Saver or Spender? - PASS week seven

My fourteen-year-old, Savannah has always been a saver. She saves all her money from birthday presents and allowance. She doesn't usually save for anything in particular; she just kind of tucks it away for future use. When a movie comes out that she really wants to see, she knows she'll have the money to buy a ticket, or when she sees a shirt she wants to buy, she knows she'll have the cash to purchase it because she doesn't spend frivolously on everything that comes her way.

My twelve-year-old, Jackson, on the other hand, well, let's just say that money burns a hole in his pocket. If he's got a dollar, he's got to find something to spend it on. Immediately! It doesn't matter what it is; he's just got to spend that money.

If being a mom of six has taught me one thing, it's that all kids (and adults too) are different. Like most folks tend to be either night or morning people, I think most individuals are also programmed to be savers or spenders. However, even spenders can learn how to save.

Jackson is slowly learning how to save for things that he wants. It goes against his nature, but he's learning that saving can be rewarding. He recently saved up for an iPod. It took him a year to save enough, but he managed. What can help your teens (and even younger kids) save is a chart. When charities do fundraisers, they set their goals and draw a chart that they color in as their funds get higher and higher. It's nice to have that visual reminder of how far you've come and how much farther you have to go in order to reach your savings goal. My teens like going online and seeing how much they're accumulating on their PASS cards. It's a convenient way to keep track and have that visual reminder of how much is being saved.

As an adult, I don't save for particular things I want so much as I save for a "rainy day." You just never know when your car's going to break down, your furnace is going to go out, or your washing machine is going to start hopping across the floor, spewing suds everywhere. It's nice to have that little cushion of money tucked away for those unexpected expenses that have a way of surfacing.

How do you encourage your teens to save? What ideas do you use to make saving money a little less painful? What kinds of things do your teens save up to buy? Join in the discussion here!

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

photo from alancleaver_2000's Flickr stream

Decorative Picture Pillow with Canon

I was given a Canon PIXMA MG6120 printer (that’s a mouthful. I prefer to simply call it “awesome”) to try out. It’s a very cool, sleek-looking printer, and it’s wireless which is totally awesome because the space under my desk already looks like a huge tangle of snakes. Who needs any more cables and wires, right?

One of the coolest things about this printer is how it works with Canon PowerShot or EOS cameras. It has Full HD Movie Print software which enables you to easily freeze the perfect frame of video footage and print a picture from it. Have you ever watched a home movie and thought, Man, I wish I had a photo of this? I’m forever juggling my video camera and still camera, trying to get both the perfect pictures and great video of the kids. This printer is very cool for just this reason. Although the Canon PowerShot will never replace my SLR camera, it is kinda cool because it’s so tiny. It’s the size of a cell phone so I keep it in my purse all the time, just in case one of the kids does something like shove a carrot up his nose and I must capture it on film.

This printer is user-friendly and super-easy to use. It takes individual ink cartridges which saves you money because you only have to replace the individual color cartridge that’s empty instead of a whole, big one. And not only can you print great, clear, full-color photos with this printer, but you can use it for a variety of cool craft projects. I lack the Martha Stewart gene so I’m incapable of making anything crafty, but I received a pillow with a picture of my kids on it, printed with the Canon PIXMA MG6120 printer. If you have the ability to do something crafty, you must watch this video with the instructions! These would make awesome Christmas presents!

Christmas Spending - PASS week six

I just realized that Christmas is like a month away! We have just over a month to get ready! Eek! Thinking about Christmas shopping got me wondering how you handle this with your teens? Are your teens responsible for buying gifts for family members? Do you give them money to use? Do they use their own money? Do you exchange gifts with multiple family members or do you draw names and have only one person to buy for?

In years past, I've done all the shopping for everyone. This year, being a newly single mom to six kids in this economy, things are going to be different. This year, I'm stressing the meaning of the season. We're talking about the joy of spending time with family. We're remembering that the thought behind the gift is what is important.

I've enlisted my teens to help me come up with gift ideas for our family and friends that won't cost a lot of money and will be fun to put together. I've also asked my teens to help talk the little kids out of their I NEED Everything I See on TV attitudes. And finally, I keeping making sure that everyone in my family remembers those less fortunate. We recently got together with friends and packed shoeboxes full of gifts for Operation Christmas Child. The kids had fun picking out toys and items that will benefit children who have nothing. And hopefully, the lesson that we don't need to spend tons of money that we don't have in order to have a nice Christmas sunk in.

What do you do to keep holiday spending in check? How do you install this in your teens? Share your thoughts here!

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

photo from alancleaver_2000's photostream

Peapod Delivers!

I love Chicago. I love everything about this city. Except the weather. I hate the weather. I loathe it. I detest it. And the thing I hate most about the weather is driving to the grocery store in it. Not only does it suck to drive in snow, but pushing a cart through a slushy parking lot, loading grocery bags into my van while my fingers are numb and then UNloading everything when I get home and trudging slush into my house with every trip from my van is the worst. Since I have six kids and, for some reason, they think they need to eat every day, I have a lot of groceries and have to make a lot of trips from the car to the house. By the time I’m done, my snot is frozen, my hands are numb, and I can’t feel the lower half of my body.




