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How to Make it Easy for Someone to Watch your Kids

This weekend my husband and I are attending the HEAV convention in Richmond, Virginia. Since we don’t live in Richmond, my mother-in-law is staying at our house to watch the children. Taking care of kids while the parents are away is a tough job, but you can show your appreciation by making it as easy as possible for someone to watch your children.

Here are some tips, a few might be very obvious, but you never know.

Leave your contact information. Cell phone, hotel information, schedule, anything that would help your caregiver get a hold of you whether it be an emergency or just a simple question.

Leave local contact information. While you might have your address and home phone number memorized, your caregiver probably does not. Leaving this information along with the names and numbers of neighbors or close friends will be very helpful in case of an emergency.

Create a schedule that details your children’s day. Do they take naps or watch a specific show at a certain time? Creating a schedule will help your caregiver keep your child in a routine.

Leave a stocked fridge and pantry. I always have meals in the freezer and lots of breakfast and lunch options when I go out of town. This gives your care giver one less thing to worry about while you are gone. You do not want your caregiver to have to haul your 4 kids to the store because you only bought enough milk for 2 days and you are gone for 3.

Speaking of leaving, leave any car seats your children might need and make sure your caregiver knows how to use them. While it is probably unlikely that they will be going anywhere, you don’t want your children improperly buckled or put into the car without their seat.

Leave a Child Medical Consent Form for each child. If you google the words “child medical consent form” you will find tons of options. Some are free, I am not an expert in this area, but it is important that your caregiver has your consent to seek medical treatment for your child in case of an emergency.

Leave a list of guidelines. Are your children allowed to watch television, when is bedtime, can they play outside without supervision? If your caregiver is not familiar with your daily routine this will make watching your kids much easier for them. A list of guidelines means you are setting the rules, not the caregiver and it decreases conflict while you are away.

Leave a clean home and clean laundry. If you leave a mess you will most likely come home to a bigger mess. If you leave a clean house, you will most likely come home to a moderately clean house. Don’t expect your caregiver to clean up a mess you made three days earlier. Clean laundry ensures that everyone will have enough clothes while you are away and no one needs to do laundry while you are gone.

Leave cash. It is always nice to leave some cash for the caregiver to use in case they do need to run to the store, pay the yard guy, or order a pizza because the oven broke in the middle of dinner.

Lower your expectations. It is okay if your caregiver does things a little bit differently than you do. The kids might stay up a few minutes past their bedtimes or get a little dessert after dinner, accept it. ( I am not talking about a caregiver that provides regular care for your children) If you are like me, there are two reasons you have someone watching your children, either you are in labor or at a homeschool convention. So, cut your caregiver some slack and remember that your kids will survive even if they eat hot dogs for lunch and dinner while you are gone.

Note: This post applies to planned getaways. I realize there will be emergencies in which you will not be able to do many of these things. In those situations I am always thankful to those who have been able and willing to help out with the kids, whether it be for a few hours, or several weeks. (Thanks Mom!)


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30 Days of Disney ~ Our Favorite Dining Spots

Here are a few of our favorite dining spots throughout Walt Disney World

Columbia Harbour House – Located in the Magic Kingdom this is probably our favorite counter service spot in all the parks. If you are sick of rubbery burgers and hot dogs stop by this restaurant, located between Fantasyland and Liberty Square. It is one of the few places you can eat a semi-healthy lunch at the park. It is also less crowded than a lot of the more well known places and has ample seating. My kids love the macaroni and cheese, which comes with apple slices and grapes. Their tuna salad on wheat is as good as Panera’s. The total cost for our family of 8 was $50. Now I realize that is not cheap, but the kids ate fruit, drank milk (not soda) and everyone was full. On the park map is restaurant is listed as serving fish baskets and soups, but there is more to choose from on the menu. It is worth checking out.

