9 week summer break, so I figured I'd list off 45 things (5 activities per week for 9 weeks) that we'll have fun attempting to do over the next couple of months. Here goes:

1. Pack a picnic.  Take it with you to the park, have it in your backyard, or suprise a loved one during their lunch break and bring the picnic to them.
2. Teach your kiddos to ride a bike (if they don't already know how to ride a bike.  If/when they know how, go bike riding)
3. Camp in your backyard, or inside on rainy days.
4. Create a treasure hunt for the kiddos. Do it on your own property or around town.
5. Water fight!!  Who doesn't love a great water fight?  I've been wanted to make sponge bombs for ages, so this is happening this year.  If you don't have these, or want to make them, bring out your water guns, water balloons, or simply grap some empty, cleaned out plastic containers and use those.  
6. Board games are big deal in our house.  This is an ideal way to play on those rainy days.
7. Go swimming.  See if there's a free outdoor pool nearby, and go there.  If there isn't a free one, there's bound to be one that's not too expensive, or just fill up the kiddie pool (if you have one) early in the morning so that the water's not too cold by mid morning, early afternoon.
8. Make your own tie dye tshirt.  Or, if you're not into the tie dye look, design a tshirt however you want to.  Again, a good indoor, rainy day activity.
9. Learn a new word every day. Open a children's dictionary, then have your kiddo close their eyes and point to a word. That word becomes the word of the day. Encourage her to use the word as many times as she can.
10. Have a dance party.  Turn on the tunes, and dance to your hearts content.  This is something that can be both indoors or outdoors.  If you decide to have an outdoor dance party, I would recommend making a cool-off necklace to ward off the summer heat.
11. Visit a fire department.  Most fire hourses will have an open house at least once throughout the summer.  Your kiddos will love being able to climb all over the engines and talking to real live heroes.
12. Build a fort.  Indoor or outdoor, this is a classic kid friendly activity.
13. Take an  "alphabet tour".  With camera(s) and journals in hand, go to the park, local attraction, or mall and begin with the letter A(Apple store), B (bakery), C (City Hall), etc.  When you're done your kiddo has a personal and creative alphabet memory book.
14. Take a nature walk. take along a journal, bring a camera, then go home, identify everything your photographed, create a nature book.
15. Go hiking (tie this in with a nature walk if you want, or do this seperate to the walk)
16. Check out free days at your local museums.
17. Go to the beach.
18. Check out your local hardware store - they offer free kids club building projects.
19. Cook with your kids, but let them plan it, be a part of the shopping, table setting - make dessert!
20. Go fly a kite.
21. Play jacks.  
22. Go to a neighbourhood festival.
23. Blow up Diet coke with mentos.
24. Make sillouettes.
25. Gather friends and have a "clean" the park day - celebrate your good deed with a picnic and play time.
26. Make school related activities fun - create your own matching cards. Use maccaroni for math reinforcement, make a clock with a paper plate, help with geometry by giving building tasks, etc.
27. Have a pajama day, enjoy movies and popcorn (great for a rainy day).
28. Play tennis, soccer, kickball, football, etc.
29. Write a short novel with your child, taking turns writing a chapter (for the older kids).
30. Master the jump rope.  My kidlet is not proficient with the jump rope, I think we'll be working on that a bit this summer.
31. Pick your own fruit (berries, cherries, apples, etc).  We live close to a very rural area where we canpick our own fruit for very little money.  Locally sourced food, ftw!
32. Have a puzzle race. Use 100-piece puzzles and see who finishes first.  I can tell you right now, my kidlet is winning this race.
33. Host the kids' friends for a sleepover. And the maybe your kids will be invited next, giving you a free evening
34. Take road trip to a nearby city. Spend the night if you can or just make it a day trip.
35. Go to the drive-in. If there isn't one nearby, look for one near your vacation spot. Every kid should go to the drive-in at least once!
36. Find a free concert near you.
37. Make paper airplanes. See whose goes the farthest.
38. Climb trees together. Of course, only if the kids are big enough, and you are brave enough.
39. Play croquet on the lawn. And try bocci too.
40. Go to a matinee. Find a bargain movie houses and pay less.
41. Make a lemonade stand (some cities have by-laws about this, so investigate this idea before you present it to your kid(s))
42. Race your Hotwheels
43. Blow bubbles.  Have some creative bubble play outside, like making rainbow bubble snakes
44. Make some sidewalk chalk paint, and go paint your sidewalk.  Mix equal parts cornstarch and water, and add generous amounts of food colouring.  This is dirty play, so make sure your kiddos aren't wearing their Sunday bests.
45. Go to a parade.  No matter where you live in the world, there's bound to be a parade of some sort during the summer months.  See what's happening around town, and talk to your kiddos about what they want to go to.

I'm going to make it my mission to check off at least a dozen things off this list before school starts in fall.  I know, mom of the year award won't be going to me for aspiring for such an uninspiring goal, but hey, at least I'm talking to my kid, right?

I'll report back to you in September to let you know which activities we did, and what I'll be adding to/removing from the list.  If you have any ideas, please do let me know.  If you want me to write about something else, shoot a comment my way, and I'll see about writing it as soon as I get the chance.

