No Average Mom

We began looking for our first home during a very hectic time in our lives. Our oldest son was a few weeks old and my husband was changing jobs. Because we were moving several hundred miles away our home shopping time was extremely pressed. We needed to find a home in a matter of days not weeks or months. In the process we made several regrettable mistakes.

It doesn’t matter if you are considering West Palm Beach real estate or somewhere in Iowa buying a home is a huge decision. In our case we overlooked some very important factors that have since greatly impacted how much we are able to enjoy our home and community. Among our errors were not researching neighborhoods, schools, and crime statistics.

Just because a neighborhood looks quiet and unassuming when you visit does not mean it truly is. Visit the neighborhood at all hours of the day and try to meet the neighbors. Even if you don’t have children research the local schools because this could become an issue should you have children or even want to sell the home in the future.

Lastly, don’t over estimate your abilities. By this I mean do not buy a home that needs a great deal of work if you lack the ability to get the job done. It is incredibly stressful on a family to live in the midst of a construction zone year after year. Think of every project as a chunk of time that is taken away from spending time together as a family. In hindsight I regret not spending a few thousand dollars on a home that was move in ready considering every weekend for the last three years has been devoted to home rehab.

For the most part I am a parent who really likes having my children at home. For some reason this summer has flown by and I find myself REALLY ready for school to start. I think my son has a touch of cabin fever and has been constantly dinging me for the last two weeks to entertain him. Throw in that the house next door seems to have turned into a drop in center for any child whose parent have dropped off the face of the earth and I am going just a tad crazy. Between the perpetual screaming next door and my son bugging me to build obstacle coursed for our cats and I find my head is throbbing before the day is half over. Seriously, I am giving consideration to trying Botox for migraines because my head has been killing me for three days straight. Considering that my child just fed the cats an entire bottle of cat treats trying to lure them through his obstacle course the rest of my day is either going to be spent cleaning up cat vomit or giving myself time-outs.

Last night I picked up the last item on my son’s school supply list. As I made my purchase I thought about my own school years. Never do I recall having received a list of supplies like those given out today. Granted I went to a two room school in the middle of nowhere. My parents might have picked up some crayons, pencils, or pens for us to use at home but that was it. Given how little money my parent’s had it probably is a very good thing we weren’t given lists like those sent out today. Simply putting together a decent lunch was often a challenge let alone buying paper cups, glue sticks, crayons, paper towels, kleenex, and the other 10 items on our list. I know our list is a drop in the bucket compared to what some children are asked for but you have to wonder how families with many children and little funds swing buying it all.

Prior to the start of summer I began a fairly strict health and diet routine. For at least the first three months there seemed to be little change in my body as a result. Finally, about 1.5 months ago the weight started to come off. It is amazing what loosing even 15-20 pounds does for your entire outlook on life. No longer do I make my first choice for attire a pair of track pants and t-shirt. Long forgotten jeans and cute shirts are now seeing the light of day again. My husband was shocked to see me wearing fashion jewelry because I am someone who rarely wears anything other than my wedding rings. My next project is to go through my closet and attic and at long last give away all my “big girl” clothes. I believe that if I don’t have anything big to grow into there will be more motivation for me to stay on track. The only problem is the miser in me has a hard time parting with stuff.

Where we live is a fairly economically depressed area. For some reason this seems to have a bearing on the number of people who smoke. Everywhere you turn it seems there are scads of smokers. What drives me crazy more that the fact that most of these people collect welfare is the fact that they think nothing of smoking around their children. Granted many of these people seem to have no concern for their own health or future welfare but at the least they should think about their children. For instance my neighbor not only smokes constantly in front of her young children but has sent them to our house to “borrow” a cigarette lighter. She might as well take out term life insurance policies on them now because their little lives are being cut shorter and shorter with each puff. You literally have to be living under a rock in this world not to be aware of the dangers of second hand smoke. It is rather crazy when you consider how many social welfare programs, like WIC, exist to provide a healthy life for children and their own smoking parents are one of the biggest health risks they face in life.

Sometimes it’s tough to get real-world working experience in the classroom. That’s why part-time gigs make the best student jobs, whether you’re talking about high school students or college students. You can find a part-time job with the skill set to get a leg up in almost any career. For example, if you’re interested in business, a customer service job behind a cash register can give you some practical experience and building blocks. Plus, part-time jobs have flexible hours so you can tailor a job to fit your busy class schedule.

How do you decide what to keep when it comes to your children’s school projects? I seriously love everything my son creates and feel guilty getting rid of any of it. The reality is my small house and I don’t need to keep all of it. Do you have a system for storing your children’s papers etc. and how do you decide what stays and what goes?

My house is making me feel claustrophobic lately. After reading this WONDERFUL book titled Quaker Summer I have been seriously thinking about the excess in my life. We tend to hand on to things for that garage sale that never happens. Today, I decided to just give all this stuff away to charity. I think so many of us try to fill our lives with the “right” stuff and whatnot looking for happiness that never happens. I was raised to always plan for a rainy day and part of that is hanging on to things for whatever may happen in the future. I think the time has come to just deal with those what ifs when they actually happen.