Single moms, vacations, and kids
The ex paid a little of what he owes the King of Everything, which means he’s only four months behind, now.
Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?
With the economy, gas prices, and work demands as high as they are this year, the KoE and I are not going to be going to Disney World OR Disney Land this year. We’re being resourceful, though, and if we can’t do something fancy, we’re going to still make sure we can do something fun. A friend’s sisters have a beach house up in Delaware, and we’re trying to get up there for a few days in the middle of July–but if that falls through, the three of us are still going to get out and GO!
Where?
Well, let’s see. I haven’t taken the kid to the top of the Washington Monument, ever. We haven’t done the Zoo yet this summer. There’s the discovery center at the Museum of National History. Chesapeake Beach is less than an hour away. We haven’t been to any of the public pools, though his grandparents pay for a membership to the hotel’s pool down the street just so the kid can go, every summer (thanks, guys!). We haven’t visited Mount Vernon, and I hear they did an amazing job with the renovations. All of that stuff is free or nearly so.
There’s Children’s Theater in the Woods over at Wolf Trap. We haven’t been to the Spy Museum or the Science Museum, or even to the Baltimore Aquarium.
We’ll make sno-cones and zoom Hot Wheels across the living room floor, pop popcorn the old-fashioned way, have pillow fights and grill in our back yard. We’ll plant flowers in our big pots, and herbs in little containers. We’ll bake cookies and shoot each other with water guns on the front lawn. We’ll go to the library and look for the best books ever, then pretend we’re at the beach and read them. We’ll make juice Popsicles and make a whole world in sidewalk chalk.
I only wish I could afford to take more than three days off in a row. Maybe in an off-year, a non-election year. Maybe when the economy turns around, or when non-profit jobs actually pay a livable wage.
Tags: cheap summer fun, economy, single-mom, single-mother, summer vacationRelated Stories
POSTED IN: budget, family fun
2 opinions for Single moms, vacations, and kids
Martini Mom
Jul 7, 2008 at 10:48 pm
A couple of years ago I had a week of vacation with my kiddo, and no cash to do anything fancy. We lucked out with great weather, and spent the week visiting at least one new (to him, anyway) park every day. Some were parks near on the beach, some in the woods, some with wading pools, some with toys, some with hiking trails, some with ancient machinery (thank you, Gasworks Park). The Kid STILL talks about the year we did “the park tour,” and we did it all without ever leaving the Seattle city limits!
Leslie
Jul 9, 2008 at 9:48 am
DC sounds like a great city for day trips and close by activities!
I’ve given up hope for a real trip this year too, luckily the little one gets to spend time with his grandparents and that’s as good as one to him. There’s a couple zoos in other cities I’d like to make it to yet this year also - a couple hour trip will probably be all I can stand anyway :)
Enjoy your few days off - any little bit makes the rest of the days better.
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