Archive of ‘Kids’ category

Harry Potter and Halloween

Well here I am again, being a shut in (sortof) due to COVID, during Halloween, I am thinking, Harry Potter.  It’s been SO long since I have written anything but I took a stab at it tonight.

I wrote about it a few years ago, admiring a Harry Potter themed wedding.

When the books came out, I would organize book releases at Barnes and Noble at midnight, inviting other moms who were nuts like me to allow our primary school kids out late at night to the launch.  We would decorate our vans, aka Halloween-style, and allow our hyped up kids munch on delights that other moms created like “potion” punch or purple chocolate “dragons” and so forth. It was a mad house in the store but they were so excited to grab their first “copies.”

I credit JK Rowling for making my kids voracious readers, particularly the younger one.   Teddy was so enamored by Harry Potter and we knew it was the motivator to make reading an everyday occurrence.  In fact, when small, just about three and six, Teddy loved to have us read to him and brother Bill and couldn’t wait for the nightly sit down.  A few years later and lots of practice (Teddy was reading at 22 months), in Kindergarten and 3rd grade, they both were reading the latest books on their own.  By then, Billy needed little help but we would curl up and read the newest Harry Potter book came out.  The bad mother that I was, (tee hee hee) at aged five, we took both our kids to Barnes and Nobel at Midnight to get the latest book, Volume 2.  It was a huge deal and  ……….

Later, a few volumes later, the kids would fight over who had first “dibs” at the book those launch nights. One particular volume, Teddy won and got the book first that launch night. He was pretty excited and soon our weekly trips to anywhere would land us at a LEGO store to get the newest additions until our table grew with longer boards. Our tudor house was the PERFECT setting for their room.

By the time we moved to Florida, even the mere TALK that Universal would open “Harry Potter” land, well they were besides themselves. Although Bill was a bit older and ready to have his own room decorated his own way, Teddy still chose to go the Harry Potter route.  I found this pretty cool pain that was STONE PAIN and we got him a good start on decorating his room. Once again, we went to the Orlando B&N Launch for Harry Potter “Order of the Phoenix “.  It was now the little guy’s first crack at the book.  That night, he scurried up to his loft, now filled with dragons and Harry Potter paraphernalia and decor.  Early the next morning, out from the covers, Teddy pronounced “I’m finished Mom, you can read it now”.m tossing the book my way. Yep, that’s right – Teddy finished all 870 pages of Harry Potter V in one night as a 3rd grader; he was zonked for the entire weekend.

 

Kind of hard to believe now, I actually have a 2, almost 3 year old grand child and truly hope that before they ever let her see the movies, they read the volumes to her as we know these books really made my kids crazy about reading.  Part of Pegeen.com Collection of Princess Everyday, here is our Wizard Dress

Three tips for families work are working from home

  1. Save Your Boxes. Okay so this one I instantly thought about as soon as my wife said, “don’t worry honey, we can just order that off Amazon.com instead of going to the store. Online orders are going to be even bigger than they have ever been. The amount of stuff that will be offered to ship to you instead of you going to a location is going to be here to stay. So why save your boxes you might ask? It’s simple, a fort is the answer. But not a simple fort. A fort that you as a kid would have dreamed of. Go big for your family. The more boxes the better. (I recommend setting up the fort in the kids room to save space. This is a great way to spend time with your family without the usually TV time. I mean, look at this one an architect dad built for his kids: This dad (from Fatherly) is my absolute hero.
  2. Take a walk or more two. I’ve found that taking a walk twice a day has really been beneficial for my family for a number of reasons. First, exercise is great and so is fresh air especially being couped up in quarantine. Second, the walks tire the young one out right before nap/bed. I’ve found that my kid goes to bed easier if she’s tires herself out. Besides being obvious that’s she’s tired, the walk really adds a layer of exercise that simply playing in our house just doesn’t tire her out the same way. Finally, it’s a way to spend tome with your family without being plugged in. One person takes a phone for emergencies, then the rest of the electronics stay home is what I personally do with my family. Besides this being a mini list within a list, I believe this point is probably most important to make home life better during quarantine.
  3. Try starting a new hobby or even one of your family members hobbies/interest. This one might be a little harder to embrace than a walk around the neighborhood. My spouse for example loves board games, which I generally am not interested in playing. During the quarantine I’ve made it a point to play a game or two with my spouse that I don’t normally do. Why you might ask? Well I’m spending time with them that I normally wouldn’t be which is always a great time with them but I’m also appreciating their interests. This appreciation makes me love my spouse even more because I see a side of them that I don’t get to see due to stresses and burdens of everyday life. They are able to relax and I get to see a different atmosphere of a person. It’s basically a way to date your spouse without leaving the house. Their interests don’t need to be your interests, but I recommend that you see them in their element an you might love what you see!