Enter Peapod. With Peapod, I do my grocery shopping online in my nice, warm house. It is SO easy! And after your first order, it’s even easier because your list is saved online and you can use that basic list of items you frequently buy and just add and subtract anything you want to change. If you have any special needs, you can shop from a narrowed down list of products, for example, a gluten-free list, a peanut-free list, or a Weight Watchers list. It’s really awesome!



And after you’ve searched through Peapod’s sales and you’ve compiled your shopping order, you select the day and time frame in which you want your items delivered. Then voila, like magic, the guy shows up at your door with everything neatly bagged, like items put together, ice cream still frozen solid, bread unsquished, produce fresh as can be. All you have to do is open the door so the delivery person can set your bags on the table for you, and then put the food away. (Unless you’re like me and your kids eat it before you can even unbag it.)



I had the opportunity to tour the facility with Tony Stark. Tony is the authority on produce! This guy knows his stuff. In fact, he explained to us why Peapod has several separate refrigerated sections, each with their own climate control, for the fresh produce alone. People are afraid to let someone else pick out their produce for them. They feel the need to look at, smell, and squish each piece of fruit and they think that they’ll end up with brown, mushy bananas if they let someone else pick out their produce for them. Wrong! I’ve ordered from Peapod many times and I’ve always gotten better produce than what I find at my local grocery stores. ALWAYS!



Peapod has many of their own foods too. I had the chance to try their guacamole (among other things) and ohmygosh, it was the best guacamole I’ve ever had. YUM!



And the best part, of course, is that you never have to set foot out in the cold, snowy, nastiness that is Chicago in the winter. It all comes to you! Want to give Peapod a try? Now you can save $5 when you spend $20 on Thanksgiving Staples. Just in time for Thanksgiving you can stock up on the random things you might need - like spices, herbs, broth and sides. Save $5 when you spend $20 on select Thanksgiving staples.



All you have to do is:
Add $20 in select items to your cart
Choose the delivery day and time that works for you
Enter PPFAN28 when you check out.



This offer only lasts until 11/21, can only be used once per order and cannot be combined with any other offers. You have nothing to lose! Try them and you’ll be hooked. You’ll wonder why you waited so long to give Peapod a shot and you won’t want to go back to shopping the old fashioned way.

If I'd Only Known - PASS week five

"If I'd only known then, what I know now." Have you ever said these words? Is there something you know now that you wish you had learned when you were a teen? I wish I had learned the importance of establishing credit. That wasn't something that even crossed my mind as a teen. Even as a young adult, I didn't consider its importance. When I got divorced, however, I found myself in a tough position. I couldn't even switch the cable bill to my name because I didn't have any credit. I had to start from ground zero. I applied for and received a credit card. I started using it for gas. Every time I have to fill up my van, I use this card. Then, when I get my statement at the end of the month, I pay the entire balance with the money I have in my budget for gas. A friend of mine whose husband suddenly died, found herself in a similar position because everything was either in her husband's name or both of their names, jointly.

Now, I'm not saying that no one ever taught me about establishing credit or setting up a budget. My parents probably tried to teach me, but the lesson never sunk in. And now, here I am in my forties, just trying to establish a little credit.

I'm teaching my teens the importance of credit as well. Not that I want them to have a credit card now, but it's not too early to start preparing them. I tell them that they need to have wise spending habits if they want to buy a house in the future. Banks won't loan them money for a house if they overspend and don't pay their bills in a timely manner. And even though my teens are not considering buying a house or even getting a credit card at this point in their lives, they can certainly establish wise spending habits now.

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

Breakfast Traditions

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Do you have any morning rituals? I remember, as a kid, my mom would wake me and my sister up early on New Year's Day. She'd have the TV trays set up in the family where we'd get to eat the breakfast she'd prepared while we watched the parades on TV. It was a real treat until I was old enough to realize that getting up early was just wrong, even I was allowed to eat in the family room while watching TV.

Nowadays, my kids like to make me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. I remember one year in particular when they made me pancakes despite the fact that we were out of eggs. The pancakes were, ummm, interesting. That was the same year the older kids gave the baby breakfast while I stayed in bed. They fed him a can of pineapple. A whole can. As you can imagine, his poor little butt burst into flames every time he pooped for the next week. Ahhh, good times, good times.

Do you have any breakfast traditions? If so, what are they? Leave me a comment here to be entered for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer!


For a second entry, you can:

· Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

· Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

· Sweepstakes ends 5 PM EST on November 1, 2010.

Winners will be selected via random draw
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

photo from ciccioetneo's Flickr stream

Halloween Fun

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts.

