Consider yourself warned!
A guide for those who think they want children.
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If you have kids, at some point, you will want to go on a vacation or on a trip with them. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, let me explain what goes down. If the kids are young, taking them on vacation is nothing less than preparing for war. You need an endless list of supplies (diapers, clothes, lotion, bottles, food, etc.), and you better make sure that you packed your artillery (toys, coloring books, crayons, Game Boy, IPad/IPod, anything that will keep them busy and quiet). By the time you finished packing for your trip, you’re tired and you begin to wonder if its better to just stay home. And remember, you have to keep track of all that stuff while you’re on vacation, and remember to bring it home. Trust you me, nothing will ruin your vacation more than realizing when you get home that the child you forgot you had, you know, the one named Not Me, has either lost or forgotten that expensive IPad/IPod or toy somewhere. To them, its free. After all, all they have to do is ask you for another one and it magically appears.
When you travel with little kids, all you have to do is make sure that you pack all their essentials, i.e. toys, and make sure that you stay in a hotel where there is room service and a pool. For the most part, as long as you have that, they don’t care where you go. Teenagers can be more of a challenge. They all have opinions on where you should go, and they are not afraid to express them, whether you want to hear it or not. It amazes me that kids who are not paying one dime towards the vacation feel that they have a vote as to where we go. Its almost as if they believe that they really live in a democratic household. So with teenagers, you need to not only have a hotel with room service and a pool, but you must also be in a location that is interesting to them … even though they won’t want to leave the hotel and pool. This week, I am on vacation. I am spending time with my friends in Puerto Rico. My kids are spending the week with their father. They wanted to come with me. I just laughed and reminded them that they went on vacation with their father earlier this summer. So no, they will be staying home. This is a relaxing week for me. Other than my daughter sending me a text to have fun and the one phone call from my son, my kids have not texted or called. I am completely free. Don’t get me wrong, I do miss them. They would have enjoyed the beaches of Puerto Rico. But, it sure is nice to have some kid free, worry free time to myself. And, its also nice to have adult conversation that does not include any references to Drake, Cardi B, basketball, track, school, their friends, or anything else that important to teenagers. If you are a parent, try to schedule some kid free vacation time. You need it. You will thank me for it afterwards. So, now you know and you can … Consider Yourself Warned! If you have kids, have you ever gone on vacation without them? How was that experience?
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Its that time of year again. Summer vacation is almost over and soon kids in New York will be going back to school. This time of year always takes a toll on my pocketbook, even with the “Back to School” sales. The kids need new school clothes, school supplies, book bags, and eyeglasses. I try to plan for those expenses as much as I can, but something unexpected always seems to happen.
This year, its my daughter’s eyeglasses. Now, this kid is pretty good with her glasses. She wears them every day, and as far as I can remember, she hasn’t lost a pair yet. That is, until the other day. My daughter decided that she wanted to go to Coney Island with her friends. Its summertime, its hot, and thanks to her summer job, she has her own money … so I let her go. She and her friends had a great time. They played volleyball, ate, and rode the rides. However, on one of the rides, she was told to take off her glasses and to put them in her backpack. Then, she was instructed to put the backpack in the pile of backpacks and pocketbooks. Now, I understand why she was told to do that. They don’t want glasses, backpacks, pocketbooks, and other objects flying off the rides and hitting people. I get it. No one wants to be sued. I’m not even mad at my daughter for following directions. I’ve been to amusement parks before, I know the drill. Besides, I would have been irritated (to say the least) if she told me that her glasses flew off her face while she was riding a ride. However, I am mad at the person who went through my daughter’s bag while she was on the ride and stole her glasses! Really … someone stole her glasses. I know they took them for the frames. If you wear glasses, you know that frames aren't cheap. I’m sure whoever took them can’t even wear my daughter’s prescription. Someone is walking around with a nice pair of sunglasses right about now. They better hope I don’t see them. Every August, I take the kids to get their eyes examined. Its part of our back to school routine. In regards to my daughter, I had budgeted on replacing the lenses in her old frames. Yes. I know. I’m fragile. Now, not only do I have to buy my daughter new frames AND new lenses for those frames, but she tells me that she wants to start wearing contact lenses too! I knew this day was coming. After all, the girl is 15 years old. Between trying to look cute for the boys and running cross country and track, I knew that eventually she would want to wear contacts. Oh, did I mention that both her brother and I wear both glasses and contacts too? I’m so glad that I put money away in the flex spending plan my job offers. If I didn’t, we would all be walking into walls all day long. So, we went to get her eyes examined today. Luckily, the eye exam was covered under the insurance, but the $75 sitting fee for contacts wasn’t. Yes, there was a fee to sit and get examined for contact lenses. I guess I never realized it before, or maybe the place we went to before didn’t charge one. Too bad that place closed. I really liked the eye doctor. Anyway, after watching my daughter for about 45 minutes practice putting in and taking out her contacts, she had to choose the new frames. I didn’t even participate. I let my daughter and the nice ladies at the counter pick them out. Why bother? She already told me that she didn’t like the frames I pointed out and I was pretty sure she wouldn’t like anything I chose anyway. I just sat on the couch and played spider solitaire while the ladies at the counter worked their magic. Amazingly enough, the frames she got were very similar to the frames that I picked out for her, but that’s a subject for another blog. Now, a few hundred dollars later, one child has both new glasses and contacts. One down, one to go. Pray for me! So, for those of you who still want to have kids, you better hope and pray that your future kids have 20/20 vision. If not, enroll in flex spending. Now you know, and you can … Consider Yourself Warned! |
SassyGirlTye lives with her two wonderful teenagers in Brooklyn, New York. No matter what she says in her posts, she truly loves her children with all her heart.
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