Swine Flu

I didn't think that I would write about this subject even a week ago.  But, due to the constant news coverage and my daughter, who is a perpetual worrier, I feel that I need to write something. Just for my own benefit.

I understand that the swine flu has the potential of becoming a dangerous pandemic.  I would never think of trivializing the fact that it has not only infected several hundred people, it has also resulted in the death of others, children included.  That is in itself a tragedy that should not be ignored or over looked.  However, after talking to my daughter tonight, a girl who is only 10, I realize that this is an example of the media going too far. She is terrified of getting this flu.  Convinced, that she is doomed and that the problem cannot be contained.  I need to emphasize that she has not watched T.V. all week.  What she is hearing is the fear of her classmates who have information overload.  These are young children who are discussing at length the potential of a flu pandemic.  One of her classmates was wearing his sweatshirt over his face today on the bus because he is scared of getting the flu.

When I explained to her that the flu has proved to be mild in this country, so far, and that medicine exists to help those infected, she freaked out more.   Why?  Because she is also afraid of needles.  I told her I did not think that Tamiflu was given in shot form and that she should not worry about.  So, in the end instead of alleviating one worry, I created a second.  Now, she is worrying about swine flu and shots.  I can't win.

I guess my point is this, we need to be careful about what our children see and hear.  My 3 children do not have the ability to process the information that they are hearing at school.  My daughter is scared, and she has every right to be.  She is not hearing the whole story, she is hearing what her classmates are interpreting from the T.V.  I really think that the media has given this subject too much coverage. It has been all flu, all the time.  I am not saying that I think that is not worthy of news coverage, it absolutely is.  But, some balance is necessary. Especially, when one considers that so much of our daily lives are uncertain in regards to the economy.   No matter how much I filter it for my children, it still seeps in to their lives and I have to calm their fears.  This is to big of a problem for little shoulders to carry.  

Thank you, I will climb off my soap box now and return to frugality tomorrow.

Turn off the TV Week

Well, Turn off the TV week was officially last week.  We missed it, again.  This year though, we were given a do over.  My daughter's teacher also missed it last week and decided to do her own Turn off the TV Week this week.  The children in her class who "survive" the week will be able to go to a party next week.  As it turns out, my daughter is all about parties and fun.  So, this little motivation is all she needed to be a willing participant.  

The kids were given a log to fill in daily of how they feel when not watching T.V. and what they did instead of T.V.   We fill it out nightly, so far with success.  Hannah has read, done paint by numbers, played with friends and gone to the park.  She has not complained at all, keeping her eyes on the prize.  

We have had a bump in road though.  I decided that we should all participate in this experiment.  It seemed like a great opportunity to spend more time together and save money on electricity (my frugal ways are always in the back of my mind).  Two things happened that made it very difficult to follow through on this as a family.  One, my youngest daughter got sick. She was home from school for 2 days.  Yesterday, she was miserable and did not want to do a thing.  She was dizzy with a fever, sick to her stomach and tired.  I tried to keep the T.V. off, but caved by 11:00 am.  Board games and crafts were the last thing she wanted to do.  She did watch PBS, I think that is an acceptable alternative to Disney and Nick?   The second bump in the road was in fact my own weakness.  Let me start out by saying that as a general rule, I do not watch reality T.V.  But, I have a weakness that I cannot help.  I love The Real Housewives of New York City.  It was on Tuesday night, and it was a big, can't miss episode.  I really had no choice, I had to watch it before I heard about it from my fellow RHofNYC junkies.  My children knew I watched it, and gave me their blessing.  I can't believe it and know that I will pay for that soon.

As I write this though, we have been T.V free this evening and anticipate that we will keep the T.V. off for the remainder of the week.  My son has complained a little bit.  Which makes no sense because he doesn't like anything that is on anyway.  I think he just doesn't like that T.V. is not an option for him when he is done with his school work, instruments, soccer practice or playing with friends.  I wish I could say that someday we will be T.V. free.  But, I know that is an unrealistic goal.  As it is, we don't watch a lot of T.V.  I like Thursday night on NBC and The Real Housewives, which ends next week.  Otherwise, we watch very little.  So, I think that we are okay in this area of our lives.

Too much paper!

