I love teaching, but....

Teaching is great! I love helping other people develop skills that have real world application and will help them as they progress through college! I'm so lucky to not only love what I do, but love who I work for! The only down side is that, as a teacher, I only work eight months out of the year. Having three months off during summer is nice and the month off mid winter is great, too, but man is it hard to budget for something like that! Especially when you don't get your first paycheck until you've been working at least 3-4 weeks every semester.

I'm new to teaching exclusively and so little, so I'm still working on the details, but right now it looks like a $50 a week grocery budget for the three of us along with $50 for gas and $5-10 to spend on entertainment for William (read: activities that burn off some of his crazy toddler energy).

So far, William is in Soccer Tots one day a week (thanks Grandma) and goes to The Little Gym once a week also (glad I prepaid for that on black Friday). Soccer Tots is less expensive and only lasts for 8 (I think, maybe 10) weeks, but it is more structured, so it took a little longer for William to catch on.

There are also open gym times at both Fort Boise Community Center and a Friend's Church near Garden City. Fort Boise is $1 per visit and the hours are 9-11am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Friends Church is $1.25 unless you buy a punch card which makes it $1 per visit and is open from 10-noon on Thursdays and Fridays. These really help get William to run around. Fort Boise is smaller/less crowded, and thereby less intimidating for both William and myself, but the Friends Church has more toy options due to the number of kids who go there. Both take place in a gymnasium.

We also went to the Silverstone Library for Silly Song and Dance time yesterday (Wednesdays at 10:30). As is typical, the first time was a little rough as William figured out what was expected of him in this new setting (he really wanted to play on the kiddie computers). I think it's a great educational opportunity and will be our new go to since Bodies in Motion no longer offers their free classes on Wednesdays. So many of the indoor play areas are just too expensive for us right now, so we're loving exploring our cheaper (or even free, like the library) options. The library also has a cool bookmobile which, although it doesn't help burn off toddler energy, is way cool for kids like mine who love vehicles of any sort! They get to go inside and the librarians who run the bookmobile are so full of energy and excited to see all the patrons who stop by. The schedule for their stops is available at the main library website (which also details the story times and activities at the Cherry Lane branch).

I know Boise, Ada, and Garden City libraries have cool stuff too, but since they're further away, I'm not going to link them. There is also a website called meet-up where I joined a group of local moms who plan playdates and activities, which is great (Boise's Babies and Tots)! I've only gotten to know a few moms so far because attendance to activities is pretty inconsistent- that's just what happens when you have kids :-). I can be a great way to get group discounts for things like Jump Time, too.

And finally (for today), the Boise Watershed! (What?! Gross!) They have occasional free classes on Saturday mornings that involve hands-on learning for the kids and sometimes a scenic walk along their property. On the provided link, you will also find the Foothills Learning Center. Both of these places may seem like something for someone a tiny bit only (like 3-4 and up maybe), but I think a two year old accompanied by his father would have a great time, too.

Now I'm off to try to schedule a visit to a local fire department for William and some of his friends. It may take a little extra work and/or some reseach, but there's tons of stuff to do with high energy kiddos until the weather is nice enough for regular trips to the park!

What a lovely, snowy day!

When you wake up with too much snow on the ground to drive anywhere (crazy Idaho drivers!) and a toddler who needs to burn some serious energy, what exactly is an exhausted mom to do?! Seriously. Tell me. I really don't know. We began with some balloon action:

I started to get concerned he might pop one in his face. He was rolling on them, bouncing on them, and running his ride-on toys into them! This kid is WILD! After I took the scissors to them (for safety's sake), we tried building a fort.

Ya, seems like it should be fun. But, once again, this kid is WILD! After playing inside for a little bit, he decided what he really needed to do was climb on top of it. So mean mama once again ruined the fun and took the fort down. Man, I'm such a drag! Sometimes, it's just about survival, so until I decide I'm ready to take him out into the snow, we're watch Curious George while I make potatoes coated in Lipton's French Onion soup mix. Haven't had it before, so we'll see if it's a total failure. Oh well, better to try and fail than to not try and... wait, maybe not. Now off to get out the snow gear and start building up energy for our outdoor adventure!