By Wendy Mihm | Tuesday June 21, 2011

Now that summer’s here, many of us really want our kids to learn how to swim, so that they can enjoy the water and we can relax a bit more, knowing that they’re safe.

But which are the swim lesson kids will really learn from, as opposed to those that you’ll just keep paying for, summer after summer?

As a mom who’s signed up for (and paid for) three different styles of swim lessons, over the past three years, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned—and maybe save you a little time and money. 

From what I’ve seen, kids respond to the water in a wide variety of ways.  But there has only been one style of swim lessons that actually taught anyone to swim: private lessons that took place over the course of 8 consecutive days.

Now, before you think that your child will be the one who will not learn from this type of swim lesson, let me describe the three types of swim lesson styles I watched, and then you can decide for yourself.  Believe me, if I had not watched my own daughter learn to swim, along with several other students of various ages working with their teachers, I would not have believed it myself!  The whole process was very impressive.

Baby Swimming “Lessons”

This was the first type of lesson I enrolled my kids in and, though it was fun, not much learning took place.  It was more of a “Mommy and Me” style class where one parent (which, in this case was actually my husband, so it was technically a “Daddy and Me” class) plays in the water with the child, sings some songs, bobs the baby up and down and dunks his or her head underwater for a fraction of a second. 

The babies enrolled in these swim classes typically range in age from about 9-12 months.  The goals of the parents are usually just to get their babies to enjoy the water and view it as a positive experience, rather than to actually teach the baby to swim (hence the quotes in the section heading above). There are probably other types of baby/infant swim classes, but my goal is just to provide an accurate description of my experience so that you can picture what you might encounter if you sign up for such a class.  Since that was our goal for our daughter at the time, we deemed the class a success.

Group Lessons for Kids

I enrolled our daughter in group swim lessons last summer when she was 3 and a half years old at the Rose Bowl Aqauatics Center.  My hope was that she would both have some fun and actually learn to swim.  There were 8 students in the class and 2 instructors.  The class met twice a week for 4 weeks.

She had fun, but did not learn to swim.  The instructors did their best to teach them to float on their backs and to get them to put their heads underwater and actually swim a few strokes out toward them.

But because they did not get enough time with each student (that’s my theory, anyway), they did not make any real progress.  In fact, I did not see much progress being made by any of the students in my daughter’s class, but I did see students in the higher level classes actually swimming.  Where they had actually learned to swim, I don’t know.  I do know, however, that the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center does offer private lessons, so that could be where the progress was made, but this is purely a guess on my part.  Because I did not witness any swimming progress on my part by my daughter, or really by any of the students in her class, I did not think the class was particularly successful.  However, she did have fun, so I didn’t consider it to be a waste of money.

One thing to note:  I did talk with a few parents in the bleachers and some were veterans of the group sessions, meaning that they had taken several in a row that year and had also taken some the previous summer.  Their kids still could not swim.

Private Swim Lessons

In my experience, these are the swim lessons kids will really learn from. Not only did my daughter learn to swim right before my eyes – by the 3rd day,—but I also watched a whole fleet of other students accomplish the same feat. The age range appeared to be about 2.75 years to about 6 years old for the first-time swimmers.  The format was as follows:  8 consecutive days of 25 minute one-on-one lessons with the same instructor each day.

Mind you, the youngest swimmers cried a lot for the first 3 days.  They were not happy at all, but they were swimming successfully and safely by themselves by the 3rd day.  By the 4th day even the youngest and unhappiest among them were jumping off the diving board. Yes, the diving board! And by the 5th day, all were very happy and proud swimmers, and all were sliding – head first – down a great, big slide!

All of the instructors used the exact same steps, in what appeared to be the same order. They were kind, but firm with the kids about keeping their heads under water, kicking their legs, and using their arms to paddle. None of the kids were happy about this at first, but every one of them – even the very young ones who cried – got used to it and were very proud of their own progress.

