When Free Just Isn't Good Enough

In an attempt to gain some control over the effects of the recession, restaurants like IHOP have been offering special promotions.  IHOP, specifically, is offering "Kids Eat Free" where you get one free kids meal from the "Just for kids" menu with the purchase of each adult entree.

Yum, IHOP.  I decided it sounded like a good plan for dinner because, well, I didn't have anything thawed and didn't want to cook anyhow.  And IHOP was offering free dinner for the kids.  I love free.

So we headed off to IHOP, with Miss M exclaiming she wanted pancakes AND some of what Dad usually orders.  Miss K proclaiming that she only wanted what Dad usually orders.  What does DH usually order?  Country fried steak with pancakes, hashbrowns and eggs.  Think they have it on the kids menu?  We hoped so.  Did they?  Unfortunately not.

So we asked the kids what they wanted instead.  Miss M agreed to just have the chocolate smiley face pancake but Miss K stood her ground.  She can be a difficult eater and if she doesn't eat well then DH and I don't enjoy our meal.  It's frustrating, a waste of money and a pain because then she wants to eat something else when she gets home.

So we had a plan.  I would order what I wanted and get Miss M her pancakes as part of the "Kids Eat Free" program.  DH would order what he wanted and get a second entree free using a coupon from either the paper or our restaurant book.  Everyone would get what they wanted.  Sure we would end up with leftovers but that's okay because both kids would eat well and we would all enjoy the meal.

You know what they say about the best laid plans... When the server came to take our order, he said that we couldn't combine the offers.  It says so on the coupon and on the sign.  He explained that it's their policy that even if we split the check, the fact that we were at the same table prevented combining of coupons.  He was polite, but we were frustrated. 

We asked for a few minutes so Miss K could decide what she wanted and she decided she wanted Chick-Fil-A which was just two building over.  Miss M agreed.  DH knew I was in the mood for IHOP but I said to him "Yeah, but I won't enjoy my meal if she's going to be difficult."  So we agreed to leave.  We hadn't ordered anything except water at that point so IHOP wasn't out anything except our business.

But as we walked out, a gentleman (who had been seated at the booth right next to us shortly after we sat down) stopped DH to say he overheard the entire conversation.  "Good for you. It's hard enough to afford to take kids out to eat; I thought it was ridiculous that they wouldn't honor the coupon.  I left too.  I just wanted to let you know that you have my support."  So I guess IHOP was our business and his.

Yeah, I realize that IHOP has their policy, but we weren't asking for two free kids meals at the price of one entree.  We were simply trying to get the foods that the kids would eat utilizing the resources we had on hand.  If their goal is to bring in business then they need to think outside the box because if it isn't something you want, then free just isn't good enough.

...and as a bonus, Chick-Fil-A let us use two B1G1F coupons from our restaurant book.  Nice.

Mistakes You Only Make ONCE

Are We Wasting Taxpayer Dollars?

In just a few weeks, Miss K will begin Kindergarten.  My baby.  In school.  Full time.  It's just shocking.

But I'm not concerned because I know she's ready.  We've spent a lot of time reading to her, educating her, practicing her alphabet, numbers, word recognition and (gasp) even multiplication.  But we also enrolled her in preschool for the past two years and that helped prepare her socially for school.

Her first preschool encounter was a 2-days-per-week program through one of the local churches.  She enjoyed it and I felt she was making incredible strides.  Last year, she participated in Iowa's Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program.  Many parents in Iowa aren't familiar with it so if you're not from Iowa, I would be surprised if you were.  Whenever I strike up a conversation with a stranger in say, the doctor's office waiting room, I ask if their child is enrolled.  Heck, I even asked someone at a yard sale last week to make sure they knew.  To sum it up, the state has a program where preschools can apply for grant funding to help facilitate a Kindergarten readiness program for four year old children.   The primarily purpose of the grant is help increase opportunities and access to quality preschools.  Last year, we actually transferred preschools to be able to participate in the grant.  It's not that we thought our preschool was sub-par because it was great.  It's because the grant is typically used to offset tuition.  In other words, it was free.  Yes, free.  Thank you, Iowa taxpayers for paying for my daughter's preschool education. 