About the Author:  Bill Frank, our newest “Prince” hails from Nevada and just prior to Covid-19 was about to relocate to Orlando and join the family business.  Bill and his wife and daughter are hunkering down while we wait for the opportunity to move East to be safe for his dad.  We welcome his youthful insight to our blog about Life, Love, Family and Home

How to make working from home, work from home Part 2

So continuing from my post on Wednesday, this is part 2 of a 2 part series.

My mom used to keep my brother and I happy by what she called Mon-Fries.  We had a theme for the week and if we were good all week we got to go to a special place.  Monday was always the library (local and small, you could pull out all your books on the subject you decide on) so for instance in the embarrassing picture below, this was me and Teddy during American History of the West week.  Well, cowboys and Indians.  On Monday we pulled a lot of books out of the library (we had just gone to the Smithsonian Museum earlier that week and we were really into all the tools and of course, making war paint and costumes were the Tuesday through Thursday projects.  We got into a mess that day but I still remember it.  On Friday we went on a field trip – don’t remember the trip but apparently we visited an historic village in North West Jersey at Waterloo Village, my folks favorite place.

Lastly some quick tips about phone calls. So, if you have to make a lot of phone calls and you are still getting interrupted. Consider these next times you’re on that conference call. Leading up to the call, communicate, communicate, communicate. Let your family know when you need 30-1 hour to talk on the phone. See if they need anything! If it’s a long important call, consider setting up a movie or activity for the kids to be occupied in while your meeting is going. Ask them what they need so that they can be settled in and you more importantly undisturbed. If you get frequent calls, consider having your kids make you a doorknob sign that says “dada or mama is on the phone!” It’s a great way to get your kids involved and to start thinking about what “work from home” now means. It gets your kids engaged and most importantly they get to be creative and make something for you. My neighbor puts a box that his son, “who’s learning to write and read” can write down questions he has for dad while dad is busy doing spreadsheets and that way at dinner they have plenty of things to talk about. It also a great way to bridge kids into journals and diaries as my neighbor did this when he was a kid and continues to journal to this day.

My main point in this entire blog is to say ‘communicate’. A lot of fights and frustrations happen when you don’t talk to your wife (in my case) about what is going on with you. If you are stressed, you aren’t getting anything done. Let your significant other know you are having trouble figuring out work-time because they may have a great suggestion for you as they probably know you inside and out. Welcome the fresh perspective as it could help make chaos into order. Finally, make a designated time for your family to be able to spend time with you.

How to make working from home, work from home

This is part 1 of a two-part series.

So we know that companies are attempting to adapt to the new world which they like to call “these uncertain times,” although you may be sick of that phrase. Companies are offering delivery, curb side pickup, “better” online ordering, and even more customer service options if you could believe it! But what about you? How are you affected? Are you able to transition office life with junior munchkin running around in the background with a diaper on his head screaming bloody murder as you conference call your boss and your boss’s boss. (This happened to my good friend last week! Had to share!) 

 

Now everyone has distractions from home. A big one is your family. My 2-year-old doesn’t really get what working from home means and it’s normally playtime 24/7. Yet, work goes on at Pegeen.com so I’ve come up with a few tips for the family to help make working from home productive. 

 

The first one is the most important and that is establishing “work hours”. Unless you have a phone call for work, you should establish “working hours” with your partner. Working from home especially if your partner works as well can be a game of “hey can you watch the kids for 2 hours here and I’ll give you 2 hours there.” By trading off time, it gives both of you the chance to get work progress done while not feeling overwhelmed with kids running in and out. Just remember to really capitalize on the time your significant other gives you as undisturbed time is rare with a family. 