On the 5th day, they also practiced what the kids should do if they accidentally fell into the pool.  The teachers would walk next to the pool, holding the child’s hand, singing “Walking along the pool! Walking along the pool!  Ooops!”  And then gently but firmly push the child into the pool. The child was instructed to immediately turn around, swim to the edge, and get back out.  This drill was repeated about a dozen times under eagle-eye supervision, which I loved.

If any of this sounds scary or difficult, let me note that each morning during the duration of swim lessons, my daughter would wake up and ask “How long till swim lessons, Mama?!”  She would also plan which swimsuit she was going to wear that day, because she has two, and she wanted to alternate so that each swimsuit got a fair shake.

Know Your Swimming Goals

As a parent signing your child up for swim lessons, you should really ask yourself what your goals are for these lessons.  Because the private lessons were twice as expensive as the group lessons!  But for us they made sense because they accomplished our goal of teaching our daughter to swim.

Are your goals for your child:

• To have fun?

• To stay cool and occupy some time during the heat of the summer?

• To teach your child to swim and be safe in the water?

• To have your baby feel comfortable in the water?

• To bond with your baby and enjoy some time together with other Moms/Dads and their babies?

I hope, once you know the answers to these questions, that the experiences I’ve shared about our family’s swim lessons will help you decide what’s right for yours.

Good luck and happy swimming!

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By Wendy Mihm | Thursday March 24, 2011

It’s been raining here for days, which has called for some extra creativity to entertain our kids without spending a ton of cash on indoor playgrounds. Sure, those can be fun in a pinch, but they’re really crowded on rainy days.  Plus, maybe I’m imagining this, but it seems like one of my kids gets sick right after we go to an indoor playground, no matter how clean it seems to be.  It’s gotta be hard for the employees to follow hundreds of miniature nose-pickers around with a can of Lysol all day.  But I digress.

One of our family’s favorite indoor activities is The Popcorn Party. Depending on your viewpoint of television, this can be accompanied by a family viewing of the kids’ favorite TV show.  Here’s how it generally goes at our house.  Clue:  note the importance of the sell job and the prep.  You want to maximize the effect of this.  Remember, it’s raining out there!

Step 1: The Enthusiastic Announcement of The Popcorn Party.
“Hey guys, who wants to have a Popcorn Party?!”  This is followed by hands flinging into the air and a fair amount of jumping.

Step 2: The Prep.
Next, involve the kids in rounding up the popcorn making equipment.  If you have a popcorn making device, make an event out of getting that.  Ours happens to be a gift from our Super Nanny, which we keep in the basement (it’s kind of big).  So that’s a whole thing. Then round up the kernels, the oil, the butter, the salt and the bowls.  Let the kids pick which bowls they will eat their popcorn from—this should also be fun!

Step 3: The Popping.
This part is huge for our kids.  They love to see the little metal piece in our popcorn popper spin around the bottom of the pan while it moves the kernels in circles.  The first kernel to pop is greeted with screeches, plenty of pointing, and our daughter repeatedly asking her little brother “Did you see that?”  Just as the popping begins to slow down, be sure to take the popcorn off the heat source so it doesn’t burn.  (Look at me—I’m passing out cooking advice, yo!)  Dish it out into some kid-friendly bowls and venture into the family room, or wherever you like to watch TV as a family.

Step 4: The Family Entertainment Segment
We don’t watch much more than 2-3 TV shows a week in our house, just because our kids are so young (4.5 years and 23 months), so when we do watch TV, it’s a fairly big whooop.  When we have a Popcorn Party, we like to put pillows and blankets on the floor like it’s a picnic.  Then we choose an episode of Sesame Street from the On Demand list and let it roll.  We also try to get really involved with the show by singing along to the songs and getting up and dancing or stomping or marching or doing whatever it is the kids on the show are doing.  If you notice, Elmo and the other characters often invite the kids who are watching to join in, so we try to take him up on it, to keep the fun going.  Note: this part tends to go especially well if the parents pour themselves a glass of wine as part of the picnic.

