Browsing all posts in July, 2009.

Introduce the Kids to Banking

Our household accounts at area banks have been taken over, transferred, or sold repeatedly, and we have dealt with the parade of ever-changing corporate logos for the sake of convenience and plain old inertia.  However, I wanted the kids to know the old-fashioned satisfaction of walking into a bricks-and-mortar bank and making a deposit. At some point, they need to see that money does not grow on trees [...]

The Thrill of New School Supplies

An old friend from grade school called me the other day. “I’ve made an escape from the house right now and am taking a LONG time to run my errands,” she confessed. “I just can’t seem to pull myself away from all these school supplies! I knew you would understand why I, a grown woman, would be [...]

Be Cautious of “Brandjacking” E-mails

I have a “junk” e-mail address that has apparently been shared far and wide with internet marketing forces from the dark side. Now I’m receiving crazy e-mails every day from all sorts of dubious sources. I actually find many of these highly entertaining,even if they are implausible. Here are some of my favorite subject lines:
* Your watch is [...]

Participating Upromise Restaurants in Birmingham

I am a big fan of Upromise, the program that lets me use my registered debit/credit card at participating merchants and earn a percentage of my purchase for the kids’ college tuition. It’s a little thrill to me to buy something that I would have purchased anyway, then receive a notice showing a subsequent benefit to my Upromise account, [...]

Finding Energy Leaks at Home

This summer’s unrelenting heat seems to have touched me in the head. I’ve been on a mission to find out how to make the house more energy efficient, especially since we seem to adopt a new electronic device every other month. I’ve done all the basic things like install CFC bulbs, program the thermostat, and walk through the house periodically turning off [...]

Kids Avoid Baths in Summer

What is it about summer that makes kids hate baths? It’s the same argument that has been used for years against making the bed in the morning – why go to the trouble when you’re just going to fall into the bed again that night? Likewise, the summer anti-bath argument goes: Why take a bath tonight when you’re [...]

Fitting in a Late Road Trip This Summer?

Many years ago I was the only southerner in a training class for my first job out of college. A fellow trainee from New Jersey admitted, “When I think of Alabama, I have one of two images: Tara-like plantations, or chickens pecking out in front of a shotgun cabin.”
Likewise, I shared what came to my mind for New Jersey at that [...]

Movies in the Park – Nine Tips for Making the Most of Summer’s Best Family Venue

If you’ve gotten into a weekend rut this summer, shake yourself and decide to check out the next movie in the park. These are well-organized, secure, clean, and perhaps best of all, free. Homewood, Hoover and Vestavia regularly feature movies in their parks (see the BirminghamMom.com calendar or check the community center office), and there are probably many [...]

Plug Summer Brain Drain

As an adult, it’s easy for summer to become just another season spent in conditioned air, punctuated with a trip to the beach or a long-awaited vacation from the usual routine. Chances are you stay just as challenged with work, home projects, and volunteer/family obligations during the summer as you do with your pursuits during the rest of [...]

Transform a $1 Clipboard into a Cute Document Holder

Most moms I know tend to roll their eyes at the mention of craft projects, probably because they already have enough dried glue sticks rattling around in their kids’ pencil boxes. However, the promise of transforming something ordinary into a boutique-worthy piece is encouraging, and if it won’t cost us much to fail, the prospect becomes almost irresistible.

Several months ago BirminghamMom listed self adhesive wrapping paper from Hallmark as [...]