Over the last few years I’ve seen the trend of school budget cuts for everything from art, music, and physical education. Schools are being shut down while prisons are being built in Pennsylvania and other urban cities around the country.
How Do Schools Survive Budget Cuts?
The school districts that remain struggle year after year with over-crowding, lack of parent engagement, and Ritalin overload. At the beginning of every school year parents are spending more and more money for school supplies. The things school used to supply in years past are now being passed on to parents despite paying high property taxes.
Sometimes public schools feel like private schools because the price tag keeps getting bigger and bigger due to budget cuts. There has definitely been a shift in priorities so I’m partnering with True Blue Schools to help you cope with these costs. It’s still important to contribute but it doesn’t have to put such a strain on your budget, especially when you can get help.
How Can You Give Without Breaking the Budget?
How can your school benefit from the power of many small (less than $10) monthly contributions?
The answer is as simple and as close as your natural gas bill. TrueBlue Schools program helps schools raise money in a simple, yet effective way.
TrueBlue Schools Win, So Can Your Child’s School
Some schools have earned $5,000 in a matter of months, $10,000 in a year and more than $40,000 over the life of the program.
Your school could earn just as much or more when parent and friends switch natural gas providers. Get more details below. You can also enter to win a prize pack it includes there are many ways to enter to win.
Background on TrueBlue Schools
TrueBlue Schools is a fast and easy way to help your school raise money just by using Georgia Natural Gas. When you become a GNG Customer, sign up for TrueBlue Schools and we donate $5/month to the school of your choice. Plus, you get a discount on your bill (it’s a win for your school and a win for you!) The $5 is not added to your bill, TrueBlue Schools is no cost to you.
· Select a school to donations once your new gas service begins.
· Enter some basic information, and use our secure online website to switch your service to Georgia Natural Gas.
· Don’t forget to provide promotion code TRUEBLUE to receive up to a 15¢ per therm discount on your gas service, in addition a monthly $5 donation to your school.
· Remember, you can always call 1.866.ONLYGNG to sign up by phone, too.
TrueBlue Schools has donated almost $2M to-‐date. Spread the word!
Enter the Fall Family Giveaway
Enter to win a Fall Family Pack brought to you by Georgia Natural Gas. You have multiple ways to win but don’t forget to sign up for TrueBlue Schools to get money donated to your kid’s school too!
The pack includes:
1 Fall Family Giveaway including 1 insulated picnic tote, 1 stadium blanket, 2 chip clips, 2 lip balms, 2 mini first aid kits, 2 hand sanitizers, 2 insulated lunch boxes, 2 cell phone anti-‐slip pads, 2 Chap Sticks, 1 kitchen apple timer, and $50 in Target Gift Cards
Five ways to enter the Fall Family Giveaway (readers can enter five times for five chances to win):
Leave a comment: “What would your school do with $10,000?”
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Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Now that he is 13 years old and a few inches taller than me he thinks he’s grown and tells me so, quite often, while comparing our heights. I firmly let him know being grown is not about how tall you are but how mature you are. He just shrugs and walks away.
But back to why he is driving me to the brink. I am about to air some of his dirty laundry for the sake of illustrating an important parenting point so don’t judge me (or him).
When His Mess Disrupts My Peace There is H*ll to Pay
My creative son the Roman soldier. Everything made from cardboard and scrap fabric. Gotta love ’em!
Like mother like son. (This is when he was shorter than me…about a year ago)
My son is organizationally challenged but very creative. He gets it honestly from me but his mess is on a whole other level. I mean clothes everywhere and no matter how much I threaten to throw them all away, he is content with his mess.
I’m not one of those mothers who picks up behind him or nags him to clean everyday. My minimum request is to pick up your stuff and make sure there are no offensive odors coming from the room. Being driven to the brink is when his mess spills over into other parts of the house.
“Pizza under my sofa?”
“Really dude?”
” Unbelievable!”
Laying Down the Law Like Only a Ninja Momma Can
His sister ratted him out and I latched on the back of his arm (you know that really tender spot back there) like Cujo. Okay not that badly but I wanted to. I pinched and held on for a good minute while driving my point home about not leaving food under my furniture.
He took it like a little man and refused to cry or let a tear fall but his eyes got pretty round and he understood my point. I asked him what he has to say about it. “I’m sorry” was his response and “I won’t do it again” was his reply when I asked, “what else”.
The Prayer that Would Save Him From Ruin
He is just too cute! I prayed I wouldn’t spoil him for the second woman in his life.
Who could resist the face of this little prince?
My kid was born handsome and I knew if I didn’t put myself in check I would ruin him for the world and any woman he ended up with. So I said a prayer for self-control so I wouldn’t be blinded by his cuteness and spoil him rotten. It’s worked so far but I still have to remain focused on the goal.
I am raising a man, a world citizen who will l eventually leave my home and become a member of society. He can’t make it if I let stuff like pizza under the sofa slide by without consequences.
Lecturing Teaching Personal Responsibility
Later I lectured him on the importance of being responsible and taking initiative. Keeping his room clean and learning are his only real jobs, while going out and working to provide a roof over his head and food to eat is my job.
He then mumbled something (because he dare not say it out loud) about learning being too hard. *Sigh* Big mistake to say that buddy!
