Photo courtesy of gaylordhotels.com

My son recently went to see ICE! at the Gaylord National Hotel located in National Harbor. He thought it was the coolest thing in the world. There was a slide made out of ice and a whole lot of ice sculptures. The Gaylord has a ton of stuff for kids this month. Check it out! They also have a package for Grandparents that allow them to stay for free.

You can purchase individual tickets, which range from $10-$24.50.

There are family packages, too, with these perks:

Looking for free stuff to do? The National Harbor also has a tree lighting and light show, a water skiing Santa, and a Spirit of Christmas stage show. Check out the National Harbor events schedule here.

Happy holidays!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/dunleavey-is-mom-wasting-her-college-degree.aspx

MANILA — At a warehouse near Manila’s infamous Smokey Mountain dump, slum-dwellers working for a British-led charity are turning rubbish into fashion items that are proving a hit in top-end London shops.

Read more here

I had that epiphany on March 24, 2009 while on a blackberry messenger convo with my best friend.

We were talking about marriage and long term relationships and she had mentioned that the thought of marriage to her right now is scary. I said that being idle right now is scary. To me, if there’s no change, there’s no excitement and there’s no growth. At 26, I don’t have any particular goals and it scared me that I was at this point. I’ve always been a goal oriented person. I wanted to play Division 1 college volleyball on a scholarship (check!), I want to graduate college in 4 years (check!), I want to get my Master’s degree (check!), I want to get a good job (check!). Now— notice it’s all I want. I’ve gone through my checklist at this moment in my life (with the exception of marriage but I will leave that for another post).

So as I sit here at the office contemplating about my next life goal, a message from my best friend buzzes in my blackberry. It reads “Is it ok to not always be changing? I mean, you can’t make up goals from nowhere. Maybe you should focus on Payton as a goal. Not everything has to be a life milestone or be printed on a piece of paper.” She goes on to say “You can make improving your and Payton’s life a personal goal.”

This confuses me. I’ve never really thought of it as such. I’ve always wanted to make a big impact, to have a huge horrah, something tangible so that I can say and show that I’ve accomplished something in my life. I’m left with the questions “Where do I start?” “How do I know if and when this will be accomplished?” At this point my best friend was concerned that I hadn’t responded to her message so she sent another message that said “What did I do?” and I respond “You’re making me think outside my box” and she responds back “It’s not always about YOUR box”. That’s when I had my epiphany.

She was right. It’s not always about my box. That’s what confused me. I did things to make sure that Payton was taken care of. But I would need to do those things anyway to make sure I was taken care of as well. I would do those certain things inspite of the fact that I have Payton in my life. Payton will be starting his own schedule soon with all his extracurricular activties like football practice. It’s time for me to focus on those things now.

However— I think a reason why I haven’t jumped from my box into another is because I am afraid of being that parent who gets too involved in their kids’ lives that they completely forget they, too, have a life of their own. Grant it my situation is a little different in that after I had my child I was able to go back to school and focus on my education and myself. It had carried over in a lot of ways because I didn’t have to be a full-time mom right away.

Payton’s growing up fast. I need to focus on being a mom and being there for my child. But I always have to keep in mind that I will always and forever be Marie…but outside of my box.

Crap! I had forgotten to be toothfairy! I had completely forgotten that he had added yet another gap in his mouth from the day before. Concerned, I plopped him on my lap and gave him a hug and wiped away his tears. “Think, Marie! Think!!” So I came up with the lamest excuse as to why the toothfairy didn’t come by and do her duty as a toothfairy and leave the expecting child some money. “Maybe the toothfairy was busy last night. Or maybe it’s cause you didn’t shower last night. Maybe the toothfairy wants you to be clean before she can leave money under your pillow. Go take a shower and maybe there’s something under the pillow for you.”

As he got ready to take a shower, I waited until I heard him close the shower curtain to put a dollar under his pillow. I remembered to take the tooth too! I went back to bed to lay down so that he doesn’t think I was up and walking around. After his shower, he walked back to his room and in a few minutes I heard him tell my cousin, “Bea! I got a dollar from the toothfairy!”. I smiled at the fact that he was happy. He even showed me the dollar with his gapped tooth smile before he left the house for the bus stop.

So as I was driving to work, stuck in traffic, something dawned on me. My child probably thinks that the toothfairy is some clean freak. The toothfairy collects teeth and leaves money only IF the child is clean? This is probably the reason why adults turn into weirdos or why they have OCD. Because they had mothers like me telling them that they had to be clean in order to get something good in return. Oh well…crisis averted…until he turns into adult.

Teenage births are associated with lower annual income for the mother. Eighty percent of teen mothers must rely on welfare at some point.

Teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of school. Only about one-third of teen mothers obtain a high school diploma.

Teenage pregnancies are associated with increased rates of alcohol and substance abuse, lower educational level, and reduced earning potential in teen fathers.

In the United States, the annual cost of teen pregnancies from lost tax revenues, public assistance, child health care, foster care, and involvement with the criminal justice system is estimated to be about $7 billion.

With the statistics already being against teenage parenting, I did not want to become yet another statistic of being a “typical” teen mother. I made sure I did a couple things:

1. I didn’t drop out of school. Although it was tough, I finished school. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I would’ve finished school without the child, so why would I not finish because of the child? If anything, having a son gave me more of a reason to finish.
2. Get a decent job — I had an education to back up what I wanted to do, so why not go for a job that pays well? I mean, I went through all that schooling (and paid enough for it, might I add) and it wasn’t for nothing. That meant preparing a resume and giving it out to anyone and everyone I can think of and a well-written cover letter to go with it. It doesn’t seem like its hard work, but those who are or have gone through job hunting know it takes a lot out of you. It’s frustrating and time consuming, but when I landed the job that I wanted, everything else was cake (well for the most part).
3. Work hard — not just at my job, but with everything. My son looked up to me. He needs to see a role model that can strive to better themselves. Someone who is determined and strong. I was not going to be just another teen mom.

Grant it I’m no longer a teen mom, but I was once. Grant it I had already graduated from high school when I had my son, but that doesn’t matter. Whether you’re in high school or in college, having a child changes things. It can halt your dreams or but it shouldn’t kill it nor should it deter anyone from reaching their full potential as person.