Sometimes we are with the kids on our own. Your significant other might be an essential employee and suddenly you have a huge project due today for work and no one to help make Mac n Cheese or do laundry for the toddler. What to do, what to do? Well you still need to watch your kids and make them food, you can still get work done and be super parent! So, if your little one still takes naps, you need to be working during the nap time. Everything is on hold during nap time. This is your only time to get work done undisturbed. No chores, no cleaning, if your children aren’t taking naps anymore then they are old enough to understand and give mommy and daddy time to work with minimal interruptions. Unfortunately, you’re going to be exhausted because a lot of late nights are going to be the standard not the norm. Most of your best work might be after the kids go to bed. You might want to consider waking up 2 hours earlier than your kids normal wake up time to just crank out some spreadsheets in the morning before the chaos resumes.

When my brother and I were small, my mom had designated a portion of the basement where her office was, and had adapted it with hundreds of those 12″ color squares and inside a play fence were our toys and places to put things, our train table and just about anything a toddler and his older brother would want to keep us safe.  As we got a bit older things in the play area changed till we were let out of our “pen”,  Here is Teddy (we called him The Terror and you can see why) outside our pen but safe on our rubber mat.  The basement was huge but you get the idea.

 I will continue this post with more ideas because nap-time is over!!

 

 

What could be better than Princess Dresses No Matter the Age

Having our office so close to Disney means it’s hard NOT to be inspired dressing the little ones! Next week, our grand daughter will be coming back for a visit to see us as their parents, my son and wife, go to witness the wedding of another set of Disney employees who met – just like they did – at Disney.  It will be during this trip that I hope to remind them that living 3000 miles away is NOT as much fun as living close by.

And of course, that means my little munchkin will wear our Cinderella inspired flower girl dress for the day because EVERY little girl should be wearing Swarovski Crystals. I will likely lose that point but at least I can dress Holly in her newest dress, a Cinderella Dress.  It is going to be hysterical because she is now walking so having our little munchkin walking around in her Disney princess dress made by my company will make me so, so proud beyond measure.

Will post soon!!

We recently made one for a very special and beautiful little munchkin who is “differently abled” and had it ready for pick up the same day. We do this often for these Special Needs angels who really steal our hearts. Disney merchandise doesn’t accommodate these special children (however, they are allowed to wear costumes even at older ages). We believe that even a girl who is Special Needs in her mid-thirties or a plus size little girl should still get to wear her favorite princess dress… and been doing so for transplant girls too who, because of steroids, tend to blow up, as well as various other children with special circumstances.

This was before we added her crinoline and cameo and of course, pixie dust. Her mom used a term I never heard before, Differently Abled….. I just can’t wait to see her in her dress. If you have questions, or need help to make your Princess’s day, contact us!  Please call for appointments.

 

Long time in posting

I realize I haven’t been posting in a long, long time.  But I don’t feel super guilty because one of my favorite blogs in the world, House of Turquoise has been just as bad. By the way, you should go over to Erin’s blog – it is one of the best especially when you LOVE turquoise as much as I do.  Like Erin whose hands got full with 3 little babies, I got full with my big babies.

Originally this blog was to be about my experience in the bridal business  (love), life in general (meaning busy family life), home (what renovations and projects are going on in our lives) and finally, work – because my husband and I have been in the children’s wear business creating flower girl dresses (pegeen.com) together for over 30 years at a time when most marriages don’t last 30 months.  Top top off all that, I am a pretty private person and don’t like to really put out there my life.

However, I decided that for my own sanity I need to unload from time to time.  Therapeutic, yes but in hopes of finding more information it’s not a bad thing to share these things.  I am a mother of two boys, one just got married 2 years ago and blessed me with my first grandchild a mere 12 months ago.  It was lovely that at first, being a new graduate, he was feeling out several careers and one day, out of the blue, after living in California, he and he very pregnant wife decided to move east and live with us while we hoped Bill would join our company and be the start of the next generation.  He, like his brother, suffers from Metabolic Syndrome and was found to have levels of insulin in his body 49 times higher than normal.  It caused a lot of concentration and personality issues during maturing but lucky for me, he picked the perfect wife who is on top of it.

Having that little girl here for 6 months was so rewarding, and helpful too because my husband was suffering with some severe complications after an injury from Hurricane Irma and ravaged by Type 1 Diabetes.  This resulted in many operations within the span of a year…. brain surgery (shunt), laser surgery to repair the bleeding in his eyes (more diabetes), a back operation for herniated disks, then the injury from moving sandbags (even though he sat on the dock, moving the bags of sand just a few inches) which resulted in a million dollar back operation.  Poor thing, two major back surgeries in one year, the second completely dibilitating, taking 7 hours to unwind the nerve which had grown around his spine, cleaning completely blown disks and spinal fusion.  So, having my son and daughter-in-law here to help move his body or help do errands and give us the pure joy of just having this brand new life to cuddle was wonderful.