I love making my kids' Halloween costumes. I don't sew, but I'm pretty good with duct tape and a hot glue gun. Actually, come to think of it, I'm not all that good with a hot glue gun as I always seem to burn my fingers when I use one. Anyway, I love coming up with creative ideas for costumes. Here are a few I've made in past years...

The Whack-a-Mole costume I made for Austin a few years ago


The Marge Simpson costume I made for Savannah a few years ago


Here's a young Jackson, dressed as Jimmy Neutron.


I think it's fun coming up with creative ideas for costumes. It sure beats the kind I had as a kid. You know, the plastic costumes that tied in the back and the hard, molded plastic masks with the little rubber bands of death that would always snap you in the face. These masks had those little slits in them for the mouth and we'd stick out tongues out and cut them on the sides of the hard plastic. Ahhh yeah, good times, good times.


This year? You want to know what my kids are going to be this year? Well, I don't have all the pieces of their costumes in place quite yet, but I'll give you a hint. The kids will probably build a rocket, or fight a mummy, or climb up the Eiffel Tower. Maybe they'll discover something that doesn't exist, or give a monkey a shower...

What are you or your kids dressing up like this Halloween? Share it here for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card from BlogHer!

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for NINE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page !

For more information, go to the official Pop-Tarts site HERE!

Winner of Legoland Tickets

The random winner of the Legoland tickets is -

17Celestial said...
OMG I would LOVE these tickets!! My kids have been begging me to go there, but it never seems to be in our budget. We drive past there every weekend and every weekend they ask when we are going :) This would make them SO happy to be able to go...FINALLY!!! I have 3 kids and myself so 4 would be absolutely p-e-r-f-e-c-t.

Congratulations! You have 48 hours to email me at mom2my6pack@aol.com with your shipping information. :)

Keeping Track - PASS week four

When I let my teens get Facebook accounts, I told them up-front that they had to add me as a friend. That was the deal. It’s not that I have this burning need to invade their privacy, but I wanted to monitor their online activity. As teens, I think my kids are entitled to a little freedom, but that freedom comes with the responsibility to use it wisely.

That’s why I like PASS from American Express. It gives my teens a little freedom. They don’t have to ask me for money any time they want or need something. It also puts the responsibility of using the card wisely in their hands. They have X amount of money to last a month. They can spend it on what they like, but if they run out before their next allowance date, that is their problem, not mine. Plus (and this is the best part) it lets me check up on them. I can login as the parent and see their spending activity online. If I notice what I would consider poor spending habits, I can discuss this with them, tell them my concerns, and listen to their reasons for sending money the way they are.

With PASS, I also control how much money they have to spend at any given time. I’m not going to give them more money than they can manage. They get to reap the benefits of learning to manage their money without the threat of getting into serious financial difficulties.

In checking my teens’ accounts tonight, I can see that they both have a nice size balance on their cards. My son has off-campus privileges this year and has used his card to go out to lunch twice in the last couple months. My daughter used hers to buy a snack and a shirt while on a shopping trip to the mall with a friend. Mostly, they’re saving their money right now. And that’s okay by me!

How do you monitor your teen's spending habits? DO you monitor them or do you think that's an invasion of their privacy? Join in the discussion by leaving me a comment here.

For more information about PASS, the prepaid reloadable card for teens from American Express, go HERE.

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

Bowl of Goodness

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

What's your favorite meal in a bowl? I would say cookies, but I guess cookies aren't typically served in a bowl, huh? I guess my favorite is chicken and dumplings. Mmmmm, just looking at that picture makes me want some. I know what's for dinner tomorrow! Especially in the cold winter months, I love chili, chicken soup, beef stew, Italian wedding soup, lentil stew, gumbo, and oatmeal. Anything warm and filling is good on a chilly day. (Although I could easily move to California and eat salads year round. Just sayin'.)

I used to grab a bowl of ice cream a lot of evenings, but a couple years ago, I replaced the ice cream with cereal. It satisfies my craving for something sweet, yet instead of giving me a ton of fat and calories I don't need, it gives me vitamins, minerals and fiber that I do need. And now that I have diverticulosis, I've been pretty diligent about getting at least twenty-five grams of fiber every day.

So, what's your favorite meal in a bowl? Leave me a comment here to be entered into the drawing for $100 Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer!

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

photo from jordanmit09's Flickr stream

Pop-Tarts Pumpkin Pie

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts.

The kids and I got to play with our food to create a Pop-Tarts recipe. The kids' idea was to take a Choc-O-Lantern Pop-Tart, cover it with orange frosting, and then top it with another Pop-Tart which has been cut into a Jack-o-lantern shape. Simple, fun, cute, and festive, no? But did I listen to them? Nope. I had a better idea. And by better, I mean much more complicated. (Sometimes, I get this idea I'm a Food Network star. I'm not.)



My idea was to use these limited edition Pop-Tarts to create a chocolate fudge crusted Pop-Tarts Pumpkin Pie. We crumbled 6 Pop-Tarts into a bowl.