Enlightening the Young Grasshopper About Learning
“Too hard?”
“Learning is too hard?”
Well you know I went into another 10 minute diatribe about learning. I explained that learning is something he is constantly doing. When he watches movies and tv shows (with the subtitles on) on Netflix and Amazon Prime he is learning.
When he plays video games he is learning. When he talks to people like grandpa and his aunt he is learning.
When he goes on YouTube and learns how to make a sheath for his new sword out of duck tape he is learning.
“So learning is easy and I don’t ever want to hear you say it’s hard again.”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“You no longer have an excuse for not learning because it’s easy.”
Cracking the Whip and Doing Chores Builds Lifelong Character
After my lecture, er…teaching moment, I gave him cleaning instructions and left him to it.
Was he angry? Yes.
Did I care? Nope.
Why?
Because his temporary anger is less important than the long term lessons he will learn and that will equip him for the future.
I’m not his friend but his parent and life coach. Like a dojo master of life I must be tough when I need to be and kind/compassionate when the situation calls for it.
I’ve think I’ve learned to find a balance with both my kids. They each require different coaching styles from me. Where one can handle being fussed at the other dissolves into tears. One is stubborn and tough while the other is more pliable. Knowing their personalities is important in this process. Building character is the goal regardless of their personality because it is what matters at the end of the day.
How do you deal with your son (or daughter) when he/she threatens to drive you to the brink?
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Our year of travel continues. This time we went to Universal Studios Orlando and the Family Forward Retreat. It was really a treat for us because we had never been to Universal Studios. Being a parent blogger I had the opportunity to learn about the Family Forward Retreat organized by the Mom It Forward team. They are a great bunch of ladies that went all out to make our time amazing.
The retreat was all about building strong families no matter what kind they are. We fit right in as a single parent family and showed how we too can be a Super Hero Family (the retreat theme).
On the Road to Universal Studios Orlando!
We got on the road for the 7-hour drive on Wednesday morning. I rented a car from Hertz rentals and had quite an interesting experience. I will tell you about that in another post. Despite the challenges we ended up with a 2-level upgrade through USAA’s member perks.
We drive down to Florida in the sporty 2013 Impala. I really enjoyed driving that car seeing as I’m a speed demon. Fortunately, I didn’t get any tickets. The ride was smooth but not very family friendly. It had the space but no cup holders in the back, uggghhh!
Loews Royal Pacific Resort
We survived and made it to the beautiful Royal Pacific Island Resort where we were to stay. Talk about beautiful! See the pictures below for evidence of the paradise we stayed in.
When we walked into the Royal Pacific Resort we were greeted by friendly faces from the valet to the front desk staff. The manager came out and personally said hello and assured us that we could come to him for anything we needed.
This was a massive property complete with a zen-like water garden off the lobby, plenty of shops, several restaurants that we splurged on. The breakfast buffet was heavenly. I think I like the large floor to ceiling windows that brought the outside in.
We stayed in a double bedroom that was comfortable. I can’t say our view was all that great because of the construction going on at the time. We honestly didn’t spend much time in the room because there was so much to do. It was our official crash pad. All in all I would definitely want to go back and I’m sure the kids would too.
Pre-Planning with a Budget
I made a budget for food and gas before our trip. Thanks to my convenient Bluebird card I was able to stay on track for the most part. I admit I did get a little wild with my spending, but the bulk of my expenses were safely tucked away on the card so I didn’t have to tap into my regular checking account.
Family Forward Fun
The first part of the trip was spent with the other families at the retreat. It was a very well organized event that incorporated every member of the family. I liked that my kids were just as much a part of the retreat as I was. I’ve gone to other conferences were they’ve had to basically fend for themselves or be bored waiting for me to finish my seminars. This family retreat was truly family focused.
There were family activities and crafts we could do together. It was fun to come up with unique ideas for our crafts. The presenters were very good and kept the kids’ attention for the most part.
I think the most fun thing we did together was the photo booth. We got to show our silly side in the pictures. Snap Photo Booth did an amazing job. We got to go through the booth two times so we had twice the fun.
We had our first chance to step into Universal Studios when we got an exclusive viewing of Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Island of Adventures. It threatened to rain but it held off long enough for us to taste the surprisingly delicious Butter Beer and interesting Hogwarts desserts at the Dessert Party.
One of the best parts of the trip was going to see The Blue Man Group. I have never been to a show like that before. I’ve wanted to see them for years but never got the chance until this trip. From start to finish all of our senses were engaged. We laughed, yelled, and danced. It was a booty-shaking party. The kids and I even got to take a picture with one of the Blue Men. It was interesting that they don’t even speak when they are not on stage. Maybe it’s all the blue paint, LOL!
The Family Forward Retreat is definitely one I would attend again. I felt closer to my kids and could feel they were happy and content to be there bonding with me and each other.
Here is a slide show of our entire trip. I believe Universal Studios Orlando is definitely the best attraction for older kids and adults hands down.
Have you been to Universal Studios Orlando before? What was your favorite ride?
The post sponsored in part by Bluebird by American Express
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Hi! Welcome to RichSingleMomma.com. I started this website almost a decade ago because I couldn't find any blogs back then that helped single moms with money. I was having some success in that area so I decided to share what I knew about side hustles, making extra money, and managing money. Read more...