Great Staycation Ideas

If you're like a lot of us mom's who are struggling in today's economy with the loss of job's and income, the one event of the year you're not looking forward to is spring break. Yes, its that time again. The most anticipated time of year for families everywhere. Our kids have been making plans since the beginning of school. Planning trips to here and there. Just thinking about the fun they'll have and the stories they can tell their friends once the week is gone. And believe me, for them it goes way to fast. I know that as parents we feel guilty that we cant give our kids what they want for that one special, too short week of the year. But with the cost of everything these days, its just more than we can afford. If you happen to be one of those parents, take heart. Let the guilt go and realize there are ways you can make this week of spring break memorable, fun and exciting. Without breaking your bank account.
Instead of a vacation, try out some of these wonderful, frugal and fun staycation ideas. And yes, believe it or not, you can stay home and have a great time with your family. Without handing over your hard earned cash. And experience a much higher level of bonding with your children while teaching them about being responsible. And, the hardest lesson of all, we don't always get what we want in life, but we can always compromise and sometimes that works out much better. Ok, on with the fun!

My girls and I have tried this one many times and we always have a blast. Organize your own spa party, turn your bedroom, bathroom etc into your very own spa. Light candles and play whatever music relaxes you. Usually, that's where my girls and I differ. They prefer to listen to the thumping head ache producing sounds of jay-z, while mom prefers the soft relaxing sounds of Mozart. that's where the lessons on compromising comes in. we usually do 15 minutes of each. And yes, they do grin and bear the Mozart. that's when I'm usually laughing so hard at the amusing antics there pulling over Mozart to really relax, but at least we're having fun. We get all our supplies together. Which, if we can afford it. We've went and purchased together that day. If not, then use things you already have handy. We each get a facial, manicure and pedicure. And afterwards, we'll stuff ourselves with whatever our favorite snacks are. Which we've prepared together earlier. For us its usually some sort of pasta, with French bread and cheese. We sat out a picnic of sorts on the living room floor and watch a movie we've been wanting to see. Afterwards, we stay up late talking and playing games. My girls and I do this often, but if you've never tried it with yours, it would make a wonderful nights activity during your staycation. Another idea, throw a block party! Get together with your neighbors and decide on a theme. Be it Mexican, hawian. Which ever you might prefer. Fill up the pool, use authentic decorations having to do with your theme, party games, cook up lots of delicious themed foods, and have a blast. if that's not something you can see yourself doing. or if you just prefer something a little more private. Get the family together, put up a tent and plan an adventure. Right in your own back yard. Minus the campground fees and gas charges you'd spend getting to your destination otherwise. Again, fill up your pool, build a campfire, keep the grill handy for cooking out when the campfires not available. There's lots of fun for the kids to be had here. From roasting marshmellows and hotdogs over the campfire to playing those awesome games we use to play when we were kids. Like kiss chase, red light and hide and go seek. You remember those endless games we played all day and half the night with the other neighborhood kids, the hours we spent playing hide and go seek, just waiting for dusk so we could play kiss chase and receive our chaste little peck from whoever we happened to be crushing on that week, under the cover of darkness. Chasing fireflys at dusk until our parents ushered us inside all rosy cheeked happy and out of breath. How long has it been since our kids have enjoyed an afternoon like that? A day of such complete and utter fun with there friends. Today , kids spend there time immersed in the television, computer or a video game. They don't know what its like to have fun without the aid of technology. Bring back those happy times and experience them through the eyes of your child. Or better yet, discover them once again with your children.

The most important aspect of your staycation at home, is to have fun. So make sure and get everything done before hand. All the house cleaning, chores and shopping done. You definitely don't want laundry that has to be done or spring cleaning to interrupt your time together. Unplug the phone and let it be known by everyone that there will be no t.v. computers or video games allowed during your family time. Trust me, I know how hard this will be. However, if you have any hope of bonding with your kids you cant compete with Hannah Montana, the Jonas brothers or WWE 2009. You'll lose there attention every time. don't let anything distract you from your kids, your family or your staycation. And If you do happen to have a little extra money, or even if you don't. make it interesting and plan activities for your family to do every day. With a little research online, I'm sure you can find tons of fun , free or frugal things to do with your kids, In your own neighborhood. Keep to regular vacation activities such as staying up late, getting up early and have lots of delicious things to eat that your kids love. And yes, my family is one that loves to eat! Snacking on giant ice cream cones, huge slices of pizza and humongous sausage dogs just happens to be our favorite part of cruising the boardwalk at the beach. So, if we're doing a staycation, I'll cook up my own goodies at home and have them while sitting in the back yard in front of a campfire telling ghost stories. Or better yet, sit up a giant projection screen and watch a favorite new movie on the garage door. My kids love that. They think its so cool to watch a movie outside. Just like a drive in, which they are to young to remember. But Let that be the exception to the no t.v. rule. Be flexible, let them break all the house rules, just for the week of spring break. Make sure that's known by all. And have fun. In the end that's what its all about. Having fun, bonding with and getting to know your kids all over again.