'Tis the Season

Today is the last day of school for my children. As of 3 p.m. we will be together for 2 1/2 weeks with no bedtimes or wake-up times (except for Sunday.)

I'm so excited.

But more exciting than the prospect of vacation is the wonderful celebration day the kids' teachers have planned for today. My boys got to wear their pajamas to school for a special storytelling day. They will have cocoa and a snack in their classrooms, too. My daughter will have a visit from the Big Man Himself, who will preside over a preschool gift exchange. The atmosphere among the 4-year-old set this morning was electric.

Personally, I am looking forward to today with a huge sense of gratitude. My children have teachers who give it their all every single day. They are talented and enthusiastic women, and I feel blessed that they are the ones guiding and teaching my crew.

So, while it's the season for celebration and fun, it's also the season for saying 'Thank You'. To Rosi and Pat and Kim and Patti, THANKS. You are wonderful beyond words. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

- Midwest Mom

Freezing to Save Money on Groceries

I admit it. I have discovered yet another way My Mother Was Right. And it's all about using my freezer to save money on groceries.

I'll explain.

This Fall my sister in law gave me a chest freezer she wasn't using anymore. She had purchased a new model, and I was only too happy to give the freezer a new home. To be honest, I had already been in the market for a freezer. Because I grow an abundance of fruits and vegetables, which I flash-freeze to preserve, I have needed extra cold storage. So, when my sister in law made the offer, I was thrilled.

But after using the freezer for a while, I have been surprised to find that it helps me to save money on my regular groceries. In fact, our food budget has gone down by around $300 a month.

Because I have a freezer, I can over-purchase freezable items when they're on sale. I bring them home and freeze the excess. In addition to standard frozen food items, I have frozen

• milk
• butter
• bacon
• beef
• chicken
• fish
• cheese
• soup
• cranberries
• garden vegetables
  
• bread

Now that I can freeze the essentials, I've cut down how often I go to the store. In fact, I'm only going to the store at the beginning of the month. I write on my calendar what day I shopped and how much I spent. Then I see how long I can wait before shopping again. Last month, I made it 28 days.

If I'm not in the store, I'm not spending. My snack-avoidance willpower isn't tested on a weekly basis. I can decide what kinds of sweets or snacks to have on hand each month, plan them into our food budget, and stick to the plan. At the end of the month, we even have food left over. So before I shop again, I take inventory and make a list. I read the sale papers and pay a visit to our local butcher. I buy meat on sale and go to the store that has the lowest milk prices. I have been buying more of what we need and making fewer impulse purchases. (That is, if you don't count Christmas decorations...)

The thing is, using a freezer to stock up and save money is nothing new. My mother raised 6 of us, and pulling bread out of the freezer (or meat or pumpkin for pumpkin pie) was part of our routine. She used to go once a month to a grocery store that was an hour away, just because they had lower prices. I would wake up at 6 am on a Saturday to go along. (Now that's bargain-hunting!)

I'm just grateful to have a chance to do a little saving now for my own family. It sure has come in handy these past couple of months. And with Christmas around the corner, it feels good to know we'll have a few extra pennies to rub together.

Now, I'm wondering...
Do You freeze?
Do you have any money-saving freezer tricks to share?

- Midwest Mom

My Best Birthday Yet

Tuesday was my birthday.

This year, for the first time in recorded history, there was no hoopla. There were no packages to open and no cake.

Believe it or not, that was my choice.

Instead of gifts this year, I asked my husband if we could travel to see my parents at Thanksgiving. So, that was my present.

We stayed in New Hampshire for an entire week, taking two days to drive each way. (Hence the reason for my silence here at Midwest Moms.)

And it was wonderful.

The whole family had a fantastic time. We went candlepin bowling and hiking. The weather was unusually warm, so the kids and their cousins spent plenty of time rock climbing and exploring the woods behind my parent's house.

There were chores, too, to be sure. After all, there were sixteen people in my parents home, so someone had to clean the bathroom! But we also stacked wood, baked pies, my husband did some woodworking for my dad, and we helped with heaps and heaps of dishes.

It was a delight to spend the time with my Mom, especially. But we also enjoyed sharing our family with my brother's and sisters' families for an unprecedented second time in one year.