Tangierine Café – Located in the Morocco Pavilion at Epcot this counter service restaurant serves up large meals at a reasonable price. It would be easy for you to get 3 kid’s meals out of an adult plate. The food is delicious (try the lamb), and they also serve up traditional American fare.

Garden Grill- Character Dining in the Land Pavilion at Epcot. Dine on down home favorites such as catfish and mashed potatoes, and come hungry because it is all you can eat. Chip, Dale, Mickey and Minnie make their appearance at this rotating restaurant. A fun experience for the entire family.

Studios Catering Co. – Located in the Backlot section of Hollywood Studios this counter service restaurant packed in a large amount of food for a decent price. They serve all the basic theme park fare along with wraps, chicken and rice, and fruit and veggie options for the kids meals. It is located next to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground so it makes for a nice break, wear the kids out at the playground so they site nicely for lunch.

Mickey’s Backyard Barbeque – Located at the Fort Wilderness Campground this meal has everything; entertainment, characters, audience interaction and a buffet featuring all your beloved country vittles: barbecue smoked ribs, smoked chicken, cheeseburgers, hot dogs with all the trimmings, corn on the cob, watermelon and more. We went to this barbecue years ago and had a blast! It is the perfect ending to a magical day at the parks. Great for lively little boys as well, since they have the opportunity to play along with the show.

What are your favorite Disney Dining spots?

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30 Days of Disney ~ Dining in the Parks

As I mentioned yesterday it is significantly cheaper to bring your own snacks to the park, but if you are planning to eat at the park here are a few tips.

There are essentially three types of dining options at Disney World. Concession stands, which sell everything from soda, to ice cream to turkey legs. Quick service; at these restaurants you order at the counter, receive your food, and then find your own table. Finally there are numerous full service restaurants in the parks, this the most expensive dining option at Disney.

Currently (until June 21st) Disney is running a dinner special:

If  you purchase a 5-night/6-day Magic Your Way hotel and theme park ticket packages, your family will enjoy the Disney Dining Plan, Free. That’s a savings of $654 for a family of four. Valid for stays most nights 8/16/09 to 10/03/09. It’s the Disney vacation you’ve been dreaming of. Rooms fill up fast. Book through June 21, 2009.

The dining plan includes one quick service meal, one snack, and one table service meal per person per night. Click here for more information.

First, do not eat during typical dining hours. If you can hold off until after 2pm for lunch the restaurants will be less crowded, lines are shorter and it will be easier to find a table.

Table service meals usually require reservations, especially during the busy seasons. With the most popular restaurants you will want to reserve a few months in advance. Disney accepts reservations up to 90 days in advance for their table service restaurants.

If you are going to splurge for a table service meal and you have children, I highly recommend character dining or a dinner show. While they are expensive, you will be entertained.

I believe all the character dining options are priced the same, so pick the one your children (and you) would enjoy the most. They all have different menus too, so make sure you like the food!

There are also many great restaurants located in the hotels. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has and excellent buffet and the lodge itself is a work of art. Dine buffet style and enjoy the wildlife preserve right outside the restaurant windows!

My boys wanted to eat this food at the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House in the Magic Kingdom.

I know I said I would share some of our favorite dining spots, but I think I’ll save that for tomorrow’s post!

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30 Days of Disney ~ Pack a Snack

You have found a great deal on tickets and are staying with friends to help keep your Disney vacation cost low, but everyone has to eat, right? Theme parks in general are not known for their inexpensive (or healthy) meals. It is easy to spend $50 on one meal for an average size family at Disney. You don’t have to spend that kind of money.

Every time we visit the park we take a backpack full of snacks. I have searched and cannot find any Disney policy stating you cannot bring food into the park. The security guards who search our bags have never said anything to us either, so I assume you can bring in your own food. What we like to do is eat a big breakfast before we leave for the park. Then around lunch time we break out the snacks. I usually pack things like granola bars, apples, grapes, pretzels, things that carry well and don’t need utensils. Then around 4 or 5 we splurge and get ice cream of popcorn from one of the stands. This holds us off until after the park closes. We either pick up burgers after we leave the park or cook a meal (if we have access to a kitchen) depending on the time.