Step 5: Post Party Canine Cleanup
Bt the time Sesame Street is over, our bowls are usually empty, and roughly 8% of the popcorn is on the floor.  This is perfectly fine because we have a dog.  While we are carting our bowls back to the kitchen, we invite her in to eat up what we’ve spilled.  This is greeted by delighted peals of laughter from both kids and commentary from our toddler son, “Daag eeet pop ooorn, daaag eeeet pop ooorn!”

So there you go!  Another way to have free fun with kids, even if it’s crummy weather outside—your very own Popcorn Party!

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By Wendy Mihm | Monday February 21, 2011

It’s official:  our toddler son’s choo choo obsession has now moved over to make room for an equally powerful obsession with the airplane. 

This, of course, encompasses anything that flies and is not a bird.  In our neighborhood, the “aiw-pane” in question is much more likely to be a police helicopter.  (See our Homebuying 101 Tutorial’s “Location Location Location” rule, which we broke when we bought our house, and you’ll get a quick understanding of why this is the case.)

Anyway, since we are also not far from the Rose Bowl, it also can include blimps and the occasional stealth bomber, which is really quite spectacular.

All of this looking up has lead me to my next idea for free fun with kids:  plane spotting!  It is actually quite a phenomenon, which we have only recently caught onto, but here’s the thing:  there are lots of places to take kids with good view for watching planes take off and land. If you can get really close to the action, where you can see the planes’ landing gear engage, it’s actually pretty fascinating for the adults as well.  Though it is quite loud, so if you have a little one who is especially sensitive to sound, this will not be your thing.

One great example of this, is in an area that is near and dear to my heart:  Washington, DC.  I lived there for ten years before I moved out to LA, and used to go with my friend and her nephews and niece to watch planes take off from Ronald Regan Washington National Airport.  There’s a little spot called Gravelly Point Park just north of the airport, off the northbound GW parkway.  Since it’s also right off the bike path there, on nice weekends, it can be pretty festive, with people stopping by on their bikes and rollerblades, camping out for picnics, laying on the hoods of their cars and having a great time. 

The view is incredible, since both Gravelly Point Park and the airport are really close to the Potomac River and the gorgeous backdrop of Washington DC and the Memorial Bridge. The planes get really close, too, and if you’re lying on the hood of your car, it looks like they will skim right over you!  It’s an exhilarating way to have free fun with kids – especially if they love planes.

This is just one example.  There are many towns that have embraced their airports as ways to have free fun with kids and families.  I just learned from friends this weekend that out here on the west coast, The Palm Springs Air Museum showcases WWII airplanes, and it’s located right at the Palm Springs Airport.  Now, the museum itself is not free, but children 5 and under are free – and you can certainly watch the planes take off and land at the airport for free – from a cushy and interesting (and air conditioned location) all you want.

So give it a shot – just Google the name of your town’s airport, plus “viewing park” or “viewing spot” and see what you come up with.  You just might find a great new way to have free fun with your kids! 

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By Wendy Mihm | February 6, 2011

A few months ago, we visited the Pacific Asia Museum right here in Pasadena, mostly because my in-laws were in town and they were interested in seeing it.  It turned out to be a great afternoon that our kids enjoyed as well – they had a children’s section with costumes to dress up in, toys to play with and a whole interactive area where we learned all about the spice trade route through Asia, which was fun for both really young kids and adults alike. 

Then, during our visit to Seattle last August, we visited the Seattle Art Museum, which also had a special children’s section, full of toys and games for very young children and toddlers. 

Finally, during our visit back to Michigan (where I am from) for Christmas, we went to the Cranbrook Institute of Science and, wouldn’t you know it, there was a special place just for toddlers there too.

I tell you this not to establish that our family is extremely cultured.  We are total philistines, I assure you.  My point is that none of these places really highlighted their toddler/young children play spaces on their websites or their literature as the key reason you would go there.  Yet all of them were great places for families with young children to enjoy a somewhat brainy, affordable, fun visit together, and all of their play spaces were worthy of a repeat visit, in my book.

