Confessions of an ex-Webkinz Mom

I despise Webkinz. I also despise the Internet for kids. I used to embrace it and hell, my own Master's thesis was on how technology in small amounts could be good for kids of certain ages. I am so very wrong and the devil himself lies in that damned Webkinz site.

I hate the mom I became when I got a Webkinz for The Princess. She asked for one and I had no problem with her wanting to go online and play games. I knew I was in trouble when the webpage was always down for "upgrades" or "repairs." I'm married to a techie, so I know these terms well.

I wasn't prepared for the million of snot-infested meltdowns my daughter would have because she couldn't feed Furry Girl (her Webkinz toy) and because of that, she'd die that night and no one, not one person could save her! How would I convince The Princess that this isn't reality? I explained the website concept but to a five year-old, Furry Girl was her baby and she was neglecting her baby when the website was down, which for us, is daily.

Ganz has not, to this day, replied to 19 of my emails. I'm embarrassed to say I sent emails asking why her rooms were deleted, along with 4000 kinz cash points. When did that become so important to me? I didn't like that person.

I didn't like how other moms would play checkers with me and they'd get all, "oh it's on" when they played checkers, and I'd be all "good move" but really, I was thinking, "I'm a 33 year-old and you're an adult as well and here we are, pathetically fucking around in a kid's checkers game so our kids' FAKE animals can buy ugly ass t-shirts."

It was entertaining, but I could tell some parents got pissed when I would win in the Tournament Area, especially the Super Modelz game, because that's how I roll. I love me some whacky fashion!

Webkinz has taught me that no matter what, my kid benefits 100x more by playing outside in the grass, with snot running down her face and little pieces of hair sticking to her face thanks to the said snot. Sitting in front of a computer taught her to play checkers with someone's mom or dad, and that if something went wrong with the site, everything she worked for will one day vanish and she'll let Furry Girl die a horrible death.

My daughter did learn that Furry Girl had a hell of a lot more fun sitting on a beach in Dubai, with the Burj hotel on one side, the beautiful sea on the other. Furry Girl loved the flight on Air France and enjoyed play-eating lamb and mango desserts. Furry Girl loved being in the train in South India and loved riding in autorickshaws. She loved playing with friends in Oman, and loved coming back home to Texas in a long flight, keeping the Princess company every step of the way.

No computer could ever replace that experience Furry Girl had. Traveling the world kicked SO MUCH MORE ASS than Goober's Lab and Quizzy's Word Challenge, people.

Furry Girl sitting on a train from Bangalore to Coimbatore, India

Update

I'm on a new kick. I say "new" because, when faced with the possibility of actually having to go out into the workplace, I've decided to find ways to save money in our household. Funny how the threat such as, "Get yo ass to work now" from The Man has turned into, "Hey kids! Let's eat the same thing for dinner 3 times in a row, okay?" Tell this mama to go to work and she blossoms into a new woman, one willing to not eat out, as well as willing to feed her kids sandwiches for dinner. (Which, btw, I LOVE. I can get so creative and it's fairly inexpensive.)

While I love the idea of working, I love the idea of being a stay-at-home-mom more. My kids need me. My son is still homeschooled, although he's become much more of a successful independent learner lately. I can't imagine having a workload of a real job and keeping my household responsibilities up. I greatly admire women who do it all. I'm not one of those women. I can't do it all. I think we'd be a pretty raunchy household if I had to do it all, and we'd be eating dog food for dinner regularly because I can't do it all. Just can't.

As of now, I'm finding ways to cut corners. By cutting corners, I've:

• started using our Hybrid car for all travel, and our SUV stays at the airport while The Man travels
• started documenting my spending at grocery stores, Wal-Mart, gas stations, and online purchases
• started researching foods that are on sale at certain stores and learned which stores offer cheaper options for certain items
• learned how to freeze meals and how to make bigger batches of things to freeze for lunches
• cooked in bulk and with cuts of meat that are cheaper yet still healthy options
• stopped eating out (gasp!)
• quit my 3x/week Starbucks habit (even bigger gasp!!)
• started planning trips out with the kids. I plan accordingly with snacks and re-bottles of water in order to avoid stopping at Starbucks because I'm thirsty (nice excuse for a latte, huh?)
• Did I mention I've stopped eating out? Yea, I did? Well, that's a big one for us!

We've been spoiled by The Man's consulting life. In our previous life, we ate out almost everyday because the company paid for it. We got used to that life, along with free car rentals, free hotel, free flights, and really, it's hard to break those habits. We still get many perks like great hotels for free, but I want to learn to make our money last.

My goal this month is to finish saving for my dishwasher. While I could go to Sears tomorrow and put every appliance on credit, I won't. I'm upgrading our appliances one at a time and by the end of February, I will have devoted 2 months' savings to pay for a dishwasher! (About $500!) I use Bank of America's Keep the Change program and I also devote money at the end of each week to this fund. Some weeks, I put $5, some weeks I put $40. It just depends. I'm proud of myself because it's a goal. The nice thing about this is we can splurge a bit if we pay one appliance at a time.

We will be creating a television fund. With this fund, we will save for a new television for our family. We use old televisions in our house, and we want an upgrade, so we'll set aside $ for that as well. It's good to have goals, and good to set aside even small amounts for these goals. I encourage everyone to do this because, it adds up and feels great!