During our last trip to Disney we spent 5 days at the parks and kept our park food bill under $200, for a family of 8. That adds up to less than $50 a day! We could have done it for even less but we dined twice at park restaurants. Tomorrow I’ll share some of our favorite Disney dining spots.

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30 Days of Disney… Water!

Note: As I am writing this series a few issues have been brought to my attention. First, I am not affiliated with Disney, nor are they sponsoring these posts or giving me a trip to Disney in exchange for writing them. Second, I realize that not everyone can afford a trip to Disney, it is expensive. If a trip to Disney is not in your immediate future please feel to skip these posts. I will post some money saving tips for visiting over the next 30 days for those who would like to visit, but want to keep costs down.

My first money saving tip for your Disney visit is water, bring your own! Orlando is hot and humid for several months out of the year. While Disney’s parks have a great deal of shaded areas, it can still get hot and it is easy to become dehydrated. Instead of spending your hard earned vacation in the first aid center bring your own water bottle. There are numerous water fountains throughout the park so it is easy to refill your bottle during your visit. Bottled water at the concession stands costs around $3 a bottle. For a family of 4 that is $12!

Remember to steer clear of the sodas while at the park. They are overpriced and will dehydrate you. Stick with your own reusable water bottle to save money and feel refreshed while visiting the parks.

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30 Days of Disney ~ The FASTPASS

I don’t remember when Disney starting using the FastPass, but it is one of the best theme park ideas ever!

Here is a brief description of the FastPass from the Disney website.

Disney’s FASTPASS® Service

The complimentary Disney’s FASTPASS Service allows you to enjoy the rest of the Theme Parks while Disney’s FASTPASS Service saves your place in line for an attraction.

To Use Disney’s FASTPASS Service:

  • Look for the Disney’s FASTPASS Service distribution area near the entrance of an attraction.
  • Check the Disney’s FASTPASS Service “Return Time” display to learn the span of time during which you can explore the Theme Parks before returning to experience an attraction.
  • If the Return Time is sufficient for your plans, just insert your Walt Disney World Resort admission ticket, readmission ticket, Disney Resort Hotel keycard or Annual Passport into the Disney’s FASTPASS Service machine.
  • A Disney’s FASTPASS Service ticket will emerge with your Return Time printed on it. Now you’re free to go and enjoy the rest of the Theme Park.
  • Go back to the Disney’s FASTPASS Service “return” queue when your printed return time rolls around, show your Disney’s FASTPASS Service ticket to the Cast Member at the entrance, and enjoy the attraction with a minimal wait.

Here are a few FastPass tips I have learned of my last several visits.

  • Getting a pass takes hours off your wait times. For rides with notoriously long waits, like Space Mountain, Toy Story Mania and Peter Pan, getting a pass means the difference between waiting 10 minutes or an hour and ten minutes.
  • All members of your party do not need to be present when getting the pass, but you do need to have their tickets, passport, or keycard for each FastPass.
  • When getting a pass you cannot pick your return time, whatever the clock shows is what you get. While you cannot return before your time you can return after your time as passed and still get in the FastPass line.
  • Once you get a FastPass you cannot get another FastPass for a different ride for a specific amount of time. This time will be printed on your pass and is not the same as your return time for the ride. Basically this means you can’t run through the park getting FastPasses for every ride in the first hour. You have to stagger your passes throughout the day.
  • Finally, don’t wait too long to get a FastPass for an attraction you really want to ride. When we were at Epcot the FastPass for Soarin’ stopped distributing for the day at around 3 pm even though the park was open until 9pm. You can still ride, you will just have to wait with everyone else.

You’ll want a FastPass for Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios.

