What Else Is There to Do?

My daughter has some really interesting "days" marked on the summer calendar. So far she's had "outdoor games day", "international food day" . "lazy day", "breakfast food day" and some others I can't remember right now.

She makes these up and then does things around the theme for the whole day.

Int'l Food Day we tried to make stuff to eat that was from a different country each meal. It can be really simple and you have the internet so you can get ideas and even videos on line to show you how to make it. You can get lists of games to play outdoors for game day etc.

Anyway, let them make up the days (maybe they each get to pick one day a week) and put them on the calendar and see what you can do with that. I put "the day" on the dry erase board and add what I can to it, but I do work so the kids have to take carry out the events on their own for the most part.

Good luck.

Hi J.,

I just want to encourage you to not be so hard on yourself because you're not in a competition with your ex to be the best entertainer - I promise you that's not what your daughters are looking for. I'm telling you only what I have to remind myself of constantly - I don't have an ex but it seems like my daughter's friends are always telling her about exciting things and places they are doing this summer.
My daugher is almost 10 so I can tell you that she would like all the things the first poster recommended. Infact, several nights ago, I taught her how to play Yahtzee for the first time and she had a blast. She was asking me to play again the next day and then wanted daddy to play when he came home from his trip. Never under estimate the fun of just playing games at the kitchen table while eating ice cream or popcorn and koolaid :-)
I would second the backyard camping! What fun that would be plus you could come in for the potty and to cool off. Run an extension cord outside with your smallest tv and watch a movie in the tent.
This reminds me of the sweetest story I saw on Oprah years ago. She had families on that had lost a loved one to cancer. There was a precious little girl on that was about twelve who spoke of her mother who had died. The last year of her mother's life the family took off and did all kind of cool trips, Disney, cruises, beaches, you get the idea. When Oprah asked the little girl of her fondest memory of her mother, this is what she said. Towards the end, her mother had a hard time eating and sleeping so often she would get up in the middle of the night and have a bowl of Cheerios. The little girl asked her mom to wake her up any night she got up to eat cereal. So her mom did. The little girl spoke of all the times she would sit in the kitchen in the middle of the night laughing and talking and eating Cheerios with her dying mom. Can you imagine that being better than the best day at Disney? It made Oprah cry and me, too!
So, just give them your love and time, that's really all they want and that is what they will remember :-)

If you live near and shop at a Farmer's Market for veggies and fruit have them help you shop there and talk about how the food gets there. If there is a place to pick your own fruit, I know there is a place in Arlington, you can do that. Make a picnic in the yard every once in a while. If you know someone who has a telescope borrow it and make smores and look at the stars. Baskin Robins has a 1$ scoop night. Have a family game night where you set up a course to run and games to play based on items that you have around the house. Or even a tournament like chess or checkers. Check out wonder time mag. or Family Fun mag. online and they have some great ideas that are cheap if not free. I hope this helps.

Hi J.~
I love some of the suggestions you have received-backyard picnics,dress up,family game night etc... You know, I don't think the kids care about the big spending entertainment as much as we think they do. When I was little my parents were divorced and my dad was affluent-we were not. He lived a pretty lavish lifestyle and lived in fancy penthouse apartments in NYC, Acapulco, Chicago etc...We would go stay him for most of the summer and do all kind of "fancy" things. Guess what? We were miserable. I couldn't wait to get home to my little NYC apartment and just watch a movie w/my mom or play outside w/my regular old friends. Just spending quality time with them is worth more than any amount of $$$ he could spend on them at Six Flags.

Your girls are lucky to have a mom who cares so much about them. Hang in there, it will all work out.

N.