In addition to being interesting and fun on multiple levels, each one of these places all offered discount memberships.  So if you live in the vicinity of, say, a real art museum, science center or other cultural or learning facility, I suggest you to go check it out.  It may have a place for your toddler and/or your very young child to hang out too.  That way, you can enjoy the art or the science or whatever the place offers, then unleash your kids in the play space to burn off some energy, so you all win.

Many of these places even have cafes. Bonus!

Then if you decide you like it, you can purchase a membership there.  And be sure to find out if your day’s admission can apply to the membership cost – many museums and science centers will offer deals like that, and it never hurts to ask.

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By Wendy Mihm | January 26, 2011

Now that frugality is the new black, we’re all looking for ways to entertain our kids (and sometimes ourselves) for little or no money.  Here’s a quick, fun idea mined from our own childhoods that you may have forgotten about:  for free fun with kids, build a fort!

Don’t tell me you don’t know how, or that you don’t have anything to build it with.  I’ll bet you built forts all the time when you were a kid.  You made them with couch cushions, chairs turned sideways, Lego boxes, plastic or fabric storage bins, sheets and clothes pins (those are especially handy and may even be worth the $2.99 investment), big stuffed animals, pillows, toy box lids—anything and everything that was lying around that might hold a sheet or blanket high enough to crawl under.

Starting to sound familiar?

Now get on the floor or in the yard and start building.  Don’t be picky about how it looks, how sturdy it is, or whether it will keep out the rain, because let me tell you, your kids don’t care.  All they care about is whether you’re spending time with them, and how fun and cozy it is to be inside the fort you created together.  And if (when) the thing falls over, just build it again, because that’s the fun of it.  For extra credit, pack a blanket and some lunch and have a picnic inside!

Now there’s some good old fashioned free fun with your kids and a trip down memory lane for you.  Happy fort building!

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Guest Post by Melissa Ren | January 22, 2011

This weekend was a good lesson in contrasts.

With out-of-town visitors come trips to local attractions. At the expense of our expenses, we wanted to make sure they had a good time. Saturday and Monday, we went out on the town, ate out, and bought souvenirs at one of the stops (which is just ludicrous, since we actually live here…). On Sunday, we were home and resting. The following provides an overall picture of how this went.

Saturday
We took a trip to the zoo. Fortunately, we had 3 free adult passes. Unfortunately, there were 4 adults and 2 kids. Fortunately, one of the kids was only 2 years old.

Expense: $44.00 admission for one adult and one child.

Our zoo is a massive display of fauna that represents, at the very least, 5 miles of walking if you want to see everything (and for those admission prices, you really, really do). At the halfway point, there was a small café, so we decided to buy some Icee drinks (we are in Phoenix) and rest for a bit.

Expense: $4.50 for 2 large Icees. $2.00 ATM surcharge fee because the café does not take debit cards and my husband was too lazy to walk outside and ask me for cash.

The kids must feed the animals. I mean, Heaven forbid those poor creatures not get pellets tossed at them every 5 minutes by virus-encrusted booger-eaters. The zoo cleverly places food pellet dispensers every 10 feet or so to make sure everyone gets an opportunity to partake in the excitement. These dispensers, of course, cost money.

Expense: $1.00 took care of the ducks, $.50 is all we invested in the swans and $1.50 went for the giraffes. We clearly have our favorites.

At the end of the zoo trip, we all rummaged through the gift shop, where my daughter decided she couldn’t live without a souvenir alligator toy.

Expense: There goes $5.00 on a toy she only played with for an hour.

After the zoo, we all went out to dinner. Fajitas for four adults, cheese crisp for 2 kids, two sodas, two Margaritas (only one was mine, I swear) and one 15% tip.

Expense: A very delicious $95.00.

Total expenses for this trip: $153.50.

Did we have fun? Yes. Was it worth the expense? Yes. The zoo trip is one that we make 2 or 3 times every year. The kids have an amazing time looking at the animals and we take the opportunity to teach them new information. My 4-year old knows a meerkat by sight and she’s one visit away from calling an eel by its proper name instead of referring to it as, “Oooh! Snake!” This was directly the opposite experience from….