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30 Days of Disney ~ Buying Tickets

Disney tickets are expensive. I realize there are ways to get free tickets to Disney, by listening to time share sales pitches or jumping through other hoops, but I am not going to discuss those options. If you have a great technique for scoring almost free Disney tickets you are welcome to share it in the comment section.

Tickets to Disney vary in cost depending on how many days you are buying, if you are a Florida resident, and if you want a park hopper pass. Basically the more days you purchase the cheaper it is to visit per day. For example a single day admission ticket to Disney is $75 (ouch!). A ten-day pass is $237. That is a huge savings if you can afford it!

Children under 3 are free, children’s tickets are ages 3-9, and everyone over 9 needs an adult ticket.

Florida resident’s receive a discount on ticket prices, a single day ticket is $67 and a 7 day pass is $213. A better deal for Florida residents is to purchase a seasonal pass for $239. We purchased these passes when we lived in Florida. The black out dates for these passes are during the summer, Christmas and spring break.

These times are typically more crowded anyway, so your seasonal pass allows you to enjoy Disney during the slow times.

Park hopper passes allow you to visit more than one park each day. These are great, especially if you have older kids who can handle the transportation between parks. There is an additional fee to add the park hopper option to your ticket.

Disney is running a few specials this year, one is free admission on your birthday. You can read all about this special offer on Disney’s website.

The big special this year for Disney is the Armed Forces Salute. This provides every service member with a free 5 day park hopper pass and up to 5 family members can purchase 5 days passes for $100. You can find out all about this incredible deal here. Family member passes can be upgraded to park hopper passes for an additional $25 per pass.

Many area hotels offer discount tickets to Disney and there are many package deals that can be purchased as well. Disney offers dining plans, hotel and ticket plans, the options seem endless. Just make sure you evaluate the plan and make sure it fits into your family’s vacation goals and budget!

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by admin -

30 Days of Disney ~ Too Young for the Mouse?

Our oldest daughter visited Disney for the first time when she was 9 months old. Our son made his first trip when he was 6 weeks old! The other kids have visited Disney for the first time at varying ages. This past year our youngest was almost 3 years old when we visited the Mouse.

Personally I don’t think there is any age that is too young for Disney, it was easy to take our 6 week old around the park, he just hung out in the stroller! He could not however go on many of the rides in the park. This wasn’t too important to us because we had 2 kids and 2 adults so we took turns sitting with him and taking our two year old on rides.

The benefit of taking anyone under 3 to Disney World is that admission is free. Will a 2 year old enjoy Disney, absolutely. Will they be able to ride many of the rides, yes. Will they remember it when they get older, probably not!

We had annual passes when our oldest daughter was ages 2 through 4. We went to Disney or Epcot almost once a week for those three years. I took hundreds of pictures, some of which still hang on our walls today. She has some memories of these trips, although she does not remember most of what we experienced during those years. Many of her memories are from the visits when she was three to four years old.

If you are taking children five and under I highly recommend bringing a stroller. You will walk a lot during your visit and little legs tire quickly. A stroller also provides a place for tired children to take a nap as you stroll around the park.

Disney parks also have a ride swap option for parents of young children. This program allows both parents to wait in line (with the kids) and then one parent rides while the other one waits, then when the first parent is finished they take the kids and the second parent rides. This is a great option for those wanting to ride the “bigger kid” rides that cannot accommodate small children.

If you are traveling with a little one I suggest visiting Disney’s official planning page for tips. You will find kid friendly attractions, height requirements, baby care locations, kid programs, and resort amenities for young ones. There is even a special park map with details on kid friendly attractions.

The only time I thought it was difficult to take a child to Disney was when they were potty training. There is nothing worse than standing in line for 45 minutes, being able to see the finish line and then having your young one tell you they have to go to the bathroom! (Well, there are many things worse than that, but you know what I mean, right?)

Big or small Disney is magical for kids of any age. Even my 12 year old son enjoyed the trip this year, he just made me promise not to put any pictures of him on the blog!

