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Save Time, Save Money & Save Your Sanity! www.HelpingMomsAtHome.com June 2007 http://www.HelpingMomsAtHome.com Happy Friday! Well it's hard to believe June is already here. For my family it means the start of summer vacation for the kids. My oldest daughter gets out of school on June 15th and my middle child gets out on June 4th. I don't know about you, but one thing that truly bugs me is when my kids say "I'm bored" or "There's nothing to do". So a while back I created a list of all the things I could think of to keep them entertained and that didn't cost me a fortune. I've included it in this newsletter along with two other articles to help you over the summer. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and month ahead! Kim In This Issue * Free Fun for Kids by Kimberly Shavatt * How to Run Errands with Kids In Tow by Kimberly Shavatt * Fun Ways to Keep Kids Entertained by Vanessa Brown * Just for Fun by Anonymous Advertisement Christian Women Wanted to Join My Watkins Team Join my Watkins team and work PT or FT. Be your own boss. We offer lots of support, training, a website and low start-up fee. Watkins started in 1868 and is still going strong with excellent values and quality products. Visit my site for complete details on our business opportunity at http://www.tsginfo.com/index.php?rc=KM6266. Shop online 24/7 at www.WatkinsOnline.com/Shavatt. Free Fun for Kids Being a stay-at-home mother of 3 kids I constantly hear "We're bored", so I created a list of things we can do for no money (or almost no money). I've broken it down into 2 categories: inside and outside.
About the Author: Kimberly Shavatt is a wife to Michael and mom to Rebecca (7), Andrew (5), and Jennifer (2). She created HelpingMomsAtHome.com Advertisement Work At Home Plan to Internet-Based Financial Independence 10 Simple Steps To start earning money from home. Get this report free by clicking on the Golden Key graphic on their website. Click here to get the free report. http://www.work-at-home-site.com/ Running Errand with Your Kids in Tow Anyone with small children can tell you it takes lots of creativity to get things done. Timing, planning, creativity, and lots of luck are required to get even the simplest of chores done. Timing is everything! No one knows your child better than you. Plan your activities around their nap time or most cooperative time. Whether that is first thing in the morning, during nap time, after nap time or in the evening. If your child is a sound sleeper you can take them anywhere while they are sleeping (in their car seat, stroller, or shopping cart). Plan Ahead! Pack a waiting (activity) bag full of things to do while they are waiting for you. Coloring books and crayons, hand-held video games, a favorite doll, cars, and action figures are all small and quiet things for a child to do. A snack and drink are good to bring along. A hungry child is a grumpy child and who wants to carry a screaming child through the store. Cut up fruit, juice boxes and crackers are portable. Don't forget a baby wipe to clean those sticky fingers afterwards. Don't plan too much into a day. If you know you only have one day to get everything done try to find a babysitter to watch your child. This way both of you will be happier. You'll get your errands done and he will be able to stay home and play. Go for Convenience In today's world, almost everything can be done online. From banking to grocery shopping. Fifteen minutes on the computer versus a hour to run to the grocery store and bank. Web sites like www.peapod.com will deliver groceries to your door. Lots of the popular department stores have websites (www.walmart.com, www.Target.com, etc.) Besides going online to save time, use your banks' ATM and drive-thru tellers. Many will let you deposit and withdraw from the ATM. Some ATMs will even let you purchase postage stamps. By using drive-thru tellers and ATMs you will be done quicker and won't have to take the children out of the car. Prioritize Make sure you run the most important errands first. Kids can be like volcanoes - you never know when they will erupt. With the most important errands done first you can work on the less important items later that day or the next time you go out. With some pre-planning and creativity you can get everything accomplished. Just remember, kids are only little once so enjoy it while it lasts. About the author: Kimberly Shavatt shares her favorite tips on parenting, motherhood and more at www.HelpingMomsAtHome.com. She is also a wife and stay-at-home mother of 3 (ages 7, 5 & 2). Fun Ways to Keep Kids Entertained As a parent it often seems one of my most time consuming jobs is that of entertainment adviser. Whether it's because my children are stuck inside due to bad weather, they've done everything and played all their games over a weekend or holiday period or they are just plain bored it seems I constantly need to come up with some way to keep them amused. The problem comes when no matter what suggestion I make it's either dull or not much fun at all; while getting the kids to clean their rooms will keep them busy, for some reason it's usually bottom of the list when it comes to their favorite activities. I've since learnt that the best way to keep them happy, and me from hearing the constant cry of "I'm bored" is to keep several different things on hand and let them use their imaginations. For younger children it's often a good idea to keep a box of items that can be used in a variety of craft activities: Paper, pencils, glue and scissors are a must have. To that you can also add things like scraps of material, old buttons, glitter, popsicle sticks and other recycled products like empty cereal boxes, magazines, plastic containers etc. Depending on what your child starts to make you can also use things like pasta, or send them off on a treasure hunt to find the right shaped leaf or twig etc. By keeping these things on hand you can let your child dive through the box of goodies and see just where their imagination leads. You may also want to keep a collection of old hats, clothes, shoes and jewelry as playing dress ups and holding fashion shows can be a fun way for them to spend the afternoon. For the older child it can get a little harder, but it's not impossible: let them try things like preparing the nightly meal (many will enjoy cooking) or using some of the craft material you may already have on hand and ask them to start a scrapbook of your favorite photos. Some kids will enjoy writing and illustrating their own stories, they may think it's a silly idea to start with, but more often than not once they get started you'll find they will happily work on it. If you have a video camera let them make a movie; whether it's them acting out their favorite movies or creating something entirely new you may be surprised to see just what they can come up with. While there are lots of other ways to keep your kids amused these are just some of my chosen methods and perhaps the next time you hear the dreaded cry of "What can I do now?" you can give one of them a try. About the author: Vanessa Brown Please visit Fun For Kids for other ideas and activities to keep your kids amused. You may also find other family related tips and advice at Family Life Just For Fun GoodQuotes.com - This site has a lot of funny quotes, bumper stickers, and witty answering machine messages. Great for a pick-me-up during the day. Advertising Top ad placement for 1 month - $10 All other ad placements for 1 month - $5 To submit your ad please send an email to click here. Unsubscribe You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it. We respect your privacy and would never sell or give away our email address. We would hate to see you go, but if you no longer wish to receive this monthly newsletter please unsubscribe by sending a blank email to mailto:shavattk@hotmail.com?subject=Unsubscribe from HelpingMomsAtHome Newsletter Important Info Please feel free to forward this newsletter in it's entirety unchanged/unaltered. To protect the rights of the authors and editor under no circumstances may any part of this document by cut, copied, altered or used in anyway or in any form without the prior written permission of the author or editor. Look for next month's newsletter on July 6, 2007. Have a wonderful June! Kim Shavatt Editor, HelpingMoms@Home www.HelpingMomsAtHome.com |
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