Private vs. Public Schools

I mentioned before about trying to get my son into a new school for next year. I'm going to expand on that today and tell you why I decided not to do it.

What originally happened was that I wanted my son in another school district. That's why we had to

look into alternative schools. We looked at a charter school and a private school.

Now, I went to a charter middle school, which was the best school out of all 4 I'd been to (until college), so I really thought it would be a great environment for my son. Yes, the school was a good size, and that have great projects for the kids to do. Then I started realizing that I didn't want to be just project based, I wanted it to also be based on the fundamentals that you would get from a public school. So we had to move on.
Then we looked into a private. It's a Christian school, which would have also been great because my son loves going to church and hearing Bible stories. Anyway, the school looked great, my only downside was that the classes were very small. I'm talking like 5-6 kids in kindergarten. The money ended up driving me away because I thought "There's no way I could afford this."

So after a year of public school, I decided to look into private again. I talked with people who work there about getting help to pay for the school, and they made it seem like no problem. What I had to pay would be based off my income, and I could make payments on it. They also said that if what I was requested to pay was too much, they would be able to help me. I still felt uneasy about not knowing yet, but I handed in my paperwork and paid an enrollment fee. Then when I was given the paperwork for "getting help", I see at the top that it was another $10 for that, which was never mentioned to me! That needed more paperwork that I didn't have with me so I left. Ever since then, I've been regretting paying that enrollment fee and rethinking my decision.

Last week, I got an e-mail from, who would have been, his new 1st grade teacher about meeting up. I thought, "'Ok, maybe this will make me feel better and we can still make this work." Until I saw it.... $25. $25 to meet with his teacher to see what level he was at. That ultimately pushed me into completely giving up on this school because #1, I've already paid a good amount of money that could have gone to other things (its non-refundable), and #2, WHO in their right mind would pay that??
If I knew what was going on, I could have handled the financials, but if you're tacking on extra fees for ridiculous things, I'm not interested.

If I Had A Billion Dollars.....

At the beginning of the semester, one class had us do an activity where we chose a paper with a random question we had to answer. It was so we could "get to know each other", even though we've been together almost two years.

My question was : If you had a billion dollars, would you continue to work/go to school? I answered yes. Of course everyone thought I was insane. Why do all that when you have so much money to take care of everything??

I try to stay optimistic, but I also know how the real world works. Did you know that to retire

comfortably you need to save almost $1 million?? Well, now you do.

So if I had a billion dollars, yes you might see me driving around in that lifted F-150 I dream about every night, I'd have all my bills paid, we've live in a nice house with a big yard, and my son would have college already paid for.
Howeverrrrrrr, why would I drop out of college now when I'm soooo close to graduating! Plus, I know myself enough to say that I'd be bored. I'd miss my co-workers (even though they sometimes drive me up the wall), and seeing my favorite customers every day. Getting a boat-load of money won't stop me from wanting to accomplish all my goals.
I guess part of that is the fact that I'm almost done with school and my management training. Why let all that hard work go to waste?

Mother's Day

Sorry this post is late, things are getting hectic! Business plans for school are due in less than 2 weeks, meaning the term is over soon! After that, we have a big presentation, which honestly I'm not even worried about compared to just getting this thing done! The week after that, it's off to Pittsburgh for 3 days on a work trip! So things are pretty crazy.

Mother's Day was no exception. After work, my son took me out to Cracker Barrel. We don't go there often, but he loves that triangle game they have at every table. Mother's Day gets better as he gets older because now he can actually write cards. He wrote and colored a whole book at school about us. He even pointed out that he colored my clothes purple because that's my favorite color (yes it is!).

Last night, he went on this rant about going to a baseball game because Ike the Spike and some of the Spike's baseball players came to his school. He went on and on about how after church, we can go home and get lunch, then nap, then go watch a baseball game.


These kids never stop amazing you. Aiden's the type of kid who will tell me he loves me right after he wakes up, just because.

Second child?

Are you kidding me?!? I'm not ready for another kid, but my son used to ask me all the time about having a baby. I don't know why, but it started to get on my nerves. I have a lot of friends from work and school who are out there getting married and having more kids. I, on the other hand, am focused on finishing school (then onto the next), and getting into work full-time. My son's only 5, so I am not prepared to explain to him why mommy isn't having a baby.

So here's my solution:
This is Bandit. He's 8 years old. We're in the process of adopting him from Nittany Beagle Rescue. My mom had been looking into getting another beagle for awhile, she was just waiting around for the right one.

And honestly, Bandit is like a baby when you think about it. He get's into things he shouldn't, he has accidents everywhere, and he has to be taken out every 4 hours. Oh, and he reminds you when it's time to eat by barking non-stop.

Since we've gotten Bandit, my son has stopped asking about me having a baby (whew!). My son even calls Bandit his little brother!

Kids and Banking

A few days ago I posted this article on Facebook and Twitter to see what other moms thought. Well, they weren't too thrilled. Basically, this article talks about letting kids earn an allowance, then putting it into a bank account, giving them a debit card, then letting them use it to purchase things they want.

There's good and bad to this idea.

First, let's talk about the positive! Children are still learning the value of a dollar early on. My son for example loves helping out to earn money to put in his piggy bank. Once he has a good amount saved, we take it to the credit union (this is an important step). My son has a savings account that is for kids; every time he makes a deposit, he gets a stamp on his card, and when he gets 10 stamps, the bank puts $5 into his account. Pretty cool, right?

Now, a lot of moms had worries about their kids losing a debit card, it could get stolen, and the biggest one-- Having a card makes you feel limitless. My view is that the same things can happen with cash. Whether it's cash or card, I would feel safer holding onto it myself. Your child can still get the same satisfaction from saving money then spending it on what they've saved for, that's not going to change.

So... where's the negative? I already mentioned that with lost/stolen cards. Again, if you as the parent hold onto the money, these won't be issues.

Other parent's commented that their children don't get allowances or earn money from chores. This all depends on you, your child, and your finances. If you can't afford to give them money, there's nothing wrong with that. If anything, I'd suggest a savings account for college or the future. However, as kids get older, it's important to teach them about earning, saving, and spending.

When I got my first job at 16, I spent my paycheck pretty fast. I had to contribute to my part of the cell phone bill, but beyond that, I could spend it however I wanted. I couldn't even tell you what I spent it on other than the normal clothes, jewelry, and food. I never saved anything and I never knew how to pay bills myself. Imagine the finance shock I had when I became pregnant! I practically had to teach myself these things.

My point is, I'm sure some of us have had those experiences and thought "I'll make sure my child knows how to do this." First it's coins in a piggy bank, then they'll be buying a car, next college! Showing our kids the importance of these things now will instill these practices into them to use in the future when they are out on their own.

Until next time!