I saw this story a few days ago and couldnt’ believe my eyes.  Now, I am all about good time management and multi tasking but I don’t think this mom was going about it in the right direction, no pun intended.

Genine Compton of Ohio was arrested at the beginning of the month for driving, breast feeding, and talking on the  phone.  Now, I am a proponent of all 3 but not at the same time.  There has to be another side of this story.  Anybody know it?  Because I am not getting it?!?!?!

So I can get an entire hour of work done with my kids if I give Turkey Butt the computer to play with and let Little Man watch the Wiggles. My BIL would croak!  Am I a bad parent or a smart parent getting things done?

Bad parenting or smart use of time?  Let us know what you think.

School has only been in session for a few weeks and my little kindergartener has already come home with TWO fundraisers!!! 

I’ll admit, one of the fundraisers was decent.  There were some things that I would not mind buying.   The other fundraiser was asking us to put the names and addresses of family and friends onto postcards so that they could ask for money for computers or something like that.  My little girl came home telling me that I needed to fill out her paperwork and send it back the next day so that she could get a t-shirt.  I thought it was a form to purchase a school t-shirt.  The form said that if two of the people on her list responded, then she would get a t-shirt.  Imagine me trying to explain to my 5-year-old child that she wasn’t going to get a t-shirt the next day and that it was a sales tactic.  Thankfully, she’s well beyond her years and she understood, but still she was heartbroken.

For the most part though, I feel that these fundraisers are inappropriate.  Here are some of the reasons why I don’t like school fundraisers.

1.  The stuff is overpriced.

2.  It’s usually crap that I can’t use. 

3.  Kids are made to feel left out or unaccepted if they don’t participate or do well.

4.  I don’t like being stalked at church, outside Wal-Mart or anywhere else by children trying to raise money.

5.  You get little bang for the buck.  I mean, really, $8 for 25 square feet of wrapping paper?  Are they serious?

6.  There’s little to nothing you can do if the item doesn’t work.  Well, you could take it back to the school and demand a refund, but that would just make you look like a cheapskate that doesn’t care about children.

7.  I feel guilty if I don’t participate.

8.  I don’t feel right asking others to buy overpriced stuff.

9.  I get frustrated and annoyed every time I see the product that I paid too much money for.

10.  Many times the parents are the ones that do the selling which causes them to sell these things at work.

Before you start casting stones, please understand that I am an educator.  I know the importance of these fundraisers.  Honestly though, I think there’s a better way.  I’ve seen some pretty creative fundraising tactics at some of the schools I’ve worked at.  One school did a Coca-Cola sale.  The soda was just as inexpensive as if I had bought it at Wal-Mart, but they received a lot of proceeds from it.  What about a spaghetti dinner?  My daughter’s preschool did several fundraisers where the kids could bring in $1 and earn a special privilege such as wearing a hat to school.  Schools could even ask parents to send in a tax deductible donation at the beginning of the school year and then decide how much more money they should try to raise after the donations were brought in.  Some people would rather just give money anyway.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way.  How do you feel about school fundraisers?  Please leave your comments below and participate in our poll in the sidebar.  Thanks!

image: Discovery Education

The following is a guest post. 

This summer we are avoiding day care costs while the kids are out of school by doing some co-op babysitting with a friend in the neighborhood. Between our three kids and their two it can be quite a zoo. Here are some tips for getting the most out of co-op babystting.

Be Flexible

Co-op babysitting is particularly difficult if the parents work part or full time. Work schedules will add to the amount of babysitting schedule changes. But even if neither parent works out of the house, doctor appointments, vacations and more are going to come up. Tell the other parent as soon as you know so you have the best option of figuring out how to rework the babysitting schedules. Don’t forget that sometimes having a babysitter on a night or weekend is worth way more than on a weekday.

Also, the other parent is going to have rules that are different than yours. Remind your kids that the other parent is in charge and you fully expect them to follow their rules during their babysitting days. Make sure the other parent does the same with their kids. Don’t be afraid to use the naughty chairs and don’t be offended if it is your kid who gets sent there.

Let Them Roam

With four mobile kids and a baby, it is very important to be able to let them have some space. There is no way that many kids will survive 8 hours cramped up near each other all day without frequent bickering. We have a pretty open policy about roaming the main level and the basement. When they start getting annoyed with each other, they will naturally wander to different rooms or floors which helps bring a certain amount of peace.

Have A Plan

With all that free movement it is good to round them all up for a head count every hour or so. Morning snack, afternoon snack, and lunch provide three opportunities for everybody to be together. An art project, game, pretend school session, storytime in both the morning and afternoon provide two more easy gathering sessions. Something as simple as building block towers or painting an oversized piece of paper can entertain kids for a surprisingly long period of time. Reading stories is a great way to get a rowdy group of kids to sit still for a few minutes. I would recommend keeping the stories around 15 minutes unless you have a group of pretty calm kids, though.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Kids are going to yell and pout. Try to let them sort it out on their own whenever possible. It will be good for the social skills development. Try not to get involved unless they are being particularly nasty, it lasts for more than a few minutes or if one kid is always the one instigating the arguments. Also, kids are going to get paint on their clothes and lose toys at each other’s houses. Don’t hound the other parent about normal property damage. Just remember the cost of buying a new t-shirt or Thomas train is much less than the cost of paying for full time babysitting over the summer.

