10 Things to do with your little ones when you are flat out broke.
Since we've had to reign in our budget in order to help pay off debt, the wife and I have had to think of fun things to do with AC that won't cost us much (or anything!). So, here we go, folks. In no particular order, here is:
1) Take your child to the park. Turn off PBS cartoons, strap that little toot in the car seat, and go outside and play! You may say "But it's too hot to play outside!" And to this I say "And what time does your child wake up? 6 am like mine?" You should have breakfast in that babies belly by 7 and out the door by 7:30 when it's a cool 85 degrees.
2) Find a pool. Any pool. Do your neighbors have one? If so, watch their house for a week and record their coming and going patterns. Once you have that settled, wait for their car to leave, and slink on over to their pool for a fun time with your children.
Jump, dive, cannonball as much as you can..just make sure you remember how much time you have before little Miss Jenkins returns with her drugstore purchases and loses her dentures in shock over somebody in her pool.
But seriously, you must know somebody who has a pool, or casually mention to your mom that your kid loves to swim. Grandmas can never say no. On the rare occasion that Grandma says no, men, you get outside with a shovel and dig a hole. Fill it with water. Instant pool.
3) Go to the pet store and check out all the cool animals. AC gets a kick out of all the fish at PetSmart, and loves to
4) Family dance time. Not going to lie, AC is wild about Justin Bieber's song "Baby", and even sings the "oooh" part of the chorus. So,
5) Diapers. We all have to buy them and they come in huge boxes. Put your child in the box and push her all around the house. It's lots of fun for them, and a nice little work out for you!
6) You got hosed!! No really, you can get hosed. Head outside, turn on the hose, and hand it to your child. Make sure you time this perfectly-- a great time is to do it after a hard days work and hot, no AC in your car, drive home. The hose feels great then. Also use this time to teach your daughter how to water the tree, so you can be a little more lazy.
7) Got crayons? Paint? Paintbrushes? Sit down at the table and let your inner artist come out! AC loves to "co-lon" (color) more than anything, and has been known to paint almost every inch of her body. Hey, the paint is washable and she's having fun!
8) Build a fort. Does this need explanation? I didn't think so. Okay, if you don't have boxes, drape blankets over the table and build an under the table fort.
9) Got flashlights and a bathroom? If your child loves flashlights as much as mine does, head to the bathroom, turn off the light, and show him/her how a flashlight works. He/she will love this and will throw a major hissy fit when it's time to stop. Speaking from experience here, folks.
and finally....number 10!!
10) JOSH'S SNO SHACK!!! About once a month, we decide we can spare 5 dollars and take a family voyage (it feels like a voyage since it's about 30 mins away) to Josh's Sno Shack and we all get a sno-cone. We justify this expenditure by telling ourselves that it's good hand-eye coordination for Anna (spoon to sno cone...sno cone to mouth..repeat..), and also, it makes a mess outside that we don't have to clean up. Win, win! Josh's is a Tulsa thing. If you don't have one, you need one!
Seriously folks, these are all things we do to keep ourselves entertained around here. There's a lot of free stuff you can do if you just stop to think about it, and we hope that maybe this helps you a little bit! Check back later this weekend for 10 Things to Most Anyone can do to Make Some $$ when you are flat out broke!
Peace y'all!
Amy
Mattie, You're so funny? Where is this humor when we visit? Just askin. K
ReplyDeleteI hold it in for the right moment, though I have to give Amy some credit on this one. I dictated most, and Amy added in some extra words. As we speak Amy is trying to take all the credit.
ReplyDelete