Sadly though, a job moved one of them cross country and I haven’t gotten over the sadness since.  Yes, I am always busy with our business but the support I got from my son was something else beyond description.  It was a quiet respite and I never felt so happy everyday just to know that I had someone to take my mind off the constant worry.

But isn’t that what all moms do anyhow?  Worry all the time?  My youngest at school is an entirely different set of worry, as he has severe ADHD and being at an Ivy League school is, I am very aware, very difficult for him due to the amount of work load and the fact that it takes him 4 times longer than a normal student.  EVERYTHING has to be perfect for him to start.  We didn’t do drugs – or as he said at age 4 – “why drug me – I may be needing a high level of security clearance and I am far too young to be able to make those decisions.”  Imagine that was my 4-year-old telling the doctor who tested him!  This is an entirely different subject and I will someday go into everything I have learned and read. I will BRIEFLY say there is a brilliant series of Ted Talks by a Dr. Russell Barkley (books too) that help the three of us (me, his dad and my now-adult student).

My husband has a really hard time understanding it all – little things like – “why doesn’t he just write it down?” but now at 24, we still go to move him in and out of the dorm because that takes too much organization for him and found it impossible and I help with appointments etc from afar.  And no, I am not a helicopter parent – more of an Administrative Assistant (AA).  Next year, because we can’t afford a full time aid, we are going to get an apartment at school, his senior year, just to help make it easier on him and from time to time, one of us will stay there with him to assist with what normal kids can do on their own.  He just needs a full time aid at certain times and I found from the learning center at school, we will be one of three parents doing the same.  That’s my forever focus for him.

My dad used to tell me, your job (during college) is to be a student. So many tasks are difficult for him because he is just like the Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland – never enough time. So, if Jim or I can just be up there to make sure he gets his shopping done, or trips to the drug store, or just helping with the organization, it’s what we plan to do. Ah the miracle of remote offices and laptops.

Our job has always been to help him be ready for life on the outside of school but the Ivy League is very demanding and if he were in the real world, he would hire an AA.  So we are helping to make systems for him that I suppose we will just help in training his AA once he gets a job.  He is brilliant, utterly brilliant and anything we can do to help him become “one” with his disability, the better.  When my son finally decided in college to start taking these drugs and began to better understand their workings, it became a bit better but it still took us 5 years for him to find a doctor who works scientifically with Adult ADHD.  I forget the scale but if it were 1-100 on severity, he is about 105!  Best thing we did was to hire an executive coach we found at school for him, (that’s what she calls herself but really it’s an ADHD coach – and it has helped quite a bit on most days.)

It reminds me of the time when beginning in 6th grade he and his guidance counselor would sit on the floor with his back pack and just help him get organized.  By the time he was in 7th, we hired someone who worked a few hours on Mondays just helping with “systems” – learning aids that helped him to organize, setting up assignments and so forth.  By 8th grade, they met Mondays (to set up the week) and Fridays as a de-brief. We started a year ago with his executive coach and even though he didn’t feel he had the time he commented after a session a few days ago about how he felt upbeat meeting with her as they just resumed post-midterms.  Of course, by today it’s a struggle again however, it is a constant effort and that is what I believe is so hard for ADHD folks – the willingness to start again after failure, even if the failure is to forget to bring your calculator to an exam.  I have learned that patience and always remind him, (as I am his AA right now) – I am not here to judge, just to assist (as I remind him of something that you and I would not have trouble remembering.  The Metabolic Syndrome doesn’t help either because it causes memory problems.

He has many other issues as well and I am just burst with pride of his willingness to get back on his horse, so to speak, most time –  as I am of both my two kids.  His insulin level was 80 times higher than the norm and has some other issues that just complicate his life.  We are plowing ahead though.

SO, with all of this piling on, I still manage to mostly keep humor about it all.  The stress level for me is really relieved however by getting over to Disney about as much as one can.   One thing we do there is go to the lazy river and walk, not float, and I especially like Typhoon Lagoon because it is deeper than Blizzard Beach.  Research found that the resistance we get in our water walks is 4 times more resistance so I get through the exercising faster I suppose. Disney has that wonderful effect – it keeps me from going off the deep end, as if there was ever a deep end for me – and I find it brings my blood pressure down at least 20 points.

