We just ran over to Whole Foods to pick up some goodies for the 4th of July and upcoming weekend. As usual, I had my stack of organic and sustainable coupons with me. When we arrived at the store, I stopped at the service counter to pick the The Whole Deal, Whole Foods coupon book. I was pleasantly surprised to find coupons for a couple of items on our shopping list. Did you know that even if you have a coupon for a free item, you can combine it with a store coupon and receive money back? For example: I had a manufacturers coupon for a FREE package of Stonyfield YoKids yogurt cups, I combined that with a $1.00 off store coupon – equally a dollar back into my pocket. By using a combination of store and manufacturers coupons, I purchased $30.77 worth of groceries for $1.17. Not bad!
Are you a couponer? Do you have any couponing tips to share?
We recently moved into one of the largest family friendly neighborhoods in Palm Beach. We were super excited to move here, especially considering the wide sidewalks for riding bikes, an amazing lake for hours of fishing, large expansions of grass to play on, a resort style swimming pool and even cool, woodsy areas to explore. We thought and still think it is a great place for Eben and were hopeful that he would make friends quickly.
The problem? In a neighborhood known to be family friendly – there are no kids to be seen anywhere. Except the pool – where they HAVE to be supervised by an adult, it’s a RULE (which it should be.) If you are lucky you will spot a kid or two riding a bike or fishing in the pond here or there, usually with a parent hovering nearby. It’s hard to make new friends in a new neighborhood during the summertime if the children don’t go outside! It’s makes it harder when you have an only child – I don’t necessarily want to send Eben out into a new neighborhood by himself to explore, I would rather he make a friend to do that with. So far, no dice. It’s a good thing he has friends outside of the neighborhood. What has happened to all of the free-range children?
Growing up we lived in a small cornfield community in rural Utah, in a neighborhood that was flooded with kids. Whether it was before or after school or during those long summer days and evenings, I remember spending every possible moment outside with the gang. It didn’t matter who you hung out with at school, when you were home all of the neighborhood kids ranging in age from elementary all the way through high school would get together. We played capture the flag, freeze tag, jumped on the trampoline, rode our bikes on the dirt mounds in vacant lots, hung out in empty houses under construction collecting nails and extra wood to build forts with, walked to the gas station to buy candy and waded in the irrigation ditch looking for frogs.
Our parents didn’t schedule play dates. Most of the time, they didn’t even know the parents of our friends. We were left to make our own friends, work out any differences or arguments that we had and decide who we wanted to hang out with. Our parents weren’t hovering nearby to work things out for us when an issue occurred – we learned to work them out for ourselves.
Did I also mention that I had (what I considered) very strict, protective parents – so much so, I felt I never got away with anything. Yet, they still let me play outside with my friends every day and some evenings. I still went to sleepovers, was dropped off at the mall, movies or amusement park (another phenomenon to me – do kids still do these things alone?) and even stayed home alone with my siblings all summer while my parents worked. While they were strict and protective, they also trusted me and gave me space to learn how to be independent.
And as I grew older the more confident, self-reliant and independent I became. I went through a rough time in high school and my early years of college. There was a period of time where I didn’t have anywhere to stay, yet I feel that through those adventures as a child I grew into a smart, capable and competent teen and young adult who was very capable to taking care of myself. I survived, adapted and was able to get myself back on my feet and moving forward – by myself. I was able to rely on myself when no one else was there to help me.
I am certain this mysterious case of the missing children is based on worse case scenario thinking as parents. We are more influenced by the influx of panic-inducing media coverage that has caused a new cultural trend of parental paranoia than actually statistics that show the U.S. is safer now then when we were children. Instead of letting our children gain independence – we hold onto the “what if” – it paralyzes us.
As an adult I worry that the children of this generation may more than struggle if they fall on hard times once they are out of the family nest. What if they aren’t able to go back to their parents for help? Will they be able to survive and thrive on their own – if they haven’t ever had time to practice those skills?
Thoughts? Do you allow your children to be free-range, adventurous types? Or do you stick to more protective approach? Or a little bit of both?
What is the most adventurous thing that you ever did as a child? What is the most adventurous thing that you ever allowed your child to do?
—————————————————– P.S. A little side story, while in the Florida Keys the mister and I wanted to go for a walk along the beach and Eben wanted to stay and snorkel in the shallow waters. At first I was hesitant to leave him there “alone” while we went on a walk. I really had to tell myself that he is an amazing swimmer (remember he saved 2 girls from drowning earlier this summer) and he is super competent in the water.
Once in a while I will wake up in the morning to find coffee drips down the hallway tile or down the staircase to the front door. The mister gets up very early for work and during his morning routine spills as he walks through the house getting ready for his day. Even better is when I bump my morning cup of Joe with my elbow while typing and spill cover all over my desk or knock it completely off onto the floor. Ugh. Does this happen to anyone else?