I have a complaint for my children's school.  For some people, my complaint may seem petty or unimportant.  Irrational even.  But, I think that in the day and age we live in, it has true validity. My complaint, the school sends home too much paper!

I have 3 kids in grade school.  In a given week, we receive the normal amount of homework, no complaints from me on that.  But, in addition to the homework and work sheets, I receive countless reams of papers in duplicate.  Newsletters X 3, school lunch menu  X 3, PTA Newsletters X 3, Scholastic Order Forms X 3.  Need I continue?  Probably not.  I also get a never ending supply of permission slips for field trips, Brownie and Girl Scout Newsletters and flyer's for every kid centered activity in the metro area.  Enough already!  I am trying to teach my kids the importance of conserving our natural resources and recycling.  How can I effectively convey my message of being conscientious of what we waste when their own school sends home paper like it costs nothing, both monetarily and environmentally?

I find it especially frustrating that I receive this paper in triplicate in April of all times, isn't this the month that we celebrate Earth Day after all?   While I write this blog, being motivated by pure frustration, I am staring at, you guessed it, paper!  Tonight, I have to go through several field trip permission slips and quietly throw away the third scholastic book order form that I have received in a week.  I have to do that quietly because my daughter is convinced that she needs the slumber party fun kit to complete her life.  It is after all only $19.99.

Another Sunday Feast!

My daughter, Hannah, helped make dinner again tonight.  She is becoming quite the little chef. Yesterday I gave her a new cook book and told her that if she wanted to help again, she could plan the menu.  It turns out that she is very ambitious when planning her meals.  We made homemade ravioli with homemade tomato sauce, salad, homemade chocolate pudding and juice.

Thankfully, we have a pasta maker that my husband is very capable on.  He made the pasta dough and rolled it out for us.  We were responsible for hand making the actual ravioli.  It was pretty easy actually.  Time consuming of course.  But, better tasting than store bought and better for you I would guess.   The inside was nothing more than ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and parsley.   The sauce was very easy to make also.  Tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and basil.  That was it, oh, and a little sugar.  She also made homemade chocolate pudding with real whipped cream.  It was delicious!!  Having her around to pick out the menu is forcing me to use more whole foods and fresh foods than already do.  She is having a positive influence on all of us.

I would be a bad mom if I failed to mention that I let my 6 year old make tonight's beverage.  It was a juice mixture.  One third orange juice, apple and raspberry.  It was pretty good.  She was very proud of her contribution to the meal.  It could have been any awful combination of beverages and we would have consumed it because she was so pleased with herself.

I think that it is definitely time to let all of my kids start helping more in the kitchen.  It was a really nice way for us to bond and spend time together.  Not to mention, kids really do eat healthy food when they help in preparation.   I never would have believed that if I did not witness it again tonight.   

Rain, Rain Go Away?

Today, it rained and rained.  Then, it rained some more.  I am not complaining, we really need the rain.  It has been too dry for too long.  Not to mention, April showers bring May flowers!   Of course, with the rain, came a day inside.  

I wrote a few weeks ago about having crafts on hand for frugal activities on the weekends.  Today proved that on hand crafts are perfect for rainy days.   Originally, today's plan's included my son's soccer game and errands.  The down pours that we saw cancelled the game and made me too lazy to leave the house unnecessarily.  Thankfully, last weekend I took my girls to Michael's Craft Store and had them pick out a bunch of crafts for future fun.  We left the store with paint by numbers, sculpey clay and Crayola Mosaic Magic clay.  Upon arriving home last weekend, I immediately hid the crafts in my closet for a rainy day.  My girls were the first to remember about these treasures today, and after lunch out came the crafts.

All 3 of my kids sat down in the kitchen at 1:00 pm to start working on them and did not stop until 4:30 pm.  That was 3.5 hours of rainy day activities that did not involve the TV, video games or computers.  Not an easy feat these days.  Not once, did they ask for me to turn on any electronics with the exception of Radio Disney.  We all worked on them together.  I helped my daughter with the paint by numbers while my husband helped the youngest with her Tinkerbelle Mosaic Magic.  My son, started a paint by numbers and finished a race care made out of Sculpey clay.  It was a fun afternoon for us.  I am not saying that the kids were not a bit antsy being stuck inside, they were.  But, the crafts really helped them forget about the fun of being outside in the Spring.