Get outside

If you have a fence in the backyard, put on the sunscreen when they first start to wander off. Encourage time in the backyard when the mood strikes them. Also, a picnic, trip through the sprinkler or game of soccer also make a great group activities that also get the kids outside for a while.

With a little bit of careful planning, a lot of understanding, and a lot of energy, you can avoid the high costs of day care and provide your kids with plenty of playdates that will help build friendships that will last for years to come.

Thanks so much to Mike for today’s guest post.  He is the father of 5 year old twins and a new baby.  You can find him writing about IVF, raising children, raising a child with autism, and fatherhood.  I hope you’ll visit him at Be A Good Dad!

Tracee over at blogfabulous is really frustrated with her 2 year old for taking her cellphone and putting it in water twice.  This is a great waste of money, I agree, Tracee.  Now you have to buy a new phone.  Kim Komando has great ideas for drying out your cell phone so that you don’t have to waste money with a new phone.  But remember that we are the adults and from personal experience, it is our responsibility to keep our things out of the reach of of our kids.  We keep chemicals away.  We should keep the expensive things out of the way too.

And yes, I am talking from experience.  Not fussing, Tracie.  Just find another reason to be upset with your kids.  That one was your fault just like mine were mine.

I’m soooooooooo excited!  Cuddlebug is finally potty trained!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!

He’s been peeing in the potty for quite a while and about a week ago, he finally figured out that it was ok to poo too.  Yay!  He’s only had about 3 accidents in a week’s time.  Not bad, I think.  We’re using our last package of diapers for night time, but he’s even staying dry at night!  Hooray!  Can you imagine all the money I’ll save by not buying diapers?

Top 10 Tips for Potty Training

Some of you may wonder how I learned to be so frugal.  To me, most of the tips that I write about seem like second nature or common sense. 

My knack for thriftiness was given to me by my mother.  We were not wealthy growing up and my mom did the best that she could to make her dollars stretch.  She would constantly scrutinize the cost of items.  I learned as I watched her read sales papers, clip coupons, check price per unit, scope out clearance sales, and go back to the customer service desk for a refund on overcharged items. 

There have been many times in my life that I have been frugal out of necessity and there are times that I’m thrifty just because I can’t stand to spend more for something than I should. 

You’re obviously reading this site because you want to learn how to get the most for your dollars.  As parents, we also need to teach our children about money and finances so that they understand it’s value and do not become irresponsible overindulging spenders that have no money to their name and tons of debt.

Here are some tips for teaching your children about money:

1.  Take them to the grocery store.  Let them help you add up your totals and stay within your budget.

2.  Show them how you shop using the sales papers, making a grocery list, and clipping coupons in order to save.

3.  Give them a small allowance or afford them opportunities to earn a little money.  Even if it is only 50 cents a week, it will provide an learning experience.  Read more

Karen has been feeling overwhelmed recently.  I can totally agree!  There are days when we as parents can get overwhelmed.  I have been accused of living in rose colored glasses but here are a few things to think about when you get overwhelmed. Read more

I have to tell you about my day yesterday. Karen sometimes busts me for not blogging as much as I should. She’s right. She has 2 kids as well and has just as many issues to weed through before the day is done as I do so I have not a leg to stand on. But here is my day yesterday. After you browse to see what you find in common, don’t forget to watch this video that will encompass any parent’s day. I love it!

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If you’re a WAHM or WAHD, you know how hard it can be to be productive, especially if your children are very young.  My kids are 2 and 4, and somedays it seems like I’ll never get anything done.  Here are some tips to help you get through the day.

 1.  Have high speed internet - You know how slow dial up internet is.  You could fall asleep waiting for a page to load.  Having wireless allows you to be more productive.

 2.  Get a laptop with wireless internet - I confess that I do not have a laptop.  I sit here in my chair and work each day.  My husband has a laptop though and I have often used his to move around the house (or yard) as needed.

 3.  Pick a fun place for them to play - If you have a laptop with wireless internet, then head to McDonald’s or some other fun place that has access.  You can gets lot of work done while they’re playing.

 4.  Pick a central location to work - In order to properly supervise your children, you may have to camp out at the kitchen table.  My computer sits at a small work station where I can view the living room and kitchen. 

 5.  Try to keep your kids focused - I tell my kids that now it’s time to play with legos.  Then when they’re done with that I’ll tell them it’s time to play kitchen.  Then they can have a snack, watch 2 tv programs, etc.  It keeps them from getting bored when they have an assigned area.

 6.  Set up play dates or swap babysitting - Find a friend or neighbor that would be willing to trade off play dates or babysitting.  Unfortunately, I have yet to make this connection, but I can only imagine how great it would be if I did.

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