Have a great summer everyone, and don't forget, the Mario Marathon starts June 21st at 11 am (EST).  Tune in, donate, and support the chil'ns! 

 * For those who don't know us personally, you're probably unaware of this phrase.  My partner will be writing another post explaining this paradigm at some point.  Stay tuned!

I Don't Understand Bullies

I don't understand the motivation of bullies.  Is there motivation?  Is it really something a "simple" as the bullies themselves are hurting, so they're projecting the hurt onto others?

If this is the accepted reasoning behind bullying, why isn't more being done to acknowledge that and step in?  Why is it that the bullying an sadistic natures of the bullies isn't truly addressed until they have killed someone - actively or passively.  On that note, why is bullying (that results in death) only looked at as a minor crime, if at all?

I was watching Anderson the other day; the topic was about bullying spurred on by Jamey Rodemeyer's recent suicide.  Jamey was bullied for years and finally, at only 14 years old, he reached his breaking point and hung himself from the swing set his parents got from him and his sister when he was 3 years old.  His 16 year old sister found his body.  His bullies were without remorse, and continued to bully him even after his death saying they were glad he was dead at a homecoming rally.

Why was he bullied?  Because he was self aware enough to know, at around the age of 12, that he was gay and was open about it.  Instead of being allowed to live his life, he was tormented to the point where he believe he had not alternative but to end his life.  Despite the support he had from his family, and some select friends, he honestly thought it doesn't get better.

My kid is about to start school, and I sometimes really worry about how bullying will affect him.  Will he be a bully?  Will he be bullied?  Will he take a stand against bullies?  I really hope it's the latter, but I also really hope that if it's the former two, that I will be aware enough as a parent and take steps to stop him from bullying and/or protect him from the bullies.   Already I know that my kid's school professes to have a pretty strong stance against bullying, and believe me when I tell you that they will hear from me if they don't. 

Jamey had a right to feel safe at his school, just like my child does.  His orientation shouldn't have had any affect on his ability to learn, to grow as a person, and to feel acceptance, not only from his peers at his school, but also from the faculty.  Too often, when you hear of yet another heartbreaking story of a child who's committed suicide as a result of bullying, you hear of faculty members that turned a blind eye to the tormented child's struggles.  Teachers and principals are reported to have told the children to just ignore their bullies.  They tell the children to pretend they're straight so that the bullies will leave them alone.  They go on about how awful the bullies lives are, making excuses for why the bullies behave abominably. 

If a teacher/faculty member at my kid's school makes excuses for why a bully/bullies are treating him like dirt, the staff will have a holy reckoning brought down upon them the likes of which they have never seen before.  If a bully creates any issues for my kid, that kid's parents are going to wish they never enrolled their child to my kid's school.  They're going to wish that they actually took the time to parent their child so that this mama bear doesn't make their life suck.

Bullies and their parents will be given no quarter* from me.

That's a promise.






*Authors note:  This is metaphorical, obviously.

Don't even know where to begin

I've been off work for almost two months now with a hip injury that makes it nearly impossible for me to sit for any real stretch of time without pain.  Having an office job, this makes working pretty darned difficult right now.  As a result, my partner has really taken up the slack around the house.

He gets our son ready for bed every night.
He gets the boy in and out of the car, to and from daycare.
When the kid wakes up in the middle of the night, my guy jumps out of bed to comfort him.
He's making dinner every night, and if he's just too bushed to consider dinner, he's picking up the tab for takeout.
He bought me a bed tray so that I can comfortably eat in bed.
He's washing my laundry.
He's comforting me when I get so stressed out and frustrated at my inability to do much.
He stops whatever he's in the middle of doing, just to see if I need anything. 
He'll take the kid out for the day, all day - on his days off - just so I can have some quiet time, and so the kid doesn't feel cooped in.

He's doing all this - and so much more - so that I can recover that much quicker and because he loves me.  He is truly what a partner should be.  Father's Day is coming up and while I already have a gift for him lined up, whatever I get him won't even come close to making up for all that he's done for me and our son.  There isn't any way I can truly put to words the love and gratitude I have for him.  He's done so much for us, not just these past several weeks, but for years.  How do you thank someone for their constant, unwavering support and affection?  Something tells me that a tie simply won't do. 

To my partner, today I say: Thank you for being the amazing man that you are.  You are my rock.  I would be absolutely and wholly lost without you.  Not just because I'm laid up, but because you give me a reason to want to get up.

To his mother, today I say: Thank you for having him.  You should be so proud of your son.  It wasn't easy, with the cards you were dealt but you did a terrific job!

To our son, today I say: Thank you for giving me a piece of your father, for all days.  When you grow up, and want to know what it means to be a man, just look at your father.  He is kind, supportive, intelligent, self-assured, respectful and strong*.  He is dedicated to the people and things that matter to him, and when he says he's going to do something, you know it will get done.  You are very lucky to have him as your daddy!  No one will do more for you than him.

Writer's Note: I'm talking emotionally, as I don't believe being physically strong defines a man... though he is