Monthly Archives: June 2008

Going to the library

frugal strategies, homeschooling,

Yesterday afternoon we had a nice trip to the library.  It’s been a while since I’ve been, thanks to a new efficient system I set up.  I started ordering the books I want online, and have them sent to one of the branches.  My husband always takes the van to work on Sundays, and passes within five minutes of one of the branches, so he started picking up the books waiting for me every Sunday.  This has cut down on the time and gas I spend getting our books, but since this branch isn’t going to be open on Sundays anymore, I needed to pick up the books in person yesterday.  From now on, I’ll have them sent to a different branch that’s convenient for him that will still be open on Sundays.

I always enjoy taking the kids to the library – it’s an easy outing that everyone really enjoys.  The kids all signed up for the summer reading program (I have mixed feelings about reading programs, but that’s another topic), and then got their piles of books to check out.  I had heard about a couple of free outdoor presentations of Shakespeare plays that will be this Thursday and next, and thought it would be nice to take the kids, so I checked for a book/audio version/video of the play to prepare them for it. (This morning I discovered that The Tempest, which is what I got materials for, is next week, and Comedy of Errors is this week.  Oh, well.)  They have a nice play area in the children’s section when the baby and toddler played, and I also picked up a dvd for our monthly family movie night.   

When I first came in and was returning our books as I came in, the librarian started talking to me, and then told me that she wanted to give two free tshirts (that they sell each summer in conjuction with the summer reading program) to my kids, and asked if it was okay.  I asked why she was giving them away, and she said earlier in the day someone had bought two, and told her to give them to two kids who came in. 

I don’t know how we ended up being the family whose kids got them, because it was after school hours when we went (usually I go early in the day when it’s quieter) and the library was hopping with kids.  Later when I checked out, I saw and thanked her again, and asked what made her choose us.  She said she didn’t know, the whole day she was waiting to give them out and as soon as she saw us come around the corner, she wanted us to have them. 

I’ve seen this librarian a number of times before, and she always looks somewhat dour.  I’ve always been pleasant to her but she was so unresponsive that if I didn’t see she was like that with everyone, I would have thought she disliked me.  But yesterday, she was full of smiles when the kids thanked her and she later saw them wearing them (the boys I gave them to put them on when we got to the parking lot, and she happened to be leaving work and walking to her car so she saw them).  

I commented to my kids on what a nice thing it was that she did that, and they all agreed.  Then one of my daughters said, “It seems things like that always happen to us.”  I don’t know if nice things happen to us any more than to anyone else, or we just notice them more.  But it does seem that we meet nice people everywhere we go, who not infrequently go out of their way for us!

Avivah

Today’s lucky finds

frugal strategies, parenting

Don’t you love when you get things you need, when you need them, and they are free?!?

Today my 7 and 9 year old asked if they could ride their bikes together, and since they had finished doing everything they were supposed to do, I didn’t see why not.  They came home flushed with excitement, and told me how they saw a sign that said FREE and beneath it was a portacrib, infant car seat, toddler rocking chair, and a couple of other things.  They raced home with their bikes, and without mentioning anything to me, ran back to the stuff, and brought it all inside to me. 

They were so excited and happy to have been the ones to find things that were so nice and useful for us!  The portacrib is beautiful – everything looks new, actually.  You can’t tell that any of the items were used at all, except that they aren’t wrapped in the initial packaging. 

We have a portacrib that the baby sleeps in during the day, but at night he sleeps on in my room, which is two flights above the main floor where we spend the day (we wouldn’t be able to hear him when he wakes up from a nap in the day, which is why he has two sleeping places).  But I was recently thinking that we’re going to need to get a second portacrib for the night since he’s really outgrown the bassinet that he’s been in until now.  Now we have it!

My toddler loves the mini rocking chair – he keeps pushing anyone who tries to sit in it without asking him out and reminds them that it’s his.  He’s really good about sharing whatever he has if people ask, though, so I don’t mind. 

I sure do appreciate whoever it was who wanted to share what they had with others!   My kids have become experienced at finding treasures.  Our house has an alley it backs up to, shared with the neighbors on another street who also back up to it.  Several times people have put things out next to the trash, but not in it, obviously there so that someone could notice it and take it, and my kids have brought it home.  (We do the same thing when we have things to give away.)  I’ve had to restrain them sometimes, though, since they get so caught up in the thrill of the hunt that they’ve occasionally brought things home that are just more clutter to deal with.  But generally they have a really good sense of what I’ll okay and what I won’t. 

My husband and I have remarked to one another about how easy it is to live off the ‘fat of the land’ in America.  Seriously, in this country we have so much that lots of things in excellent condition are given or thrown away just because someone doesn’t want it anymore and can’t be bothered to take it to somewhere that accepts donations.  Just because it happens so often doesn’t mean it isn’t a huge blessing, and I regularly share with my children the feeling I have about how fortunate we are, so that we don’t take all that we have, or all that we’ve received for free, for granted. 

Avivah

Sleeping arrangements when camping

frugal strategies

People always seem to wonder where everyone sleeps when we go camping.  In a family our size, it’s an understandable question. 🙂

We always take two tents.  This time, we felt very luxurious because we borrowed a very large tent from friends that had a divider down the center, making it two ‘rooms’.  The three oldest boys slept in one room, the three girls and the toddler in the other.  (He usually sleeps in the boys’ room when we’re at home, so the girls wanted to give their brothers a break.)