We made our way home on Sunday, pausing only to let the kids play on the expressway when we were caught in a 1-hour traffic jam (I-70 Westbound in Ohio, if you must know... exit 132.) Fortunately, our fellow drivers also unloaded their kids and the weather was brilliant. The couple in the SUV in front of us even had two little dogs that knew dozens of tricks. It was like a pet circus right in the middle of the interstate.

After that hiccup, we made our way home easily, arriving right on time.

So, when my birthday actually came, I was content to ooh and ahh over the home-made cards my children had made and relax with a strawberry margarita at our favorite Mexican restaurant in the evening.

A day without dishes was the icing on the (non-existent) cake. We bought our children some sweets at the restaurant and called it a night.

Still, as I look back, I feel satisfied. The trip made it undoubtedly one of my best birthdays yet.

(Now... to get started on the holidays!)

- Midwest Mom

Facebook = Time-Waster of the Week

Okay.

So, here's the thing.

I originally went on Facebook to share photos and get in touch with family and friends.

But lately?

I'm just wasting time.

How?

I'm farming...


And running a cafe...


It's ridiculous, really. Such a poor use of my time. After all, I could be gardening with real dirt instead of virtual gardening... or cooking in my own kitchen instead of some virtual kitchen.

But, see the thing is, on my virtual farm, nothing smells and no dirt gets under my fingernails. And in my virtual kitchen the dirty dishes mysteriously disappear (...along with hours of my time.)

Not so in reality.

In reality-ville, I have to worry about frost and bugs and weeding my garden. And I have to plan dinner every night, wondering whether my kids are going to turn their noses up or compliment the food.

So, maybe my time wasters are really just little fantasies. But now I have to worry about what kind of fantasies I'm having...

[Fantasy farming?!? Seriously?!??]

Man... This Midwest Mom needs to get a life.

- Midwest Mom

The Power of Listening

On Saturday morning, I sat still in my room and listened to the rhythms of our home. What I heard was disconcerting.

For the past two weeks, we've had a houseful of sickies. All of us have been run down or feverish at one time or another. Sadly, the worry and wakeful nights have combined with our physical symptoms to fill our house with crabbiness.

Over the weekend, though, symptoms of the flu seemed to dwindle. The kids weren't feverish or sore anymore, and except for the stray cough here or there, you could hardly tell we'd been sick.

Strangely, though, the crabbing continued.

So, on Saturday morning, I found I miraculously had a few moments to myself. I spent them in silence, listening.

I was horrified. After about 15 minutes, I knew I wasn't the only one who needed to hear this.

So, I brought my younger son to the top of the stairs. He thought he was getting in trouble for purposefully annoying his sister until she cried. (He was, but not in the way he thought...)

I made him sit next to me and listen.

He did. Then he said, "Oh. ... I did that, didn't I?" We exchanged a few words about kindness and changing the sounds in our home, just as my older son barked out an order to someone. I sent my younger son downstairs.

"Tell your brother to come up and see me." In a few minutes, I was joined by my oldest. He rolled his eyes and sighed with annoyance as he plopped down next to me.

He listened. But already the sounds of the house were changing.

There is something wonderful about parenting quietly enough that kids can come to their own conclusions about things. My oldest son said, "No one else is talking in an angry voice." It was true. I asked him whether he was willing to be a friend and treat other people with kindness. He said he would, hugged me, and returned downstairs.

Next was my daughter. After a week of pampering because she was ill, my dear child emerged with a touch of Veruca Salt. "I want it!" had been had been uttered by her a bit too often for my taste. And when her brothers did something she didn't like, she let it be known -- loudly.

I invited her to sit with me and listen. She wanted to do it in my lap. So, I let her and she snuggled in, twisting my hair in her fingers.

We could hear her brothers playing downstairs. They were being kind. She noticed.

As I held my daughter, I explained that she wouldn't get everything she wanted all the time. Life isn't like that. And in our home, the answer to any question that starts with "I want..." is automatically No. I asked quietly how she was feeling. She shared and I listened.

My husband called us to breakfast. So, we descended from our listening place.

Later in the day, I made sure that my crew had plenty of time to run out their energy outside. They had been cooped up for so long, they were grateful to spend the day in the sunshine. They played together with our neighbor for most of the afternoon. The squabbles were still there, but they were fewer and less severe.

I like to think that's because my children were listening to their own voices as they used them. When I took time to listen later in the day, I heard more laughter than discord, and that made me happy.



- Midwest Mom