Then we added half a stick of melted butter to the crumbled Pop-Tarts. We mixed it well.


Then we pressed the chocolate fudge Pop-Tarts crust into a 9 inch pie plate.


The kids helped me to mix the pumpkin pie filling.


We poured the pie filling into the Pop-Tarts crust and popped the whole thing into the oven. Smell that? Mmmmmmm!


The finished product! Chocolatey Pop-Tarts pumkin pie!


What's your favorite Halloween/fall recipe? Share it here for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card from BlogHer!

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for NINE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page !

For more information about Pop-Tarts, go to the official Pop-Tarts site HERE!

Legoland!

The kids and I were invited to check out Legoland Discovery Center outside Chicago. I’ve driven past this place many times and every time, I’ve thought to myself, I should take my kids here. But I’d never gotten around to actually doing it. So, for the first time since the place opened, the kids and I paid a visit to Legoland.
My youngest four, ages 4-12 loved it! My teens weren’t quite as impressed although they did admit that it looked like a fun place to work. From the minute you walk in Legoland Discovery Center, you’ll be impressed. Actually, scratch that, even before you walk in the place, you’ll be impressed! There’s a giant giraffe posted at the entrance that welcomes you inside. Once inside, you’ll see Einstein and a guard made of Legos who has a little um, how to put this delicately…he has a little flatulence problem. The kids find this absolutely HILARIOUS!





Walk a little farther and you’ll be amazed at a Lego replica of Chicago complete with Buckingham fountain, the SEARS (not Willis) Tower, and Navy Pier. (Try to find two R2D2s, a Lego Batman, and a bank robber amid the skyscrapers.)



When you’re done admiring mini-Chicago, take a walk in the jungle. You’ll see all sorts of animals (and Indiana Jones!) It’s impressive!





You can get your picture taken with Lego creations, go for a ride on a dragon through a castle filled with Lego creations, build your own model in a Lego workshop, find out how Legos are made in the factory tour, see the fun Clutch Powers 4D movie, go for a whirl on the Technicycle, and take a break for some lunch while the kiddos play with buckets of Legos, race their vehicle creations down ramps, and run around the play area.











Legoland does birthday parties too! The best part about having your birthday party at Legoland is - no kids running around like maniacs all over your house, no shopping for supplies, and no clean-up!



The folks at Legoland gave me 4 tickets to give away on my blog. Legoland Discovery Center is located just outside Chicago in Schaumburg. If you're a local reader, leave me a comment here and I'll choose a random winner on Friday, October 22. Good luck!

I was given free admission for me and my kids to check out Legoland.

Mobile Meanness

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and LG Text Ed

Each comment left on this post benefits DoSomething.org with a $0.50 donation!

I was watching TV when my phone buzzed, signaling a text message.

Can u drive me to the mall plz?

The text was from my teenage daughter. My daughter who was sitting five feet away from me. To say the way we communicate has changed since I was a kid is a huge understatement. Yes, the amount of technology at our (and more importantly, at our children's) fingertips can be overwhelming and scary. Stories of teens committing suicide, or being beaten over mean texts they’ve received flash across the news. It’s enough to make parents think twice about letting their sons and daughters have cell phones at all.

I don’t personally think that taking phones away from kids is the answer. But giving your teen a phone and turning them loose with no supervision isn’t a good idea either. Texting can be a great communication tool. Texting lets parents and their children stay in touch, it’s a convenient way to ask your spouse to pick up a gallon of milk on his way home from work, and it helps you to avoid hour-long conversations with that one long-winded friend everyone seems to have.

But, as with anything good, there’s a bad side too. The way to avoid the negative aspects of texting is by communicating with your teens about what’s appropriate and acceptable and what isn’t. It’s your job to talk to your teens about being mean to others through texting. There have always been bullies; this is nothing new, but texting gives the bullies a new, more anonymous, way of ganging up on others. Make sure your kids know that they should never text anything that they wouldn’t say to someone’s face. I tell my kids that if they’d be embarrassed if I saw a text they sent, then they probably shouldn’t be sending it. Likewise, if they’re ever on the receiving end of mean texts, they need to confront the sender face to face. Oftentimes, texts can be misunderstood and if there’s ever a problem, it’s best to talk about it in person to avoid further miscommunication.

Texting can be a great way of communicating if you keep a few things in mind. Explain what’s expected of your teens, set boundaries, discuss stories in the news of kids who have been the victims of bullies, and repeat your talks about treating others with respect in all areas of communication. Oh yeah, and maybe get a text to English dictionary so you have a clue what your kids are talking about when they write "MMK" or "@TEOTD".

Have your kids experienced "Mobile Meaness"? What have you done to help them respond if they experience it? Each comment left on this post benefits DoSomething.org with a $0.50 donation!

