Posts Tagged ‘sleep’
10 Free (Or Inexpensive) Places To Go This Summer
Summer can be super expensive. However, it doesn’t have. Here is a small list of places you can go this summer and not spend a lot of money!
1. Your Backyard! Your backyard is fun of fun. You can camp back there, create a garden, explore, etc. Best of all, most things you can do in your backyard are free!
2. Go camping. Now, this will cost you a little money. However, it is great to get away sometimes. We recently booked a camping trip for July that is running us $30 a night. It is fairly inexpensive to camp, and I know, my kids love it. (We personally camp in a tent. However, I draw the line and do bring a blow mattress to sleep on. We could get our site even cheaper if we didn’t pay for the electric, so I could blow up my bed.)
3. Library. The library is great. It is free to check out books, games, activities, movies, etc. The other great thing about the library (well, at least my library) is that they offer free (or low cost) classes! My library also has scheduled activities going on each month too! The key is to return your book on time, so you don’t get any fines!
4. Your Local Park District. I know not every state has these. However, you have something that offers classes. Our local park district offers nature classes all summer for very cheap. It definitely something to check out.
5. Your Local Craft Store. I know my local craft stores are constantly offering classes to teach you awesome crafts, cake decorating, etc.
6. Your Local Hardware Store. I know the closest hardware store to me has adult classes all the time that will show you how to do things around your home. They also offer kids workshops too that are free!
7. The Mall. My local mall has a play area that is free to play in. It is also a great place to walk in. Now, you have to manage to not go shopping while you are there to keep it inexpensive. 
8. Forest Preserves. Here in Illinois, we have forest preserves though I know other states have places like these and they are just called something different. They are free to enter and you are able to hike in them. They are a great way to get the kids outdoors and a great place to have a picnic too.
9. Local park. Your local park is also free and most kids can spend hours in them!
10. Head to a lake, river, pond, etc. You can usually swim, skip rocks, fish, etc at your local watering hole for no cost.
Hopefully, you have a few free and inexpensive ideas to keep you and your kids busy this summer!
Related articles
- KinderCare Learning Centers Summer Camp (mythoughtsideasandramblings.com)
- Beat the Summer Heat with a Backyard Pool Party (table4five.net)
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Rain, rain go away
It seriously has been raining in Chicago all week. This has been the second rainiest April in history. I can believe it too. My alley (the one on the side of my house) has been flooded over a week. The kids are climbing the walls (this has been the week of Madison’s spring break). Today, I’ve been watching the devastation that is down south and countering that with the Royal Wedding. (No, I did not stay up. Instead, this is exactly what a DVR is for. Needless to say, I taped it and then watched it later this morning.)
Watching the Royal Wedding is fun when you are also looking at modern bedroom furniture. I got bored with the commentary pretty quickly (because really, who wants to hear Katie Couric during a wedding ceremony). While looking at chests, I then began to wonder what kind of bed will the prince and princess be sleeping in tonight (though I’ve heard all the parties and stuff will go to 6 am, so they may not be getting much sleep). Do the rooms in Buckingham palace have a 5 drawer chest? A poster bed? Four bazillion pillows? I’ll have to check out the History Channel, because I am sure they have a show on the inside of the palace.
What about you? Watch the Royal Wedding? Ever wonder what the inside of the palace must look like?
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Night Terrors
In my last post, I talked about some weird episodes we were having with Will. It was something very odd that we had happening and I was worried. This was the 3rd time it happened, and I was stressing over it.
What happens is is that Will would wake up from a nap and scream. This was no normal scream either. Instead, he would scream for around 45 – 60 minutes, and nothing would call him down. He didn’t want to be held. If you tried to give him a sippy up or something to eat, he would throw it at you. Now, this is not Will at all. While he was screaming, he would constantly be arching his back and getting all rigid. It is enough to scare the crap out of any parent.
It didn’t happen often enough that I would even remember to ask the doctor at his regular visits. It happened once in September, once in November, and then 2 weeks ago. This last time I called his doctor, and we scheduled a visit.
Surprisingly, they think it is “night terrors”. Now, this was not something I knew a whole lot about nor did I know that this can actually happen at night time! It is very similar to sleepwalking and sleeptalking. Night terrors are considered to be a disorder of arousal and are a partial arousal from non-REM sleep. When Will naps, he goes into a deep enough sleep that this is occurring. They most commonly happen in children between the ages of 2 and 6 years. However, they can occur at any age (so adults can get them too). They often happen in times of stress and when they are overtired. There is nothing that can really be done regarding them either. Basically, I need to keep Will on a sleeping schedule (good luck with that since Madison’s preschool schedule throws that out the window) and make sure he doesn’t get overtired. Eventually, he should outgrow this.
I am hoping that me writing this will help someone else going through this. These episodes are scary, but at least now I know what I am dealing with.
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