Found Not Lost

This may sound weird when you’re single but when you have kids, especially young ones, bathrooms in public places take on added importance in your life. It becomes a deciding factor in where you go or how long you should stay. Call me neurotic, but when you have kids who immediately have to use the potty as soon as you get anywhere (sometimes before you even get there), it becomes very important that you have access to a clean restroom.

I’m glad my girls are older now and are more independent. I don’t have to worry as much about letting them go to the bathroom alone when we’re out and about but I’m afraid I’ve passed on my neuroses for bathrooms. They will not enter a public restrooms unless it’s clean. If it smells, they will rather hold ‘it’ than use the bathroom. You can forget it for some reason pest control has been overlooked because they will zoom out of anyplace so fast if they even see anything crawling. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be crawling. It can be dead in the corner and they will refuse to go in the room.

I’ve noticed an increase of Family Bathrooms in newer malls and public buildings and I am glad. These family rooms allow mom, dad and kids to use one large room together.

This alleviates mom from doing all the bathroom duties as it was in our case. Since we have daughters, it fell up to me to take them to the bathroom every time. I couldn’t have my husband take them to the men’s restroom after all. Can you just imagine little girls in the men’s bathroom? It’s not even funny. I’m always sympathetic when I see a lone dad urging his little girl into the ladies room by herself. It’s a helpless feeling when you can’t go in with your child. It’s not even a matter of safety, although that is certainly a big concern, depending on how tall they are, they can’t always reach the commode or the sink comfortably. Or they could be like my youngest daughter who used to be afraid of the noise the hand dryers make.

When you have to do diaper changes or just general kid mess clean up, family bathrooms are a godsend! They are usually equipped with a changing table and you just have more privacy to undress your child and get them cleaned up properly. Another neat feature of family bathrooms is the kid sized potty. This is great when you’re potty training because the kids can use the little potty just like when they’re at home and they don’t get traumatized about using the adult sized commode. My girls used to be scared the would fall in and I was always scared they would touch the sides or other parts they’re not supposed to have their little hands on.

I like family rooms and support all public places that have them. I wish they had more of them when my daughters were younger but I am glad they are now more widely available for families with young children.

Speaking of summer vacations and touch economic times, gas prices once more rose over the Memorial Day weekend. This morning, I passed by a station posting $2.49/gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

It’s looking more like a ’staycation’ is in store for us this summer. Staycation means staying close to home. It means finding ways to occupy ourselves and entertain ourselves without having to spend a lot of money. It may also mean that the girls will have to find part time jobs or volunteer opportunities to keep them busy during the day.

We are planning on at least one short trip to the beach this summer. It just wouldn’t be summer if we didn’t get sand between out toes at least once.

One of our favorite places to go, within driving distance from our home, is Wilmington, North Carolina. And with Wilmington NC real estate on a downturn just like the rest of the country, beach rentals are actually reasonable this year even during the peak months. So we’re thinking we’ll take a week, rent a house and just chill on the beach. Renting a house or condo, it turns out, may come out cheaper than staying at a hotel room for the weekend. We can cook our food so that will save on having to pay to eat out all the time and we will have all the comforts of home. We won’t have to be worrying about driving to and from the beach and having to trek sand through the lobby; we can just shake all the sand on the deck and we’d be home!

Sounds like a plan to me, don’t you think?

It will be summer vacation in a couple of weeks and the kids are already wondering where we’ll be going for vacation. It’s been a couple of years since we vacationed in Vegas, and surprisingly, the girls really loved our time there as hot as it was. My sister was just telling me that Vegas hotels are having some major deals on packages this year. I guess they are encouraging people to still take vacations despite the recession. So I guess that’s one possibility for this summer, a road trip to Vegas!

No matter where we end up going this summer, one thing that is always part of our vacations is the Summer Reading List. The girls are required to read at least three books over the summer which they almost always surpass because we all just like to read anyway.