Tomorrow, I am going to have to go back to Michael's to stock up again on crafts.  They either used up or at least started on the crafts I bought last weekend.  No complaints from me though. I believe that creativity and imagination during childhood help in creating bright and successful adults.  Not to mention, crafting at home is very frugal.

Father Daughter Dance

Tonight my husband, Eric, took our youngest daughter to the Father/Daughter Dance.  The Girl Scout Council that both of my daughters are members of have a dance every year for fathers and daughters.  It has proven to be a great activity for my daughters.  Every year my girls have looked forward to participating in this fun event.

My husband does not always look forward to or have fun at the dance.  The first year, Eric really did look forward to the dance.  Like him, I was excited about the dance.  My daughter had a beautiful dress, I bought a corsage, Eric wore a suit and I took pictures.  I had visions of them dancing together, daddy and daughter.  It was a preview of the Father/Daughter dance that would occur at their future weddings.  In my mind, Father/Daughter dance was the perfect Hallmark moment that I was not a part of, but that was okay because it was going to be a bonding activity for my husband and daughter.  I could not have been more wrong about what the dance really was all about.

My dear husband came home 2 hours after the start of the dance.  He was sweating and crabby, and a bit disappointed.  It turns out that Father/Daughter Dance is not the Hallmark Movie event that I had pictured.    Instead, the daughters, immediately abandon their fathers for their friends. Any dancing that occurs, happens between the girls, dancing with each other.  Because they are young girls, a lot of screaming also goes on.  Young girls and screaming go hand and hand.  As we all know, dads do not always have a lot of patience for unnecessary screaming, especially from 300+ little girls.  Additionally,  because there are so many people in a small space, it gets very hot, causing all of the dads to sweat.  All of these components made it difficult for my husband to have a good time that first year.  Year after year he remembers that first dance, and year after year, history repeats itself.    

One thing did change this year that makes me a little sad.  My oldest daughter, Hannah, chose not to attend this year.  She was so excited to go, we bought her a dress and discussed how she would do her hair.  She left for school this morning, excited for the this evening's dance.  When she returned home from school today, Hannah informed that none of her friends were going to the dance, so she did not want to go either.  I could have forced her, but chose not to.  Instead, Eric took Maeghan alone and off they went.

Thank you Eric for participating in an event that you really do not like year after year for no other reason than your love for your children.  Year after year, you go with a smile, knowing that you will be ignored by your date.  Stuck in a hot corner, reading your blackberry and praying for relief from this obligation.  I know that you will go every year, until our dear Maeghan opts out because her friends are not going anymore, not even considering that it is a Father Daughter dance, not a friend dance.  You are a trooper and we are lucky to have you.

Volunteering

Recently, I decided to start volunteering some of my time to help in the community.  I have always been active in my kid's school, but I felt I wanted to do more.  I have been getting burned out working with kids, and knew it was time to find something new.  So, I went out to the website http://www.volunteermilwaukee.org  to start my search.  When I started with this search I knew that I had limited time, I wanted to work with adults and I wanted it to be something that kept me moving.  After some in depth research, I found Meals on Wheels.

I deliver meals once a week to seniors living in my community.  It has turned out to be incredibly rewarding, fun and easy work (physically that is).  The people are so grateful for the meals that are delivered and some are so happy for the conversation that comes with the meal delivery.  I believe that I am getting so much from this experience and plan on continuing with this volunteer organization for a long time.  

My girls even accompanied me last week for a delivery, and I feel they got a lot from the experience.  Like all parents,  I want all of my children to be compassionate and caring.  I also want them to realize how lucky they are to have such a rich life.  I am not talking about money and material items.  I am talking rich in love, family and friends.  By showing them the importance of volunteering their time and resources in community at a young age, I believe that I am on the right track in teaching them those things.  I also want them to realize that it is so important to give back to one's community in whatever way is possible.  We all benefit when we give our time to the communities that give us so much.

In the years to come, I hope to be able to give more volunteer hours to community and to organizations I care about and believe in.  Right now, my time is limited.  I also continue to volunteer in my children's school.  Next year, when my son is in middle school, I will need to spread myself out even more in my community.  But, I believe it will be worth it for both me and my kids.