Hi J.! I love all the responses and think they are awesome. I even wrote some of them down for my family to do! ;-) You know, growng up, we didn't have much. Didn't have a car for a long time and my parents were divorced, so my mom struggled alot with finances. But I remember this...we didn't have a car so we stayed home on Saturdays and ordered pizza and watched a movie. We taped alot of movies from cable, so we had tons to choose from. Eventually we ended up watching the same ones and laughing at the silly parts. I'm saying this just because, those were the 'good old days' for us. Some of the best. That was what we could afford and it was awesome. Don't worry too much about competing with your kid's dad. My dad had lots of money and we always did fun stuff with him, but nothing beat pizza night at home with mom. ;-P

Also, check out www.tourtexas.com, as they have all events in Texas (festivals and such)on there and lots of them are free. Hope this helped! God Bless!

We are strapped for cash this summer too, we do not have a pool, but I bought a family pool pass from our public pool. I see you have a pool, so buying a pool pass is out of the question. But I do agree that...don't be so hard on yourself. It's not a competition between you and their dad. So, don't feel so bad. If your kids do say anything, just remind them that there are others..a lot less fortunate than they are. Some kids don't have a roof or food. (That always seems to work w/my 2 when they start complaining).

Cheap crafts from the dollar store may help fill up some time too.

I think you have had some awesome answers here. That quality is about it, not necessarily quantity. Even though we are not a divorced couple, my kids crave time with me and my hubby, not the goin-n-blowin. kind. but the kind of take me fishing, or just baking cookies kind. Even when we do some fun things, I often hear they would just like to go home and hang out. I think that I would explain to them that he has to squeeze in all his daddy time but you get to take your time to have fun with them all the time. I think you should strongly consider some of the ideas put forth about the different days. What about a girls slumber party. Or spa day where you all do each others toes. what about making sock puppets. what about getting big cardboard boxes and just letting them have at it. What about making homemade playdough. My kids all still love that kind of thing. Well not the toenail painting as I have 3 boys. what about fishing, hiking. Mine like to go down country roads looking for animal tracks, feathers, rocks, bugs etc. And we have nature lessons, try to identify trees, tracks, birds etc. The libraries usually have summer reading lists and free goody bags after your list is turned in. Ours has PJ night with popcorn and stories. All is free. What about some cheerleadr things with the tramp. A picnic and ride on the 4 wheeler. What about movie night. camping in the house. tent blankets. dress-up with tea parties. teach them to cook. favorite at our house. homemade ice cream in the ziplock baggies. I think that if you look hard enough then you will find some things to do they will like and will not stretch your budget to much.
I think you are mainly worried about competing with your EX. and i think to try to do things to competer will not only hurt your budget but will make you more unhappy. I think that you also have a unique opportunity to teach them to be thankful for life's abundence, and to also be thankful for what you have been given when there is not much. You may not have much but you are happy and can learn to be creative. Make lemonade instead of complaining about all the lemons you have, and kids need that lesson also.
Good luck,
L.

If you have a lake or pond close by,have you ever gone turtle fishing. What you do is get a long string tie bacon around it and throw it out and watch the turltes latch on and the object is to see who can get the turtle in the closest.Which takes skills and they dont come onto the bank so you dont have to worry about touching.Kids really do enjoy the outdoors.I dont no your location but I am in Red Oak and there is a Lake Bardwell and a very nice park there that has picnic and camping grounds and a fishing peir and also these very large paddle boats that look like extremly large bikes that you can rent.For kids you dont have to spend money on them just quality time means more than anything you can buy and build memories.As for as you having a job and burning the candle at both ends you are in the group of Americans.Time with you kids is more important than any money can buy.Their future is something you cant put a price tag on.If you want extra take in children that are around the same age of yours.

Sometimes I play dress up with my girls. I let them put make-up on me and paint my toe nails. They get glammed up too. They like picking silky scarfs and pretty necklaces out of my closet and jewelry box and putting them on. Then we put on our favorite tunes and dance around the living room, it's fun.
You can also try www.familyfun.com for fun activities to do at home. They have lots of ideas. Hang in there! Good Luck!