I found this great list on the SAT website called 101 Great Books Recommended for College Bound Readers. Whether you’re college bound or not, I think this list is worth keeping. Most of the books on the list are classics and should be required reading for most people. See how many on the list is already on your ‘have read’ list:
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Kids are utterly fascinated and are totally amused by grossness. Have you ever noticed? If you have kids, you know what I’m talking about. Kids can go on and on about poop and farts and burps and everything gross. My girls would roll with laughter everytime someone made a reference to poop. When they let one of them big noisy ones go, they just think it’s the greatest thing!

So I guess it is only to be expected that the next best attraction for kids is the Grossology Exhibit - Orlando Science Center. The new exhibit uses humor to teach the impolite science of the human body. It is a hands on exhibit that tells you all about everything you ever wanted to know about the human body. Yes, especially the gross stuff like what is snot, where do smelly gasses come from, do mucus people really live in the bowels of your body like the commercial? Questions that I’m sure keeps seven year olds up at night are answered in this exhibit. The exhibit includes activities like a rock climbing wall except it’s the human skin; a slide that lets you travel through a 3-D model of the digestive system (yea, imagine that!); or meet Nigel Nose-it-All who can tell you all about what causes a runny nose and what triggers sneezing and allergies; or experience the burp machine and the gas attack. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

Would this exhibit be best experienced before or after lunch? You decide. However, just make sure that kids visit the Kohler sinks in the restroom for some thorough hand washing before going to lunch.

Trent at The Simple Dollar asked, Does one bad experience spoil the soup? He is referring to our adverse reaction to certain brands or establishments as a result of one unpleasant experience that we pretty much boycott the product altogether.

That reminded me of all the whining I’ve been doing lately about the inconvenience of traveling nowadays. I whined about the higher prices, the luggage, the extra fees, I whined about the delays. But you know what, I think most of us expect that now. We don’t really expect first class treatment in coach anymore. Actually, I think even first class travelers will agree that the overall service of commercial flights have been declining every year. Even with all the things I complained about, they weren’t enough to make me stop flying altogether. It’s just too much of a necessity. I will still be flying commercial planes. I can’t afford to fly any other way.

However, I can avoid certain airlines. DELTA specifically. I don’t have to fly with them, they don’t offer anything more than what I can get from other airlines anyway. I am not going to fly with them anymore not because of high prices, luggage fees or delays. I’m not flying with them anymore because of one bad experience with one bad employee at one remote airport counter. It’s probably an isolated event, and maybe, I’m being a bit unfair but an experience with them still left a bad taste in my mouth and I can’t, in good conscience, keep giving them what little money I have to spend.

Here’s why…
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As much as I love to travel, I haven’t had an easy time liking the airlines this year. Not only are we paying more, we are also getting less service for our money. For instance, curb side check-in. This used to be a nice convenience to be able to drive up, check your bags in and go right up to the gate. I always appreciated the service so I always tipped the sky caps. This year, I found out they now charge two dollars a bag for curbside check in. When it seemed like I was only going to pay the curbside bag fee, I was gently reminded that gratuity is still accepted. What the???!!! Then the next time I flew, not only is there now a curb side bag fee, now you can only bring one bag and if you have a second, you’ll have to pay for that too! Depending on the airline, an additional $25-50. Of course we all know there is no longer food served on domestic flights. Now they are talking about making you pay for the measly cup of soda during the flight too! Oh, the peanuts have also gone a long time ago.

So maybe you’re thinking of just ignoring all those inconveniences and curling up under a blanket during your flight? Hmmm… they don’t really give out pillows and blankets anymore either and the ones that do, give you recycled pillows and blankets that someone slobbered on from the previous flight. Now a days you’ll need to bring your own meal, your own travel blanket and your own drink (oops, scratch that. You still can’t bring liquids through security). Traveling is starting to sound pathetic, doesn’t it?

You can take little comfort by bringing your own Cabin Cuddler. Whether you’re sitting in cabin or first class, you can make yourself a comfortable cocoon with the cabin cuddler. It’s your very own pillow and blanket that comes in a handy and stylish tote bag. The airlines have gotten cold in more ways than just the ventilation system; they don’t pamper you as much as they used to, so you’ve got to start taking care of yourself.