We used to have a rule in our family: no traveling over Spring Break. Places were too crowded, rates were more
expensive—it just didn’t make sense. I mean, why venture somewhere when so many families and college students are trying to do the same thing, all at the same time? We would stay home, and the
kids would do fun things around town, like visit nature centers or go to tennis camp. Then one year, our school district scheduled an earlier-than-normal spring break, and we took off for Disney
World. It was great—not too crowded, and lines so minimal we could ride things twice in a row if we wanted. Thus started our family “tradition” of traveling over Spring Break, even though the
dates have never been as early since. Now six years later, I am finally wondering, “What were we thinking?”
We only went about 130 miles …
Month: March 2011
Beyond Babysitting and Lawn Mowing: An Easy Way for Kids to Earn Big Money
Have you ever gotten a phone call from someone who wants your opinion about products or services? Next time, you might not want to hang
up. Legitimate, professional market research companies will pay you and your kids to come to their offices and give your opinions on all kinds of things–and usually, they pay you
cash on the spot and not a check that’s mailed later. Over the last several years, everyone in my family has been a market research participant, and it’s not only a great way to earn money,
it’s fun. I’ve taste-tested tortilla chips, frozen dinners, and orange juice, given my opinions on a local park, and ranked refrigerated biscuit ads, among other things; my husband
has participated in focus groups on oil filters, lawn fertilizer and electric companies, to name a few. Emmie earned $100 in a kids’ focus group on dolls; Allison did …
Raising Girls Vs. Raising Boys: The Debate Continues
Who’s easier to raise—a girl or a boy? The topic comes up often among parents. I remember a boy mom reacting with envy
when I told her how my baby girl would often wake up in the morning, sit quietly in her crib and play with books if I needed to take a shower before breakfast. “My boys would never let me do
that,” she said wistfully. I remember when my daughters were preschoolers and I used to sit at the playground relaxing on a bench while they’d
be engrossed in playing in the sand with dolls or sliding down the slides. I’d feel sorry for the “boy moms”, who never seemed to have a moment’s rest—they couldn’t look away or sit down for two
seconds or their boy might be running away from the playground and down the street. “Aren’t you glad you don’t have boys!” we all-girl moms would say …
When Kids Steal
One day last week after I picked up Emmie from school, while concentrating on navigating the aravan out of
the parking lot and keeping with the school zone speed limit out on the street, I caught the words “hundred dollar bill” as she chattered about her day. It took me a few seconds for it to
fully register on my brain. “Wait a minute—back up,” I said. “What did you say?”
“Frankie gave me a hundred dollar bill today,” she said. Of course I’m thinking it was one of those fake bills, like the
old $3 bill with Bill Clinton on it, but I asked to see it anyway. She passed it up to me, and I almost pulled the car over. It looked, smelled and felt like a real hundred dollar bill (not that I
handle a lot of those on a regular basis, but this was definitely not something out of a Monopoly …
Some Brief Thoughts About Charlie Sheen
In the midst of all the Charlie Sheen craziness—doesn’t your heart go
out to his family? How painful it must be to see your son, father, brother say such embarrassing things in such a public way. Every time he opens his mouth, it just keeps getting worse. John
Stamos summed it up nicely the other day after it was rumored that he was replacing Sheen on Two and a Half Men: “I am not replacing Charlie Sheen on Two And A Half Men. However, Martin Sheen
has asked me to be his son…”
I know, I know—Charlie’s an adult and it’s not anyone’s fault but his own, but I’m sure his family is still wondering where they went wrong…and they’ve probably been wondering for a long time, long
before his cars were driven off cliffs and long before he called his boss a “worm”. Does anyone remember that …
Race to See “Race to Nowhere”
A few months ago, Allison started saying what many teenagers have probably often said: “I hate school.
School is stupid. They give us tons of homework and make us memorize a bunch of useless junk that we’re never going to use—what’s the point?” And I reacted the way many parents probably
react: “Yes, some of it does seem stupid and useless but you have to play the game. You have to study and do good on tests so you can move on and get to college, where the real learning
happens. I didn’t like all of my classes, either, but my goal was to get out and move on.”
But that conversation kept nagging at my brain. Even though she was tired and burnt out when she spoke, her words had a
grain of truth in them. Maybe she’s right, I thought (and don’t kids have a way with …