What about volunteering at an animal shelter walking the dogs? That is fun and rewarding. The 20 month old probably couldn't do it, but if one of your daughter's had a friend, you could take a friend if their parent could watch the 20 month old. All my kids have loved visiting pet stores to look at animals. ALso, there are the summer movies at theaters that are dirt cheap. Some theaters, they are free and some, only $1-2 each and you can bring in your own snacks.

maybe try camping indoors at your house. Also with the gas prices being what they are, I have heard a lot about staycations. Try searching that on google and you might find some great ideas!

Hi J.,

I want to tell you that summers for every kid gets long toward the end no matter how much you go and do. Relax and if it makes you feel better we can afford to go and do and I dont. My idea of fun isnt spending money it is quality time. I dont want my kids to think that if we arent spending money and going places that life is no fun.
We swim in our pool and eat watermelon and make homemade ice pops out of Kool-aid. In the evenings we make smores and tell stories. ( each kid gets 3 mins to make one up) its pretty funny the things that are said. Fridays are Pizza and movie night (dont forget the popcorn) You can go on bike rides, have a scavenger hunt. Have coloring contests and Karoke. They do go to vbs (vacation bible school) for a week and I try and have at least one outing a week even if it is just visiting a park in a different city or going to the zoo, go online and look for free or budget friendly events.......I dont want to ramble hope some of the ideas are helpful!!

Sleepovers are the most fun. One or several friends, even cousins make any night a fun one.

Shaving cream fights, water balloon fights, swimming at night; anything uninhibited. Just let your hair down.

We cover the kitchen table and make easy pizzas with box mix from the store.

My kids loved the tye dye thing we did. A three pack of Hanes shirts and a tye dye kit from Wal-Mart for under twenty dollars has them wearing their favorite creations every time they are clean.

Let them make a movie with your camcorder or let them rehearse something for you to record. They could make a mystery movie for step dad to guess what it is about or a music video to their favorite song.

Karaoke night with any gaming system (xbox,ete)?

How about decorating their rooms? A gallon of paint and some stencils isn't too pricey. They may really enjoy a few little changes and be happy to do the work for the new look. I know money is tight but Wal-Mart has a lot of cool fabric for cheap new curtains or pillow cases. They both make a room look quit different. If you don't sew look up online how to sew curtains (super easy even by hand).

VBS at any church is usually fun.

Shampoo in a kiddy pool is a blast!

Kids like to have input so just ask them to come up with some things they would like to do that doesn't require a lot of money. We asked our kids to do that and laughed for days at some of the responses. We pick something here or there and enjoy doing it knowing that the kids are happy.

Enjoy the summer and your girls! :]

What about doing some fun crafts at home? Reading a book together as a family? Camping in your yard? Board game nights?

We are under the same pressure too regarding finances, but my kids have been told and seem to understand. I would just tell them that this year is a bit tough on everyone and you will do what you can for them.

J.

Hi J.:

The ideas you got are great and thought I might add. My daughter will have friends or cousins over and we have our international nights. I use Christmas lights and decorate the dining room-set out summer plates (plastic) that are fun along with the plastic colored-margharita glasses, from which they love drinking juice or soft drinks. I have always kept a variety of cloth napkins for every event -not necessarily matching and when we have Mexican food, Italian, Asian or whatever we can think of, we find new recipes and cook together and try to learn phrases in the language of our meal.

Sometimes we have candles and the kids will make menus. They try different ways to set the table, we find music to go with the meal and they all help clean up afterwards.

We then will play a board game and watch movies with popcorn. I have an only child but keep 5-6 kids at my house all summer long.

We live near parks and schools so we also walk, ride bikes and scooters to the playgrounds or go to the creek, where they can spend hours.

The kids enjoy this so much and it is fun for them. We also camp indoors. I move the furniture and put up a small tent for 3, and they have a blast. If more are over, it is bring out blankets and they build a tent with chairs, umbrellas and clothespins.

We find amny things to do that don't cost and the ages range from 11-14.

Good luck-you're on the right track.