In the beginning of motherhood, I was worried. I thought that if I couldn’t afford to travel or pay for a lot of stuff, then our lives would be void of phenomenal experiences. I believed that creating memorable experiences with my kids meant spending a lot of money on fancy lessons, memberships, activities, etc. However, I learned that creating amazing memories and meaningful activities with my kids DID NOT mean spending a lot of money.
I learned that I could do so much for free. Once I learned that, so many more options to create memorable and educational experiences opened up for my twins and me. We were no longer stuck at home, doing the same activities over again, or visiting the same places because we were exposed to so many more options. Each day became its own adventure doing something fun and experiencing something new. One of the cool things about it is that I got to experience the city through the eyes of my children, which gave me a new perspective for finding joy and appreciation in the small things.
Let me tell you what I recommend you do each month:
- Gather the magazines that are local to your area.
- Pick up the catalog of events and classes that is produced by your local library.
Doing this will help you in so many ways. Your local magazines have a pulse on what is going on in the city. For example, NortheastOhioParent.com lists so many activities parents can do with their children. The beautiful thing about it is that many of these activities are free. Of course, they list paid activities, as well, but the good news is that it gives you a variety of things that you can do.
The library is amazing because most of the activities and classes are free. (Honestly, I haven’t seen one that is paid, but I’m not a library expert so I’m going with most.)
Once you have these two foundational pieces of information, here are the next steps:
- Go through them and highlight or circle the things you are interested in. I prefer to have a hard copy of these two items because it is easier for me to stay organized and to clearly see what I am interested in.
- RSVP if necessary. Do this once you decide it’ll work for your calendar because some activities fill up fast.
- Add it to your calendar. This will help you to remember what you signed up for. If you can no longer attend, please call and change your RSVP.
If you start with these things first, you can fill your calendar with the free items (or things within your budget) and then decide which days you need to fill in after that with paid activities, outdoor time, memberships, etc. This approach will give you an amazing variety of things to do with your children and keep the majority of those things free.
Leave a comment to let me know how you plan to use these tips!