Can't Live Without It

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

There are some foods I make for dinner that I know my kids will always eat. Macaroni & cheese, hamburgers, spaghetti, tacos, and chicken & dumplings are staples in this house. Then there are those hit-or-miss meals... "But you guys ate the lasagna when I made it last month and you loved it!" "What? Since when do you hate green beans?" "What are you talking about? You like BBQ pork!" Of course, none of this applies to my 4-year-old Brooklyn who doesn't consume anything but peanut butter, mac & cheese, cereal, and chocolate milk. Oh yeah, and candy! Can't forgot that important food group. :::shaking head:::

The same thing happens at breakfast. Some days, my kids like eggs. Other days, notsomuch. Some days, yogurt is good. Others, no way. But I know that cereal is one choice they'll never turn down. Cereal and granola bars are my go-to food choices for breakfast because I know my kids will eat it. Every time. The younger kids like their cereal in these little plastic bowls with straws attached to them. They can drink the milk when they've finished the cereal that way.

My personal go-to food for breakfast is coffee. Actually, it's more like cream and sugar with a little coffee flavoring, but it still works. What's your one go-to breakfast item that you and/or your kids can't live without. For a chance at a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and let me know what breakfast item you can't live without. Is it a special coffee mug? Fruit? A certain cereal?

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

But I Neeeed It! - PASS week three

“But Moooom, I neeeed this!” Have you ever heard your teenager utter these words after you’ve told them that you won’t buy a certain item for them? How do you teach your children the difference between wants and needs? I continually talk to my kids about wants and needs. When they tell me they need something, I’ll ask them, “Are you sure you need this? Or do you just want it?” Usually, they take a minute to think about it and decide that they don’t in fact, need the new video game, the designer jeans, or the toy.

I have to admit that my kids have a decent understanding of the difference between wants and needs. Maybe it’s because we’ve rarely had extra cash to spend just for fun. When I told my teens that I couldn’t afford to send them to Washington DC with their classmates, sure they were disappointed, but they also understood that our financial situation was not the same as some of their friends. But honestly, even if I had more money than Oprah, I wouldn’t give my kids anything and everything they wanted. That, in my opinion, doesn’t teach them a thing about financial responsibility. How is a child (or even an adult, for that matter) supposed to learn the difference between things they need and things they simply want if everything is always given to them?

Before I got my teens the PASS card from American Express, I bought them what they needed (and occasionally, an inexpensive luxury they wanted like a couple songs on iTunes or a clothing item.) But now, I’m putting an allowance on their reloadable PASS cards and it’s totally up to them what they want to spend their money on. Now that they’re the ones responsible for deciding what to spend money on, they’ve become a lot more frugal about their spending. I see them weighing the pros and cons of each possible choice. The other night, my daughter was considering buying a song for her iPod. It was $1.29, not a purchase that would break the bank. Still, she thought about it and decided she didn’t really need it on her iPod since she could listen to it on YouTube whenever she was on her computer.

So far, I’m very glad I’ve given my teens the responsibility to handle their own money. And I like that PASS is letting me do so safely because I know my teens can only spend as much as we’ve put on the card. They can’t rack up a crazy debt and their money is protected if they lose the card. Plus, we can both easily manage their account online. To learn more about PASS from American Express, go HERE.

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

The Morning Rush

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

It's a well-established fact that I hate mornings. I don't do anything well in the morning. Well, except for sleeping, that is. That is the one thing I'm very good at in the morning. Because I'm allergic to mornings, I've come up with a couple tips to make things a little less painful in those wee hours.

1. Coffee. Drink a cup the minute your feet hit the floor. Or, better yet, start an IV drip of coffee as soon as your alarm goes off.

2. Do as much as you can the night before. Make sure homework is completed and signed, backpacks are ready to go, and lunches are made. Set out clothes for little kids to eliminate an hour-long battle of what to wear. (This next one pertains to my 6-year-old) - attempt to find 2 matching shoes and lock them in a safe so he'll be able to locate them in the morning. If you can't find 2 matching shoes, try to at least find a left and right shoe of pairs that look similar.

3. Don't make things more complicated than they need to be! You don't have to braid your daughter's hair every day. Tell her to brush it in the car. Or let her go with it messy and hope she starts a new trend. And you don't need to cook a 12 course meal. Fruit, yogurt, toast, Pop-Tarts, cereal! Quick, nutritious, quick, yummy, quick, inexpensive, quick, filling, and quick!

4. Drive the kids to school in your pajamas. Don't worry about anyone seeing you. If they do, they'll probably be jealous they didn't think of it first. You can shower and get dressed later. After your own bowl of cereal and a couple more cups of coffee.

So, what things do you do to make mornings a little easier? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here with your practical advice on making mornings less hectic.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

Kellogg's Winner - week five/take two

The winner of week five's $100 Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer didn't claim her prize, so the alternate random winner for week five is...

35 Deb said...
tweetedhttp://twitter.com/fairydancer35/status/24053438517

Congratulations! Email me at mom2my6pack@aol.com to claim your prize!

V-Fusion Winner

The random winner of the cooler filled with V8 V-Fusion + Green Tea is...


