ALLURE MEDICAL - all•u Magazine all·u Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 21

Go camping. Go east. Go west. Go to
Disney. Go visit relatives. Go to the Rock
‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Go find the biggest
ball of twine. Just pack some bags and go.
This is your one big trip for the summer.
Mark it on the calendar while school
is still in session and you all can look
forward to the dates without work,
homework, or the usual demands.
It can be pricey if you’re not careful,
but you are investing in your family.
You are making memories with
your children. And you work hard
and deserve some time away.
You can also use it as an opportunity
to teach your kids the value of money.
Give them a set amount of cash at
the beginning of the trip and let them
decide what to use it on. You may
cringe when they choose junk food at
every gas station you stop at, but they
will learn. Either they learn they really
enjoyed the freedom to do that or t hey
might regret their lack of funds when
they find something they want at the
end of the time. Either way, you help
them learn: money is finite; money
can purchase fun things, and plan
ahead because it spends quickly.
2. SLOW – SLOW DOWN
AND TAKE A DAY TRIP.
Your kids need down time. You have a
job you need to be at once in awhile,
right? So this part of our summer we
call “slow”. No airplanes, no complex
agendas, no packing our equipment
up the side of a mountain to set up
camp. Slow is for a slower type of
“vacation”. Think of these as day trips.
You take a Saturday (or some other day
you already have time off) and go as
a family somewhere close to home.
Every state has fun things to see,
museums to peruse, or trails to wonder.
Condé Nast’s beautiful slideshow of
the "Best Places To Visit in the USA: 50
States, 50 Trips" can get you started. Your
local chamber of commerce or even
the American Automobile Association
(AAA) offer great ideas for day trips.
Each member of our family picks
one day trip they would enjoy. Then
we check the calendar and mark the
best days to take those short trips. If
your kids are anything like our boys
they will pick very different places to
go. The variety is fun for all of us.
3. NO – NO NEED TO LEAVE HOME.
Since kids think “no” is our favorite word
anyway, we will use it here to remember
the third type of summer planning.
No means no travel out of town. And
sometimes it means we go nowhere at all.
Our family likes to make this part of
our summer about picking a movie or
a nearby restaurant for a treat, but you
could truly make it a totally “no go”
evening or afternoon. You could choose
not to leave the house. Ordering pizza
and firing up Netflix is a great example
of “no” travel time. You are intentionally
setting aside time to be together as
family, without going anywhere.
Let each member pick their night and
their favorite “no go” option. You
could take turns cooking or make
something special for dessert and haul
out the old Wii or the dusty Monopoly
board. Maybe your family would like
to share some music together, playing
instruments or singing favorite songs.
How about old, home movies? The
kids may groan, but everyone usually
ends up enjoying watching themselves
as chubby toddlers and laughing at the
fashion choices of mom and dad.
If the youngest picks the My Little Pony
game – again – honor her wishes and
see if there are ways to make it fun for
all ages. A handful of Skittles every time
you roll? Or the winner picks a chore
to hand off to each loser? The “no”
option is intended to help do whatever
it takes to spend time together at home
or in town (with the delicious option of
sweatpants and slippers thrown in).
Summer will come – yea – and go –
boo – quickly so try to make the most of
your time together. Not everything has
to cost money, but don’t feel too much
heartburn about money you spend this
summer to create memories. You will
treasure those times forever, especially
after they are grown and gone.
MEET THE
MONEY
COUPLE
THE MONEY COUPLE, Scott and
Bethany Palmer are regulars on national
TV, radio and speak internationally about
“Love and Money.” With 38 years of
combined financial planning experience
Scott and Bethany launched “The Money
Couple” and have dedicated their lives
to helping couples bring their love and
money together. Their “Make it Happen”
slogan quickly and radically changes
lives. With their humor, easy-going style,
and practical approach relationships
are being saved worldwide. Scott and
Bethany enjoy an active lifestyle living in
Colorado with their two young sons, Cole
and Cade.
LEARN MORE:
THEMONEYCOUPLE.COM
2017 SPRING
21