Anyhow – lot easier than sweating like a pig in Orlando temperatures!

That’s all for now.

Becoming a grandparent

I have had the most incredible ride this past year.  My youngest went back to UPenn after a medical leave (no biggie but we became “empty nesters”) whereupon his return to school meant that we found ourselves alone again.  Although we were sad to no longer have him bounce around the house,  however, selfish as it may seem, my house was always clean, nothing shoved in drawers and counters uncluttered.  For my anal-retentive self, it was wonderful. Laundry time was cut in half and food prep was simple, because there was none of that “making two meals”, one for us and one for Mr. Picky Eater.

Years ago, my father gave me the one-eye curse when I was 25 or so and came home unexpectedly with one of those “didn’t mom tell you?”.  Dad said, and I quote ” may this happen one day to you “.  It wasn’t that my father was upset I moved back home, but it really was more that, since I was the last to leave, they had everything they wanted in their house in order and for a father with a strong desire to have order, having me move back was the unexpected.  Naturally, the chaos that comes with a 20-something with an apartment full of stuff moving into their garage and spilling out everywhere else was hard for him to adjust to. Lucky for both my parents though, I was organized beyond a fault and that made the temporary return to the nest fairly enjoyable for all three of us.

For a long time, my father’s curse never materialized. Then it happened.  My son called me in early January, only 6 weeks from delivering their first born, said he felt really bad about my husband’s illness (Type 1) and severe back problems.  He had said that if we wanted him to help with my husband then his family was prepared to move the 1200 miles back home.  He would love to learn the business, take much of his dad’s responsibilities away from him and also help out with taking his dad to any one of his 11 doctors.  I was thrilled. My oldest son coming back with his wife and a new baby to live with us???!!!  Heaven for me.  Since Bill had pursued a business school degree and wasn’t interested in getting his, (entrepreneurship runs in his veins), I was happy to work some of his ideas for the business, especially now that the US Economy was on a roll, meaning, expanding.  (We still REALLY want to open a store at Disney Springs so this will be the start of moving those plans forward.)

Oh and did I say I am now officially a grandparent?  And now I have my father’s curse because there is chaos here at home.  There is baby stuff everywhere.  Drinking wine helps.

And a girl?  FINALLY??? After wishing for one we finally get our dream of dressing a little one in frills and bows.

And naturally, where does one go for her first excursion out – to Disney of course!  Our design studio is only a mile from the park so, we bundled her up, Jim in his wheel chair (he just had major surgery on his back two weeks earlier and was feeling better).  However, it was freezing and we had nothing to coordinate this munchkin in!  SO I am starting with designing a line of little dresses, perfect for those cute photo shoot for newborn.  Haven’t posted the pix yet for our latest collection of “Pegeen Babies“, but we are popping out new dresses all week long.

And, I am pleased to say that even though the hospital billed the insurance company for $187,000+, Jim is doing pretty good out of the hospital just two weeks.  Thank you Dr. Villalobus, an awesome Neurosurgeon.

Well I just can not win

That’s the bad news.  My oldest siblings get everything first.  Including nicknames. The good news is better however.  About a year ago, my oldest son got married. Then a few months later, went on his honeymoon to Hawaii. True to some family honeymoon tradition (hahaha)  they got pregnant with their first child. Unexpectedly, Jim and I found ourselves not only becoming new in-laws but grandparents-to-be.

Now lots of my friends have children much older than mine.  I didn’t start my family until my late 30’s so while my youngest used to beg me to dye my gray hair “Mom, people think you are my grandmom” he cried in first grade, it left the two of us young in spirit.  Then my oldest got married so young (for today that is) and well, soon in just a few weeks, I will be able to join that special club where you get to have all the lovin’ in the world and send them home.  (Who would want to?)

But, not feeling like a grandma yet, especially since I do color my locks every four weeks, I had to choose a name that didn’t say “old lady with now dyed hair”.  My sister chose “GiGi” and my other, “MiMi” which leaves me with only one name as far as I am concerned.

lollipop

How many of you all growing up in the 60’s remember this box?  It’s official, I’m Lolli and Jim is Pop – and this comes from a Mom who named her kids Bill and Ted for fun.  They took the good names, they won!

Always exciting to bring your kid back from college

As I wait to pick him up from his plane, thoughts run through my head….I wonder how fast I can get him to the barber!  I wonder, will I recognize the strength he now has that he finished another semester?  More importantly, can I get him out of bed the first two days he is home?