Cara! said...
Haven't tried this but seems fantastic!

Congratulations! You have 48 hours to email me back at mom2my6pack@aol.com with your shipping information.

Kellogg's Winners for Weeks 6 & 7

The random winners for weeks 6 & 7 ,for the $100 Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer are...


106 Sori said...
I make sure there are healthy snacks for the ravenous after school munchies.


79 Angel Jacklyn said...
TWEETED THE GIVEAWAY @ http://twitter.com/kytah00/status/25559985237 kytah00@yahoo.com

Congratulations!!!

Time to Slow Down & Enjoy

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

I've told you how much I hate mornings and how I don't do a very good job getting up and making my kids a hot breakfast during the week. But the weekends...ahhh, the weekends, are a different story. When I'm not awakened by my evil alarm clock, I'm a much more pleasant person. When I don't have to rush anyone off to school, I have time to cook breakfast and the kids have time to actually chew and taste it before gulping it down.

On Sundays, after church, we come home and cook Belgian waffles, or monkey bread. We cut up fresh fruit, fry up some bacon, and pour glasses of icy cold orange juice. My kids all help with the preparation. I love teaching my kids to cook. My daughter, Savannah is taking a foods class in high school this year. She's come home from school and told me, in disbelief, "Mom, the other kids didn't even know how to peel a potato!" Or, "No one else knew how to dice an onion!" I'm glad, by the time my kids leave the house, they'll possess basic cooking skills and won't have to eat popcorn for dinner every night. Now if I could just get them to help me clean up the kitchen...

So, how are weekends different in your home? Are they difference? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and let me know what kind of traditions you have for weekend breakfasts?

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

photo from Or Hiltch's photostream

Cash, Check, or Charge - PASS week two

What is the currency choice for your teens? My teens operate on a cash system. When they get money for their birthdays, it’s generally cash. When I give them money for doing extra things around the house or watching their younger siblings, I pay them with cash. It’s convenient when paying for snacks at school, the occasional off-campus lunch, movies with friends, a shirt at the mall, or popcorn at the football game. My kids don’t usually order things online and when they do, they pay me in cash and I turn around and use my credit card or Paypal account to place the order. Why would they ever need another way to pay for anything? At least, that’s what I first thought when I was asked if I’d like to try out the new PASS card by American Express for my teens.

The more I thought about it, however, the more I liked the idea of PASS. For one thing, I can easily load their allowance to their cards online. I love that because I rarely have more than a couple dollars on me at any given time. It’s super-easy for me, as a parent, to manage their accounts and add funds to their cards from my computer. The kids can manage their accounts online as well, which is important for teaching them how to handle their finances. If your teens do order things online, they can use their PASS card to do it.

PASS is safer than cash because if your card is lost or stolen, you’re not responsible for fraudulent purchases, and American Express will replace the card free of charge. About three years ago, my daughter lent a large amount of money to a less-than-responsible acquaintance who didn’t pay her back until I got involved and informed this girl’s mother. And still, Savannah was never reimbursed the full amount. It was an expensive lesson learned. I think, with their money on a PASS card, it would be less likely that my kids would feel pressured into lending money to a friend.

That’s not to say that PASS would work for everything. They don’t accept cards like this at my kids’ school to pay for lunch. My kids either need to use cash or a PIN attached to a lunch account into which I deposit money. Sometimes, my kids will still need to use cash. But I do think PASS can be a great tool to help teach your kids about managing money and sticking to a budget, as well as a convenient way to pay for many things.

How do your teens pay for their purchases?

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

I Don't Do Mornings

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

When I was a kid, my mom would get up, have her coffee while reading the paper, pay the bills, water her garden, make a few phone calls, cook me and my sister a hot breakfast, run 5K, learn a foreign language, discover life on another planet, and shave her legs all before 5:00AM. I, on the other hand, slept. And slept. And slept. And hit the snooze. And slept. And slept. And hit the snooze. Well, you get the idea. My mom would come in and whip the covers off me. I'd sleep. She flip up the window shades. I'd sleep. She spray my face with water. I'd sleep. She'd yell at me to get up. I'd sleep. She'd dump a bucket of water on me. I'd get up, but I wouldn't be happy about it and I'd make sure everyone with whom I came in contact experienced the full extent of my unhappiness.

Not much has changed. My mom still gets up before the birds. I still hit the snooze a dozen times before dragging my butt out of bed and shuffling through the house with my eyes closed. I'm thirty-ten years old. I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume I will never be one of those dreadful morning people. However, I have to admit, there's a part of me that would really like to be a morning person. I'd love to get up and have time to shower and dress before my kids woke up. I'd love to sit down with them and have a nice conversation over a hot, cooked-to-order breakfast. But that's never going to happen. I've accepted it. That's what dinner is for.