Some schools put signs out advertising that their preschool program is free.  They're proud of it because it's a community service and it's win/win for the community and the school.  Preschools get increased enrollment and money to replenish supplies, update toys/equipment and improve teacher wages while on the flip side, families can welcome monetary relief especially in this economic downturn. It's a great program - mostly.  It has a few flaws that I would like to explain...

I thought it was the norm - that preschools participating in the grant utilize the grant funds to subsidize the tuition.  But I recently found out that's not always the case.  In a few very rare cases, the preschools have opted to continue to charge tuition which seriously restricts how the grant funds can be utilized.  Since you only need so many consumable items such as supplies and educational materials, that leaves salaries as one of the few remaining allowable spending slots.  In these few instances, rather than pass the savings along to the community, the teachers are lining their own pockets because (to quote one) "I did a lot of hard work to get this grant and I think I deserve it."  Having worked with grant accountants during my days as an accountant for the city I lived in, I would have been shocked to hear "I applied for this (road construction) grant so I should get a raise."

So I'm stewing and feeling like my tax dollars are being wasted on a few greedy individuals rather than spread out to provide a quality education for families who might otherwise not be able to send their child to preschool.  I don't have any control over the situation other than to inform and educate so that (hopefully) the masses will let it be known that it's NOT okay to reap wages that are 50-100% higher than their peers are getting just because they took the initiative to apply for a grant.

If you live in Iowa and have a child who will be entering Kindergarten next year (2010-2011) then it's worth checking to see if your local preschool is participating in the grant.  If your child isn't enrolled, then what are you waiting for?  Preschool is a great jump-start in preparing for Kindergarten.  However, if your school is participating in the grant AND they are STILL charging tuition, ask them how much of a pay increase they received pre-grant versus post-grant.  If it's exorbitant, go elsewhere.  Those teachers are being self-serving, utilizing the very stringent grant restrictions for their own personal benefit.  I'm certain that I wouldn't want my child being taught by someone whose primary interest in applying for a grant is so selfish.  It's a total waste of my tax dollars.  What are your thoughts?

Back from BlogHer. Wow.

I returned home yesterday from BlogHer and I'm still in shock at how amazing it was. Although I don't have any photos downloaded yet or any wonderful blog posts ready to publish, I have so many things to share that I just don't know where to start.

The event itself is like any trade show - seminars, vendors, food and swag. But at BlogHer, it's the traditional trade show on steroids. Seminars are intense and informative with fantastic peers as the moderators. The vendors had tons of information as well as product samples. There was never a lack of food around although I seldom took the time to actually stop and eat.  (I lost like five pounds at BlogHer!)

Then there's the issue of the people. Lots and lots of people. Mostly non-judgmental., mostly warm and welcoming.  Once I got my feet firmly planted, nobody ever made me feel like the small blogger than I really am. People often said they recognized my business card and "I've been to YOUR blog" and seemed sincere about it. Established bloggers offered advice about how to get to the next level in the blogging community.  The celebrities, Carson Kressley, Rick Bayless, Tim Gunn, Brooke White and Paula Deen were all unbelievably human. As I swoon about "Oh my, You're (insert name here)" and ask them to sign an autograph, they were all so kind.

BlogHer was fantastic. Unbelievable. Informative. Wonder how long before I talk myself into registering for BlogHer 2010! I bet not very long!

More to come on this site and SAHM Reviews as I organize my photos, my swag and my thoughts.

Thank You, Kind Strangers

The storms around here have been quite ridiculous.  Nasty gusts strong enough to knock trees down, fling patio furniture and move the BBQ grill several feet - even with the wheels locked.

Oh... and fling open the gate for the fence.

That wouldn't be so bad if I had actually noticed it.  But I was up around 5 AM fighting lower back problems and simply wanted to find the Ibuprofen.  For the most part, I adhered to my normal morning schedule - I let the dogs out, took my medicine, got something to drink, made sure the dogs had food then let them back in.

Well, at least I think that's how the morning went.  Nestle wanted in and out a few times which was driving me crazy since I just wanted to stay in one spot and let my back stretch.  I'm sure I let Glacier in once then she wanted back out later.  I don't know what time that was though.  The girls woke up earlier than normal, I read the paper while they played and somewhere in there I stretched out on the ground hoping the back pains would go away.  It's all kind of fuzzy since I didn't get much sleep last night.