Then, there is another problem all together: while I love my cup of coffee, it takes me forever to drink it in morning and inevitably by the time the cup is halfway gone, the coffee is super cold and I need to reheat it. The mister has this problem at work to – except he drives most of his day and heating up a cup of coffee isn’t usually an option.
We were super excited to receive a package of reusable stainless steel travel mugs from Contigo. Contigo’s line of reusable travel mugs have an autoseal technology that automatically seals between sips – meaning that when I knock my coffee over at my desk, or the mister bumps around in the morning, no spills! The mugs and bottles are 100% spill proof and believe me we have tried – and they don’t even leak a little bit. They also have superior insulation properties that keep your beverages hot or cold for up to 8 hours! These are amazing.
If spilling coffee isn’t a problem for you – check out their reusable water bottles. Everybody needs one of those and Contigo’s water bottles are fantastic too. I have been using mine for everything from biking, exercising, yoga, paddleboarding, and for sipping water during the day. There are no caps to open and no lids to remove making it super easy to take a sip while riding a bike or using the elliptical machine! The water bottles also have the autoseal technology which means I can throw it in my handbag or yoga bag and it doesn’t spill. These are also great for the kids, they are BPA Free, and come in a rainbow of colors. Eben always leaves his reusable bottles on the backseat of my car. However, now there are no spill marks on my cars eats! Yay for technology!
I love Contigo reusable mugs and water bottles so much, I want to share them with you. I am giving away a set of 5 Contigo Reusable Mugs and Bottles. One lucky winner will receive and ! These will be perfect for home, school, work, exercise or a trip to the beach!
Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway ————————————————————————- Contigo is offering all Sweet Greens readers 20% off their entire order using coupon code COMMUTERPROMO
Full Disclosure: I received a set of Contigo reusable travel mugs, water bottles and gift card compensation. However all opinions are my own and I would have purchased these reusable mugs either way.
Hello, Friends! How was your week? After an amazing vacation last week in the Keys, it has been fun getting back into the swing of things. Vacation always grounds me, I come back energized and ready to take on the world! It does wonders for the mister too – he went to the doctor this week and she told him that his blood pressure was the lowest that it has ever been! It has been a good week for Eben too – his best friend is staying with us. It’s been Minecraft, Minecraft, Minecraft around here!
Can you believe it is almost July! Is it just me or is summer just zipping by? Do you have any amazing 4th of July plans? We will be visiting our dear friends in Atlanta and I can’t wait. We lived in Georgia a handful of years ago, it will be fun to go back and see how things have changed. Or stayed the same. Eben can’t wait to visit the Georgia Aquarium again – they have the most amazing whale sharks, his favorite!
Tomorrow morning we are getting up bright and early to hit the ocean on Bambolina, our sailboat. I am looking forward to a day of sunshine with my boys. My favorite part of sailing is sitting back while the mister controls the sails and the wind blows through my hair. It is an amazing feeling! While I hit the great, big blue, here are a few things I wanted to share with you:
While at Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys, we always plan to spend our afternoons at Sandspur Beach. After a long day of snorkeling, sailing, or paddleboarding, Sandspur Beach is the perfect place to relax. Known as the best beach in the Florida Keys, you quickly understand why when you get there. The sand is powder soft and the water is super warm with beautiful hues of dark blue to light aquamarine. It is paradise!
The water is super shallow and you can walk quite a distant out and still touch the bottom. In fact there are many sandbars that you can walk out to, set up your umbrella and it’s like you are on your own mini private island. The water is super clear so you can see to the bottom as well – making it easy to watch fish swim by and great for snorkeling (if you are patient, there aren’t a ton of fish, you mostly have to wait and see what you will come across). If you want immediate gratification snorkeling, scoot over to the 7 mile bridge for great snorkeling. There are meandering walkways in the water, part of the bottom is completely covered in sea grass and the other is a mixture of soft sand and shells. This is an excellent beach if you have small children and is perfect for swimming, relaxing, snorkeling, and exploring.
Sandspur Beach is amazing for collecting sea biscuits, empty conch shells and for observing the amazing creatures that live in the sea grass. We spend a lot of our time combing the beach and snorkeling for shells. Eben found a large empty conch shell and a couple of sea biscuits. In the past, we have found dozens of sea biscuits.
While snorkeling we observed crabs, sea hares, fish and were even lucky even to spot a seahorse. The mister has been looking for a seahorse for years – and after floating above the sea grass literally for hours, he spotted one as it darted from one sea grass patch to another. He carefully urged the seahorse into his mask so we could take a couple of quick photos. Isn’t she amazing?
Eben was delighted to find a couple his favorite sea creatures in the warm water – the Sea Hare. These little critters are silky soft, and ink a dark purple-reddish color if you pick them up. They suck to your hand and will crawl along your arm if you let them. They are so sweet looking, like a giant slug.
Do you have a favorite spot for snorkeling, swimming or exploring? I would love to hear about your summer adventures!