My mornings are always going to be rushed. I'm always going to wait until the last possible second to get out of bed. I'm probably always going to be less-than-pleasant in the morning. Hot breakfasts will always be reserved for weekends and special "Breakfast for Dinner" nights. But I'll still insist my kids eat something before heading off to school. Sometimes it's yogurt or a piece of fruit. Sometimes it's frozen waffles. Sometimes those waffles are even eaten frozen. Literally. Seriously, Clay ate a frozen waffle straight from the freezer and dipped in mayonnaise. Gag! But most often it's cereal. Cereal with milk is lower in calories than say, bacon & eggs, a croissant, or a bagel with cream cheese. Cereal is fortified with vitamins and minerals your kids need. In fact, I know my kids wouldn't come close to getting the recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals without their morning bowl of cereal most days.

I'd love to say that I make sure our mornings are chock-full of quality, bonding time, but it would be a big fat lie. I save the quality time for moments when I'm actually awake and functioning. Mornings are spent quietly rushing around, eating a quick breakfast, and getting out the door. Sometimes the kids even have their backpacks, glasses, homework, and shoes when they leave the house!

So, how do you make sure you spend quality time with your kids in the morning? What do you do to ensure your kids eat a healthy breakfast? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and let me know how you start the day off on a positive note.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

Creative Commons photo is from g_kat26's flickr stream

The Money Talk - PASS week one

I've been wanting to talk to my teens about money for some time now. When I was asked if I'd be interested in trying out the new PASS card (not a credit or debit card, but a prepaid, reloadable card geared to teenagers from American Express), I checked it out and decided that I was definitely interested in trying it with my two oldest children. I thought PASS might fit into my plan to teach my teens about managing money.

So I sat my fourteen and fifteen-year-olds down and talked to them about high finance. Okay, so maybe it wasn't high finance, but I did have a money talk with them. I told them (especially now that I'm a single mom) how important it is to stick to a budget. I explained that I didn't have money for extras and that if they want to go to the movies or have lunch off-campus with friends, then they'd need to spend their own money on those kinds of things. There's a difference between wants and needs and even little kids can learn this.

I discussed possible ways for my kids to earn their own spending money. I've personally never liked the idea of tying an allowance to chores. I've always believed that my kids should help out around the house (cleaning their rooms, setting the table, washing dishes, putting laundry away, etc.) because that's what families do. Every member of the family pitches in to make the household work. When everyone works together and does their part, things run smoothly and there's time for fun. In return, if my kids wanted to go to the movies, I'd give them cash. If they wanted something that wasn't necessary like a new cell phone case, a video game, etc., I'd usually tell them to put it on their Christmas list, but sometimes I'd go ahead and buy it for them. I didn't give them an actual allowance. Now, I'm not saying you're wrong if you do tie an allowance to chores. There are arguments for that way of thinking as well. I just never did it myself.

However, now that my two oldest children are teenagers, I want to give them a little more freedom and responsibility. I want them to have the freedom to handle their money. There are very important, life-long lessons to be learned in this. And I want them to have the freedom to spend it as they see fit. Yes, I even want them to make little mistakes and learn from them now when we're talking about $20 as opposed to when they're adults and we're talking about $2,000.

On the flip side, I'm giving them more responsibility. Although I'm not directly tying their allowance to chores, I am expecting a little more help from them in return for a monthly allowance. Since I'm a single mom of six, I'm one busy lady and asking my teens to take out the garbage, mow the lawn and babysit the little kids now and then helps me out tremendously. I don't mind paying them in return. And I want them to be responsible for saving their money and setting aside a portion for tithing.

Over the following weeks, I'll be writing more about helping my teens to develop a spending plan. I'll let you know how these PASS cards fit into my teens' money plans. Check back here on Monday for the next post. In the meantime, if you want to look into it yourself, you can go HERE to get information about PASS from American Express.

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

Sonic Winner - Take Two!

The winner of the $50 MySonic gift card didn't leave her email address and never came forward to claim her prize, so I've chosen an alternate random winner.


Anissa said...
I've only had the Limeades at Sonic (cran is my fav!) but I do like chocolate ice cream w/ raspberry topping (not sure if that's an option there but I love it).
August 26, 2010 9:35 AM

Congratulations! You have 48 hours to email me at mom2my6pack@aol.com to claim your prize. :)

V-Fusion + Green Tea = Yum!

I've written about V8 V-Fusion a few times over the past couple years. I just really love this drink, both for myself and for my kids. I think it's a great, easy, (not to mention delicious) way to add more fruit and vegetables to your diet. And now, V8 V-Fusion has come out with a new version that includes the antioxidant goodness of green tea.

I love the V-Fusion without the tea so when I was asked to try the new flavors with green tea, I jumped at the chance. I love these new flavors just as much as the original ones! I personally think these have a little bit "lighter" taste. The tea flavor is there enough to notice it, but it's subtle and doesn't have a bitter aftertaste. It was the perfect amount, in my opinion. I think these new juices with green tea are crisp and refreshing. My favorite is the pomegranate followed by the raspberry. Austin was the only other one in my family who tried the V-Fusion + Green Tea (mostly because I wouldn't share.) His favorite flavor was the pineapple mango.