Monday

Monday’s trip was to the Desert Botanical Garden. When you live in the Midwest, a desert garden may be an exotic, fascinating excursion. When you live in the desert, however, you find yourself looking at plants that you have in your front yard, or see on the side of the road every day. So, how much does one pay to see over 100 different kinds of cacti?

Expense: $50.00 for three adults and one child. I spent the trip trying not to be too snarky when I explained all of the different places around town that they could see each of the plants. For free.

After the garden, we wrestled with the kids through another dinner out. The waiter was attempting to be helpful by asking if we would like a high chair or a booster seat. We asked if they had strait jackets available. I was disappointed to discover that they were ill prepared in that area.

Expense: $75.00 for 4 terrific burro combo plates, 2 sodas, 2 Margaritas (see disclaimer above) and the half gallon of catsup my kids devoured.

Did we have fun? No. I would rather have more casually visited my friends in a place where there wasn’t a sharp, stabby thing trying to puncture my kids around every corner. We were sun burned, we inhaled a pound of dust, and there was nothing of any informational value to pass along to the kids. “That’s a cactus, honey.” “That’s a different colored cactus.” “That’s a smaller cactus.” The conversations were not rewarding for either of us. The experiences both Saturday and Monday were a stark contrast to the fun we had on Sunday.

Sunday

This was a day we spent at home resting. Our tourist friends decided to take a trip down to Tucson to visit a Saguaro farm. More cacti. We teasingly pointed out that they would pass more saguaro cacti on their way to the farm than they would actually see there. No wonder they didn’t want to hang out with us. How did we choose to spend our day?

• We sang along with Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches.

• The kids pushed each other around the living room in a box.

• They also took turns stomping around the house in my husband’s and my shoes.

• My daughter spent 3 minutes licking a comb. (Don’t ask.)

• I gave the kids temporary tattoos.

• My daughter and I played Sims 3 for a little while. The character we were playing is a stylist, so she helped me give makeovers to half the town. “How ‘bout this shirt?” “No. It’s too bratty.”

Did we have fun this day? We absolutely had a blast.

The lesson I try to keep in mind, is that kids will find imaginative and cost effective ways to entertain themselves. While it is worthwhile to get out to the attractions every now and again, what they need is quality time interacting with their parents. These times build the foundation for a solid relationship with your kids. The best part: most of these moments are completely free.

********************************
Melissa Ryan is located in Phoenix, Arizona.  Or, if she owes you money, she’s located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  Wherever she happens to be, she’s never far from her husband, her daughter Caidyn and her son Ronin.  In her spare time, she enjoys the 3 r’s: reading, writing and running away from her kids.  You can read more about her family’s shenanigans at her blog,
Take My Monsters. Please.

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By Wendy Mihm | Tuesday January 4, 2011

Our toddler son loves trains.  Actually, if he were editing this article, he would change that to read that he loves “Choo Choos.”  He loves them to the point of inanity. Anything that has four wheels and moves is a choo choo, when clearly, it is not.

This has driven our daughter past the point of utter frustration, through exhaustion, and to acceptance.  He accompanies her on her drive to preschool every morning and on the way, he points out every bus, recycling truck and moving van, to enthusiastically declare “Choo Choo!”  She used to protest vigorously, sometimes even venturing into a long explanation of the physical properties of the vehicle that rendered it nothing like a choo choo.  Now she replies simply “No Alex, it’s a bus” and goes right back to tying the yarn back onto her stuffed animal or whatever task she was previously involved in.

But the point is that Alex loves trains and his obsession led me to discover another budget toddler fun activity to share here on FinancialRx.com:  the train station.  It can be any train or metro station, large or small, but many toddlers are just like mine:  they love trains.  They love to watch the doors open and close.  They love the noises the trains make as they come and go, they love the tracks and they love the bells that go ding-a-ding and the gates that go up and down.