Then shortly before 9 AM, I went into the laundry room to get something and through the window could see the gate to the back yard wide open.  I ran into the kitchen and told DH that the gate was open.  He called for the dogs while I waited to visually see them come to attention.  Nestle did.  Glacier didn't.

I ran through the house looking in all her usual hiding spots and had just walked out into the front yard when the phone rang.  The nice gentleman on the other end of the phone said "We have your dog."  He proceeded to give me directions and I was amazed at the distance she had managed to get in what I didn't think was a very long period of time.  Several blocks.  And when I say several, I mean a good few minutes drive worth.

I headed off to pick her up as the guy, Shawn, an employee of the City of Bettendorf and Debbie, the driver of a red minivan waited patiently on 53rd Street.  Yes, my Glacier had escaped and was running down the middle of one of the busiest streets in town.  Thankfully traffic was stopping for her.

It's a good thing the cars saw her because she had difficulty seeing.  She had a tumor in 2004 and had one of her eyes removed.  Her depth perception is totally off and she can only see things on the right side of her body.  What a sight it must have been for drivers on 53rd - a fluffy white one-eyed American Eskimo dog running down the road.  Thank you for not running her over!

But most important, my heartfelt thanks go out to Debbie who pulled over and coaxed Glacier into her arms and to Shawn who pulled over behind her and telephoned us with the good news that she was safe.  If you know Debbie or Shawn, please pass along how very thankful I am for what they did this morning.

Everyone Will Do it if it is Easy

When we lived in Los Angeles, I remember how easy it was to recycle. Maybe because California is such a liberal, tree-hugging state. Or maybe the rolling blackouts and water conservation issues forever remind you that resources are limited. But one thing is for sure, recycling came easy there.

How is it so different there than here? Well, for one thing, pretty much everything could be recycled... and in the same bin. Cans, bottles, boxes, newspapers and any plastic that had that recycling triangle, no matter what the number. They were all placed together in a recycling bin that was a tad bit larger than our garbage can and picked up weekly along with our garbage. We didn't have to prep anything or sort it. Ooh, so easy. I literally had a garbage can for regular stuff and a paper bag for recyclables.  As it got full, I just dumped it in the recycle bin.

Here? Glass, cans and plastics with a "1" or "2" only. And newspapers, cardboard, magazines are separated. Granted, the recycle bin is the same size as the garbage can, but it's divided in two. We can't throw the newspapers into that half until the night before pickup because the weight is just too heavy for the divider.  What makes it worse is that it is only picked up once a month. 

It's all petty, I know, but having been exposed to the easy way of doing it just makes me want to throw up my arms and say "Why bother." However, by not participating, it's only hurting future generations and I'm not willing to let my frustrations keep me from doing the right thing.

But it was over the top this morning when our regular garbage bin was not emptied. You see, we're doing some yard cleanup and removed a bush that was unruly. The city has a yard waste recycling program but not only does it require that you purchase special bags to put everything in, but you also need to purchase a sticker for each bag that you put on the curb. Well, the bag says to only include certain things and the sticker says only certain things. Nowhere did it say an entire bush was okay so we threw it in the garbage. It isn't like we were trying to avoid paying the ticket fees because right next to the garbage can was a yard waste bag, with proper fees adhered, that wasn't even full.

So why does it get me all in an uproar? Because in Los Angeles it was so much easier. We actually had a third full-sized bin strictly for yard waste. All yard waste. In the same giant bin. You know how easy that made it when we had to prune the trees? To top it off, there weren't additional yard waste fees - it was all included in our monthly garbage pickup. I guess they realized that making it easy and economical translated to more people doing it. I recall that the last city we lived in had one of the highest participating percentages in the country. No wonder.  You could recycle almost everything and it was just a matter of putting it in the right color-coded bin.

So to wrap up this long, grumbly story... As soon as I noticed that our garbage wasn't picked up, I went out and removed the bush from the can.  I chopped it up enough to put into one of those bags then put my paid fee tag on it. I called the city and the man from public works that I talked to was kind enough to have the drivers swing back by to empty the garbage. But honestly, the whole thing really ruined my morning. Here I thought I was doing the right thing and it just bit me.

Recycling can be so easy if the cities would just do things a little differently. That is definitely one thing I miss about California.