Goals for February

• Keep food budget at $400/month for this family of 4
• Utilize the envelope method, giving myself cash to keep for designated expenses, nothing more added to it, nothing less in it
• Make a budget that is do-able, while still allowing ourselves $ for fun
• Not being such a mad cheapskate. I need to lighten up when The Man wants three bags of beans instead of one. Even though I'm right. Always.
• Start our television fund
• Finish my dishwasher fund and get my dishwasher in early March
• Get a better handle of how to use coupons. This is a HUGE GOAL! I'm clueless.

I haven't updated in a while!

I'm starting fresh...I want to comment on my friend's blogs and now it may keep me blogging, too!

Where We're Going and Why

Here are some maps from our itinerary on our trip. It's kind of exciting when you actually see where these places are.

We start in Bangalore and will be staying in this house, which is pretty and quirky all at the same time.

After Bangalore, we will visit The Man's parents in their new hometown of Coimbatore. (Here follow a slew of shamelessly borrowed pictures from Flickr or Google.)

Coimbatore--not a very exciting photo. (Courtesy of Flickr.)

Next we will head to Trivandrum, I think. It goes by another name, not sure about the name but here is one picture. This is one place I'm really excited to see. It's in the state of Kerala, where The Man's parents are from originally.


We'll head back to Bangalore then go to Agra by train. Agra is where the Taj Mahal is. I see pictures like the one below and I just want to pinch myself in amazement. I cannot believe I'll finally see something so majestic and so out of reach in my own mind. It's just bewildering.


After Agra, we will head back to Bangalore and then over the Arabian Sea to Muscat, Oman and then Dubai, UAE. (United Arab Emirates)


Dubai is in UAE and that borders Saudi Arabia and Oman. Oman borders UAE, Yemen, along with Saudi Arabia with the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman on other borders.

Here is a random picture of Muscat, Oman, where we will be staying:

One view of Dubai.


After leaving Dubai and Oman, we head back to Bangalore then back to the US.
What an exciting few weeks we'll have!
I plan on using this blog to keep my family and friends up-to-date on everything.

Please keep us in your prayers for a safe journey, wonderful times with family whom I've never met, and continue to pray none of us get ill and that the trip runs smoothly.

India News and Just Stuff

Well, the time is nearing. We're going to India soon and I want to make sure I will use this blog space for our travel log, a way to connect with family and friends.

In preparation for our trip, I'm ordering The Man's parents some photo books. I'm also getting my parents one, too. I need to get the kids malaria medication as well as any immunizations ASAP. (Mental note: Do this sometime this week!!)

The Princess needs special stuff because of the heart condition. Not that she needs special medications, but our local travel clinic won't see her and dispense the meds. Her pediatrician needs to do that, so it's kind of a hassle. The Rock Star is getting excited about the trip, I think. He won't say anything, but he is.

As far as homeschooling, I love the AP US History program I had The Rock Star doing, but it's just not for his learning style. He's not doing well with an online learning medium, so I plan on purchasing a homeschool curriculum for history. I do have him reading the book Lies My Teachers Told Me by James W. Loewen. He seems to understand it, but we have to go over things a bit closely for comprehension.

He's also reading Lord of the Flies (remember reading that in school??). He seems to like it somewhat. I have to give credit to Literature teachers everywhere. Learning and actually teaching allegorical concepts and things like that is tough stuff!!

The Princess continues to battle homeschooling with me. I may put her in school next year because she really doesn't enjoy it at all. She seems to at times, then she pouts and wants to quit. I gave her math paper to do last week and in huge letters she wrote the word "NO" on the bottom. That was all she did! So, I've got my hands full with that child. I know she's still fairly young, so I'm not too depressed about it yet, but if it continues, we may have to send her to school next year, which is fine.

We've had my aunt staying with us for the past 3 weeks, and have had company from Georgia come into town. We've kept busy and love having them all. I will miss having my aunt around to bug and the kids will miss her a lot, too. I know they will.

Still here...will update shortly!

Homeschooling Kicks My Boot-ay

I never, in my wildest dreams, thought homeschooling was going to be so difficult! I think it was my own naivete, but I am completely overwhelmed! I have so much to do, so little time to do it in.

The Rock Star has officially started 9th grade and I have him in an AP US History Course I'm teaching him. It's basically college level, and I'm doing all I can to keep up with his readings and term project already started. He's got tons of work to do that keeps him busy for a very long time, not to mention he's doing Biology, Algebra, and Spanish. I am combining my English/Grammar with his History and doing Geography and Map Skills with him in addition to all of that. It's a miracle I can keep my head afloat.

The Princess is doing reading, phonics, and some whole language stuff. Having been a teacher, I find no one program is great for all kids, so it's been my luck that my one kid isn't great for all programs! I'm mixing and mashing up a few programs but the good news is not only is she reading really well, she's comprehending, which is a whole other world in and of itself. She is also doing 1st grade math and we'll be changing curriculums soon, for one we feel is a better fit for her. (She's not very abstract and the one we use now is very hands-on, and she's bored.)

I find I am forgetting appointments, times to get together with friends, and some other things so I need to learn to better manage my time and talents accordingly. I am going to work on time management skills and hope I can find a nice middle ground where I can teach them at home, have time to make dinner, and do everything else in between. I can't lose sight of the fact that their education is the priority but when you're home all day, you kind of feel like you should be doing something else, ya know?

I may post some pictures of art projects The Princess has done recently. I have my aunt here with us, and she is mentally handicapped, but she LOVES doing these art projects and homeschooling with The Princess. So, I have an extra student in the class who helps out with the really creative stuff! FUN!