Teaching Kids Community Responsibility

I thought I would take a break from my usual postings and talk a little about how to teach children that the world continues beyond their front doorstep. I have a fifteen year old son that has no clue about the needs of others in our community. I ask myself if I have failed him by not stressing this as he grew up. We tend to get so caught up in our day to day business, the strife of others gets placed on the back burner. So I decided to get active and realized it is never too late to teach kids about giving back to the community. I figured it was time for all of us to start volunteering. Not only is it good for others, it looks great on college or job applications. Not knowing where to start, I just searched online for community service in my town. I found a great site called Hands On Inland Empire. It has an entire program for teens to choose from. He can volunteer at a nursing home, community yard work, read to elementary school children and more. I am letting him choose which program he would like to try. Hopefully, this experience will not only help him see the value in helping others, but also gratitude for what he has. Check your local area for volunteer groups. Let's start teaching kids, there is life outside of their high schools!

Tips For Amusement Park Deals

So my family and I decided to do a get-away to Six Flags Magic Mountain on Sunday. Not only were the kids screaming as they went down all of the action packed roller coasters, but so was my wallet. Money was flying out faster than the G Forces that thrilled my kids. Next time, I am going prepared! How do you save money when the kids are dying of thirst, begging for ice cream and ogling every churro cart that comes into sight? Here are a few handy tips you may want to use before hitting the theme parks this summer.

• Go online before you go. Most theme parks have a website that may have special deals, promotions or pricing that you would not be aware of unless you visited their site first. At Six Flags there is a special promotion that lets you bring in your Flip Video Camera to receive a free Flash Pass which helps avoid long lines. A very worthwhile tip if you are visiting during summer!



• Before purchasing tickets, visit sites like www.couponmountain or any other coupon site. Type in your destination and you may find a valuable coupon code that is not listed on their site. This could save you up to half on ticket purchases. For Magic Mountain, the coupon code COLDSTONE lets adults get in for the child's price.



• Look for special deals on dining. Some parks may have dining packages that lets you save when you purchase ahead of time. At Six Flags, you can purchase a souvenir cup for $12.99 and get refills of fountain soda all day for free. At first, I found this to be expensive but it ended up saving us quite a bit of money. With four thirsty kids and twelve hours of fun, this would have added up fast!

Don't avoid amusement parks because of cost. Do your homework and you could have a wonderful trip filled with summer fun and memories if you learn how to take advantage of all the money saving tips available.