Like the original V-Fusion flavors, the new ones with green tea don't have any added sugar, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. It's good stuff that tastes great! (And they're yummy mixed with rum.) ;)

I have a cooler with one bottle of each of the three new flavors with green tea (pictured above) to give away to one random commenter.

No duplicate comments

Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.

Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail. If no email is provided in your comment, I'll announce the winner on my blog.

Winner will have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Life Just Got a Lot Busier!

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

I love having my kids home during the summer. I enjoy the laziness of summer - no schedules to speak of, no homework, no extracuricular activities. I love being able to roll out of bed when I'm ready to wake up instead of when my alarm clock goes off. I love being able to make impromptu plans with my kids. But summer vacation lasts about three weeks too long, in my opinion. Out of immeasureable boredom, my kids start inventing games like Beat my brother over the head with a drum stick and Throw toys all over the family room until someone trips and sprains an ankle and Let's scream and fight until the little vein in mom's neck sticks out and she disappears in her room with a bottle of wine.

It's a Catch 22 though. The kids are out of your hair and in school, but now you're back to the crazy busy school year schedule. How on earth do you transition between the lazy days of summer to the go-go-go schedule of the school year?

A couple weeks before school started, I adjusted my kids' bedtime, gradually making them go to bed earlier so it would be easier getting up on time for school.

I established a routine and made a chart listing everyone's chores and when they needed to be done. No longer do my kids have all day to take out the garbage or make their beds. With school and homework and sports now, we all needed to get more organized to make sure we had time to accomplish everything.



We no longer have all morning to lie around in our pajamas, eating breakfast whenever we feel like it. Our mornings are pretty rushed, so I always have several boxes of cereal on hand. My kids can get their own breakfasts and I know they're eating something healthy that will fill their tummys and tide them over until lunch. I always buy several boxes when it's on sale or when I have a coupon so it makes for a very inexpensive breakfast at that.

I've started planning out my dinners ahead of time. In the summer, I can just wing it and throw something together when we get hungry, but during the school year, between helping the kids with homework, and taking them to football practice and cheer, etc., I need meals planned and prepped ahead of time.

I have a hard time sticking to a schedule. I don't like my life so planned and regimented. I'm really more of a "fly by the seat of my pants" kinda gal. But, I have to admit that during the school year, a schedule of sorts makes things flow a lot more smoothly.

What do you do to transition between lazy summer days and school days? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and give me your best tip for transitioning to the busy school year.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

Kellogg's Winner - Week Five

Here's the week five winner of the Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

28



Amanda said...
Highlight of the summer was a 3 week trip to South Korea to visit husband's family. Kids are 13 and 10 and loved meeting extended family!



Congratulations! You have 48 hours to email me at mom2my6pack@aol.com to claim your prize.

Kellogg's Winner - Week Four

Here's the week four winner of the Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:139

139Nicole said... Bananas and yogurt are our go to breakfast food when we are rushed!

Congratulations!

The Summer Highlight Reel

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Even though I was too sick to squeeze in any last minute excursions the last two weeks before my kids returned to school, I did manage to do a lot of fun activities earlier in our summer vacation. This year, I bought a pass to our local pool and the kids and Iwent several times a week throughout the summer.

We took a couple trips downtown Chicago that everyone enjoyed. One time, we spent the day walking around the lakefront, Millennium Park, and Grant Park. The other time, we saw a play at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and spent the rest of the day playing at Navy Pier, shopping, eating lunch, and riding the giant Ferris wheel.

We went to dozens of baseball, softball, and hockey games. We enjoyed many an evening, relaxing in our backyard while toasting marshmallows over a crackling fire pit. We even went camping in the tent I pitched in our family room. What? There were no mosquitoes or bears, and we had running water and air conditioning! I’m telling ya, that’s the way to camp!

And we spent a week in the Outer Banks, NC. We’d wake up, grab our bowls of cereal and fruit and head out to the huge deck that overlooked the ocean. We’d eat outside and enjoy the cool breeze while listening to the surf pound the shore. Ahhh, just thinking about it is making me want to go back.

So, what was the highlight of your summer?

For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and let me know what the best part of your summer was.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

Disney on Ice Princess Classics

Disney on Ice is coming back to the United Center in Chicago September 8 - 12! I cannot wait to see the show, Princess Classics! Yes, I know I've seen Disney on Ice a couple times in the past year, but it never gets old. Each show is different and magical in the way that only Disney can be.

Go to Ticketmaster.com enter coupon code MOM in the MC Promotions Box to get a 4-pack of tickets for only $44! Or save $4 on all weekend shows. See the following flyer for details, but hurry because just like when the clock strikes twelve for Cinderella, this show will be gone and the magic will be over come September 13.

And here's a coloring sheet you can print for your little princess.

I'm working with Feld Entertainment to spread the word about the show and the discount available.