I baked his favorite cookies, his dad made him his favorite meal (spaghetti) and put clean sheets on his bed so there was no dust in the bed.  What a mom.  Let Christmas vacation begin.

I call it “SOMEDAY” – when your kid leaves for college again

Many years ago, when my oldest son was a toddler, I was watching a show on Oprah about Empty Nester’s.  About half way into the show, I became somewhat hysterical.  At the time, I had a UPS driver who was kind of excitable but loved Billy to death.  SO, that particular day, my driver came in to see me falling apart and all I could say was “Billy” and sobbed uncontrollably.  Well, Ricky, our driver, a good ole boy from SC was scared to death and ran to his nursery to see Billy cooing.  Puzzled, but relieved, he came downstairs to me to see what was my problem.  I continued my crying fest, wailing “SOME DAY”, still overwhelmed with what it was going to be like when my sweet little son went off to college.   I was hormonal (pregnant again) but still, that show hit me like a brick.  Luckily he was pretty close when he went off to school but it was pretty hard none the less.  My kids loved the story and would always tease me “Mommy, Someday” and fake tears.  Trust me, it always got me started and them a laugh.

Flash forward to now.  After a really nice summer we get to say goodbye again to our son.  It really is hard to let go of the deep love for them when they leave.  You find yourself looking around the corner, expecting them to trample down the stairs and miss the socks on the floor, although not that you have to smell them to see if they never got into the drawer (God forbid) or onto the foot.

We have had to take extra care with my son because of issues with both ADHD and the crippling difficulties he some times had in his high school starting, finishing, not restarting homework or papers. He has medical issues too so he has had to take off time on Medical Leave to get everything in control.  Yet I am really amazed at how well his University works with him.  They have excellent services and even though the student has to go and make the appointments it sure is different that when I was in college.

On many other levels, we have also had an excellent summer because this year we decided, due to medical issues, that it would be better if he didn’t work. That was of course after he did not make a deadline to get back to the company that was going to hire him.  (Another difficulty with ADHD students, remembering to check their phone, appointment calendars and messages).  “Take the semester off, you deserve it” my husband said.  So in many ways, after years and years of numerous AP classes and year round studies, we all felt that the pressure of an Ivy League school wasn’t pretty and he needed to face the start of the new fall semester fresh.  (Boy are his classes hard – I know, my husband and I sat in on one and thought the math professor was definitely speaking in foreign tongues, but alas – Calc5).

So instead, he helped me tremendously with our new website, with his own hours until he found his own routine, let his hair grow and stopped biting his nails.  I am fairly certain too that he played enough video games to NEVER touch them again (though he is good about not doing so at UPenn),  He also learned (because there are consequences after all) that working like he did for a small amount of money wasn’t as good as what he will be able to do in terms of a salary when he graduates.  Good lesson for a Millennial who would have LOVED to gone clothes shopping for new clothes for back-to-school, when the clothes you like are totally different than the ones you can afford. Although he never had any doubts about wanting to finish college, I believe he was learning that budgeting is different that all the things you truly want. (He’s actually quite good at it).

So, for the first time, my son really took off from studying – likely when school became super serious for him>  For example, in 2nd grade he took 6th grade math and read on an 8th grade level.  He was always pushing himself, competing with his other academic friends which was good.  He did a lot of work for me this past vacation, even helping with packing orders, and learning to prepare meals then cook them rather than me having to think about that during the week, was a great relief for me. Next summer he is doing an internship and like his past full time job at Disney, will be doing the 9 to 5 but honestly, he is so excited to be doing it in a field that he loves – building robots and mechanical engineering stuff for a mapping image company.  I am sure with each paycheck he will be going to the stores and checking out the clothes and then running over to the outlet malls and putting the math together of how much time it took him to earn that shirt.

A talk this week with a customer raising 4 girls (omg, the wedding costs) made me realize that our generation never really got the lessons in finance but in my house, if we wanted something, we worked for it.  I loved skiing – and from the time I was 13 when I made $.88 cents an hour plus tips, every ski ticket I bought cost me x amount of labor.  I am glad he took off time to learn this valuable lesson – true he didn’t work a full forty hours a week but he did learn that video games get boring and clothes are expensive.  This year, he also will live in a dorm suite with less cafeteria time and more in room kitchen cooking.  I know he is going to do great.  But, “someday” is back again and we will miss his smile every morning.  Well, his idea of morning that is.

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