If tickets are inexpensive and your toddler might enjoy a short ride, go ahead and purchase one for yourself – note the rules for riding: your toddler may be free.  But it probably won’t be necessary to thrill your little one.  Just seeing the trains come in and out of the station and watching the people come and go from various platforms will likely be enough to make her happy. 

If the train station is outside, you could even pack a lunch and make a whole, budget toddler fun afternoon out of it. Or if you have the time and the inclination, you could take a special trip with your toddler and travel a few stops on the train to a park or other toddler-friendly destination, spend some time, and take the train back.

Then if your toddler becomes obsessed with choo choos like mine, I will not be offended if you post a comment and complain!

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By Wendy Mihm | Wednesday November 24, 2010

Entertaining little ones can be a lot of work.

As parents today, we have so many options available, our job is arguably easier than it may have been for our parents and grandparents.  I doubt that when it rained for days on end, they could pay to take their toddlers to any number of indoor playgrounds to blow off steam in the bounce houses and ball pits.  Or that they could choose from dozens of reasonably nearby kid-targeted theme parks, petting zoos, and other activities to thrill and amaze the little ones.

But almost all of these activities cost money.  Sure, some don’t cost a lot, but if you’re in the habit of doing them week after week, month after month to keep your little ones entertained, you may be spending more than you think.

For example, let’s assume that admission to the indoor playground down the street costs $9.00 per child, per day. Sure, you can buy visits in bulk, but these may only reduce the admission fee to about $6.50 per child, per day.  Now let’s suppose for a moment that you only have one child, and that you bring him to this playground five times a month.  That’s 60 times each year, for a total of $390 for just this one playground – assuming you got the discount immediately.  You haven’t even gone to the zoo yet.  Or any children’s museums, or theme parks or holiday events, or, well, you get the idea.

But let’s back up a second.

Remember that your Mom made due without most of this stuff.

I’m not suggesting by any stretch that you quit it all, cold turkey.  What I am suggesting is that very young children do not need much to be entertained.  Fun can be free.

I remember, long before I had my own kids, I took my nephew out for a walk when he was about 18 months old.  My brother had dropped him off at my parent’s house while he went to work, and I was in town for a visit. It was February in Michigan, so we got him all bundled up in winter gear.  I listened intently to my Mom before walking out the front door (I knew absolutely nothing about kids).  She made sure I knew not to let him get too cold or wander into the street.

About 25 minutes later, my Mom came out to check on us.  She walked out the front door and burst out laughing.  We had not made it out of the driveway.  We were having too much fun inspecting every dried leaf, crack in the sidewalk and bird that flew by.

Now that I have my own kids and am a fairly seasoned Mom, I still forget this a lot.

Sometimes it’s because I’m the one who gets bored, and I suppose that’s perfectly reasonable.  There’s only so long that an adult human can find wonder in a pile of dirt.  Plus let’s be honest, it is very tiring to follow your toddler around for hours at the free park down the street, making sure she does not fall off the play scape that was designed for 5-12 year old kids.

But one thing I’ve discovered within this “fun can be free” concept is that young kids can make toys out of things that you would not consider to be very much fun at all.

For example, my husband and I recently cleaned out the garage (Woot!) and ended up with an empty under-the-bed plastic storage bin.  Rather than put it back in the garage, I unleashed it on the kids in the backyard.  Almost instantly, the bin became a boat, with the lid as a dock.  Our kids have been playing with it ever since.  When they bore of it, I will make it disappear for a few months.  Then it will reappear again and we’ll see if similar magic ensues.

You can try this with any seemingly safe, ordinary household object.  Pots and pans are great. Baskets are fun too.  My daughter loves to tie a ribbon to a basket and then pull her toys around in them.  Now her little brother copies her.  They can do this on and off for an entire afternoon.  Their new thing is having pretend picnics on our bathroom towels.

What household object will be next, I do not know.

What I do know is that my kids remind me over and over what I keep forgetting:  fun can be free.

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