myLot Discussions | | Frugal Christmas | | Christmas doesn't have to break the bank. Frugal gifts can brighten a child's life for little money. When I was a kid, frugal presents often lit my Christmas.
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My gifts from the parents (Mother, Step Mother, Father, Stepfather) tended to be practical. I often got a bicycle, (because I outgrew my old one,) or before I learned to ride a bike, some sort of plastic Big Wheel. Art supplies were often under the tree, like crayons, pens, paper, clothes sometimes. There was the occasional story-record, a vinyl record in a story book. (I'm aging myself!) A few times I got a child's vinyl record player. I do remember a Light Brite that I used long after the black paper was gone. There was other stuff, but I don't remember it. It was never overly expensive, but it fit my personality. I never had presents that were discarded a month after Christmas!
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The tree featured heavily in the Christmas celebration when I was very young. My older sister and I would play under it, and I would hang two or three Christmas balls on one hook, calling them 'Bobs'.
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Christmas taught me how to wait for things when I was young (about 6).
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Children can be 'given a smile' with little expense if you get... | |
| | Public School and our money | | My boys are now adults and my daughter will be 12 tommorow.My son's went to public school.When I was pregnant with my girl I decided to homeschool her.I have never been anywhere near well off financially and each year the month before school started we would go shopping and a lot of times I would have to borrow money.I would have to buy them new school clothes,making sure that they had sneakers for gym class.Then I got school supplies from the list that the school sent me.Then on the the first day of school they would come home with the big manila envelope,called a packet.Inside was the forms to be filled out and many things requesting money.Like student insurance,gym suits for the older kids,Art Supply funds wanted,tissues for the classroom,and a new school supply list to replace what I had already bought[em]sad[/em].One year when my youngest son was in elementary school after school had been started for about 3 months,he came home and said that the teacher said that he needed to bring a pencil to school the next day.I asked him what happened to the 2 ten packs I sent at the begining of school.He answered me saying that he did not know,but he got... | |
| | life | | Yesterday i read an article about "50 Tings to Do Before I Die".I think more about it.Have you read it?It's below:
A few weeks ago, I followed a friend into an art-supply store.I found him picking out bubes of water-color paint, which surprised me because he's not an artist.
"I signed up for a water-color class,and it starts next week,"he said sheepishly,"I don't really have time for it,but it was on my list of 50 things to do before I die,so I went for it."This sounds interersting,"What else is on the list?"I asked him.
"All kinds of things,"he said,"Every few months I look at the list and decide what to focus on next.Before I had the list, I moaned a lot ablut what i was missing in my life.Now i just do stuff.Write your own list, and you'll see what i mean."
/s that night i did just that, and he was right.The list revealed a whole lot about what was important to me.It also revealed how hopellessly behind i am at getting to the things i really want.
Just writing the list helped me sort through some of my prioritiess.i filled up the first 20 blanks quickly,but then began to think carefully.Eventually i added item i've thought about for years,dreams i've carried with me since... | |
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