Our almost three year old enjoyed meeting all the characters this year and talks often about returning to Disney.

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Our Story ~ This was all a HUGE Mistake

Note: From now on dh will be referred to as Sailor. If you are new to my site you might want to read the previous chapters in Our Story before reading on.

After our three weeks together Sailor left for Panama. For several weeks we called and wrote letters talking mainly about our newborn daughter. She was an absolutely delightful baby which was good since I had no idea what I was doing. When she was seven weeks old I went back to school full time and she spent three days a week at the babysitter’s house. During evening classes she hung out with my family and never lacked for attention.

As time went on Sailor and I drifted slowly apart. His letters came less and less often until they stopped coming all together. I busied myself with school and friends and adjusted to life as a single mom. I still wrote regularly with baby updates and mailed videos of her swinging in her swing or sitting in her chair, but only because I felt obligated.

Finally Thanksgiving weekend I decided it was time to have a talk with Sailor. I called him and told him I wanted a divorce. We were two different people, with two different lives, and we had nothing in common. Wasn’t it better just to call it all a big mistake and move on? Sailor didn’t see it that way at all. Even though he had stopped writing he still had a daughter whom he cared very much about, he wasn’t about to lose her…

He told me there was no way we were getting a divorce and if I proceeded he would fight me for custody of our daughter. This upset me terribly because she didn’t even know him, he had only seen her for 3 weeks of her life. How dare he try to take away MY daughter. To make matters worse he informed me that he was purchasing a plane ticket and would be arriving the next day so we could work things out.

In my opinion, there was nothing to work out. This had all been one big mistake, it was better to move on with our lives than to continue. Nevertheless he arrived the next day with plans to stay for a month.

Much to my surprise my parents were completely behind Sailor, they did not think we should get a divorce and were determined to help us work it out. They even scheduled several sessions with a counselor they knew from church. This caused me to grow even angrier as I now felt the entire world was against me. I really believed it would be better for my daughter and I to start over, it could not be good for a child to grow up with two parents who didn’t even like each other.

At our first counseling session I steeled myself in the chair with arms crossed determined not to show one ounce of emotion. I answered the questions with one word and listened as Sailor claimed to want to work things out. I thought to myself that he was only doing this to get back at me for wanting to take his daughter, he says one thing to the counselor and then does something else when we are together. With each counseling session my bitterness grew and grew.

Finally at one of our last sessions (before Sailor was to return to Panama) the counselor gave sailor a stack of books to read. He told Sailor that he must read them in order for our marriage to work. I remember thinking that no book in the world was going to make our marriage work, but at least I didn’t have to read anything. School was starting in a few days and I would have plenty of homework to keep my busy. The counselor also told Sailor he would need to write me a letter once a week once he was back in Panama. Sailor assured him that he would, while I knew there was no way he would keep his promise.

Finally Sailor returned to Panama and I was free once again. I knew it was only a matter of time before he went back to his old ways, once he didn’t have my parents and the counselor checking up on him. At the end of the first week I was surprised when I found a letter from Sailor in the mailbox. I was even more surprised when I opened it and found out that he had been reading some of the books the counselor had given him.

As the weeks went on more and more letters arrived in the mailbox. Sailor was eagerly reading every book the counselor had given him. I was hesitant to believe he could change. During this time Sailor received new orders. He We would be moving to a small town in West Virginia.

Was I ready to move away from the safety and security of my family? What about my degree, I only needed 30 more credits to graduate. Would I be moving back in with an angry man or had he really changed? And what about our little girl? Was I ready to be a full time mom without the help of baby sitters, grandparents, and an aunt and uncle?

What change had occurred in Sailor, that made me think I should give this marriage another try?

Writer’s note: This is the story of how I became The Happy Housewife. I am writing as I have time and try to publish a new chapter every few weeks. This page will be updated when I write the next chapter. If you don’t want to miss the next installment you can subscribe to my blog.