|
Should parents pay for school cutbacks?
The middle school my child attends has a cooking class with no money for groceries, so the teacher puts out a regular plea for donations. She'll need $1,000 to do all the lessons she'd like to teach on making healthy meals. My third grader's teacher has a classroom with no pencil sharpener. Hers broke and when she asked the school's maintenance department to replace it she was told there are none in the supply closet and none are coming in this cash-strapped budget year.
I know a lot of parents who give generously to their school's supply funds. They know they are getting a bargain with a "free" public school when it's a good one. But many resent the idea of being hit up to supply paper, toner and pencils for a class that has none.
How do you feel about being asked to donate basics instead of the extras needed in your child's classroom? And rather than just griping about it, what's the solution?
--Sharon Kennedy Wynne ... Read more
Give food, get circus tickets or toddler play date
While it's always good to donate when you can, there's some perks for donating food this month. On Thursday, if you donate some food, you get circus tickets. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is collecting food for Metropolitan Ministries on Thursday. A donation of 10 nonperishable, unexpired food items earns a ticket voucher for the 7:30 p.m. Jan. 4 opening night circus performance. Limit four tickets per household. Parking is available on the circle drive at the St. Pete Times Forum. Drop off the food from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum 401 Channelside Drive. ... Read more
Make your own 'instant oatmeal'
My friend Astrid, who does the marvelously creative blog Lunches Fit For a Kid, has once again come up with a genius idea: do it yourself instant oatmeal. Her daughter loves oatmeal for breakfast. But even though her mom is a fabulous cook, she says, "She doesn't like honest-to-goodness cooked on the stove, old fashioned oatmeal. No matter how much maple and brown sugar I put in it. Nope." She only likes instant oatmeal, and that gets expensive.
So, Astrid decided to see how homemade instant oatmeal works out. She reports great success, and the possibilities are endless. She also sneaks in a serving of flax seed meal, which is a great source of antioxidants and Omega-3, an essential fatty acid. You can add nuts, maple syrup, peanut butter, diced apples, anything you feel like and none of the processed and expensive fake food in the bargain. Here's her recipe: ... Read more
How to combat school fundraiser fatigue
Just like we complain that the Christmas decorations come out earlier every year in stores, the same is true of the school fundraisers. The minute that first bell rings, the race is on get your kid's coupon book or catalogue or chocolate bars on the market before your neighbors or co-workers flood the 'hood with fundraisers of their own. In my family, you can practically hear the tires squealing as we try to be the first to arrive at soft-touch Grandma's house. And it's not just school, it's soccer teams and preschools and the band boosters and Boy Scouts.
Even though we all know the schools or the sports clubs need the money, I can't help but sense we are also sick of it. Should we blame ourselves for not pressing our legislators to fully fund our schools? Should we blame the fundraising companies for filling the need that parents are too busy to do themselves? ... Read more
Allowance poll
Let's take an allowance poll. Do your kids get an allowance and if so, how much? Do you tie it to chores? Some warn against this, because chores are something we all do as members of the household. No one pays mom to load the dishwasher. This blogger suggests tying it to financial chores, such as using it to pay for entertainment and other extras. ... Read more
Sad clown alert! Parents now pulling back from big blowout kid birthday parties
"It's a huge difference," she told the Associated Press. "I have a lot of people telling me they are having a party, they are just not having entertainment and catering." ... Read more
A gift for December babies
We told you about TurboTax’s Cutest Little Tax Deduction contest that awards one lucky baby born in December 2009 $5,000. But we want to celebrate those local newborns with another little gift -- a TurboTax romper. ... Read more
What happens when you do all of your Christmas shopping from infomercials
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to save money, then please let my Christmas be an inspiration to you. It seems our family got the lion’s share of “As Seen on TV” products, and while some of them delivered as much entertainment as their commercials, others were gag gifts in the literal sense.
The Snuggie: A cheesy airline blanket, but an airline blanket WITH ARMS. Still a cheesy airline blanket. I give it two thumbs down -- but you can actually see that because my hands are sticking out of this cheesy airline blanket. ... Read more
"Cutest Tax Deduction" Contest for December babies
In addition to that new little bundle of joy born this month, how about a bundle of cash?And no, Kourtney Kardashian, you should not enter.
TurboTax is sponsoring its third annual “Cutest Last-Minute Tax Deduction” contest which allows parents of babies born from Dec. 1-31to submit their baby’s picture for a chance to win $5,000. Read about the details and directions for submissions here. ... Read more
Most Recent Blog Posts
Advertisement
Most Popular Categories
Comment Policy
| Please be sure your comments are appropriate before submitting them. Inappropriate comments include content that: |
| Is libelous |
| Is abusive, harassing, or threatening |
| Is obscene, vulgar, or profane |
| Is racially, ethnically or religiously offensive |
| Is illegal or encourages criminal acts |
| Is known to be inaccurate or contains a false attribution |
| Infringes copyrights, trademarks, publicity or any other rights of others |
| Impersonates anyone (actual or fictitious) |
| Solicits funds, goods or services, or advertises |
| The Tampa Bay Times does not edit posts but reserves the right to delete comments that violate our policy. |
THE AUTHORS
E-mail Sharon Kennedy Wynne:
wynne@tampabay.com
E-mail Kate Brassfield:
katedaphne17@gmail.com