The smaller tent, 8 x8, was for my husband, me, and the baby.  When we first went camping as a family about six years ago, we had five children and our youngest was a year old.  We didn’t think packing a crib was necessary, but after a night of her screaming because she couldn’t settle down in new circumstances, we learned our lesson.  The port-a-crib comes with us on every trip now, and it makes keeping babies on a regular sleeping schedule a breeze.  My husband and I each have camping cots (the older kids get camping pads on the ground under their sleeping bags), which makes it more comfy for us.  We had plenty of room in our tent, and the kids had plenty of room in theirs.  Having a separate tent to put the baby and toddler in was nice, so they didn’t interfere with each other’s naptimes. 

The tents are pretty compact when they’re packed up, but the sleeping bags and pillows take up a good amount of space in the van.  We have a certain amount of basic equipment that we own, but borrow other things – it seems wasteful to buy camping supplies that we only use for a few days a year, and then have them taking up space the other 361 days of the year. 

Avivah

About our camping trip

frugal strategies

We got back from our camping trip late Friday afternoon – it was fantastic!  Everyone had an amazing time and would have loved it if we had stayed for longer – much, much longer. 🙂 

Several people have asked me what we do when we go camping.  We keep things very simple – my goal isn’t to entertain my kids, but to be with them.  We don’t go to commercialized campgrounds that have lots of extra activities, game rooms, etc, because that’s not the environment we want.  We also choose to go off season or midweek so we have the entire campground to ourselves; the privacy makes it much nicer. 

Firstly, we unpack all our supplies – the kids set up the tents and sleeping bags, pull out the camp chairs, and put their backpacks of clothing in their sleeping areas, while my husband and I organize the food area and just generally oversee things.  As soon as we finished getting things set up, everyone was hot and the kids asked if they could cool off with a swim at the beach, which was just a few minutes from the campsite.  It was especially nice this time since they remembered where everything was from three years ago, and kept saying, “Oh, I remember that!  Oh, I saw that last time!”  It added something nice to being there. 

The beach was empty, and the water on the cold side, so it was just our family.  I waded in and after watching tiny fish nibbling at my toes when I stood in one place more than a minute or two, sat on the beach to watch the kids.  They stayed in for a while and had lots of fun.  Finally I called everyone out, and we went back to our site. 

Everyone got dressed in dry clothes, then started collecting firewood and building a campfire.  That take a while, and is always a fun part of the experience.  We made dinner on the camp stove, and after eating, everyone sat around the fire and listened to me read from our read aloud.  Then we sang songs for a while, and finally everyone got to bed around 11 pm. 

There’s something about sleeping outside that causes everyone to sleep soundly.  Even the baby slept through the night two of the three nights, which he doesn’t usually do.  What I love most about camping is the atmosphere of the forest, the inner quiet and serenity that fills you.  Camping allows you to temporarily halt the daily rush and just enjoy being.   It allows you to breathe deeply, get away from all the noise, and slow down enough to hear the quiet of the forest, and the quiet inside of you. 

The first person up in the mornings gets to build the morning campfire, and I buy packets of hot cocoa for our trips (I don’t buy this during the year so it’s special for our trip).  They warm up with the cocoa and packets of instant oatmeal (something else I don’t usually buy).  At least one or two children are usually busy collecting firewood to keep the fire going during this time.

The cooking and clean up is part of the camping experience, and that takes time before and after each meal.  The time for activities is between breakfast and lunch, then between lunch and dinner – they did fishing, hiking, swimming and sunning at the beach, and boating.  Since each of those activities filled an entire morning or afternoon, and could easily be repeated from one day to another without it getting boring, they were busy all day long, every day we were there.  

This was the first year that we were able to let the kids explore and do things on their own.  In the past, my husband has planned hikes or swims with them, but the payoff of the years of doing it with them is that now they are very competent and can do these things independently.  Sometimes we joined them for part of their activities, sometimes for all, sometimes not at all.  When the two little ones (25 mo. and 8.5 mo) were napping, I took advantage of the quiet of the campsite, where I spent time reading inspirational literature, did some journalling, and had time for reflection. 

One of the afternoons, my husband took several of the younger kids boating, while the older three fished, and I stayed with the sleeping baby.  When he woke up, I strapped him into the baby backpack and hiked two or three miles around the lake.  Hiking backpacks are a great invention.  The baby enjoyed hanging out and watching everything, and I enjoyed the exercise and the time by myself. 

On the last day, the toddler wanted to go with his older siblings, but they were taking a hike that would have been too long for him.  Though I kept him busy so he wouldn’t see them leave, he saw them from a distance several minutes later and tried to run through the forest to get to them.  He stopped and excitedly called to me, “I found a river!”  He found a beautiful little stream, and we sat together on the grassy bank next to it for 20 minutes before he wanted to move again.  The sound of the water bubbling over the rocks was so calming.  Then I let him play in the stream, which was only a few inches deep – he threw pebbles in the water, climbed up and down the bank, and played for another 1.5 hours until it was time to go back.  My husband joined me with the baby after about a half hour, so we had some quiet time watching the 2 yo play. 

Camping to me isn’t exciting – it’s more about being deeply fulfilling.  My kids all have this same feeling.  That’s not to say they don’t have fun – they absolutely love it and have a great time all day long.  What I mean is that it’s not exciting like an amusement park.  It’s not a vacation filled with artificial thrills or manmade activities.  It’s time spent doing concrete things with each other, and it feels meaningful and significant. 

Avivah