Category Archives: Home & Family

Homemaking, parenting and special needs

Little Luxuries

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While cleaning off my desk today, I found an article I’d saved to blog about. It discusses the little luxuries that people like to enjoy in spite of cutting back on their expenses in a lousy economy.

In my early years as a SAHM, I occasionally bought little things to make myself feel good. I felt guilty about not bringing in an income, so I didn’t splurge. But I’d grab a quilt magazine at the grocery magazine rack and go home and enjoy it thoroughly. Or I might pick up a votive in a new scent and keep it burning at home until it was just a little blob of wax. (Usually, one of the kids or even my husband would come into the room and ask, “What stinks?”)

These days, I don’t seem to require little luxuries, at least not the ones that cost money. I’m happy to find a good book or DVD at the public library, or take a walk on the beach. (Although I did pony up $3.99 at the Goodwill store a few weeks ago for a hardback copy of an Elisabeth Elliot book I hadn’t read yet….I was thrilled to add it to my collection.)

But I like to have things around for my family to enjoy. So my little luxuries have become things like picking up a bucket of fried chicken at the grocery store deli when it’s on sale, or buying a box of peppermint hot chocolate mix at Sam’s Club for a whopping $1.81 for 28 packets. And when candy bars go on sale “buy one, get one free,” I buy some for everybody, not just me 🙂

So, are you finding that little luxuries make life a little easier these days? If so, what are your favorites?

Harder to Raise: Girls or Boys?

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Little Boy with Toy Machine Gun and Cake
Little Boy with Toy Machine Gun and Cake

I have a friend who has six children: two in their 30s, two in their 20s, a teen and a preteen. The eldest and youngest are girls, and she says those two girls were (and still are) harder to deal with than all four boys put together.

I’ve had a different experience. I have four children, two in their 20s and two teens, and they go like this: girl, boy, girl, boy. One girl and one boy are strong-willed, while the other girl and the other boy are more compliant, though not completely so. I always believed that the sex of the child doesn’t mean much in how easy they are to raise, that’s it’s more a matter of personalities, both the child’s and the parents’, and how they mesh (or don’t, as the case may be).

Here’s an article that compares boys and girls (which is good, because that means people are finally getting back to the common sense theory that the sexes are different!) and discusses which sex is harder to raise. What do you think? Are girls harder, or boys?

Frank Family Current Events

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My Dear Graduate
My Dear Graduate

So it’s been a busy few weeks, as you may have guessed, since most of my recent posts were about one subject (college), which is often a sign that I’ve been pre-posting  😉

I think May is quite busy for most people, but this year our May is special because we have another homeschool graduate who also has a May birthday. Last week Mary, our dd17, turned 18, so that naturally involved some celebrating. She was born on Mother’s Day 1991, a very welcome gift who has continued to be a great pleasure in our lives.

Last week she also played her violin in her final concert with the Door County String Academy in beautiful new Juniper Hall at Birch Creek Music Center, where she received a plaque for being a graduating senior. Then on Sunday she played at a fundraising concert for the Academy at gorgeous Bjorklunden on the shores of Lake Michigan. (Sorry about all the adjectives, but Door County really is an incredibly scenic place!)

She still has a few projects left before she officially finishes homeschool high school. This year she also earned some credits at the technical college an hour south of here, so I’ve included those on her lovely homemade high school transcript, the last one I’ll ever make. (Sniff!) She has plans for the fall, but is keeping that news on the QT until it becomes official. We’re having a graduation party for her next month in the Chicago area, where most of our family and friends live. Congratulations, Mary!

This year is shaping up to be another big year of change in our lives. Not only are we graduating another “home grown kid,” but it looks like we’ll be moving again when our lease is up in August. My husband’s career status is probably going to change again, and mine might too, we just don’t know yet. We know God has a plan; I just have to remind myself to stay calm as I wait for it to unfold  🙂

Great Tools for Financial Literacy

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I’ve been using Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers with dd17 for the past 18 months or so, and we’re almost finished. We’ve been having a lot of fun with the projects.

Funny how using Life Prep has been a different experience with each of my children.

Our eldest was very eager to get out on her own, so we emphasized the rent, food and utilities projects over the others. Our son was completely college-minded, so we stuck to more reading and less projects. Dd17 is not in a big hurry to be out on her own, but she’s not sure about college either (she’s already racked up a few credit hours and isn’t sure if she wants to keep going), but she really gets into all of the projects.

She has run a couple of small businesses, so she understands the need to watch your expenses and make prudent choices. She seems to really get into studying how loans work, and how you can save a lot of money by prepaying them.

While working on the projects from the book, she enjoyed playing with some online financial calculators at Bankrate.com. They’re wonderful! I plan on adding mention of them to the next edition of the book when we update it again in a few years.

Frugality 101

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Breakfast under the Big Birch by Carl Larsson
Breakfast under the Big Birch

I don’t usually post on Sundays but had to share this article about how families can save money. A couple of the tips are specific to the Chicago suburbs, but most are not, and you’ll find some good info there.

Here’s my favorite part:

Do things your mom used to do. Remember how your mom and her friends sat around the kitchen table drinking coffee, rather than meeting out at a local coffee shop? Or how you’d be forced to bring your lunch to the ballgame or museums? That’s probably why your parents have money in the bank now. One mom suggested buying a bag of Starbucks coffee for $8 and then brewing enough for everyone.

Some of my fondest memories are of sitting around a kitchen table having coffee: with my grandma when I was a kid (yep, Swedes let the kids drink coffee with lots of milk in it), or with the other playgroup moms when I had little ones and we met weekly at each other’s homes. Who says you need money to have fun?