A Boy After My Own Heart

I am a "saver." Ever since I was little, I enjoyed taking any money I received, putting it in the bank, and letting it sit. . . and earn interest! I don't remember any times when I wanted an item so badly that I wanted to use my "savings" in order to purchase the item!

Now, because of my obsession with saving money, I graduated college without owing any money and also paid at least $3000 toward my own wedding. When my husband and I married, I had enough for us to pay our first, last and security deposit for our first apartment! And after all was said and done, I still had money in CD's! Unfortunately, I am not in the same situation now, but I can assure you, once we have even $1 extra each week, I'll be saving it! :)

That being said, let me tell you about my dear son. My oldest boy, Zack, turned 5 this last week. In some of his birthday cards, he found money. He was soooo excited! My husband let him use one of his money clips, and Zack has been carrying it and sleeping with it ever since. We asked what he wanted to buy with his money, and he immediately told us, "A cowboy hat with a string (so it won't fall off when I ride my horse) and a new holster and gun." The boy knows what he wants! ;)

Well, we found a hat at one store, but no nice holster and gun (and we looked at 5 different stores!). When we got to the register I told him to take out 5 of his dollars to pay for his hat. He looked at his hat. . . he looked at his money. . .he looked at his hat. . . he looked at his money and said, "Five?!?!?" Right then, I saw myself in him! I said, "Honey, you don't have to buy it now. We can wait." He looked up at me and smiled. "OK, I'll leave it here and maybe we can go shopping again next week."

Ahhhh, my legacy lives on. I have "born" a "saver!" See, some people would say that I didn't need to spend any of my cash as a child because I had everything I wanted. Not so. I could see it in my sons eyes. Why spend when you can save? Is a cowboy hat REALLY worth his $5? Now, I'm not sure my other two boys will have the same outlook. . . but I can hope! :)

Activities for Active Boys!

Now I hope my title is not offensive to those who have active little girls, but in my experience, boys "take the cake" when it comes to extra energy. This quality in boys makes winter a difficult time, because my boys are not satisfied with sitting down and using play-do, or sitting down to do a craft, or sitting down to play a game, or even sitting down to watch a movie! They will DO all those things, but not for any length of time. :)

I must admit, I really do miss warm weather. In the summer, my boys play outside at least 3 hrs per day (whether we go to the park, take a walk, or ride bikes), but in the winter - brrrrrr, it's just too cold. A 10 min walk with the dog is about all I can handle! So, due to winter energy build up, I have come up with a few ideas to help "tire out" my little guys.

1) Wrestle. Now this usually involves my husband, but I have been known to toss my boys around for a bit. And I always make sure to tire them out more than tire out myself, or else it would not be worth the trouble! ;)

2) Pillow jumping. This is a favorite of the boys. We have a large, square coffee table, so I lay the mattress from our toddler bed and every pillow in the house around the table. The boys climb up on the table and jump in the pillows - over and over and over again!

3) Exercise. Thanks to my husband, my boys all know how to do push ups and sit ups, so I challenge them to each do 10. Then I lead them in some jumping jacks, hoping on one foot, and marching. Takes a little time for me, but well worth it!

4) Bed jumping. Since my boys have bunk beds, they cannot jump on their bed, and since my husband and I have a sleep number bed, they are not allowed to jump on our investment, so we use the pull out couch! It takes up most of our living room, but the boys enjoy it!

5) Do chores. Now this may not seem fun, but my boys do not yet know that what they are doing is work! LOL! I have them try to carry laundry baskets, vacuum, carry boxes of packed up clothes, put the sheets on the beds (and believe me, putting them on the top bunk is a work out!), or wipe down mirrors and windows.

6) Tickle fights. Now this is pretty self-explanatory. I tickle, they laugh. . . and burn up energy! Fun for mom and boys :)

Now this is not an exhaustive list, but it does give some ideas. I also try to play some active games with them (like "Ring Around the Rosy") and take time to teach them some cooking/baking skills. I know there may come a day when all they want to do is sit on the couch and be lazy, so I'm enjoying there energy while I can